History repeats itself

After visiting the Brooklyn Museum there was so much art work that grabbed my attention and also gave me an eerie sense of when these collection of art were made. Mainly because some of the art work depicts situations that are still happening today in the United States. From police brutality, the woman’s March and black lives matter groups; these events are still current in our lives and it shows that many people, especially white Americans, continue to hold on to the past. And not much has changed over the years, but many are aware of this issue and are showing resistance through artwork and other forms of art that brings people’s attention to this matter.

Looking at the many artifacts and sculptures made by many black artist there was one that really grabbed my attention at the museum. It was Barbara Chase-Riboud huge statue called Confessions for Myself. The all black bronze held together with wood and long ropes, gives a dark trapped emotion at first glance. It almost looks like a very tall person is wearing the heavy material. You can see the outline of a head and shoulders on the top part of statue, which makes it lifelike. When you step closer to the statue you can see the braiding and twisting of the ropes. This gave me an idea of how Barbra felt during the time of the Black Arts Movement and how the subjection of black female artist affected a large group of individuals during that time (Brooklyn Museum).

The braiding of the rope to me conveyed a message of the long hardships, physical and emotional damage done over the years. This also reflects on to the many black artist who tried to break free from a system that continues to mistreat them. The statue provided an outlook on Barbra’s emotions during the fabrication of this statue.

Taken by my iphone

              Even though there is no color patterns depicted, the bronze pieces gives out a thorny visual that horizontally arrows towards the middle of the statue. The pieces stretches onto a narrow area on the center of the statue, which looks like the heart and gives a sense of not being able to open up without the heart getting poked or stabbed. After seeing the statue for the first time there was no description given about the artist or the use of the material. But what made this artwork amazing is that even though there was no description, the artist was able to give you an insight of their emotion. To me the use of these objects conveyed something powerful emotion. This one of my favorite pieces from Barbara.

In certain sections of the exhibition there was historical articles of the 1960's and 70’s shown on a glass table. Most were magazine, posters, and newspapers that provided information of the issues happening during those times. Many of it revealed the start of feminism and black power in the art world. Reading through the different magazines and posters, I came across letters written by a black artists who was working at an art facility in Ramapo College. The artist described her frustration and anger towards an incredibly racist title used in an exhibition created by a white artist named Donald Newman. Donald used the title The Nigger Drawings to showcase his artwork in a non-profit gallery called Artists Space, which caught much controversy for allowing the artist to display this. There were about four letters written to him and the gallery. Unfortunately, I did not take pictures of the letters or find them through the Brooklyn Museum’s website.

But I was able to find one open letter that included some artists mentioned in the previous letters I saw in the exhibition. The open letter was signed by both black and white artist which was surprising to me because I assumed many white artist, especially in that era, supported Donald’s decision. The white artist included in the letter were Carl Andre, May Stevens, and Howardena Pindell (Henry, Joseph).

Open Letter

Along with these letters was an audio tape that recorded the discussion between Donald and a few of the artists that expressed their concerns about his exhibition and why Donald named the exhibition with a racist title. His reasoning’s exhibited ignorance and carelessness for other peoples feelings, especially the black community. He stated in the audio that he wanted to bring awareness and provide a different outlook of how the word is used in his artwork, but many disagreed and found it a form of degrading black artists and a tactic of promoting his artwork to a larger crowd. At one point in the recording, a women tried to get a clear answer from Donald on why he named it, but then someone speaks over him and defends his response before Donald can even say anything. After hearing most of the audio tape I was shocked on how they allowed Donald to get away with it and not suffer any consequences.

During the controversy there was a segment that the New York Times published on April 14, 1979. It was called Coalition is Accused and Donald tells his reason on why he named the exhibit with such an offensive name.

“Donald Newman, the artist, said yesterday that he still thought the title was a good one. His reasons for using it were “complex and contradictory,” he said, but among them was the fact that he considered “nigger” a “hateful and prejudicial term that would make the viewer wonder why an artist would title a work like that and what it refers to.” None of his black friends had objected to the title, he said, and he had “never imagined that a segment of the art community would object to it.” (Glueck, Grace)

          His response makes it difficult to believe that he didn’t think that people would disagree to it. We know art is a judge free space, but for Donald to assume nothing bad would come off by using a racist word, is rather foolish since these artworks were being shown to the public and not a select few. After the shock-wave of artist expressing their rage on this matter, the gallery issued a public apology to everyone that was offended.

          This event brings a shocking resemblance of a particular individual who America hates currently and it's our president Donald Trump. Who continuously says and does the most outrageous things without suffering any consequence. It’s scary to see how the government finds nothing wrong with him and especially that we are reverting back to the ways of the past; allowing racist people do whatever they want and seeing it as apart of "their rights".