Najee Tobin: Further into the Place

2025 Juried Show Award Winner
Selected by Juror Demetri Broxton

MERCURY 20 presents the 2025 Juried Show Award winner, whose work was chosen for this solo exhibition from over 500 entries.

Further Into The Place is a photographic project rooted in 1960’s – 1980’s sci-fi art and incorporating Afro-Surrealist motifs. It is a nod to the artists Sun Ra, Funkadelic, Digable Planets, Deltron 3030; to the universes they created and the journeys they took their audiences on. Using items only found in the homes of black grandmothers and aunties, each character is accompanied by the avatars of their prayers in the form of the statues that line their homes. Wilhelm, who is followed and protected by the Black Madonna, learns to harness the abilities that his grandmother saw in him from the day he was born. Avalon was charged to be the ferryman of spirits to the next chapter from the end of the universe. Each being started off as a person but was taken into space just as Sun-Ra was once before. Each is given a chance to grow far beyond the influence of earth as we know it. Further Into The Place invites viewers to explore the polylithic nature of black diasporic galaxies.

Bio:
Najee Tobin is a lens based artist born and raised in Vallejo, CA. He received his BA from Sacramento State University and currently practices in the greater Bay Area. He specializes in portraiture, documentary, lifestyle, editorial, and fine art photography. Using Afro-surrealist motifs, his work centers around the human condition and the nuances that come with it. His work has been shown throughout the Bay Area including the Museum of the African Diaspora and Root Division, both in San Francisco.

June 6 – July 12, 2025
Gallery Hours: Friday & Saturday, 12:00-5:00 pm
Opening Reception: Saturday, June 7, 3 – 5 pm
Oakland Art Murmur / First Friday: June 6, July 4, 5 – 9 pm

Image: Najee Tobin, Ancestor Sye and Her Steed, 24″ x 30″, 2025 Archival Inkjet Print, photo courtesy of the artist