1/12/2026 - 3/01/2026

I want to be alive so badly

Khari Johnson-Ricks

Pennsylvania College of Art & Design is proud to announce the opening of I want to be alive so badly, a solo exhibition of new work by Khari Johnson-Ricks. This body of work features intricate scenes of daily life, depicting moments of ritualized maintenance, communal care, and Queer Fellowship. Each piece captures a state of flow, reflecting the spontaneity and communal energy of movement traditions like martial arts and Black vernacular dance. Drawing purpose and strength from routine moments, Johnson-Ricks’ work sublimates the mundanity of the everyday into mechanisms of resilience. He asks himself what it means to make a family in an extractive and precarious world, and how to cultivate community ties that overcome circumstance, and shed shame and greed systemically. 

I want to be alive so badly will be exhibited in the College’s Main Gallery from January 12 – March 1, 2026. An opening reception and artist talk will take place in the Gallery on February 6, 2026 from 5-8pm. All ages are welcome.

Featured image: Khari Johnson-Ricks, Gay Bembe, watercolor on cut paper, 2025, photo by Chika Kobari