Black Is, Black Ain't

Here is my review for the exhibition "Black Is, Black Ain't" at the Renaissance Society at the University of Chicago. It was an intriguing exhibition that included artists exploring blackness from a variety of societal, cultural and ethnic backgrounds. In my review I focused on three pieces which included themes of desire. I thought it was interesting that Hamza Walker, exhibition curator, said that the postmodern approach to blackness is one of obsession. This is the unifying motif that I found within the three works I discuss.

Obsession and Desire in Black Is, Black Ain’t

In the age of post-ethnicity, a term coined during the Freestyle show at the Studio Museum in Harlem, the Black Is, Black Ain’t show does not deny the binary racial categorizations of black and non-black, but instead exhibits an apparent obsession with blackness. The exhibit shows a fascination with blackness that pervades our social experience, both accepting and simultaneously rejecting the racial categorization. Unlike Freestyle, the show that served as a cultural landmark to the post-black era, the artists in this exhibition come from diverse racial, political and social backgrounds. The inclusion of non-black, in addition to black, artists allows the exploration of blackness from various points on the cultural spectrum. It also makes for a more diverse approach to aesthetics, instead of the pervasive “black aesthetic” that dominated the majority of shows focusing on blackness. One poignant theme that emerges from the use of diverse artists is the issue of desire regarding blackness, from the perspective of the outsider as well as those immersed in the culture. Desire is represented in various forms; both aesthetically and ideologically. The most obvious form of desire is physical or sexual, but there are also elements of emotional, psychological and intellectual desire exhibited in various works. The majority of artists focusing on desire in relation to blackness are not black. These artists are investigating blackness in relation to racial taboos with an honest, and often personal, approach to ideas of race.
The desire exhibited in these works is not a desire to be black, but instead a psychological desire to understand blackness and a physical desire to “feel” blackness. Tom Johnson’s work, What a Black Man Feels Like, is a monologue performed by the artist in front of the camera, originally exhibited as a live performance piece. The artist speaks of a desire to massage a black man, because black men interest him more that other people. There is an obvious physical desire in relation to blackness in this situation, but the tortured persona of the artist’s inner thoughts reveals that the desire is not only physical. He is obsessed with the idea of black men and the piece functions as a kind of personal diary where he investigates the reasoning behind his fascination and obsession with black men. While the piece may seem wrought with homosexual desire, it goes beyond that into an exploration of the fascination with the “other.” Also the piece is very personal, it also reflects society’s persistent obsession with race.
The post-ethnic era relies on the simultaneous acceptance and rejection of racial categorization. Johnson’s piece reveals that racial distinctions and the identification of racial differences is still very much a part of our social discourse, even if many people choose to keep their fascination private. It also both accepts and rejects physical differences between blacks and non-blacks. He desire to massage a black man implies that there is a tactile difference between the skin of a black man and the skin of other people. This makes the viewer question that difference, and when the viewer realizes that the difference is not tactile, physical or even tangible, the inner struggle to understand racial differentiation emerges. This reinforces the notion that society’s perception of race is a social construct and not based on biological differences.
Joanna Rytel’s intense video, To Think Things You Don’t Want To, delves into the inner struggles of a white, Swedish woman who has a relationship with a black man. The language is abrasive, and not politically correct in any way, but is personal and honest. She explores the taboo desires related to interracial relationships. Again this work is based on the personal desire of the non-black artist, who deals with socio-historical constructs of race, even on the personal level. Racial discriminatory and offensive thoughts are publicly expressed by Rytel. The title of the works announces that the artist knows that she “shouldn’t” have these thoughts, but they are woven into our societal language of race. She admits that she sometimes thinks of her lover as nigger, and as much as she knows it is wrong, the word has been historically integrated into public discourse on race and therefore pervades even her personal relationship. Through this work she admits that the public is not color-blind in relation to race, and even people who are not racist have been socialized into seeing racial differences. She is continuously aware of the perceptions of others and how the public views her interracial relationship. The video represents a failing struggle to deny those public perceptions and the inability to somehow rise above the issue of racial opposition. Although her honesty is often offensive and uses racial slurs and stereotyping, she is making the viewer aware of thoughts that have previously been subconscious. Through her own honest investigation of her perspective on race, she asks the viewer to question if they think similar things that they do not want to think; or admit that they think.

Mickalene Thomas’s Lovely Six Foota (2007) relies on exoticism and stereotypical cultural signifiers of black women to create desire. The photograph depicts an African-American woman, clad in a multi-print dress in a room decorated in 70s décor and leopard print furniture. Thomas is an African-American artist, but she is not denying stereotyped exoticism, but reinforcing it to create a sense of racialized desire. She is creating a hyper-awareness of social stereotyping of black women. The animal patterns refer to cultural codes we associate with African that have been popularized in American culture, and the records in the lower right corner of the photograph are those of African-American musical divas. This reflects a cultural obsession with “black music,” and a desire that is based purely on media’s representation of the black woman. The perspective invites the viewer to look directly up the woman’s skirt, but then is met with darkness, denying the erotic experience. The subject stares directly at the viewer; both inviting them in and creating an unsettling awareness of their position in objectifying her. The sexually charged image creates desire, but the viewer is left to question the basis of that desire, which is created through stereotypical means. (you can see more of Thomas's work here)
The inclusion of non-black artists separates this exhibition from other post-ethnic shows, such as The New Authentics: Artists of the Post-Jewish Generation and Freestyle, because it opens up the discourse about race. Social taboos regarding race and desire are explored from the perspective of both black and non-black artists, which leaves the works at risk of being offensive, yet at the same time reveals the pervasive existence of racial categorization and discrimination. This subliminal element of desire is explored on the personal level, but the personal also mirrors public perceptions of race. The viewer is presented with racial taboos. These taboos are not only represented personally by the artists, but also as an affect of the historical influence on race in the public sphere. This exhibition reinforces one particular issue in the post-ethnic era; the fact that even though race is a socially constructed category, it is still very much a part of the cultural dialogue.

Ultrabaroque

The Ultrabaroque show seems to illuminate a cross-cultural interest in hybridization (or mestizaje) in contemporary culture. These hybrids are obvious in content (i.e. local and global issues, transculturation, various histories), the use of mixed media, and the mix of styles from different eras. Zamudio-Taylor talks about the ultrabaroque emphasis on the affirmation of an object, versus the dematerialization prevalent in modernist arm. While the aesthetic emphasis is on minimalist aesthetic, the conceptual element relies on cultural, societal and political meanings of objects.

This is evident in the work of Cildo Meireles. His Circuit series investigates popular media objects and the relation they have to societal hierarchies of power.



However, the artists in the Ultrabaroque show also investigate the heterogeneity of Latin culture. The culture of Latin countries can no longer be culturally defined on a national level, but instead the artistic investigation is post-national and looks at the heterogeneous nature of regional culture. The transcultural status of these countries largely results from the effects of colonialism. The post-colonial state also contributes to the contemporary issues of hierarchy and unequal distribution of power.

Jose Antonio Hernandez-Diaz's work incorporates religious connotations with popular cultural objects and imagery combined to describe the contemporary condition of Latin America that is largely influenced by its colonial history. In the work below, Hernandez-Diaz uses the washboard as a signifier for the cleansing of the skin, or ethnic cleansing.



The term baroque has conflicted meanings. Some scholars believe it to be the decline of a civilization while others see it as a complex investigation or advance of a civilization and questioning the power structures that operate within a society. If we take it to mean the latter, I believe Hans Haacke would fall into the category of the baroque. I recently went to hear him talk, and political upheaval is evident in almost all of his works. As a German-born artist, he is bringing a different perspective to politics in America that allow for a comparison between German and American histories, resulting in transculturalism. It may be a stretch to include him in this discussion, but much of the hybridization and transcultural perspective mentioned in the Ultrabaroque readings made me think of his talk. For example, regarding the picture below he had mentioned that he was thinking of the American flag over the face acting as a blinder to the implied American that is under the "bag."

However, because of the pervasiveness of the Abu Ghraib photographs, the viewer now sees the image as the American flag being put over the head of the "other" as a torture device. A reading of a work that was first national has become transnational due to contemporary events. Much of Haacke's work questions the systems and hierarchies of power and decision-making in our country, which was of much importance to the Ultrabaroque artists. Below is a public art piece in a political plaza. The sign on the from of the building contained the words Dem Deutschen Volke, which translated to "the German people," but culturally meant the people of Arian blood. The word Haacke used, DER BEVÖLKERUNG was used to describe people equally. This caused a politically controversy that had to go to parliament to see if the work could be installed. This questioned, not only the use of language, but a history of violence and suffering toward a group of people.

Although baroque is a term that has become the Euro-American cliche description of Latin American art, baroque, as used in show, signifies the complexities involved in visually describing a turbulent and complicated culture. This "impure beauty," as describe by Elizabeth Armstrong is not only evident in the technical aspect of the works, but also in the conceptual framework. Adrianna Varejao's work investigates the histories of colonial expansion and the effect it has on traditional Latin American cultures.
Meyer Vaisman looks at the affect of the transcontinental economy. This type of touristic economy relies largely on the commodification and marketability of culture. These works make us question the histories that have been taught to us and how we think about the commodified culture of the "other," which is the way in which we generally experience other cultures. He blends high and low culture by working with everyday materials and imagery, yet questions the way in which our experiences our mediated by our outsider attitude.

I found the idea of allegory in relation to the baroque to be very interesting in terms of postmodern artistic practice. While we generally associate allegory with Renaissance art, the postmodern desire to link our contemporary conditions to the affects of the past is evident in the work in the Ultrabaroque show. I was thinking about the combination of contemporary media and religious imagery in terms of my own project for this class, which deals with the pervasiveness of the Madonna ideal in contemporary representations of motherhood, and what that means for contemporary notions of identity.

The idea of colonial displacement was also a large topic in the Ultrabaroque show. Arturo Duclos's work brings together multiple references to different cultures, and the different images seem somewhat out of place, which can be related to colonialism's influence on the displacement of native people. This made me think of Itagaki Yoshio's work, which I don't find particularly interesting, because they are wrought with digital manipulation and seemingly lacking in conceptual investigation, but deals with the same idea of displacement of marginalized or minority cultures. His two projects, "Native American Reservation on the Moon" and "Cyber Amish County," point out the ridiculous nature of pushing people into locations that don't suit their lifestyles and need.

White...not Transparent

In looking at the changing perspective of whiteness through the readings for this week there were a few repeated themes I noticed. These include:
Whiteness as a racial category that is no longer transparent. A need to be self-critical and self aware regarding whiteness.
Whiteness as it is related to economics and class.
Whiteness and privilege.

I have expanded on some of these themes below.

There were also some discrepancies I noticed between analyzing whiteness compared to a post-ethnic ideology.
The theorists and critics seem to be talking about whiteness in the same broad terms as other minorities (i.e. blackness).
It seems that in order to really analyze whiteness the playing field between white and other "ethnicities" needs to be leveled. The historical analysis of whiteness is no where near as in depth as other cultures.
And Roediger brings up an excellent point in the difference between theoretical whiteness and how whiteness functions in lived experience.

Opaque vs. Transparent
It becomes evident from the readings that we can no longer approach whiteness as meaningless, historically void and transparent. The very color white itself is loaded with social and historical symbolism; pureness, blankness, absence, etc. Roediger talks about the historical value of whiteness in terms of whites views of nonwhites. "When residents of the US talk about race, they too often talk only about African Americans, Native Americans, Hispanic Americans, and Asian Americans. If whites come into the discussion, it is only because they have 'attitudes' toward nonwhites. Whites are assumed not to 'have race,' though they might be racists," Roediger writes. White, as Roediger also writes, is an extremely imprecise term.

Whiteness, Economics and Class
It is undeniable that whiteness is often associated with class, especially the middle or upper class. Even the term white collar suggest a certain difference between whites' economic situation and the "others." We tend, as a society, to forget about the white poor, and associated the lower income population with minorites, often blacks. The fact that class is often closely associated with race was evident after the destruction of hurricane katrina. Poor and black became almost synonyms in the media representation of the victims of Katrina. Often poor economic situations are blamed on nonwhites. For example, Mexican immigration might be the most popular contemporary example. The US tends to blame the loss of jobs on illegal immigration and the influx of the nonwhite working class. However, there is nothing mentioned about the racial impllications of outsourcing US jobs. Maurice Berger uses the interesting phrase that it seems to be in people's best interest to "capitalize on their whiteness." Whiteness often implies economic power, even if that is mostly a false assumption. Even the poor have the ability to capitalize on their whiteness by having the benefit of assumed education and skill.

Broadness of Whiteness
In my own identity chart shown in a previous, I found it interesting that I didn't think to include "white" as a defining identity, but instead included norwegian, finnish, native american and german (with norwegian and finnish taking up the most "ethnic space.") This made me realize that in a way, my whiteness is still somewhat transparent to me. The first time I became self-aware of my whiteness was in preschool (around the age of 4), which I attend on a Northern Minnesota Native American reservation, where I was the minority. It was only at first that I was aware, and soon my whiteness was forgotten. Until I moved to Chicago, my areas of residency have had largely white demographic. However, I have always felt that my whiteness was more nuanced that just purely (for lack of a less ironic term) white. Stahlings talks about abolishing the normativity of whiteness in "Whiteness: A Wayward Construction," yet the very broad term WHITE is normatized not to include the different variations of whiteness. Although one could argue that the very appearance of whiteness bestows one with priveleges that others of different ethnicities are denied, it was not historically that way. Historically degrees of whiteness were much more divided, which is extremely evident in the neighborhood break-up in Chicago (although gentrification has erased much of that segregation, but not entirely). At one point Polish-Americans, Italian Americans, etc were not considered "white." However, these divisions have been erased, but what also seems to be diminishing is the ethnic diversity of whiteness. This is possibly why I chose to include my Norwegian and Finnish heritage as a large part of my identity, because the traditions associated with those nationalities are still very much embedded into my family life and tradition. It seems contradictory to try and integrate whiteness into the post-ethnic discussion when scholars seems to be using the broad discourse to talk about whiteness that they are trying to diseminate regarding other ethnicities.


Theory and Academics vs. Lived Experience
Although significant progress has been made in the intellectual and scholarly perception of whiteness, the fact that whiteness still holds severe economic, social, cultural and political priveleges in real live is pervasive. Although language has been invented in order to "politically correct" the way we refer to the social construction of race, it does not erase the social oppression, racism, prejudice and a certain degree of white supremacy that still exists. However, Wendy Ewald's "White Girl Alphabet" shows that language has symbolic racial connotations and there exists a certain lingual hierarchy that effect how we discuss and interpret race. Although post-structuralism has made vast improvements on the way we approach and talk about race, the existence of post-structuralism as it relates to race is not as evident in our general perceptions of society. All the "radical scholarship" does not equal radicial activism in society. Roediger explains that the intellectual demystification of race can cause disappointment when theory meets practice. I began making connections between the post-ethnic movement and the third wave feminist movement. It seems the 60s and 70s were a time of radical activism, for both feminism and civil rights, and now the "movement" is more intellectually based and there is much less "action" on the part of the general public. Maybe its a generational thing where the young, educated individuals feel a certain sense of apathy about how much good activism really does.

How does this all relate to art?
Art seems to function as a hyprid of intellectual study and lived experience. If we turn to Manet's Olympia, there is a reversal of the sexual, black female stereotyping and instead the white woman is the promiscuous sexual being, while the black servant (dressed in white) is the reserved, innocent, more asexual figures. During the multicultural period, it was common for nonwhite artists to make art about their ethnic identity, yet it was taboo to make art about whiteness (and to much extent...still is). However, one could argue that artists have been making art that is unintentionally about whiteness since the inception of art practice. William Kentridge's work has a lot to do with whiteness and apartheid in South Africa. Cindy Sherman made photographs about the B-Movie white female actress archetype. Still, the intentional depiction of whiteness seemed taboo. Maybe when this subject matter is no longer taboo will we be closer to a true post-ethnic ideology that includes the analysis of whiteness.

Whiteness in Contemporary Culture

In thinking about examples of "whiteness" in contemporary culture, the first thing that popped into my head was Al Yankovic's "White and Nerdy." A remake of hip hop artist, Chamillionaire's "Riding Dirty." Although it may be considered extremely low brow...it is actually pretty interesting when you consider that it is making fun of white stereotypes and the "white" infiltration of hip hop culture, which is generally assumed to be comprised of mostly black participants.






I was also thinking about the movie Bruce Almighty, where the God figure is played by Morgan Freeman. Historically, God has been represented as being a white bearded guy. I read one review of the movie in which a person asked, "Is it supposed to be funny that God is a black guy?" I believe this statement shows that while in the scholarly world we may accept that race is a social construct, but in terms of lived experience, racism is still very much present. I was also thinking about Bruce's character, played by Jim Carrey, and the "moral" that is to be taught in the movie. Jim Carrey represents the "norm" (upper-middle class, white male). Morgan Freeman's character functions to bring a sense of "self-awareness" to Carrey's character about his privileged situation. It also shows how Carrey abuses his power when he is bestowed the power of God. This could also suggest how historically whites used Christianity as an excuse to victimize other populations. In terms of the readings on whiteness, this seems to fit right in with the historically transparent condition of whiteness and the growing need for whites to become self-critical about their own whiteness.

Or maybe I'm just reading too much into Bruce Almighty.

I couldn't find the seen with Morgan Freeman and Jim Carrey I wanted, but here is a selection from the movie.

Post-black...

Freestyle, a seemingly radical show of black artists work during the 1990s, caused a lot of controversy because of its disparate nature, suggested by its title. What the show suggested about blackness was that it was in fact a style...an affiliation filled with nuanced representations of what it meant to be black. What I find most compelling about the show is that is both accepts and rejects notions of blackness simultaneously. Lori Waxman's review of the show suggests that it may have been a earmark of the Post-Black movement. The show defied a collective interpretation of blackness, and instead presented an "overwhelming sense of individuality." I tend to enjoy work that relies on a certain "truth" about stereotyping, yet drawing a critical self-awareness to stereotyping (within the viewer) and uses the stereotype to confront themes about viewing the "other." I think that Susan Smith-Pinelo's video does this. It combines the stereotypical sexualized black female (specifically her breasts) with the word "Ghetto" on a necklace.



This is the same reason I have enjoyed Kara Walker's work. The graphic, cartoon-like nature is visually appealing and often reminded me of vinyl wall decals made for children's rooms. However, her work is very disturbing and relies on the stereotypical "look" associated with blacks (big lips, big butt, "nappy" hair) yet at the same time her black characters are enforcing "slave punishments" against their white counterparts. The violent and childlike juxtaposition often drew me to her work, as it functions like a fairytale gone awry. She bridges pop-art style with a multiculturalist view. Her view bridges the past (with characters from folklore) with the present (themes of racism, violence, gender and identity).




According to Thelma Goldin, Freestyle aimed to recontextualize blackness in terms of a multicultural, or even post-ethnic, society. I see the show as attempt to reclaim a black identity and not give in to a more normative society. However, I wonder if the show reinforces the racial relavatism that occurs when there are "all black" shows, or shows during February, or all women shows. Does this reinforce ethnic diversity and awareness over artistic ability? I would say that all the artists in the Freestyle exhibition are deserving of the exhibition, but I still believe that racial relavatism skews the artworld based on a societal guilt to incorporate diversity and a disregard for artistic accomplishment.

I also think that Holland Cotter brought up a good point in questioning if the label "post-ethnic" will merely become a marketing label. There was also an evident correlation between multiculturalist art and the economic market. When the market was down, multiculturalism was up. This follows the historical trend of art, to make what is considered to be "unmarketable" art while the country is in an economic valley.

Kerry James Marshall tuned into the success of hybridity, both in the representation of race and the use of media. His works, like Walker's, are very graphic; blending high and low culture. His work also deals with the juxtaposition, as sometimes overlapment, of stereotype and reality. All of his technical choices (color, composition, etc.) relate to the conceptual framework behind his pieces. I have generally been more impressed by the figurative work he created over the more experimental, mixed-media work.

The darkness of the figures in his work almost suggests an invisibility, or a simultaneously absence and presence. The figures remind me of the mass of a black hole, which is infinite and at the same time contains nothing. Many of the figures are indistinguishable from one another, which seems to speak to the stereotype of black not have individualized sense of identity. The narrative quality of his works also go against modernist art (generally ruled by the white, middle class male). He seems to be resituating the black figure back into history, giving the blacks more power.

What seems to be the overall them of post-blackness is both the acceptance and rejection of historical assiciations with African Americans and a more individualized approach to black identity, or in some cases, a complete rejection of black identity. It is a resistance to social judgment based on historical stereotypes and visual, physical featues. On that note, I think it would be good to end with a piece from Glen Ligon, in which he simultaneously "exagerates his black features" and "exagerates his white features."

My Identity in a Nutshell

my blogs are a little sporadic since i got a little behind in my posts...but I attempted to make a diagram of my identity (the key word here is ATTEMPTED). This proved to be more difficult than I thought, as there are many that overlap, many that I affiliate with, many that are more heritage/tradition based that I don't affiliate with as much, and the size of the circles leads to a skewed view about how I rank them in importance. (For example, the FEMINIST oval is huge, and although feminism is important to me, I'm not sure that it makes up quite as much of my identity as this diagram would suggest.) I'm sure I left out a ton of things that contribute to my identity. don't be too critical.

Identity and Art

"Two factors determine the nationality of art: (a) the place where the art is produced and (b) the national background of the artist."
- John Graham, taken from Cultural Pluralism Versus the American Canon by Lowery Stokes Sims

Although this statement was made over 50 years ago, we still seem to be discussing its relevance today. In an earlier class we talked about the pressure to explore identity if you are an artist associated with any community which has experienced historical oppression. Ideally, as we move towards post-ethnicity, this will no longer be an issue.

I feel like this pressure still exists due to a phenomenon I will call "artistic/racial relativism," related to the exclusion of minorities in the artistic canon. It seems as though the art world is trying to make up for a history of oppression and/or exclusion by championing a select few contemporary minority artists (and female artists), yet the art institution still wields control over the context in which the art is shown, for example, during February there are numerous African-American art shows. Are these artists making detrimental choices concerning their careers by having work shown in "ethnic" shows? Or is it more important that they are getting their artwork into the world by any means they can?