Join us for the first exhibition presented by the Six Collective, What Sustains Us, opening on Wednesday, August 28th. For this inaugural group show, each artist selected formalist strategies, using painting, sculpture or mix-media, to explore various themes such as the establishment of the Canadian hockey institution and the Khartoum massacre in Sudan. While the constellation of individual and collectively crafted stories points to broader cultural-historical issues, it also urges the viewer to consider the framework in which these five artists produce, disseminate, and sustain their practice. This exhibition also asks; what are the aesthetic possibilities and limitations generated in Black representational spaces? What are the artists responsive to? Can they afford to move away from political statements or the perpetually observed dominant white gaze? What does cultural sustainability and longevity look like for Black male artists? What does the chosen medium communicate about one's idea of access, success and relevance? What Sustains Us addresses the importance of the socio-relational histories as a vehicle for meaning-making and becomes a space for the artists to negotiate their creative desires.

What Sustains Us is supported by the Toronto Arts Council.

Image Credit: Stephen Fakiyesi