The Georgetown University Art Galleries, which opened to the public Feb. 3,  are featuring two new exhibitions.

The new exhibits, titled “Rotimi Fani-Kayode (1955-1989)” and “One Nation Underground: Punk Visual Culture 1976-1985,” sit in separate gallery rooms in the Walsh Building, located just one block from Georgetown’s main campus. The showcases focus on art produced in the 1970s and 1980s.   

“Rotimi Fani-Kayode (1955-1989) is the first solo exhibition from artist Rotimi Fani-Kayode (CAS ’80), a Georgetown graduate whose career lasted six years before his premature death in 1989 during the peak of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, according to a Feb. 3 gallery press release. The exhibit will be on display until April 3. 

Fani-Kayode’s work is a form of intersectional cultural expression, according to Ian Bourland, professor in the art department and curator of the exhibition.

“As a Black, queer artist working during a time of profound marginilization for such subjects in daily life and the art world, it is important that we bear witness to his art, even though it was not given due attention during his life,” Bourland wrote to The Hoya. “But it’s also important now, as we stay engaged with the ongoing reckoning with racism in American and the UK, and attend to GU’s own legacy.”  

Much of Fani-Kayode’s work is inspired from Yoruba religion, classical mythology and city subculture, the blending of which engages audiences on a new level, according to Bourland. 

“I think that connecting his work with the punk show also highlights the ways in which different countercultures converged in the US and UK, where you had dub, house, neo-romantic, and punk cultures coming together to protest racism, Apartheid, and other social issues of the day,” Bourland wrote. “It was a complex sonic and visual ecosystem, and one that was very important in mobilizing young people.”

“One Nation Underground” includes posters, flyers, pins and graphics that engage Washington, D.C. with music, art and politics. The exhibition will be on display until May 1. 

The “One Nation Underground” exhibition is smaller and emphasizes visual culture from the D.C. region and beyond, according to Bourland.

“GU as a school, and the neighborhood more broadly, were part of a vibrant punk scene that was nationally influential,” Bourland wrote. “This show calls attention to this earlier moment, and also celebrates visual culture, like posters, buttons, and flyers, as an important form of countercultural expression and protest.”

 “Rotimi Fani-Kayode (1955-1989)” is in the Maria & Alberto de la Cruz Art Gallery and “One Nation Underground” is in the Lucille M. and Richard F. X. Spagnuolo Art Gallery, both of which are in the Georgetown University Art Galleries, according to Margaret Rand (COL ’23), an intern at the gallery.

The de la Cruz Gallery opened its doors to visitors in 2018, and the Spagnuolo Gallery was established in 2003. 

These new exhibitions are on display in addition to the works of Toni-Lee Sangastiano, a professor who teaches Intro to Graphic Design, which has been housed in the de la Cruz gallery since Aug. 25 and will be showcased until May 23. 

Audiences will have an opportunity to connect with these exhibitions through upcoming public programs, according to Emma McMorran (GRD ’22), an intern at the gallery. 

“We’re planning to have a student-led tour of the Rotimi Fani-Kayode exhibition on March 25th at noon,” McMorran wrote to The Hoya. “There will also be a lecture with Prof. Ian Bourland on March 31st at 6 pm. We always love seeing students in the Galleries, and we hope that students will join us for events this semester.”