A Young Man Explores Ego And Truth In Exhibit At Mize Gallery

ST. PETERSBURG, FL — A 21-year-old man shares his personal journey between ego and true self in his art show, "Ego Death," which opens at the Mize Gallery on Friday.

Jabari Reed-Diop, whose artist name is iBOMS, created opposing mushroom characters that experience a psychological transformation throughout each piece. One of the characters is painted bright yellow and represents the ego. The other character is an earth-tone mushroom that frees itself when the ego dies.

"These almost alien-like beings offer me the opportunity to really travel to those deep levels within my mind space," iBOMS said. "It's really all about transformation; breaking yourself down to the point of no return and embedding your mind within current awareness. It is always there, but you can't reach that place unless you experience those ego checks."

iBOMS' work expresses that he is a spirit light-years ahead of the general population. He is self-aware and not afraid to take challenging journeys to explore self and transform the less desired parts.

Chad Mize, owner of Mize Gallery, discovered iBOMS on Instagram in 2019 in a Black History Month exhibit and was instantly captivated by his work.

"He was selling art prior, and he was blowing up," Mize told a Patch reporter. "Now he's riding this big wave right now, and everybody wants his work. Six people have already contacted me to purchase pieces of his from this show."

iBOMS attended Douglas Anderson School of the Arts in Jacksonville. He learned different mediums while in high school.

"The purpose of my work is to catch and draw the viewer in to create that 'awe' experience while exposing them to my world," iBOMS said. "The world of a young African American male."

Mize said he is happy that iBOMS' work adds diversity to the shows he has planned at the gallery for 2021.

"It means a lot to me that he's a Black artist," Mize said. "Just a diverse mix and not just white people."

"Ego Death" exhibit opens online via Facebook at 6 p.m. Friday with Mize and iBOMS giving a virtual tour of the paintings. The virtual tour on Instagram begins at 7 p.m.

iBOMS will be at the studio from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and will discuss his work with attendees. Visitors are required to wear masks while inside the gallery.

The Mize Gallery, 689 Dr. MLK Jr. St. N, St. Pete, has new studio hours: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday or by appointment.

The exhibit is on display from Jan. 9 to Jan. 24.