Colonial legacy explored in show

MIDDLETOWN — Decay & Forever, Golden Age, an exhibition of recent works by Saint Louis-based multimedia artist Kahlil Robert Irving, will be on view in Wesleyan University’s Ezra and Cecile Zilkha Gallery, located at 283 Washington Terrace on the Wesleyan campus in Middletown, through Sunday, Dec. 9. New extended gallery hours are Tuesday and Wednesday from Noon to 5 p.m.; Thursday from Noon to 7 p.m.; and Friday through Sunday from Noon to 5 p.m. Admission is free and open to the public. Please see below for more information about the exhibition and the artist.

This is Kahlil Robert Irving’s first solo exhibition in New England, including several pieces commissioned by the Ezra and Cecile Zilkha Gallery. Working across a variety of material production methods, Irving examines the evolving relationship between symbols and power by bringing attention to the oppressive legacies of colonialism present in contemporary culture. His practice purposely challenges constructs around decorative arts, monuments, and the history of how race has been reinforced in America.

There will be ten free guided exhibition tours on Saturdays, from Sept. 29 through Dec. 8, at 1 p.m. The public can take a closer look at the exhibition by joining a 45-minute tour, led by Wesleyan University gallery guides. Tours begin in the lobby of the Ezra and Cecile Zilkha Gallery. There will be no tour on Saturday, Nov.24. Public guided tours are for individuals and small groups up to ten people. Larger group visits can be arranged by emailing bchaffee@wesleyan.edu.

The exhibition will be closed Monday, November 19 through Monday, November 26, 2018.

Kahlil Robert Irving was born in San Diego, California in 1992. He attended the Sam Fox School of Design and Visual Art, Washington University, in Saint Louis (M.F.A., 2017) and the Kansas City Art Institute (B.F.A., Art History and Ceramics, 2015). In 2017, Callicoon Fine Arts mounted his first solo exhibition in New York, Streets: Chains: Cocktails. Since then, his work has been included in exhibitions throughout the country.

He is currently the Robert Turner Teaching Fellow at the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University in Alfred, New York. His work is in the collections of the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, Overland Park, Kansas; the Riga Porcelain Museum, Latvia; J.P Morgan Chase Art Collection, New York; The Ken Ferguson Teaching Collection at the Kansas City Art Institute, Kansas City, Missouri; the Foundation for Contemporary Ceramic Art, Kecskemet, Hungary; and the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design, Jerusalem, Israel.

For information about the Center for the