Artist Stephen Hayes encountered an image of a slave ship diagram in a printmaking class that would eventually lead to his installation, Cash Crop.Coupled with a disposition for three-demensional objects which began in his youth- his parents would often bring him old machine and computer parts - the work of this young artist suggests a creative mind that has a unique insight into the emothinal holds of people. As a undertone, Hayes has linked his historical transport of humans with today's transportation of products made by the exploitation of people through sweat shops and cheap labor in Third World nations. Cash Crop is an exhibition that invites viewers to wald into an emotional and physical and psychic space to confront the past, present, and future.
This exhibition was organized by the Harvey B. Gantt Center of African-American Arts + Culture and held from January to May 2012. The Gantt Center exhibition exhibit won a Charlotte Magazine’s BOB (Best of the Best) 2012 Award for Best Art Exhibition.
This online exhibit is a collaboration between the Harvey B. Gantt Center for African American Arts + Culture, the UNC Charlotte Africana Studies Department and UNC Charlotte J.Murrey Atkins Library Special Collections.