Kambui Olujimi, When You Find Me, 2021. Watercolor, ink, and graphite on paper, 51 × 77 inches. Courtesy of the artist.

What does the Black body, freed from the gravity of white supremacy, look like? Kambui Olujimi: North Star is an immersive exhibition that features Kambui Olujimi’s inquiry into the liberatory possibilities of weightlessness, a concept he has explored since 2019 as an alternative to the structuring forces of anti-Black racism. Olujimi’s projects implicate viewers in reimagining what is possible, often through elements drawn from history and everyday life. 

North Star brings together a selection of large-scale watercolor and ink paintings, a site-specific mural, a film, and a new audiovisual installation. These works collectively imagine what new relationships we might chart between our bodies, the self, the planet, and the universe once deeply entrenched forces are destabilized and replaced by boundlessness and possibility.

Exhibition Reading List - North Star: Kambui Olujimi 

Compiled by Cassandra Ponce for Kambui Olujimi: North Star on view at SJMA through June 1, 2025.

Reserve your book by clicking on the format links to pick up a copy to borrow. A selection of these books is available for reference in the exhibition's Reading Area.

Support

Kambui Olujimi: North Star is made possible by the SJMA Exhibitions Fund, with lead support from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.

Operations and programs at the San José Museum of Art are made possible by principal support from SJMA’s Board of Trustees, a Cultural Affairs Grant from the City of San José, and the Lipman Family Foundation; by lead support from the Adobe Foundation, the California Arts Council, Toby and Barry Fernald, Brook Hartzell and Tad Freese, the Richard A. Karp Charitable Foundation, Tammy and Tom Kiely, the Knight Foundation, Evelyn and Rick Neely, Yvonne and Mike Nevens, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, the Skyline Foundation, the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, and the SJMA Director's Council and Council of 100; and with significant endowment support from the William Randolph Hearst Foundation and the San José Museum of Art Endowment Fund established by the Knight Foundation at the Silicon Valley Community Foundation.

Press

Fall Arts Guide: Culture-Forward Things to Do in Silicon Valley, Metro Silicon Valley 
August 28, 2024

North Star: Kambui Olujimi at San José Museum of Art, United States, ART AFRICA 
October 31, 2024

Holiday 2024: Bask in visual art to celebrate this season, SF Chronicle Datebook 
November 14, 2024