Carryout Kid #1
Nia Keturah Calhoun
Edition of 100
Description
Carryouts, Chinese American takeout restaurants, are a staple of DC. Every neighborhood has its local carryout, integral to the fabric of the community. Just as integral to the neighborhood are the kids that hold court in and around the carryouts, giving DC its flair and vibrancy. As the city speeds towards gentrification and erasure of its native residents, the Carryout Kids series asks viewers to see Washingtonians as pivotal to the landscape of the city. This first piece, “Ho Chi,” is a digital painting honoring the young people who inhabit the Shaw-Howard neighborhood, where you can find the building inspiration of the painting, the Howard China Carryout.
Inspiration
Carryouts, Chinese American takeout restaurants, are a staple of DC. Every neighborhood has its local carryout, integral to the fabric of the community. My favorite thing about these carryout is that the kids that hold court in and around them are just as integral to the neighborhood. My ‘Carryout Kid’ series is meant to highlight these young folks who lord over their blocks and the clubhouses they rule from.
Nia Keturah Calhoun
District-based artist Nia Keturah Calhoun centers on the communal world built by Black Americans, focusing on real and imagined connections. Multidisciplinary, Calhoun uses paintings, sculpting, animating, and immersive experiences to create alternate realities.
She has exhibited with the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center, at the Torpedo Gallery in Alexandria, VA, and in Johannesburg at the Ants Gallery. Her lyrical and mixed media works have been featured on/in BBC Radio 1, The Guardian, Hypebeast, and the Washington Post.