“The Little Way,” an immersive art experience by Kansas City artist Rashawn Griffin, opens Friday during First Friday Art Stroll at Ogden Contemporary Arts.

Griffin, born in Los Angeles in 1980, has been a creator most of his life. According to OCA, Griffin’s work has been featured in institutions and exhibitions across the country and internationally.

Griffin is known for using mixed media in his art installations, such as food, paper, fabric, plants and flowers. For this exhibition, Griffin utilizes projection screens and sound, creating a fully immersive experience in three parts.

Viewers follow a “garbage bag man” — a man made out of frumpy garbage bags — as he navigates his life and seemingly small tasks such as unlocking a door. The man, due to his size and lack of dexterity, often fails at these tasks, but success can be seen in other ways. The exhibition is multi-dynamic and allows the viewer to find meaning in multiple elements of the story and its parts.

“Poetically, the title of the project, ‘The Little Way,’ relates to the subject’s actions; how a seemingly small task — such as picking a flower or moving a latch — can be ‘monumental in some circumstances,'” according to the OCA event page. “Griffin’s art pushes boundaries between object and architecture, calling viewers to engage in their own past experiences when confronting his work. For this exhibition, Griffin transforms OCA’s Arts Garage into an immersive installation, presenting thought-provoking imagery that is intentional yet open to viewer interpretation.”

“The Little Way” opens on Friday from 6-9 p.m. and continues through May 22, with an artist lecture to be announced at a later date.

The Ogden Contemporary Arts exhibition space is located inside The Monarch building at 455 25th St. Recently opened in 2020, the space offers Ogden a place to view and interact with contemporary artists throughout the world.

For more information, visit ogdencontemporaryarts.org.

Newsletter