Location: Chazen Museum of Art by Appointment, 750 University Ave, Madison, WI

Supernova: Charlotte and Gene’s Radical Imagination Station is a self-portrait, a family memoir, and an Afrofuturist fantasy ode to the title characters, Anwar Floyd-Pruitt’s parents, who have always encouraged him to pursue his passion and live his dreams. The layered, multimedia installation intermixed with reflections, refractions, and abstractions, the interstellar adventure begins with an ornately-framed mirror from his childhood which serves as the vehicle for space exploration and time travel, envisioning Charlotte and Gene as baby astronauts. Colorful patterning blends design motifs from his home, visual elements of his DNA spectrometer analysis, and satellite views of the cosmos, creating a vast tableau and ground for vignettes of his family’s adventures. Recounting the influence of his ancestors, narrating his parents’ life stories, and proposing an open-ended future of our own creation, Floyd-Pruitt’s self-portraits are amalgamations of images and modes of reproduction, remixing his grandparents and his parents to create a multiverse of Him. “I love you mom and dad. You are the brightest stars in my universe.”

Anwar Floyd-Pruitt is the Chazen Museum of Art 2020 Russell and Paula Panczenko MFA Prize winner. Awarded to one graduating MFA candidate from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the annual Chazen Prize exhibition prize is offered in collaboration with the Art Department and judged by an outside visiting curator. Renowned curator, author, and historian Glenn Adamson selected this year’s recipient.