gleamin’: And none is barren among them

NorthStar Church of the Arts is proud to present gleamin’: And none is barren among them, a solo exhibition by Majesty Royale-Jackson. A multimedia installation combining sculpture, sound, and video projection, this body of work explores transformation as a technology of survival and self-determination. At the center, the artist alchemizes tobacco leaves into flamboyant mouth adornments: grillz. The exhibition places the sacred significance and history of colonial extraction of Carolina tobacco (nicknamed “gold leaf”) alongside the flamboyant adornment of grillz in Southern hip-hop.⁣ Through the creative repurposing of materials, gleamin’ considers how Black and Indigenous people transform the conditions of coloniality into expressions of autonomy, adornment, and possibility. Selected through a rigorous open call process, this is the third and final exhibition of NorthStar’s 2026 Spotlight Exhibition Series, which supports local emerging artists in producing their first solo exhibition.

Last updated October 30, 2026