This intimate survey exhibition examines the use of the catfish motif in Los Angeles-based artist Diedrick Brackens’ weavings and poetry. The catfish has been an enduring, multi-dimensional reference in Brackens’ work – a symbol of physical and spiritual nourishment, a messenger linking the present to ancestral memories, and a guide in his own self-examination. The exhibition navigates the evolution of this important emblem at the heart of Brackens’ prolific creative practice.

This exhibition is made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Antonia and Vladimer Kulaev Cultural Heritage Foundation, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors through the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture, and the City of Los Angeles, Department of Cultural Affairs. Exhibition and publication research was supported by a Craft Research Fund grant from the Center for Craft.

Image: Diedrick Brackens, mud bright sight, 2021. Cotton and acrylic yarn. 43 x 40 1/2 inches. © Diedrick Brackens. Courtesy of the artist, Jack Shainman Gallery, New York and Various Small Fires, Los Angeles and Seoul.

Find the exhibition catalogue here.

Watch Diedrick Brackens’ artist talk, Scripture, Folklore, and Hearsay, with T.K. Smith here.