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Art is difficult to understand. In the domain of public perception, few truisms have enjoyed greater staying power than this one. What with its endless parade of unfamiliar forms, its highbrow hijinks and hopelessly cryptic meanings, things can hardly be expected to be otherwise. Many in number, however, are those who would explain it. In the domain of art discourse, little is met with more zeal than the opportunity to vociferate – usually at great length, often with language more abstruse than the thing it purports to illuminate, and almost always with…
For decades, Carrie Mae Weems’s staged photographs and videos have served as aids for processing the legacies of slavery, racism, and sexism in the United States. The elegant solutions in Weems’s compositions, their gravitas and narrative content, appear to operate as historical analyses, reflecting the past more than the present. If there is a call-to-action latent in Weems’s images, I was deaf to it until visiting the exhibition Carrie Mae Weems: I once knew a girl… at The Ethelbert Cooper Gallery of African and African-American Art at Harvard University. During the run…
Micah Danemayer, aka: hippie johnny / jungle jim / ic pcp / wife rice / fake steak / real veal / mono tony / visual aids December 31, 2016 I was in Miami the night I heard about the fire in Oakland earlier this month. I had just finished a performance with my wife and collaborator and was in the process of enjoying another performance, an electronic music performance with strong kawaii aesthetics. It’s something I think Micah would really have enjoyed. By that time, Micah had been listed as MISSING as…
In a playful sequence from Cecilia Vicuña’s 1980 film Sol y Dar y Dad, una palabra bailada, a danced word, the viewer’s attention is directed towards a female character, presumably the artist. Her back is leaned against the door of a waiting bus, one leg raised cavalierly onto the stairs. Next, the camera zooms in vertiginously, capturing her hands as she leafs through the pages of a book. The handwriting reads: “la palabra es una pala con alas para abrir la realidad” (the word is a shovel with wings to open reality).…
A collection of small, bright sculptures by Alexi Antoniadis are visible through the back windows of Carroll & Sons on Harrison Avenue in Boston. Seeming weightless from their perches on subtle shelving, with vibrant colors and taut shapes, they possess somehow both vintage and futuristic qualities. Last summer, two of the larger sculptures, at three feet high, were part of the group exhibition “No Boys Allowed,” with Robin Dash, William DiBello, Gail Fitzgerald, Alicia Gibson, Monique Johannet, Martin McDermott, Carl Ostendarp, Sheila Pepe, and Gary Petersen. Vivacious, formal, and at times floppy,…
A Zeus, a Jesus, a jester… or is it an evil clown? Actually, it’s President Barack Obama (yes, we can still call him that for a few more precious days)—seen through the lens (literally) of artist Carrie Mae Weems. “The Obama Project” (2016, video installation), on view at The Ethelbert Cooper Gallery of African & African American Art at Harvard University is part of Weems’ ambitious and electrifying exhibition “Carrie Mae Weems: I once knew a girl…” (through Jan. 7) and couldn’t be more timely as we contemplate the current political climate.…
Liao Fei’s exhibition at Yve Yang gallery at first glance seems to be a work in progress: perhaps even a transition between shows. Remarking on surveillance culture, Fei’s quiet exhibition not only gives visitors the uneasy feeling of being watched, but also questions tacit social acceptance of the constant government monitoring in public and private spaces. Fei altered the physical space of the gallery, constructing a wall and ramp near the entrance, as well as adding an overhang near the back of the gallery. Upon entering, the gallery appears nearly empty- except…
You can’t have relationships with other people until you give birth to yourself -Sonia Sanchez Reflecting on my recent trip to South Africa to attend and moderate a panel discussion at the “Black Portraitures III – Reinventions: Strains of Histories and Cultures,” a free conference (jointly organized by New York University, Harvard University, Goodman Gallery, and Wits University), I am reminded of how crucial it is to create spaces to belong and to be heard. Conceived and spearheaded by the deep commitment and scholarship of Deborah Willis, Cheryl Finley, & Awam Amkpa, “Black Portraitures III” with regards…