January 17, 2026 – March 4, 2027
Since the 1970s, Winston Wingo (b. 1952, Spartanburg, SC) has explored the tension between technology and humanity in a dynamic series of sculptural heads. These bronze-cast cyborgs embody the contrast between industrial and organic forms. They appear rigid, rendered with mechanical precision — angular planes, geometric incisions resembling computer circuitry, and metallic patinas that recall the sleek energy of machines. At the same time, they retain human features, a sense of movement, and seemingly pliable textures reminiscent of fingers in clay.
Wingo draws inspiration for his series from art history. His chosen method of lost-wax casting is inspired by the bronzes that adorned the royal palace of the Kingdom of Benin. This reference to African art is both a means of affirming ancestral ties and asserting Black identity through material permanence. Twentieth-century Italian Futurism serves as a further source; where the Futurists beckoned the machine age to renounce the past, Wingo invites us to critique technology as a departure from humanity.
Though Wingo began his series decades before the advent of artificial intelligence (AI), his work today feels more relevant than ever (and perhaps even prescient) for its rich social and political content. Seen through the lens of Afrofuturism, a cultural movement that engages Black concerns in dialogue with technology, Wingo’s heads manifest as monuments to Black futurity. They encourage the viewer to envision worlds in which Black bodies are not erased or mythologized but centered in conversations around societal advancement.