Kara Walker’s controversial pop-up silhouette book, “Freedom, a Fable: A Curious Interpretation of the Wit of a Negress in Troubled Times,” depicts a black woman birthing babies at the turn on a knob on the side of the book. The recently installed “Shades of Black[ness]” exhibit opened at the Davison Art Center on January 25, 2005, and features Walker’s and other African-American artists’ take on black identity.
All the pieces are from the Davison Art Center Collection. The Exhibit explores the African American identity, through twelve different artists’ eyes, while also putting a lens on gender and class struggles.
Art history students from Professor Peter Mark’s seminar, Advanced Themes in 20th Century Afro-American Art, curated the exhibit.
“[The exhibit is] characterized, above all, by its diversity of expression,” Mark said. “For identities are multiple, sometimes overlapping, sometimes discrete.”
The collection features a variety of mediums, including photography, lithographs and etchings.
The first piece seen upon entering “Shades of Black[ness]” is a photo by Wesleyan graduate, Lyle Ashton Harris ’88, entitled “Saint Michel Stewart.” Taken in 1994, it shows an androgynous-looking Harris in makeup wearing a New York City police uniform. In the background are the colors from Marcus Garvey’s 1920 Negro Improvement Association movement. The photograph aims to question gender societal norms and was inspired by the murdered graffiti artist Michael Stewart, who was strangled to death by New York police officers in 1985. The officers, who were all white, were acquitted.
“The figure in the piece looked so powerful,” said Julia Kessler ’05. “The sheer size and color of the photo really grabbed my attention and drew me to examine it more. As a photographer myself, I really enjoyed the fact that there were all sorts of different mediums of expression used through this exhibit.”
Another Wes alum, Glenn Ligon ’82, is also featured. His piece “Runaways,” created in 1993, imitates 19th century runaway slave ads, created by white slave owners in search of their missing black slaves. Exhibited side by side, ten lithographs of black figures on white paper feature different descriptions and one of the artist himself. Ligon explores his own identity while still allowing the viewer to imagine each figure as a separate entity.
Many etchings by the late Vincent D. Smith are on display. Smith was a personal friend of Mark and had previously spoken at Wesleyan. One 1965 etching , “First Day of School,” depicts the aftermath of the 1954 Brown vs. Board of Education Supreme Court decision to integrate the school systems. Seven black children are escorted by a friendly police officer as an angry adult mob protests the integration.
Gallery supervisor Will McCarthy said that there has been a steady flow of students through the exhibit since it opened. Hopefully more students will take the opportunity to see this wonderful collection of African American created and inspired artwork. The exhibit runs through Thursday, March 3, 2005. It will be reopened after break for a closing reception at 5pm on Tuesday, March 22, with a talk from Professor Mark about the exhibit. The Davison Art Center Gallery Hours are Tuesday through Sunday, noon to 4pm. For more information about the Davison Art Center visit www.wesleyan.edu/dac.
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