March 18, 2022///
Vol 2.1 – Black Interior Space
On View March 24 – May 27, 2022
Email tnm@conceptualfade.com to schedule a Viewing + Study Session.

The third show at [ Cf. ] features Ladi’Sasha Jones’s Black Interior Space which proposes a new conceptual and participatory framework for reflecting on Black interior sociality through play. Jones created a sculptural kit of modular wooden discs that connect to one another in open, adaptable, free-form ways. This design work stems from research on the racial politics that shape Black public life. The project is organized around a set of design prompts for collective and critical reflection on worldbuilding and mapping the local contexts we call home.

Ladi'Sasha Jones is a writer and curator from Harlem, NY. Her research-based practice explores Black cultural and spatial histories through text, design and public engagement. She has written for Aperture, Avery Review, Arts.Black, Houston Center for Photography, Art X Lagos, Temporary Art Review, Art-Agenda, The Art Momentum, and Recess among others. Her project, Black Interior Space was commissioned by THE SHED (NYC) as a part of Open Call 2021 and was the recipient of a 2021 Research and Development award from the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts. Currently, Jones is the Artist Engagement Manager for The Laundromat Project. She held prior appointments at the Norton Museum of Art, the New Museum’s IdeasCity platform, and the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. She holds a B.A. in African American Studies from Temple University and a M.A. in Arts Politics from NYU, Tisch School of the Arts.

The exhibition in [ Cf. ] will feature a generous amount of kits that visitors can engage with within the exhibition. There will also be a selection of images, written texts, essays for browsing, and a selection of publications sourced from the [ Cf. ] NFS Library arranged to highlight sections that relate to ideas exploring concepts of Black interiority, architecture, and design.

I invited Ladi’Sasha to present Black Interior Space for the first exhibition of the year as Ladi’Sasha is one of the most brilliant and expansive thinkers I know. Ladi’Sasha was also one of the first people that I met in Philadelphia when I moved to the city 16 years ago. When Ladi’Sasha presented this work last year in NYC I made a note to invite her to share what I knew would be expansive – her research mapping of the work. It is stunning and truly an extension of her care in relation to her work and more specifically black culture and vernacular.
I hope that you enjoy the space that [ Cf. ] offers. The second year of [ Cf. ] will be dynamic as we return with a new Cinema for One + Recording/Writers Room as an addition to the main space. This year [ Cf. ] will also debut a new podcast allowing more insight on the space as well as the exhibitions that are presented in the gallery. I learned a lot last year and look forward to sharing what is ahead as the year progresses.

X Tiona Nekkia McClodden
Founder + Director
[ Cf. ] Conceptual Fade