This semester, I am taking a Contemporary Art class. Our first assignment was to write a paper in response to a recent show. With Tschabalala Self's recent ICA show "Out of Body," set to close at the beginning of September, I decided to visit the museum to see it in person before it closed. And I'm so glad I did! Below is a short excerpt from the art history paper I wrote in response to her work. The Multiplicity of Selves in Tschabalala Self’s Out of Body Exhibition at the ICA Boston
Tschabalala Self’s show “Out of Body,” at the ICA Boston, takes its name from a sewn fabric painting of the same title. Out of Body (the painting) hangs at the entrance to the exhibit, a preview of the show’s overarching themes of creation, identity, representation, and multiplicity. The canvas is composed of two female figures standing opposite each other, as if looking in a mirror. The figure on the left, adorned with yellow fabric, patterned with pints of red strawberries, looks critically at the figure in front of her. Her hands outstretched, she is in the process of, “constructing her own avatar” (ICA wall text). In describing this painting, the wall text goes on to suggest, “Perhaps this [painting] is a self-portrait of the artist, who, in her self-assuredness, confidently fashions the shapes and pieces at hand into lively figures.” (ICA wall text) Nearly complete, the brick-red figure on the right, with shoulder-length blue hair, yellow eyebrows, and red fingernails stands upright on the heel of her black and white floral foot, which is attached to a hyperextend salmon-colored leg with a few simple stiches. The hyper-mobile limbs of the figure on the right remind me of the Barbies I used to play with as a little girl, and the stories I used to conjure up about who they were and what they were doing. Using my imagination, I could change the name, age, clothes, thoughts, and backstories of the dolls in front of me; each of them a container for an endless number of possible identities. Like the characters in the writings of well-known author Zadie Smith, or the fictionalized self-portraits taken by contemporary photographer Cindy Sherman, in “Out of Body” (the ICA exhibition), Self’s figures, which span three galleries of the museum, can be read as representations of the artist’s multifaceted identity. In the essay “Fascinated to Presume: In Defense of Fiction,” Smith champions the ability of successful authors to provide a convincing portal into the experience the characters they craft, people who may or may not resemble the author and who may or may not resemble the reader. (Zadie Smith, “Fascinated to Presume: In Defense of Fiction,” October 24, 2019) In advocating for an author’s right to step outside of themselves, to step “out of body,” so to speak, and imagine other possibilities of personhood, Smith provides a productive framework for understanding Self’s portrait paintings. The figures Self creates are artists, avatars, mothers, pedestrians, consumers, jocks, goddesses and icons. “Multiplicity—which the artist defines as the notion that we are all made up of fragments of memories and identities—is central to her formal vocabulary” (from the introductory wall text). In contrast to Smith, who takes pleasure in writing from the perspective of a vast array of characters, that include people who are, “adult and child, male and female, black, brown, and white, gay and straight, funny and tragic, liberal and conservative, religious and goddess, not to mention alive and dead,” (Smith), Self’s representations are more focused. Self’s primary concern is “the iconographic significance of the Black female body in contemporary culture.” (From the “About” section on Tschabalala Self’s website) Her canvases, wall silhouettes and sculptures, composed of abstracted figures, are inspired by personal narratives, her relationships with family members and friends, and the her upbringing in Harlem, NY. “I don’t have the interest, and nor do I think I could earnestly speak about another lived experience outside my own.” (“At the ICA, ‘Out of Body’ Explores Color and Texture of Black Life In Harlem,” Pamela Reynolds) In the galleries of her ICA show, Self creates a world in which her lived experience and artistic imagination coexist, a place where her observations, memories, and feelings about the people and places she cares about, provide the inspiration for the assembly of abstracted figures on display.
0 Comments
Sedrick Huckaby in front of A Love Supreme I learned about the work of Sedrick Huckaby when I was an undergrad in painting. Serdrick also went to BU for undergrad. At the time, I was painting a lot of self portraits and was intrigued by his use of thick, imposto paint to create portraits. My mom happened to be visiting town while he was having two solo shows--one at a gallery on Newbury Street and one at the Danforth Museum of Art. We went to see them together while they were still up. His paintings at the gallery on Newbury were small and intimate portraits of himself and family members. The paintings at the Danforth, on the other hand, took up an entire room. Each of the four canvases depicted a still life of quilts, each one fitting the four walls of the room. I was blown away. The pieces were immersive and intimate, yet grand and powerful. Sedrick Huckaby, A Love Supreme – Spring, 2001-2009, oil on canvas, 92” x 240” Sedrick Huckaby, A Love Supreme – Summer, 2001-2009, oil on canvas, 92” x 240” Sedrick Huckaby, A Love Supreme – Fall, 2001-2009, oil on canvas, 92” x 240” Sedrick Huckaby, A Love Supreme – Winter, 2001-2009, oil on canvas, 92” x 240” Sedrick's paint is thick and lush. His paintings are meditations, feats of strength, acts of love.
I was reading a catalogue of his work a couple years ago, and this passage stood out to me: "A painting is a quiet dialogue in which volumes of information are slowly and silently revealed, yet its entire essence can be experienced within a moment's glance. I believe my paintings are done in a language more closely in tune with my soul then the language of my tongue. For me, the act of painting is not just a means to a product; it is also a meditative process of communication." -Sedrick Huckaby, 2004 To view more of his work, visit his website: https://huckabystudios.com/about/sedrick. Below is a list of BIPOC Artists to Know (BIPOC A2K) that I have compiled. It include artists that I have loved for years and artists I have just recently learned about. The list is ongoing, incomplete, and in no particular order:
Visual Artists Sedrick Huckaby Horace Pippin Faith Ringgold Kara Walker Jean-Michel Basquiat Kwesi Botchway Micalene Thomas Nick Cave Emma Amos Steve Locke Ebony Patterson El Anatsui Jack Whitten Gee's Bend Quilters Odili Donald Odita Toyin Ojih Odutola Romare Bearden Kerry James Marshall Amy Sherald Henry Taylor Chanel Thrivel Sanford Biggers Mike Cloud Jordan Casteel Jerrel Gibbs Howardena Pindell Nathaniel Mary Quinn Tschabalala Self Nadia K Waheed Bill Traylor Kenesha Sneed Muzae Sesay David Hammons Robert Pruitt Dominic Chambers Lania Sproles Deborah Roberts Clementine Hunter Padma Rajendran Amoako Boafo Lorna Simpson Adrian Piper Bisa Butler Titus Kaphar Jennifer Packer Noah Davis Mikey Yates Beatriz Gonzalez Tsedaye Makonnen & Ayana Evans Toyinoji Hodutola Lania Sproles Jessica Sabogal Hank Willis Thomas Tatyana Fazlalizadeh Ariana Vaeth Kudzanai-Violet Hwami Musicians Al Greene TLC Mulatu Astatke Beyonce Lianne La Havas Mavis Staples Alabama Shakes Leon Bridges Anjimile Writers Zadie Smith Audre Lorde Richard Wright Langston Hughes Toni Morrison Jamaica Kincaid Sonia Guinansaca Film Cheryl Dunye If you have suggestions of artists that you think I should add, please email me using the "contact" page. I will also be adding these artists to the ongoing list of "Artists to Know" on my teaching blog. |
CurrentDrawing from Perception, Invention & Memory @ Stein Galleries
Jan. 16 - March 8, 2024 160 Creative Arts Center Wright State University Dayton, OH Gallery Hours: Tue/Thur 11-4pm Wed/Fri 12-4pm Sat 10-4pm Feast @ Mosesian Center for the Arts Jan. 26 - March 8, 2024 321 Arsenal Street Watertown, MA 02472 Gallery Hours: Wed. - Sat. 1-8pm Tag Cloud
All
LinksBlogs & Organizations
art, life (no separation) Big, Red & Shiny Boston Art Review Dorchester Art Project Gateway Arts Friends & Mentors
AJ Rombach Bridget Bailey Chen Peng Dana Clancy Dana Frankfort Daniel Kornrumpf Dena Haden Eleanor Anderson Elizabeth Menges Georganna Greene Hannah Cole Jason Lipow Jen Caine Jenn Houle Joetta Maue Josephine Halvorson Kaitlin McDonough Katherine Vetne Lindsey Warren Liza Clement Lucy Kim Madeline Kobe Madeline Norton Matt Milkowski Marc Schepens Maria Moltini Meena Hasan Natessa Amin Sarah Pater |