WASHINGTON PARK — A length of rusted chainlink fence is hung on the wall next to a mirrored image of Olympic gold medalist Wilma Rudolph for the “How to Make a Hood” exhibit at the University of Chicago Arts Incubator.
The exhibit at the gallery at 301 E. Garfield Blvd. is the first for young curator La Keisha Leek, who said she’s played with the multiple meanings of the word "hood" since the 2012 death of her cousin, Trayvon Martin.
“I was working through things, thinking about these things,” Leek said. “I wanted to play with the idea little more, I wanted to deal with objecthood.”
Martin, 17, was shot on Feb. 26, 2012, in a gated community in Sanford, Fla., by George Zimmerman. Critics of Zimmerman's claim that he acted in self-defense often used the hooded sweatshirt as shorthand to reference the way young black men are stereotyped as criminals.
Leek said the term “hood” became an omnipresent symbol as she processed Martin’s death, representing the hood Martin was wearing and the meaning people attached to it, the hood in hoodlum and the ‘hood as neighborhood.
“I was playing with this idea of gated communities, from public housing to suburbs,” Leek said. “It’s moved past the personal and moved into this thing that’s very real.”
What emerged from the artists in the exhibit are a stack of images of a pained Haitian woman buffeted by a table fan, a series of crisp photographs of the interior of liquor stores and a video installation shot in Humboldt Park by Amir George.
George will lead a bike tour of Humboldt Park at 10 a.m. Wednesday to talk about his work, “The Hood We Live In.” Space is limited and participants must register by emailing Leek at lakeishaleek@gmail.com.
Artist James Green will lead a second bike tour in Washington Park on Oct. 5.
Leek will talk about her own process curating the show during a lecture at 6 p.m. Sept. 16 at the gallery.
The exhibit will close on Oct. 10 with a closing reception at 6 p.m.
For more information about events coinciding with the exhibit, visit htmah.com.
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