Akinsanya Kambon: Soul Sessions

In a two-venue collaboration, the Center for Art, Research and Alliances (CARA) and SculptureCenter present the first survey exhibition in New York City of artist, educator, and organizer Akinsanya Kambon (b. 1946, Sacramento, CA) whose work explores Black resistance, cultural memory, and liberation.

Drawing on the respective curatorial missions of SculptureCenter and CARA, this career-spanning exhibition—Soul Sessions—traces Akinsanya Kambon’s decades-long practice through ceramics, paintings, drawings, and archival materials. Deeply informed by Kambon’s formal art training and political education, which includes serving as a Marine Corps infantryman and combat illustrator as well as Lieutenant of Culture for the Sacramento Chapter of the Black Panther Party, and his co-founding of the Pan African Art Gallery with Susan Tama-sha Ross Kambon, the exhibition is a testament to the artist’s technical excellence, formal inventiveness, and lifelong dedication to struggles for Pan-African liberation.

Soul Sessions borrows its title from weekly gatherings organized by Black soldiers in Vietnam during the Vietnam War. These “soul sessions” became spaces of learning, fostering solidarity, education, and community building. The exhibition expands on this concept to highlight the pedagogical dimensions of Kambon’s practice, emphasizing his sustained engagement with historical events and ideas that shape liberatory movements—particularly Black resistance to colonialism and slavery.

SculptureCenter’s presentation focuses on Kambon’s intricately crafted figurative ceramics, which depict African mythologies, deities, historical figures, and events tied to legacies of violence and resistance across the United States, the African diaspora, and colonial and neo-colonial Africa—ranging from free-standing figures and vessels to wall-mounted reliefs. Kambon’s skillful use of the often-unpredictable Japanese Raku firing technique, which he adapts with materials like eucalyptus leaves and sawdust, imbues his sculptures with a spiritual essence, while their singular metallic sheen reflects decades of honed precision.

At CARA, the exhibition foregrounds Kambon’s expansive practice through a selection of works on paper, paintings, wall plaques, and archival materials that surface stories of oppression, resistance, and spirituality. An entry point is a painting of a soldier with whom Kambon served during the Vietnam War, nicknamed “Detroit Blue.” Gesturing toward the shared knowledge Kambon and “Detroit Blue” developed during the many “soul sessions” convened, the painting offers an intimate portrait of friendship while reminding viewers of the artist’s political commitments.

Akinsanya Kambon: Soul Sessions is organized by SculptureCenter and the Center for Art, Research and Alliances (CARA). The presentation at SculptureCenter is curated by Sohrab Mohebbi, Director, and Jovanna Venegas, Curator, with Sharon Liu, Asymmetry Curatorial Fellow. The presentation at CARA is curated by Manuela Moscoso, Executive and Artistic Director, with curatorial support from Marian Chudnovsky, Curatorial Assistant.

Akinsanya Kambon (b. 1946, Sacramento, CA) has worked in clay for almost four decades, creating vessels, figures, and wall plaques. These ceramics visualize narratives of the Black diaspora, including African histories, mythologies, and stories of violence and revolution from throughout Africa and the Americas. From 1966 to 1968, Kambon served in Vietnam with the US Marine Corps as a combat illustrator and infantryman and was awarded several Purple Hearts for his bravery. Upon his return, he joined the Sacramento chapter of the Black Panther Party. As Lieutenant of Culture, he worked on the layout and illustrations for The Black Panther newspaper. Kambon earned a BA and an MA from California State University, Fresno. He worked as a professor of art at the California State University, Long Beach for 30 years and led free youth art programs devoted to African, Indigenous, and Latino culture out of his Long Beach studio. Recent solo exhibitions include Marc Selwyn Fine Art, Los Angeles (2025); Jack Shainman Gallery, New York (2022); Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento (2016). Recent group exhibitions were at the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles (2023); Oakland Museum of California, Oakland (2016); and Joyce Gordon Gallery, Oakland (2016). In 2023, Kambon received the Mohn Award for Artistic Excellence from the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles.

Support
Generous support for Akinsanya Kambon: Soul Sessions is provided by the Kayne Opportunity Fund and Berry Stein. Additional funding is provided by Angela Robinson-Witherspoon.

Generous support for Akinsanya Kambon: Soul Sessions at SculptureCenter is provided by the Jacques and Natasha Gelman Foundation and V. Joy Simmons, MD. Additional funding is provided by Tim Disney.

Installation views by Zach Hyman