Twenty years later, the darkness is back. Although, for many it never really went away. It keeps itself alive in the deep crevices of the earth. It cowers in an attic that nobody has ever dared to enter, nor will ever dare to enter. It lingers in the back of many minds, like an alarm that operates without a snooze function. It is a shapeshifter that has many forms. Truth. Fear. Isolation. Mystery. It is something completely tangible and also unreachable at the same time. It’s all around us–and in some cases, it is us. In a way, it also makes us curious, for no one truly knows its anatomy.

Twenty years later, for the very first time since it debuted 2002, Illinois born artist David Hammons engages with the darkness once again with the return of his interactive exhibition, ‘Concerto in Black and Blue’. The exhibition which recently premiered at the Frieze Los Angeles Art Fair in February is on display at the acclaimed Los Angeles Hauser & Wirth Gallery until June 1st of this year. A 20,000 square foot dark room, filled with only the sounds of a concerto and attendees' flashlights, makes up Hammons' interactive exhibit. This comes alongside a Los Angeles exclusive launch of expansive catalogue  ‘David Hammons,’ published by Hauser & Wirth publishers, which revisits the artist’s 2019 show at Hauser & Wirth Downtown Los Angeles and is the most expansive exhibition of the artist's work to date.

Similar to how ‘Concerto in Black and Blue’ consists of a tangible environment entirely consumed by darkness, Hammons states, “I feel that my art relates to my total environment—my being a Black, political, and social human being. Although I am involved with communicating with others, I believe that my art itself is really my statement. For me it has to be.” For those traversing the seemingly endless pitch-black void of the interactive exhibit, similar sensations and thought-processes may arise. 

Hammons’ fascinating ‘Concerto in Black and Blue’, is just as intangible as the darkness itself. It’s a conduit for the senses, as somewhere within the darkness the constant sounds of a concerto emerges. A droning noise, a mixture of humanistic beauty and otherworldly sonar sensations. Attendees brave a journey of unfamiliarity through darkness, thousands of square feet that beckons curiosity, or fear, with only the blue light of a flashlight as their guide. Even with the flashlight, the darkness doesn’t get any less intimidating nor does its presence necessarily substantially dissipate. Hammons’ implementation of flashlights as part of the experience, is a true representation of a human being’s desire to be in control when surrounded by chaos, a last ditch effort of protection from whatever they may or may not find. Perhaps, looking for something only for it to not be there, or stumbling upon another attendee traversing the darkness, the bright blue light acting as a vessel for confrontation and connection.