A new exhibit inspired by Octavia Butler’s archives is currently being featured at the Armory Center for the Arts in Pasadena.
According to the Los Angeles Times “The exhibition at the Armory Center for the Arts in Pasadena features works by eight artists who were granted access to Butler’s archives at the Huntington Library in San Marino. Their responses take a variety of forms, including sound and video as well as photography, drawing and installation. But the most engaging “work” is a slideshow of selections from Butler’s papers. It spans her lifetime, from childhood writings and drawings to rejection letters, photographs, and most strikingly, cards and pages of notes. These are remarkable for the affirmations Butler wrote day after day, reminding herself that she would be successful — famous novelist, a bestseller — and that she had no one to rely upon but herself. They are documents of determination.”
You can read more about the exhibit here. The Los Angeles Times Contributed to this article.
Laylah Ali, Untitled from “Commonplace Drawings,” 2016. Text by Octavia E. Butler. Credit: Paul Kasmin Gallery. Image from Armory Center for the Arts.
