Chapter I · Atlanta · 27 and 28 August 2026
Anchored by Thabiso Dakamela, with Yokanna presented in structured dialogue. A paced exhibition examining contemporary figuration as a site of interior life, psychological pressure, and collective memory.
Overview
Chapter I is anchored by Thabiso Dakamela. His body of work establishes the exhibition's spine, architecture, and central inquiry. The installation privileges restraint and deliberate sequencing, each work given space to stand independently, allowing viewers to engage the paintings without spectacle.
Yokanna is presented as the artist in dialogue. His works enter in a structured response to Dakamela's chapter, introducing fragmentation and material disruption into the figurative field, fracturing what Dakamela has built with composure and weight.
The Works, Chapter I
"The works in this chapter were presented together for the first time at Honeypot L.A. on 3 June 2026. The chapter now continues as a traveling curatorial program."
Anchor Artist
Thabiso Dakamela
9 works · Oil on canvas
Artist in Dialogue
Yokanna
5 works · Mixed media
For institutions, curators, press, and serious collectors, the full chapter is available by private digital review. Acquisition inquiries are handled directly and with discretion.
Inquire About a Work View the Digital Chapter"Chapter I is anchored by Thabiso Dakamela. Each of his works is given the authority to hold the room. Yokanna enters in structured dialogue, fracturing what Dakamela has built. The asymmetry is intentional."
Roslidah Okoth, Co-Founder & Curator, Africa Curated
Exhibition Catalog
Curator's Statement
The Weight of Holding unfolds as a spatial progression rather than a survey. The exhibition does not attempt breadth. It operates through restraint.
At its center is a precise inquiry: What does it cost to remain visible without performance?
Contemporary figuration often negotiates visibility as spectacle. In this exhibition, the figure operates under pressure. Composure is not assumed. It is constructed. Surface becomes a site of containment, abrasion, and endurance.
Thabiso Dakamela builds density through tonal control and layered material application. His figures do not narrate events. They register interior states. Weight is carried through posture, chromatic compression, and structural containment. Stillness is never passive. It holds tension.
The presentation opens with The Women Who Hold Me, installed with deliberate spatial clarity. The work establishes the exhibition's internal architecture. Care becomes structure. Presence is shaped through discipline. As the sequence progresses, compositional fields expand and contract, culminating in Jazz Night, where rhythm emerges without dissolving composure. Movement becomes collective while control remains intact.
Yokanna enters in formal dialogue rather than a thematic response. Where Dakamela constructs density and composure, Yokanna interrupts through abrasion and layered disruption. His surfaces are built, scraped, and reworked until the image records pressure rather than illustration. Fragmentation becomes a method of inquiry.
Together, the works examine how interiority survives exposure. These figures do not ask to be seen. They endure being seen.
The Weight of Holding establishes the foundational framework for Africa Curated's traveling program. Each chapter will build cumulatively, prioritizing disciplined spatial sequencing, placement integrity, and sustained cultural presence beyond a single venue or moment.
The objective is not immediacy. It is permanence.
Multimedia
Selected views from the 3 June 2026 Los Angeles opening of The Weight of Holding are reserved for institutions, curators, foundations, fair committees, press, and selected professional collaborators. The teaser, full exhibition video, and complete installation documentation are shared on request as part of the private chapter archive.
Photography by Greg Doherty
Traveling Program
Chapter I
Los Angeles
Honeypot L.A.
3 June 2026
Concluded
Chapter I
Atlanta
Gallery Anderson Smith
27 and 28 August 2026
RSVP
Chapter I
New York
Venue forthcoming
Fall 2026
Announced
Chapter II
Houston
Venue forthcoming
2027
In planning
Chapter II
Dallas
Venue forthcoming
2027
In planning
Next Presentation
Next Presentation
27 and 28 August 2026 · Gallery Anderson Smith
Chapter I continues at Gallery Anderson Smith, 1401 Peachtree Street NE, Suite A200, Atlanta, Georgia 30309.
Private viewing and cocktail reception
Thursday, 27 August 2026, 6:00 to 8:30 PM. By invitation. Space is limited.
Public viewing
Friday, 28 August 2026, 5:00 to 9:00 PM. Free admission. Advance registration required, entry subject to gallery capacity.
Following
Fall 2026
Chapter I closes in New York. Venue forthcoming.
Chapter II
2027
Chapter II opens in Texas with an expanded curatorial frame. Artists to be announced.
On Tour
Chapter II
TBA
Africa Curated Traveling Program
New City
TBA
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Program History
3 June 2026 · Honeypot L.A. · Downtown Los Angeles
Chapter I opened at Honeypot L.A. on 3 June 2026 with an invite-only curator-led walkthrough by Roslidah Okoth. The Atlanta presentation continues with an invite-only private viewing on Thursday 27 August, and a public viewing on Friday 28 August with advance RSVP.
"The exhibition asks what it costs to be seen fully, without performance, through paint rather than narrative."
"The exhibition's title, The Weight of Holding, reflects these concerns. Across the works on view, holding becomes both a physical and metaphorical act: holding memory, expectation, identity, and lived experience."
Documentation, installation photography by Greg Doherty, curator's notes, audio walkthroughs, and the full press file are held in the private chapter archive. Select works remain available by private sale.
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