The Sheldon
3648 Washington Blvd
St Louis, MO 63108
Reception: Friday, February 11, 5 – 8 p.m.
I AM… THE NIGHT travels across the United States and examines the tension between joy and fear. Paintings and prints disrupt nostalgia on Soul Train, a 1971 to 2006 musical variety television show, and widely distributed 19th- and early 20th century lynching photographs. The installation confronts our fears of the Other and proposes that our connection to collective experience allows fresh space for empathy and action.
Hammie repurposes the “soul train” here as the “ghost train” of folklore, remembering those legions that are dying and disappearing. He transforms lynch mobs into abstract inkblots, making space to feel their effect on people and the land. The show title borrows from the 1968 Memphis sanitation workers strike that immortalized “I AM” as a political rallying cry. It also quotes Batman: The Animated Series (1992-95) where the titular vigilante asserts, “I Am Vengeance. I Am The Night. I Am Batman!” These frame haunted American experiences that struggle through traumas and demand humanity. I AM… THE NIGHT faces audacious joy and terrorism toward considering how far we go to maintain community.