ABOUT THE EVENT

Dewey Crumpler: Life Studies is Crumpler's first solo show at The Driskell Center. Dewey Crumpler's current work examines issues of globalization/ cultural co-modification through the integration of digital imagery, video and traditional painting techniques.

The exhibition will feature Crumpler’s ongoing study of shipping containers, by way of tulips. Both of these forms arrive at Crumpler as objects central to the story of capitalism and the global transport of goods. Crumpler investigates how tulips and containers inform and deform the way we think about the long history of racialized capitalism. In Crumpler’s hands, these organic bodies and industrial tools transform into deep meditations on the aesthetics of financial systems, and how those systems themselves have roots in the transatlantic slave trade. Crumpler invites us to attune our vision, to look as if searching for the clues that connect these forms to the dynamic and complex story of the Black radical tradition.

VIEW FULL 2024 FESTIVAL SCHEDULE

ABOUT NEXTNOW FEST

Started in 2014, Clarice Presents’ annual NextNOW Fest is an inspiring arts experience that celebrates imagination, creativity and community. In addition to the core festival nights at The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, we’re thrilled to continue partnerships with student-led groups, academic departments and university-based arts venues to hold festival events throughout campus.

NextNOW Fest is a signature event in University of Maryland's Arts for All initiative, which leverages the combined power of the arts, technology and social justice to address the grand challenges of our time.

FUNDING

NextNOW Fest is supported in part by the Maryland State Arts Council and The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation. Additional support is provided by Terps After Dark and the University of Maryland's Arts for All initiative. NextNOW Fest's Silent Disc-Glo event is supported by UMD's Student Entertainment Events; and the Vital Signs Mini-Grants Showcase is supported by the Venable Foundation and Pepsi.