Jite Agbro
/ˈskāpˌɡōt/
Jite Agbro’s mixed media wall hangings explore the physical and emotional armor of marginalized communities.
- February 7 - 28, 2019
- Opening: Thursday, February 7
Artist Talk: Thursday, February 28, 5:00 — 6:00 pm
/ˈskāpˌɡōt/
A person who is blamed for the wrongdoings, mistakes, or faults of others.
Historically, poor people and people of color have found ways to challenge the systems that use them as scapegoats. Physical and psychological armor provide some protection from daily injustices and history’s scars.
/ˈskāpˌɡōt/ looks at the experience of both the oppressor and the oppressed: how truth is often abandoned in favor of the seductive proposition that suffering will be lessened with the sacrifice of another and, on the other hand, how the unfairness of life is processed through the construction of shields and defenses.
Jite Agbro’s large-scale figurative collages feature graphic silhouettes of the human form layered on top of highly-patterned backgrounds. These printed elements are stitched together and treated with beeswax, creating a palimpsest of associations. Agbro wishes to exhume the buried and unexamined assumptions by which we negotiate culture and construct images of other people and ourselves.
This exhibition was made possible, in part, by a grant from 4Culture.
About the Artist
Jite Agbro is a Nigerian-American artist who grew up in Seattle’s Central District. She studied printmaking at California College of Arts and Cornish College of the Arts. Agbro’s work utilizes bold, vibrant patterns and colors found in traditional West African clothing. She creates large paper wall hangings that contain references to these textiles, to embroidery, and to the human condition, including her own search for belonging.