The Contemporary Dayton is proud to present Leviathan, a film by interdisciplinary artist Jamea Richmond-Edwards. Known for her monumental paintings and mixed-media collages informed by mythology, Afrofuturist iconography, and magical realism, Richmond-Edwards brings these influences into a cinematic form in this film. Using music and dance, Leviathan traces the artist’s family history and their enduring connection to Detroit. Raised in a family of dancers and musicians, and drawing on her experience as a competitive dancer and marching band member, Richmond-Edwards infuses the film with movement and sound. The film explores Detroit’s layered histories and evolving landscapes, invoking the mythic Leviathan as a metaphor for the powerful, often untold forces of the Great Migration.

Richmond-Edwards is an artist from Detroit who holds a BFA from Jackson State University and an MFA from Howard University. Her work has been included in exhibitions at the Brooklyn Museum, New York; the Frist Art Museum, Nashville, Tennessee; and The Phillips Collection, Washington, DC, and more. Her work is held in the collections of the Rubell Museum, Washington, DC; The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York; and the US Department of State’s Art in Embassies program, among others.