Venus of Ossabaw
Date2026
MediumSingle-channel digital video, color, sound
DimensionsFilm/Video Length: 19 minutes (1140 seconds)
Credit LineGift of the artist, VIA Art Fund, and Boesky Gallery.
Object number2026.11
Copyright© Allison Janae Hamilton
The images and text contained on this page are owned by Telfair Museums or used by the Museum with permission from the owners. Unauthorized reproduction, transmission or display of these materials is prohibited with the exception of items deemed “fair use” as defined by U.S. and international copyright laws.Label TextA wilderness narrative set in the late 18th century, Allison Janae Hamilton’s Venus of Ossabaw follows a teenage girl named Venus as she escapes captivity on Ossabaw, journeying through the treacherous terrain of South Georgia toward St. Augustine in Spanish East Florida. Filmed primarily on Ossabaw Island in November 2025, foregrounds the natural environment, both treacherous and healing, as a central character. Exploring the history of marronage (the formation of remote communities by those escaping enslavement), the film takes inspiration from the life of Titus, an enslaved man who fled Ossabaw in the late 1700s and built community with others who had self-emancipated.
Drawing on her personal background, both Hamilton’s art and film practices have long been defined by a deep connection to and engagement with the landscapes of the American South as a living archive of stories. Hamilton states that the film is “a way to honor those who fled, those who stayed, and those who continue forging life and resistance while the land continues to bear witness and remember.”
Gallery label from Off the Coast of Paradise: Artists and Ossabaw Island, 1961–Now, March 13–September 6, 2026.
