The first annual student of color art exhibition, “Skittles,” opened its doors to a large and eager crowd at the Zilka South Gallery on Feb. 8. “Skittles” hopes to raise awareness about the challenges faced by artists of color within the Wesleyan community and in the larger art world, while simultaneously commemorating the diverse art and backgrounds of the artists in the show.
The exhibition, which was organized by five students and sponsored by more than eight different departments and programs, features 17 artists. Julius Hampton ’09, student organizer and artist, opened the reception ceremony by noting the crowd the event had attracted.
“I look around this room and I see faces, in this crowd and on these walls, all diverse faces,” Hampton said. “I want tonight to be a celebration of these faces. Celebration is necessary.”
Last fall, Hampton approached fellow artists, Ujamaa members, professors, and University administrators with his idea for a Student of Color Art Show during Black History Month.
Other participating student-artists also see “Skittles” as both evidence of mounting dissatisfaction with the University’s fine arts department and the wider art world and a necessary showcase for artistic multiculturalism.
“It’s not easy to be a student of color in the art world, even at Wesleyan,” said student organizer and artist Priya Ghosh ’09.
Michael Bolds ’08, an artist in the show, recently dropped his studio art major due to the incompatibility of the art he wished to create and the art the fine arts program expected him to create.
“The biggest surprise for me was that I am artistically privileged,” Bolds said. “I went to a private high school where there was a good arts program. But not having a frame of reference, especially in art history courses, is a practical impediment. I can’t just go to Europe to look at art.”
Bolds’ piece, “Pieces of a Man,” was a self-portrait done with black permanent marker on cardboard with a poem pasted on the back. Cut up into puzzle pieces, the work had a sign posted to the right that encouraged viewers to play with it. It read: “[S]ometimes the boxes we are provided in life don’t always fit our expressions. Such is the box to your right. Feel free to engage the puzzle as fully as you see fit.”
Throughout the opening reception, a swarm of people gathered around Bolds’ exhibit, absorbing the words and fiddling with the pieces.
“Media is as mixed as my bloodline,” begins one puzzle piece, “And as rhythmic and intrinsic as the languages heard in bilingual homes / And street corner bodegas / So that’s where I’m taking my craft… Cause Grandma got got / and I got got when I thought the talent I got could stand on its own just being hot / but the western art world is cold / and I struggle to keep my hands warm as is.”
Bolds’ poem resonates with the other artwork and artists’ statements in the room.
“Every piece of art is accompanied by a statement from the artist which is a response to a prompt which we [the organizers of the show] gave them. It basically had to do with how being a person of color has affected them as an artist,” Ghosh said.
Micaela Anaya ’08 wrote in her artist’s statement, “Art education is hard to come by in inner-city schools but it is a given at most private schools. And yet at Wesleyan, an elite institution, we (SOC) are still underrepresented in the arts, especially in the visual arts. Therefore, we must stand apart and represent ourselves, and this show is a step forward.”
Anaya’s two pieces confront the viewer as they enter the Zilkha Gallery. On the opposite wall from the door, the large, innocent eyes of the girl in the acrylic painting, “Eve,” stare questioningly at the viewer over the edge of a green apple.
To the left of Anaya’s boldly colorful pieces stands a solo sculpture by Miles Tokunow ’10 of a pear partially covered in chocolate syrup. Tokunow found artistic inspiration for the piece in the Pablo Neruda’s poem, “Full woman / Fleshly apple / Hot moon.”
Karimah Nichols ’09 wrote in her statement that, “Part of our problem as a culture is that we’ve grown so accustomed to speaking with what we view as socially acceptable perspectives on race that language becomes meaningless and racial discourse seemingly formulaic.”
Nichols’ charcoal drawing portrayed a perspective from within the hood of a Ku Klux Klan member, looking out upon a ghostly gathering of beautiful, fluttering fellow cloaks.
“The show is so eclectic,” said Dionne Anderson ’10. “Everyone came together uniting on this multicultural theme, yet every piece is completely different.”
“Skittles” will be up in the Ezra and Cecile Zilkha South Gallery until March 4, viewing available from noon till 4 p.m., Tuesday—Sunday.
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