December Barn Door Gallery 2025
HOME AS COUNTERPOINT
Adeyemi Adebayo, Bo Kim, & Josue Salazar
December 4 - December 20
Opening Reception on Arts Night Out
A counterpoint is the relationship of two or more simultaneous musical lines that are harmonically dependent on each other, yet independent in rhythm and melodic contour.
Home functions here as a site of dialogue, thought-making, ongoing inquiry, and, importantly, as a counterpoint. Home stands beside, in conjunction, in juxtaposition, and in contrast to other concepts: of foreignness, of immigration, of fugitivity, of mobility, and of exile. These concepts all gain meaning, richness, and depth when they stand beside each other.
This exhibition brings together three artists from three different countries and continents, currently residing in the US, as they explore what home means to them. The notion of in-betweenness resonates in all their works, as seen in Bo’s definition of home as an affective site that allows for cultural hybridity, Josue’s exploration of binational identity through a meditation on the borderland of Nogales, Mexico, and Adeyemi’s inquiry into the liminal identities of the postcolonial African diaspora.
In the exhibition, Bo’s drawings and paintings engage with developing forms of hybridity in culture through institutionalized traveling objects. She examines the reconstruction of meaning, misclassification, and transformation of these objects within their new spaces. Josue’s landscape drawings and mixed-media approaches explore life, stories, and movement along the U.S.-Mexico border. Adeyemi’s photographs examine spaces in which postcolonial African diasporic people recreate community and home.
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Adeyemi (he/him), born in Osun, Nigeria, is a documentary photographer interested in themes of home, belonging, migration, and the environment. He received his undergraduate degree in Agriculture and a Master's in Ecology and Population Genetics, and is currently doing a Master’s in Fine Arts at the University of Massachusetts. Adeyemi’s work has been featured in Nataal and Oulun ylioylioppilaslehti. He is the recipient of the Frank and Folwell Photography Award 2024, 2024 ACDD grant, 2024 University of Massachusetts UMCA Eva Fierst Curatorial Fellowship, and the Factory of Willow 2024 Summer Resident Artist.
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I’m Bo Kim (she/her), a third-year MFA candidate in Studio Art at UMass Amherst, originally from Busan, South Korea. My practice blends traditional Korean painting materials—like sumi ink, natural pigments, and mulberry paper—with research-driven installation, drawing, and community-based projects. As both an artist and educator, I investigate themes of cultural memory, displacement, and healing. My work often engages personal and collective archives, inviting participation and dialogue. I currently teach Drawing and Painting at UMass and am committed to creating inclusive, accessible spaces for interdisciplinary artistic expression.
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My name is Josue Salazar (he/him), and I’m a contemporary artist based in Western Massachusetts. I was born in Nogales, Sonora, Mexico, and immigrated to the United States at a young age. Growing up in a predominantly Hispanic community in Southern California has had a profound influence on my artistic practice. I earned my Bachelor's degree in Studio Arts from California State University, Sacramento, and have exhibited work throughout California, including at the Crocker Art Museum. My work explores identity, memory, and the nuances of cultural experience shaped by borderland life.