Knockdown Center is pleased to present TRAVELER, a mural by Carl E. Hazlewood, as a part of our FiftyTwo Ft series of long-term commissions of wall-based artworks in Knockdown Center’s East Corridor.

The mural’s title, TRAVELER, references the way viewers must physically move in order to grasp such a large work in a circumscribed space: essentially a long corridor at Knockdown’s entrance. The title also alludes to the artist’s shifting position, described by Hazelwood as not only that of an immigrant but also as black, poor, older – a boundary-crosser of sorts within a category of persons increasingly problematized (and sometimes demonized) in recent political machinations. While not explicitly a sociopolitical artist, Hazelwood manipulates abstract form and space in an effort to illuminate his personal vision, offering the possibility of poetic revelation.

Carl E. Hazlewood, born in Guyana, South America, has been an exhibiting artist since childhood. He is also a writer and curator currently living in Brooklyn, NY. He is co-founder of Aljira, A Center for Contemporary Art in Newark, NJ, and taught at New Jersey City University and other institutions. Currently associate editor for Nka: Journal of Contemporary African Art, (Duke University), he’s written for many other periodicals including Flash Art International, ART PAPERS Magazine, and NY Arts Magazine. Since 1984 he has organized numerous curatorial projects for Aljira such as ’Modern Life’ (co-curated with Okwui Enwezor). Hazlewood’s project on behalf of Aljira, ‘Current Identities, Recent Painting in the United States,’ was the US prize-winning representation at the ‘Bienal International de Pintura,’ Cuenca, Ecuador 1994. As an Independent curator he has organized numerous exhibitions including those for The Nathan Cummings Foundation, NY; Studio Museum in Harlem, NY; Hallwalls, NY; Artists Space, NY; P.S.122, NY,. Hazlewood has written catalogues for The Krannert Art Museum, University of Illinois; The Ben Shahn Center, William Paterson University, NJ; The New Jersey State Museum. Trenton NJ, and many others. His writing has also appeared in periodicals including ‘Flash Art International’, Rome; ‘ART PAPERS Magazine’, Atlanta, and ‘NY Arts Magazine’. Latest book essays include the upcoming, ‘Terry Adkins: RECITAL, for the Tang Museum and Gallery, Skidmore University, Saratoga, NY.