Khalid Kodi: Out of Place: Alternative Landscapes and Other Stories

Out of Place is a conceptual exploration of the dynamic interplay between nature and human perception. These alternative landscapes challenge traditional notions of place and expand the boundaries of how we perceive and interact with the environment. Through fluid forms, vibrant gestures, and abstracted terrains, the works invite us to step beyond the static imagery of landscapes and enter a world of endless possibilities—where nature is not merely observed but continuously rearranged, imagined, and co-created. This exhibition examines the moments when nature escapes definition. Here, nature is both static and mutable, an entity we encounter and rearrange—sometimes with intention, sometimes in unconscious gestures, and other times in states of playful disruption. “Out of Place” reflects a search for that which lies beyond the known—a place of desire, comfort, majesty, love, and even madness. It asks: What happens when we deconstruct landscapes? When we let our minds wander through imagined terrains? When we infuse our interactions with nature with elements of whimsy, chaos, and longing?

The abstract compositions of Out of Place reject the rigidity of fixed landscapes. Instead, they propose an alternative: a fluid interplay of color, form, and movement. Swirling brushstrokes, scattered patterns, and unexpected juxtapositions evoke a sense of both familiarity and dislocation. These are not landscapes we know; they are landscapes we dream of, where natural forms and human interventions collide, merge, and transform. At its core, this collection is a meditation on the human tendency to shape and be shaped by the natural world. It celebrates the tension between control and surrender, order and chaos. In these works, we find a mirror of our own restless curiosity and our constant quest to reimagine the spaces we inhabit. Out of Place: Alternative Landscapes and Other Stories is an invitation to explore the profound interplay of perception, imagination, and the natural world. Through this exhibition, viewers are encouraged to reflect on their own relationship with landscapes—both the ones they know and the ones they yearn to create.

Born in Sudan, Khalid Kodi is an accomplished artist who has lived and worked in the US since the early 1990s. He is an educator, a public intellectual, and a cultural critic who has emerged as a central figure working on multi/cross cultural concepts. A pioneer of Participatory Art, he uses visual language to address social change issues and facilitate communication between communities, including communities in conflict and individuals who are not literate. Kodi uses art as a mechanism to create a platform for dialogue on constructions of identity across racial, gender socio-economic, and other forms of difference, co-existence, justice and peace. His work has been widely exhibited with critical acclaim.