The following description comes from the event organizer.

Isaka Shamsud-Din: Rock of Ages is an intimate exhibition celebrating the Portland artist’s masterful paintings, rich in a narrative combining personal stories and folklore. Shamsud-Din’s paintings also celebrate and honor individuals by capturing portraits. Tightly composed and with a vibrancy of color, the works invite viewers to be among these individuals and warm settings. The exhibition is titled after Shamsud-Din’s painting of his father, Rock of Ages (1976), the museum’s most recent acquisition of the artist’s work. Capturing his subject in the luscious garden that his father prided himself in—a setting that was particularly special for the very close father and son—Shamsud-Din invites the viewer to see this man. In Brothers Phree (ca. 1990), Shamsud-Din reveals a scene at a local club then called the Welcome Inn, on Northeast Alberta Street. It is a happening place of social gathering, playing pool, dancing, and relaxing, while the backdrop of the Pyramids of Giza is a reminder of roots to Africa and pre-colonial kinship. With the support of the Regional Arts and Culture Council (RACC) and Teressa Raiford of Don’t Shoot Portland, the exhibition will also highlight the significant mural projects Shamsud-Din has created for Portland in a span of more than 50 years.