Black Rock Arts is pleased to announce an exhibition of works by Joel Mulindwa, titled Impressions of Gratuity. The exhibition opens Friday, October 2, with a reception beginning at 5PM.
Joel Mulindwa (b.1996, Nyakunde, Democratic Republic of Congo) is an artist and educator whose work in painting, drawing and film explores notions of human value and dignity. For his exhibition at Black Rock Arts, Mulindwa presents a recently concluded series of pastel drawings depicting the humble and ubiquitous tip jar.
Each drawing in Impressions of Gratuity depicts a tip jar in a local restaurant, cafe or bookstore. Workers are rarely visible in Impressions of Gratuity. The tip jars, with their varying degrees of adornment, are portraits by proxy. Mulindwa deftly manages to humanize the unseen worker while raising larger questions around the intersection of gratitude and economic exchange.
Mulindwa highlights the often humorous and touchingly improvised “aesthetics of appreciation” unique to each vessel, while summoning the symbolic and material residue of labor. For Mulindwa, tip jars are small containers holding big questions: What is a fair exchange? How do we compensate labor beyond wages? How do we offer thanks in a society where service is expected but not always valued? What might we infer about a worker or their environs from the personalized jar itself? In the artist’s own words:
By isolating and elevating these objects, I invite viewers to consider the relationships embedded within them: the tension between obligation and generosity, the contrast between invisibility and recognition, and the quiet persistence of hope and daily work. These drawings challenge us to look closely at what is often overlooked, to see value in the smallest exchanges, and to reflect on the way we acknowledge (or fail to acknowledge) the labor of others.
Joel Mulindwa earned his MFA in Visual Arts from SUNY Buffalo and holds a BS in Business Administration, with minors in art and political science, from Houghton University. His paintings and drawings have been exhibited at Gallery at Seneca, Villa Maria College, Buffalo Arts Studio and through community initiatives associated with the Buffalo AKG Art Museum. In addition to his work in painting and pastel, Mulindwa also experiments with analog film to craft poetic narratives around spirituality, memory, and the body. His films have screened at the Buffalo International Film Festival and the 716 Art Film Festival, where his 16mm short film "Things We Cherish" received the award for Best Screenplay. Mulindwa lives with his family in Allegany County and teaches art at Houghton University and Houghton Academy.
Concurrent with Impressions of Gratuity, Castellani Art Museum of Niagara University presents Finding Rest, an exhibition of Mulindwa’s portraits of workers at their places of employment. Finding Rest explores rest as resistance, restoration, and recognition within contemporary labor culture. Impressions of Gratuity was born out of this portrait series, originating as the study of a quietly insistent motif and evolving over two years into a discreet body of work. Taken together, the exhibitions in Black Rock and Niagara Falls allow for a deep dive into the conceptual and technical craft of Mulindwa’s practice.
Impressions of Gratuity opens to the public on Friday, October 2, with a reception from 5 to 8PM. Thereafter, the exhibition will be on view at Black Rock Arts every Saturday from noon to 4.
An artist’s talk and film screening are in the works. To stay informed of these events, join the gallery’s mailing list or follow Black Rock Arts on Instagram.
