Lakwena Maciver, 2024. Courtesy of the artist and Mariane Ibrahim.
Mariane Ibrahim is pleased to announce a solo exhibition by London-based artist Lakwena Maciver entitled, I'M IN YOUR HANDS, debuting, opening in Paris on January 25, 2025.
The exhibition is inspired by the vibrancy of African diasporic barbershop —a space that extends beyond a business but and serves as a theater of solidarity, ambition, and personal transformation. Utilizing the visualities within barbershops, Maciver’s work combines sleek, futuristic materials such as mirrors and metal with figurative elements reminiscent of local vernacular advertisements that commonly adorn shop windows and walls. These hand-painted motifs interpolate local aesthetic traditions to honor the intergenerational legacy of African diasporic customs.
“I always start with words,” states Maciver, whose practice interrogates the historical and cultural dimensions of language, expressed in phrases that are presented in sculptural and graphic arrangements. In her work, texts, hues, and forms collide to enshrine the barbershop as a landmark for both critical engagement and joyful exchange—a setting nexus where futurism and timeless traditions can converse and converge.
A portal between past and present, I'M IN YOUR HANDS will activate our Parisian space, engaging both its architecture and audience.