‘Whew Chile, The Ghetto!’ Brings Queer Black Energy to Tag Gallery

Rakeem Cunningham has come a long, long way from his youthful days of dragging a DIY tripod made of stacked-and-taped cardboard boxes around. He also knows the power of The Real Housewives of Atlanta's NeNe Leakes, especially when she utters the phrase, "whew chile, the ghetto!"

It's from those now iconic four words that the Los Angeles-based artist found the concept, and the name, for his new exhibition with fellow artist Ramon Espinosa at the Tag Gallery. "I thought it would be an appropriate title [for the show] because it's taking the concept of her being in this place where she doesn't feel comfortable or this feeling of not belonging," he explained over the phone. "We thought we'd take that feeling of being a queer person of color in the art world or trying to break into the art world and talk about uncomfortable that can be."

Related | 'Whew Chile,' Rakeem Cunningham Brought Ghetto to the Gallery

On display from September 18 through September 30, 'whew chile, the ghetto!' brings the ghetto to the gallery thanks to his series of stunning, nude self-portraits posed against DIY backdrops of carefully curated found objects.

Before you click through the gallery for a sneak preview of his work, see what the artist had to say about Final Fantasy's twink energy and the evil of Tauruses in our exclusive interview.

Rakeem Cunningham and Ramon Espinosa's 'whew chile, the ghetto!' is on display Sept. 18 through Sept. 30, 2018, at the Tag Gallery, 5458 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, CA. Click here for more information about the show.