LMAFO

I recently wrote an article exploring the reception of Black art by non-Black individuals, specifically during Derrick Adams’ exhibition at The Flag Foundation. Art, like many things in life, can be a Rorschach test. Some see meaning and depth, while others see a Rorschach blot and quickly move on to the gift shop. However, when it comes to Black art, the reactions are often more polarizing. I thought sharing some of my experiences in this context was important.

Take Glenn Ligon’s “To Disembark” exhibition, for example, at The Whitney a few years ago. Ligon used wooden crates to symbolize Henry “Box” Brown’s escape from slavery, filling them with various voices, including singing voices, to contemporize the theme and make it more accessible to contemporary audiences. Yet, many people need to learn about the nuances of the art and come for entertainment purposes. They take selfies before heading to the gift shop, avoiding anything too confrontational. It’s like they’re at an amusement park, not an art museum.

However, there are those moments when people engage with the art and react in surprising ways. I once explained Ligon’s exhibition to someone who was confused about the singing voice coming from one of the crates. It was like the scene in the Kill Bill movie between Lucy Liu and Uma Thurman, except with KRS-One’s “Sound of Da Police” in the background. My eyes squinted, and I braced myself for the person to Google. Of course, Google has all the answers and is a reliable source. I digress. AWKWARD, shuffling ensued, and it was genuinely hysterical.

Unfortunately, there is a general lack of understanding of the Black lived experience in art by people, not from the community. Even when you try to explain it, there is a massive disconnect because there is this disbelief that somehow it’s impossible to relate. That being said, artists like Kara Walker, Glenn Ligon, David Hammons, Pat Ward Williams, Adrian Piper, and Michael Ray Charles are especially adept at polarizing and confronting people, making them uncomfortable with their own complicity in systemic racism. On the other hand, artists like Charles Wright, Kerry James Marshall, and Jack Whitten create visually comforting works at first glance but insert blackness and black narratives in their art. These artists merge their experiences and cultural backgrounds with the language and techniques of the Western art tradition, creating a new visual vocabulary that both expands and challenges the canon.

While it’s crucial to create thought-provoking pieces that challenge people’s beliefs and understanding, it’s also important to remember that only some are ready to receive these messages. We need to ensure that the right people are in the rooms and that the rooms are the right rooms. In one instance, I was looking at a piece by Basquiat, and a non-Black person explained to their child that he was a Black man who made valuable pictures. I was going to mention that his art has become valuable due to his extraordinary form of communication, the cipher he created with his work that spoke of Black culture, and his experience mixed with his Puerto Rican and Haitian heritage, living in the urban city of New York during the 80s. His vernacular style was wild and studied, professional and amateurish. However, I edited myself and said, “Ma’am, we are at an art fair. Basquiat was and is an artist.”

My name is?Rebecca Pietri; I am a Fashion Stylist, and a Creative and Visual strategist in the intersection of Fashion and Art. Let the collaboration continue; for commissions and project inquiries or?coffee connection,?contact me here or at?[email protected]

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