The Game We Play is a new series, from The Artist Oliver James, for a solo exhibition at the Patricia Barland Gallery at the Chesapeake Arts Center in Brooklyn Park, MD, February 25th - April 7th, 2026. A play on "The Debt You Owe," a previous series about national wealth built on native land, this new series aims to put the focus on Black towns, cities, and communities that disappeared overnight. An attempt at celebrating what was created, but also a realization of a current reality in their absence. While there isn't a monopoly on gentrification, it's a game that African Americans know all too well.  A game of cultural, mental, and physical survival on the move.

       

        Focusing on the displacement of Black communities like, Bruce's Beach, CA, Chevy Chase, D.C., Colfax, Louisiana, Elaine, AR, Greenwood, SC, Hobson City, AL, Oscarville, GA, Rosewood, FL, Seneca Village, NY, Slocum, TX, Springfield,IL, Tulsa, OK while the United States at large gets to benefit from black oppression, from chattle slavery, while denying black people reperations. This series seeks to educate people on how the US has created a game out of displacing black communities for profit, while trying to erase them from the history books.​​

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       Thank you to the Chesapeake Arts Center for allowing me and other artists to showcase our art.

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       Using acrylic paint on 24"x 48" plywood, these paintings are of Black communities that were displaced/destroyed in the US, replacing the places on the Monopoly board game with a lace background.  

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Design: The Artist Oliver James 

Photography/Videography: Oliver James