Imagine knowing virtually nothing of a father who disappeared, then getting a text at 42 from an unknown cousin saying, "We might be related." Immediately, the generous warmth of a large, loving family replaces the cold emptiness of a son abandoned. For over a decade, visual artist Yashua Klos has employed a unique process of paper construction and woodblock printing to engage ideas about blackness and maleness from his cultural perspective as a native Chicagoan. Now, his practice and life are in fabulous flux, as he surrenders to a sea of love and appreciation engulfing him and aims to mark the legacy of his newly discovered family's migration from the South to working class Detroit. Swan Dive's third guest in our Wide Awakes activation, Yashua's award-winning work has been shown in museums and galleries across the globe, featured in the NYT, and earned him a Joan Mitchell Fellowship and a NYFA grant. He's also Stu's favorite artistic discovery of 2020. Klos is represented by Tilton Gallery in New York and Galerie Anne De Villepoix in Paris.
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