Above:
(left) AkinsanyaKambon, John Randall, Buffalo Soldier, 2012. Raku-fired clay, 15 1/2 x 4 x 9 1/2 in. Crocker Art Museum, long-term loan from S. Tama-sha Ross Kambon and Akinsanya D. Kambon aka Mark Teemer. (right) Akinsanya Kambon (American, born 1946), Equestrian Black Sampson, 2012. Raku-fired clay, 16 1/2 x 5 1/4 x 10 in. Crocker Art Museum, gift of S. Tama-sha Ross Kambon and Akinsanya D. Kambon aka Mark Teemer, 2018.5.

EXHIBITION TITLE (full): American Expressions/African Roots: Akinsanya Kambon's Ceramic Sculpture
VENUE: Crocker Art Museum (Sacramento, CA)
DATES: February 2, 2020 — February 28, 2021

(SACRAMENTO, CA — UPDATED June 15, 2020) The Crocker Art Museum is pleased to extend its run of “American Expressions/African Roots,”an exhibition of clay sculptures by Akinsanya Kambon, a former Marine, Black Panther, and art professor who uses the Western-style raku technique — a challenging, dangerous, and unpredictable process that creates prismatic and iridescent glaze finishes. Originally scheduled to close in July, this exhibition will now remain open through September 13, 2020.

While Sacramento-born artist Akinsanya Kambon's work is as diverse as his personal history and is expressed through various media, this exhibition focuses entirely on his ceramics. Kambon performs his kiln firings in a ceremonial manner, breathing life into ceramic figures that typically represent African deities and spirits and, sometimes, American history and religious subjects. Drawing heavily on narrative tradition and personal experiences, including extensive travels throughout Africa, Kambon’s work celebrates perseverance through hardship, cultural pride, and his gift as a storyteller.

BACKGROUND: THE ART AND THE ARTIST
Born as Mark Teemer in 1946, Kambon was stricken with polio as a child. He turned to drawing for comfort, and ultimately his therapy. He recalls in his adolescence frequent visits to the Crocker Art Museum, which fascinated him and showed him the human potential in creating art.

From 1966–1968, he served a tour of duty in Vietnam with the United States Marine Corps as a combat illustrator and infantryman. Shortly after returning home, he became Lieutenant of Culture for the Sacramento Chapter of the Black Panther Party and created “The Black Panther Coloring Book" to bring attention to racial inequality and social injustice. Despite being semi-literate in his youth, Kambon went on to earn his Master of Arts from California State University, Fresno.

Today, Kambon expresses his perspectives through drawings, paintings, bronze sculptures, and ceramics. He often performs his Western-style raku firings at night, in the company of dancers and drummers. Unlike traditional Japanese raku ware, which is removed from the kiln and cooled, Western-style raku ceramics are heated and placed directly into a sealed container with dry, combustible materials like newspaper, straw, leaves, and sawdust. The materials ignite and form a reduction atmosphere as the oxygen depletes within the container.

For Kambon, this process infuses each of his works with its “juju” or spiritual vigor. A particularly emotive example depicts Nehanda Charwe Nyakasikana (ca. 1840–1898), a woman known as the “Grandmother Healer” of the Zezuru Shona people of Zimbabwe. She is portrayed with a tormented expression of grief as she tries to resuscitate the lifeless body of a young child slumped in her arms. A notable military leader in the struggle against colonial forces, Nyakasikana was sentenced to death by hanging — an execution which failed repeatedly until the spiritual pouch she wore was removed. At this final hanging, she declared, “My bones will rise again!”

Other works in the exhibition include equestrian figures that combine American history with African sculptural tradition. There are also lidded vessels such as “The Greatest Shame,” which references the African slave trade and the devastating evils of pursing profit. On the side of this vessel, a man is guided by a turtle, an animal symbolizing wisdom. “We must follow the lead of the wisest among us or we will be guided down the wrong path,” explains the artist.

Akinsanya Kambon (American, born 1946), The Greatest Shame, 2016. Raku-fired clay, approx. 34 1/2 x 43 in. (circ.). Collection of S. Tama-sha Ross Kambon and Akinsanya D. Kambon aka Mark Teemer.

Kambon has long been an advocate for art and education. He worked as a professor at California State University, Long Beach, for 26 years. In 1984, still guided by the Black Panther Party's principles of serving the community, he founded Pan African Art, a program that offers free art classes for children. In 1993, he was a recipient of the Community Fellowship Award from the California Wellness Foundation, which supported his efforts in community leadership and violence prevention.

In 1995, the artist and his wife, S. Tama-sha Ross Kambon, co-founded Pan African Art, Inc., a nonprofit that promotes academic achievement, an understanding of history, leadership skills, and self-expression among youth through art. In 2003, they founded The Gallery Kambon and, in 2019, established the Pan African Art Museum in Long Beach. Kambon divides his time between studios in Long Beach and Sacramento, California, and actively continues his work today.

Click below to watch an interview with the artist.

High resolution images of several works in this exhibition are available upon request.

Due to COVID-19, we have made temporary changes to our operating hours, public programs, and exhibition schedule. For the most up-to-date information click HERE.

MEDIA CONTACT
Kat Haro
Director of Communications, Crocker Art Museum
(916) 808-1963
communications@crockerart.org
Para leer mas comunicados en español, por favor haga clic aquí.

ABOUT THE CROCKER
Through engaging, innovative, and life-changing interactions with art, the Crocker Art Museum provides meaningful opportunities for people of divergent backgrounds to find common ground. Founded as a public/private partnership in 1885, the Crocker features the world’s foremost display of California art and is renowned for its holdings of master drawings and international ceramics, as well as European, Asian, African, and Oceanic art. The Crocker serves as the primary regional resource for the study and appreciation of fine art and offers a diverse spectrum of exhibitions, events, and programs to deepen visitor’s understanding of art, including films, concerts, studio classes, lectures, and an array of activities for families and children. More information about exhibits and programs can be found at crockerart.org