Curatorial Activism essay

 Part 1

The writing of Kimberly Drew and Dr. Maura Reily centers on the issues of racial prejudices, sexism, and Curatorial Activism. Curatorial Activism is one of the main topics that circles both books. In Dr.Maura Reily’s definition from her book “Activism: Towards an Ethics of Curating” “‘Curatorial Activism’ is a term I use to designate the practice of organizing art exhibitions with the principle aim of ensuring that certain constituencies of artists are no longer ghettoized or excluded from the master narratives of art. It is a practice that commits itself to counter-hegemonic initiatives that give voice to those who have been historically silenced or omitted altogether- and, as such, focuses almost exclusively on work produced by women, artists of color, non-Euro-Americans, and queer artists.” Dr.Reily’s definition is precisely what Kimberly Drew did in her book about the lack of representation in the Metropolitan Museum of Art while working there. In Drew’s book, she talks about how there are barely any black artists in the art museums and how she started to bring attention to black artists by giving them attention by using her social media and working as an assistant in private galleries such as Mickalene Thomas’s exhibition Tete de Femme. 

A situation that boosted Drew’s urge to have more black representation was when the Whitney Museum announced its artists list for the 2014 Whitney Biennial; out of the 103 artists selected, only six were black. To add salt to the wound, the curatorial committee invited a white artist named Joe Scanlan under the pseudonym Donelle Woolford, who is a fictional black woman who is brought to life by black actresses on Joe’s Payroll. This stunt pulled by Scanlan continues the minstrel show tradition, which rightfully made Kimberly Drew angry. In protest, Drew posted about Scanlan’s stunt on Studio Museum’s Tumblr and the exclusion of so many POC artists. But Drew didn’t stop there; she began using her social media to discuss the lack of diversity, which led to an interview with The Huffington Post and a meeting with her director, Thelma Golden. In the meeting, Thelma Golden talks to Drew about her post and gives her advice on how to use her voice instead of leading it with rage. Be strategic, which is helpful advice for activism. “During my meeting with Thelma, she told me about the consequences of my actions and generously taught me that my voice was a powerful one. Instead of leading with rage, she helped me understand this difficult crossroads. By the end of the meeting, she asked me to think deeply about what I wanted to say and, more importantly, how I wanted it to be interpreted. It was not just enough to be angry. I had to be strategic(43).” Currently, Drew has a blog post on Tumblr which is dedicated to giving attention and recognition to black artists.

While reading Kimberly Drew's “This Is What I Know About Art,” there were quite a few parts of the book that stuck with me. In my personal opinion, I feel like I can connect to Drew due to experiences in her life. For example, in college, she realized she barely knew or heard of any black artists. “Then, it occurred to me: How did I know about Andy Warhol and not know about ‘the Black Warhol’? How many more Black versions of my favorite artists were there? ( Jean-Micheal Basquiat is absolutely not ‘the Black Warhol’-as I naively thought-nor are there ‘Black versions' of non-Black artists. He was an artist in his own lane, much like the other people that I’ll reference throughout the rest of this book(18, 19).”Growing up, I barely knew any black artists, and as I got into college, I realized that I still didn’t know that many black artists and had some professors talk about now famous black artists or black artists that I learned myself. It made me think the same thing, “why do I only know white artists and barely any black artists?” Throughout the book, Kimberly Drew’s initiative to step up to racial issues is impressive; many people would say the problem but not do anything to help fix the issue. Many people think that their voice doesn’t matter or that they can do nothing to help resolve a problem. Drew was able to bring attention to issues by tools that she can use, i.e., her social media accounts, and was able to help fix those problems by doing anything she physically could and is quite successful in her activism.

The issues that Dr. Maura Reily and Kimberly Drew talked about in their books are the themes discussed in class due to the current political climate and using art to protest and fight against current oppressors or talk about serious issues that are swept underneath the rug. On the first day of class, a discussion about the lack of female artists in the Met and the lack of diversity in museums. Historians, curators, and authors can easily be activists and help the art world to improve. Instead of giving to the same white male artists that are discussed again and again, shed light onto women artists, especially POC artists. By the teachings in class, anyone can become an activist, especially an art activist; in class, there are lectures about using tactics of Curatorial activism and art activism. In one class, we are given a chance to provide voices for those who are historically silenced or shine a light on taboo subjects such as mental health for example. In the first intervention, we put our artwork in the public as posters and were able to interact with the public to see their viewpoints on specific issues. Historians, authors, and curators have a more prominent voice than the class combined.

Part 2

While exploring Ben Jones’ art exhibit called The Universe Of Ben Jones and listening to his lecture while he discusses each of his works, there is a connection between his works and our discussions about art activism and curatorial activism. During Professor Jones's talk, I can connect his experiences and Kimberly Drew’s experiences. They both came from low-income families and experienced racism, especially from their professors when it came to talking about black artists. In the lecture, Professor Jones talked about his time in college; during his talk, he spoke of the racism that came from the Professor. When Professor Jones asked the professor about any black artists, the professor said, “There aren’t any black artists as great as the white ones”(paraphrase). When Professor Jones talked about his experience, it reminded me of when Kimberly Drew asked her professor about talking about black artists and the racist remarks that came from her professor. Drew ended up making a FaceBook post about the professor, which ended up having a meeting about the professor and her post. During the meeting, she started to feel like she was bullying him when the professor said that the post was “inappropriate,” which led to Drew trying to explain her reasoning. “I retorted, explaining that I was upset the conversation had quickly turned into a support circle for white guilt. He looked at me and said, ‘If you wanted to be in a classroom with other students of color, then you should not be enrolled in art history classes’(27).”

During Professor Ben Jones' art exhibit, his works have many themes, such as spiritual themes, black culture, and art activism. Each of his pieces has such powerful meaning behind them, and the tour that Professor Jones gave us goes into depth on each piece. Multiple pieces stuck to me throughout the tour and how they’re art activisms. Each of his artworks has been a critical factor in our class discussion, and learning about each piece made connections to our lectures and Kimberly Drew.

Benin Images (1970)

This artwork is a vibrant mixed media piece; the artwork is behind Professor Jones’ history with Black and art activism. The artwork is part of his contribution to African American art and his artistic and philosophical work that transcends cultural and racial boundaries. At the same time, he was a crucial figure in the Black Arts Movement of the 1970s. Professor Jones’ activism is a vital part of his identity, and at NJCU, he became involved in the Black Freedom Society. He’s also identified as a revolutionary Socialist and devoted his life to the equality and liberation of all people. While observing his piece and as he goes into the piece, he has a great appreciation of culture and applies different symbols and meanings to his artworks. The artwork also details his art activism, a topic during class lectures. 

Envision, Empower, Embrace (2010)

This Ben Jones painting is an acrylic and digital print on canvas of a fish and symbols all over; the symbols are Chinese letters of joy and ancient African symbols. On the fish, there’s a poem called “Mother Earth” by Denise Tansley that is on top of the fish; the poem is an ecological poem that expresses concerns about the desecration of nature. The primary meaning of the painting is a call to action for nature and the pollution problem. The professor explains why the painting has a huge fish drawing. He describes how fish has an essential meaning in other cultures and how different cultures see the fish as a source of life and understand its importance. While Professor Jones talks about his painting, it made me realize how, in the U.S., we don't see the value of fishes and their importance; it also reminded us how, in recent studies, there had been findings of microplastics in water and especially fishes. 

Huey Newton Incarcerated (1970)

This is a mixed media artwork of Black Panther Huey Newton and his arrest. While creating this piece, Professor Jones was active in the local Jersey City Black Panthers on Bergen Avenue, giving the community essential services. This was also the time when Huey Newton, the leader of the Black Panthers, was released from prison due to his charges being dropped for the killing of police officer John Frey. During the Civil Rights movement in New Jersey, it united artists and community activists for the desire for consciousness and justice. This piece was the first artwork that drew my attention; the jail cell bars and chains and the black man behind gave me a basic understanding of the piece. However, I didn’t know that the man was the Black Panther’s leader, and I learned about his history during his lecture. While learning about the meaning of the piece and the historical background piqued my interest and expanded my knowledge about the Black Panthers and the Civil Rights movement in New Jersey. 

Source

https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/what-is-curatorial-activism-9271/