Gee Horton Chapter 3, Be Home Before the Streetlights

Chapter 3, Be Home Before the Streetlights is the third installment in a trilogy of exhibitions by Louisville born, Cincinnati based artist Gee Horton. After presenting Chapters 1 and 2 in Cincinnati, Chapter 3 marks Horton’s first time showing in his hometown of Louisville as well as his first solo museum exhibition. Centering on moments from his past alongside present-day scenes inspired by his family in Louisville, his images, while deeply personal to his own experiences, also embody a universal quest for grace, rehabilitation, peace, and reconciliation.   

Featuring new additions to his ongoing series of large photorealist drawings, Chapter 3 combines work from the past five years in photography, video, charcoal, graphite, and collage, with found objects and installations using materials from his family archives. Together, his work details his reflections on Black masculinity, generational memory, and his own reveries over childhood and youth.

 Horton’s current artistic practice was crucially informed by a life-changing trip to Senegal, West Africa, where he received spiritual guidance and sage advice on how to strengthen bonds with family and community and how best to heal from childhood traumas. In his two previous exhibitions Horton focused on themes ranging from self-discovery and personal growth into adulthood to a reckoning with family history and the fading presence of his own inner child. Combining work from both prior chapters 1 and 2, this third installment introduces the related subjects of safety, responsibility, and cultural heritage. 

This exhibition is divided into two sections, reflecting Horton’s meditation on Black masculinity, generational memory, and childhood reveries. The first section of the exhibition, known as The Great Outdoors, nods to the title Be Home Before the Streetlights, evoking a cautionary phrase used by adults to signal the end of outdoor playtime and the need to return home before the uncertainties of nightfall. In contrast, the second part of the exhibition located in the video room, known as Ova Granny’s House, embodies a sanctuary of warmth and connection, where the inner child finds solace.