Shaper of God - American Artist
January 24 - April 13, 2025
American Artist opens their new solo show at Pioneer Works, Brooklyn, New York.
Shaper of God is an exhibition by American Artist (they/them) that culminates a multi-year and multidisciplinary project inspired by the life and work of science fiction writer Octavia E. Butler (b. 1947, Pasadena, CA). Building upon previous exhibitions of this project at REDCAT, Kadist and LACMA, this presentation will be the most comprehensive to date, and be accompanied by a monograph published by Pioneer Works Press, providing a new vantage point into an expansive project rooted equally in biography and fiction.
Shaper of God derives its title from an epitaph found in a religious text written by Lauren Oya Olamina, the protagonist of Butler’s Parable of the Sower (1993)—a novel set in a post-apocalyptic America. Threatened by dire instability caused by climate change, corporate greed and wealth inequality, Olamina and her community flee their breached city of Robledo and trek across a dystopian California, eventually starting a new religion that calls on its followers to depart Earth in the pursuit of a new beginning.
As Artist notes in their monograph, “[Butler] continues to influence artists—especially Black, feminist, queer, and politically engaged speculative artists—who are drawn to her empathetic yet stark narratives about humanity’s perilous patterns and blindspots…”
Notably, Artist shares biographical kinship with Butler in that both grew up in Pasadena, California, attended the same high school there and are descendants of Black Southern families who migrated westward to California. This shared connection manifests in a pair of sculptures within the exhibition, in which regional species of agave plants appear as bases of Los Angeles municipal bus stop signage that Butler once waited next to on her way to John Muir High School, Pasadena City College and the Los Angeles Public Library. Shaper of God was born out of Artist’s interest in understanding how the specificities of their birthplace, from the roads to the institutions, fauna and political climate, impacted Butler as an adolescent who aspired to be a full-fledged writer.
The multidisciplinary scope of Shaper of God extends through Artist’s first monograph, which expresses their process of engaging with Butler’s life and creative output. Edited and designed by Zainab Aliyu and featuring original essays and reprinted writings by Taylor Renee Aldridge, Lou Cornum, Tananarive Due, Alexis Pauline Gumbs, Ayana Jamieson and Fred Moten, the publication combines scholarly insights with images culled from Artist’s own archive of artworks, text message exchanges, desktop screenshots, sketches and research materials.
On view until April 13th, 2025 .