MATA SEMAY

A new body of work by Tariku Shiferaw will be showing

at Smack Mellon, in a group exhibition curated by

Rachel Steinberg, opening on June 25th, 2022

Mata Semay is a new body of work by Tariku Shiferaw, which first developed during his Independent Study Program at the Whitney Museum of American Art in 2018. Mata Semay (Amharic for “night skies”) is a fully immersive installation composed of paintings, sculptures, sound, and video. This series addresses the concept of mark-making and erasure using mythology as a way to take up space. Because of its invisibility – mythology infiltrates people’s perceptions clandestinely and subtly, shaping minds and behavior through mass cultural phenomena. Mata Semay is an imagining of what the night sky could be if Black people’s contributions – both past and future – were considered part of the global narrative. 

​

The first iteration of this series will debut in a group exhibition, You’d Think By Now, curated by Rachel Steinberg at Smack Mellon, opening June 25 through August 7.