Image Credit: “Sublimation” © Granville Carroll

ASU Teaching Professor Granville Carroll will conduct a brief studio tour and then present his Afrofuturist visual work. New York’s Metropolitan Museum defines Afrofuturism as: “a genre that centers Black history and culture and incorporates science-fiction, technology, and futuristic elements into literature, music, and the visual arts. Often using current social movements or popular culture as a backdrop, Afrofuturism focuses on works that examine the past, question the present, or imagine an optimistic future, and are meant to inspire a sense of pride in their audience.”

Carroll is a contemporary visual artist who uses photographic tools to create his spectacular imagery. He describes his work as delving “into the realms of photography and poetry to explore the intricate facets of representation and identity. Through his creative pursuits, Carroll seeks to represent the multifaceted dimensions of blackness, encompassing spatial blackness, temporal blackness, and spiritual blackness. At the heart of his artistic journey lies an exploration of metaphysics, particularly examining the ontology of self and the cosmos. Carroll’s practice shines a spotlight on the boundless imaginative capacities of the human mind, masterfully weaving narratives and constructing alternate speculative futures and states of existence.”

In his ongoing body of work, ‘In the Finite, Infinitely,” in which Carroll interprets inner space as our psyche, one can see the vast reaches of deep space juxtaposed with the human figure. There will be a short Q & A after his presentation, followed by an optional, no-host happy hour at the Kaizen PHX at The Larry.

Granville Carroll currently teaches at Arizona State University. He has been awarded Top 50 Critical Mass 2022, 2022 NYSCA/NYFA Fellowship in Photography and 2022 JGS Fellowship for Photography. He was named a 2021 Silver List artist and Project Space Visual Studies Workshop AIR. Carroll earned a BFA in photography from Arizona State University in 2018 and an MFA in photography and related media from Rochester Institute of Technology in 2020. His work has been shown across the United States and internationally. Carroll’s images have recently appeared in Light and Lens: Thinking About Photography in the Digital Age (Robert Hirsch and Edward Bateman) and There’s Light: Artworks & Conversations Examining Black Masculinity, Identity & Mental Well-Being (Glenn Lutz). In 2022 his first artist book, Dark Matter was published through Visual Studies Workshop Press.

SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS

Granville Carroll will meet attendees in front of Northlight Gallery at 4:00 p.m. and take everyone inside to his studio next door at Grant Street Studios. Please arrive on time.

After the Event: Optional NO-HOST Happy Hour at Kaizen PHX from 5:00 – 6:00 p.m.
515 E Grant Street, #100, Phoenix, AZ 85004 (located inside The Larry building, next door to, southwest from Grant Street Studios)
(For large groups, the restaurant combines all orders on ONE CHECK. PLEASE BRING CASH IN SMALL DENOMINATIONS to pay for your appetizers and drinks. We will not be able to make change.)

Kaizen PHX has generously given us permission to park for free in their lot during the studio tour and happy hour.
Paid parking is available at the paid parking lot across the street from Northlight Gallery. (ASU has recently started giving parking tickets even though parking signs are sometimes not posted.)

LIMITED TO 15 AZPA Members. REGISTRATION REQUIRED.