Elsewhere Within

Vincent Frimpong
November 13, 2026 – January 10, 2027

Opening reception

Friday, November 13, 5:30 – 7:30pm
Artist talk begins at 6pm
True F. Luck Gallery at the Visual Arts Center of Richmond
1812 W. Main St., Richmond, VA 23220

About the Exhibition

The Visual Arts Center of Richmond presents Elsewhere Within, an exhibition that explores the transient state of living between worlds. Ghanaian artist Vincent Frimpong reflects on moving to America during the COVID pandemic to pursue his Master’s degree and his continued experience of living between Ghana and the West. Curated by Asa Jackson, this exhibition brings together two bodies of work rooted in reclamation, labor, and transformation.

The Frimpong Case features large-scale textile works made of discarded goods of Western countries to Ghana. Conceived in 2023, Frimpong works with his fellow countrymen to reclaim these materials, transforming what the West has discarded into works of art. The process becomes an act of alchemy, transforming trash into treasure while creating opportunity within his home community.

Masa Abedi continues this transformation through large-scale ceramic works honoring Frimpong’s father, a mechanic. Just as his father restored and manipulated machines, Frimpong manipulates clay, creating vessels reminiscent of the mechanical forms that surrounded his childhood. Anthropomorphized, worn, and scarred, these forms become metaphors for human life: shaped by labor and experience, yet capable of purpose and contribution to forward movement.

About the artist

Vincent Frimpong is a Ghanaian contemporary artist whose work explores labor, migration, and memory through ceramics, sculpture, and installation. Drawing from his experiences living and working across cultures, he examines how objects carry histories of resilience, identity, and human connection.

His work has been exhibited internationally, including at the Daum Museum of Contemporary Art, the Griffin Museum of Science and Industry, and the Shigaraki Ceramic Cultural Park in Japan, where he presented his solo exhibition Dawn on Me. He has also completed artist residencies across the United States, Japan, and the United Kingdom.

Frimpong is the recipient of the 2025 NCECA Emerging Artist Award and the Lighton International Artists Exchange Program. He holds an M.F.A. in Ceramics from the University of Arkansas and a B.A. in Industrial Arts from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana. He is an Assistant Professor of Art at Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois.

About the Curator

Asa Jackson is an American artist, curator, and arts leader based in North Carolina. As a multidisciplinary artist, Jackson’s work explores the cross section of textile from various countries, peoples, time periods, and personal histories. His works are often anthropological studies, representing the lives of myriad people, their collective and individual stories. By cutting and sewing fabrics together, Jackson metaphorically mixes cultures, time periods, people and places into unified works of art.

Jackson studied sociology at Boston University. He then moved to New York in 2010, where he was featured in several exhibitions, including a solo exhibition at the Samuel Owen Gallery in Greenwich, CT. Jackson then opened 670 Gallery in Virginia, leading the gallery as its director from 2014-2017. He has since been featured in numerous exhibitions, including more recently a solo at Les Yeux Du Monde in Charlottesville, VA, Zidoun-Bossuyt Gallery in Luxembourg, EXPO Chicago , Art Brussels , and the Harvey B. Gantt Center in Charlotte, NC. His work is a part of various prominent collections including the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, the Capital One Corporate Collection, The Mint Museum, the University of Virginia, and The Rockwell Museum. Jackson is the co-founder of the CAN Foundation, a not-for-profit arts organization in Newport News, VA, with a focus on building sustainable careers for the creative class. He served on the board of the Virginia Commission for the Arts from 2018-2023 where he acted as chairman for FY 2022. In January 2025, he became President and CEO of the McColl Center in Charlotte, NC.

In Collaboration With

Larissa Cheryl Frimpong is a multi-disciplinary artist, educator, curator, and community-building facilitator. Her work investigates and invests in visual media through photography, archival methods, anti-colonial curatorial practices, and building community toolkits, skill-sharing, and workshops by promoting care, dialogue, and resources within her social-artistic practice.

Larissa holds an M.F.A. from the University of Arkansas and a B.F.A. from the Pennsylvania College of Art & Design. She has worked with Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art and The Center for Art as Lived Experience (C.A.L.E.). Currently, Larissa is a Visiting Assistant Professor of Art, Photography at Augustana College, Editorial & Partnerships Manager of Black Is Magazine, and is the founder of STOOP TALK: ARTIST TAKES podcast and STOOP TALK workshops.