Exhibitions
NIEKO MCDANIEL: WHAT’S FOUND, AROUND, & SCROUNGED
Hiram Van Gordon Gallery (Tennessee State University) / 3500 John A. Merritt Blvd. September 23 - October 17th
Nieko McDaniel
The Hiram Van Gordon Gallery presents What’s Found, Around, & Scrounged by Nieko McDaniel. The exhibition opens on September 23 and runs till October 17, 2024, with an artist talk via zoom on Wednesday, Sept 25 from 10-11 am CT and closing reception on Oct 17th from 5-7 pm. McDaniel draws heavily from the environment that shaped him and the worlds he continues to create. Growing up in Southern California, graffiti was more than just a form of art—it was a language, a means of claiming space and making one's mark. This early exposure to street art became the foundation upon which he built his creative practice.
What’s Found, Around, & Scrounged is a continuation in exploration of world-building. These pieces are fragments of a larger narrative, a New World Environment where graffiti or yarn bombing is not just an art form but a vital part of the ecosystem. In this imagined world, the walls speak, and the ground beneath our feet is alive with the messages of those who came before. In the city of Pompeii, it is documented that graffiti was used regularly on their architectural structures as a form of communication to relay messages to a large group of people. Graffiti here serves not only as visual beauty but as a testament to presence—a marker of existence, identity, and communication among the inhabitants of this space.
The materials in use—loose cardboard, paper, simple paint, and yarn—are deliberate choices, echoing the accessibility and resourcefulness of street art. Just as graffiti artists work with what they can find, McDaniel’s scavenge and repurpose, creating something new out of what might otherwise be discarded. Each piece is a conversation between the materials, the environment, and the viewer, inviting you to step into this world and decipher its stories. Through this work look for intersections of art, environment, and identity, slow down and consider the marks we leave behind and what they say about who we are.
