David Alfaro Siqueiros
In a 2017 article, John Mann describes how the American painter Jackson Pollock became a student of Siqueiros, drawn to his message of social justice: “Drawn to Siqueiros’s laboratory, Pollock and his fellow students made large-scale public artworks to bolster the anti-fascist cause. As Siquieros’s assistant Harold Lehman later recalled, the ideas for early works were ‘the public use of art, big banners, floats, and big demonstration pieces and things of that nature for parades, gatherings, conventions, meetings. Not particularly for exhibit.’ And indeed, some of the best-known works from the experimental workshops—which were often ephemeral in nature—exist only in descriptions and photographs.”
[David Alfaro Siqueiros, 𝘊𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘎𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝟺, 1968, lithograph on paper, museum purchase with funds from the Dale Pruce and Leslie Walker Latin American Art Acquisition fund, 2019.1, recent acquisition]
https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-pollock-siqueiros-fought-fascism-radical-art
Augusto Marín
“Painting is passion, strength ... I synthesize from what happens to me, of what I think of life, yet interpret daily and historical events in a pictorial reality that can and should be confronted with our reality. I don’t evade reality, I nourish from it to enhance it.”
-Augusto Marín (1990) quoted in 𝘊𝘢𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘶𝘦 𝘗𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴, Collection of the Museum of History, Anthropology and Art: 1994.
[Augusto Marín, Untitled, 1983, color lithograph on paper, gift of Don Vogl, 2019.1.2]
Ernesto Neto
In a 2010 interview with Caroline Menezes, Neto had this to say about his practice: “My artwork, in a material sense, features a representation of nature, of the natural space. But it is absolutely cultural, being entirely built with mathematical and topological characteristics, linked to weight and gravity; rational issues that involve a number of calculations.”
[Ernesto Neto, 𝘖𝘯 𝘑𝘢𝘻𝘻 𝘗𝘦𝘵𝘦, 1999, watercolor with marker on paper, gift of Polly and Mark Addison, 2009.2.30]
Kerry James Marshall
In a 2016 interview with Antwaun Sargent, Marshall was asked what lead him to comics: “Like a lot of young people who wanted to be artists, comics were a gateway for me. Comics were a place where captivating images lit your imagination and showed you that you can create new kinds of people and worlds. Comics also led a lot of young people to science fiction. But just like in the art museum, and notions of beauty and pleasure, if the hero is always a white guy with a squared jaw or pretty woman with big breasts, then kids start thinking that’s how it’s supposed to be. Part of the problem was that black comic book artists were making super heroes with the same pattern as the white super heroes. When you read a lot of those comics, the black super heroes don’t seem to have anything to do. I just thought someone has to figure out how to break through that barrier and create a narrative for a black super hero story to unfold at the same scale as something like Star Wars. 𝘙𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘮 𝘔𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘳 is about producing a narrative of a hero engaged in a struggle as complicated as those other stories. The catalyst for it was the beginning of the demolition of public housing in Chicago. When State Way Gardens and The Robert Taylor Homes were being torn down, it seemed like a perfect opportunity to use that as a backdrop for the development of a super hero narrative.” [Kerry James Marshall, 𝘙𝘩𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘮 𝘔𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳, 1999-2000, color ink on newsprint, gift of Polly and Mark Addison, 2013.3.10]
https://www.interviewmagazine.com/art/kerry-james-marshalls-mastry
Lorna Simpson
In a 2018 interview with Christina Sharpe, Simpson responds to the question, “what do we hear in your work?”
“I think my work is a conversation between me and me. I look in the mirror, I get up every morning, and I don’t go, “Oh my god, there’s a black woman in the mirror in front of me!” I take for granted and strongly have a sense of ownership of my own experience. And in the ownership of that experience, I have the expectation that my audience has to come with me, and that there is a universalism that I assume in what I’m doing. So while the work pictures black bodies – and considering the particular climate in which we’re living now, and the way that American politics have, in my opinion, reverted back to a caste that none of us want to return to – that that specter of the work is important. But at the same time, as a country – and speaking as an American – there has to be this kind of universal acknowledgment that America means many different things to many different peoples from many different places. And particularly, if you are not Native American and your people haven’t been here for centuries before the [17th century] settlement of America, then those experiences have to be regarded as valuable, and we have to acknowledge each other. This is the premise by which I view the world.”
[Lorna Simpson, 𝘞𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘐𝘐𝘐, 1994, bronze, ceramic, and rubber wishbones, with print on felt, in wooden box, promised gift from a private collection]
Yoko Ono
This work is multiple produced for a 2005 exhibition at Gallery 360° in Tokyo and includes printed “scores” in Japanese and English, some of which are poetry and some that are performance instructions. For instance, a text penned and presented at a 1967 exhibition, later adapted for song lyrics:
water talk
you are water
I’m water
we’re all water in different containers
that’s why it’s so easy to meet
someday we’ll evaporate together
but even after the water’s gone
we’ll probably point out to the containers
and say, “that’s me there, that one.”
we're container minders
[Yoko Ono, 𝘞𝘦’𝘳𝘦 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘞𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳, 2005, printed and folded paper in plastic box, promised gift from a private collection]
Rashid Johnson
“In my own projects, the search for universality, what connects all of us, has become a way to reconcile disparate pieces of the self. For instance, investigating my own maleness, my maleness within an understanding of patriarchal history, my Americanness, and my blackness. All of these aspects of my identity exist simultaneously. I see the privilege and idealism of those positions and how they frame my relationship to the world. If I don't do that, I won't be able to find myself. I cannot find myself without reconciling all of these aspects of who I am.” (2020 interview with Jennifer Sauer, 𝘊𝘙 𝘍𝘢𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘉𝘰𝘰𝘬)
[Rashid Johnson, 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘯 (𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯), 2010, miniature palm (seeds), pot, photo, and tack (multiple), gift of Lynn Boland and Katherine McQueen]
https://www.crfashionbook.com/mens/a31253521/rashid-johnson-native-son-artist-interview/
Sanford Biggers
One of the two texts on the ventricular card explains the larger project while this one addresses the work:
“Los Angeles, California, born and raised East to New York Sanford traveled.
There in a town filled with new sights and sounds, The mysteries of life he unraveled.
Snatching ideas from farther and wider, From outer and innermost matter. Combining them, like hip-hop and Zen,
A beamishly cunning Mad Hatter!
The gift this year, is both a smile and a jeer, The teeth they can bite or can blind. Their glowing white light can be seen in the night, It’s work of the slithiest kind.”
[Sanford Biggers, 𝘊𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘚𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘦, 2008, plastic box with electronics and printed ventricular card, gift of Lynn Boland and Katherine McQueen]
Jose Davila
In a 2017 interview with Bridget Moriarity, Dávila explains how Mexican culture influences his art: “One of the things that definitely influences me living in Guadalajara is a way of working. We have a lot of ateliers and workshops that are non-industrialized. Normally in Europe and in the US, things are more industrialized. My work may not look very Mexican in terms of ethnicity. But the fact of the matter is it’s very Mexican in the process of creation, because it’s created with labor from non-industrialized ateliers.”
[Jose Dávila, 𝘊𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘭𝘺 𝘋𝘳𝘢𝘸𝘯 𝘏𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘦 (𝘉𝘭𝘶𝘦), 2016, ceramic tile, promised gift from a private collection]
https://www.sightunseen.com/2017/04/jose-davila/
Tony Ortega
“Throughout history, artists have responded to social concerns around them with artwork that depicts culture, religion, social injustice, human rights, environmental degradation and political power. Artists have used a variety of media such as: paint, photographs, pastels, sculpture and prints as extensions of their caring hearts and concerned minds to explore the aesthetics of interconnectedness and social responsibility. I believe that there is a relationship between art and social justice. My goal as an artist is to create artworks that are personal and which also express a sense of social responsibility.[…] Through my work, I offer a multifaceted fiction that incorporates the traditions, history and culture of Latinos. In the postmodern age, my visual language speaks to the issue of international migration, focuses on shifting demographics, draws from pop culture and seeks to present truth at a more local, personal level.”
[Tony Ortega, 𝘏𝘰𝘮𝘣𝘳𝘦 𝘊𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘰 𝘭𝘢 𝘛𝘪𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘢, 1995, color woodcut on paper, gift of Polly and Mark Addison, 2017.1.2]
Rufino Tamayo
In an interview with Mark A. Uhlig in the early 1990’s, Tamayo explained his aim to connect with pre-Columbian art: “My intention is to continue the Mexican tradition, and by that I mean pre-Hispanic art. Some artists believe they are following a Mexican tradition because their models are Mexican, but that would mean that any foreigner who paints an Indian could be considered Mexican. The point is to search for plastic elements that are very characteristic of Mexico and to use them; not in the way they were used in the past, but with a more open, more universal sensibility." [Rufino Tamayo, 𝘏𝘰𝘮𝘣𝘳𝘦 𝘐𝘐, 1981, Mixografia print on handmade paper, promised gift from Dale Pruce and Leslie Walker]
https://www.nytimes.com/1990/12/27/arts/from-exile-to-idol-rufino-tamayo-at-91.html
Beverly Buchanan
In a 1993 interview with Marcia Yerman for the series 𝘞𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘈𝘳𝘵, Buchanan commented on her life as an artist: “I had an opportunity to go to medical school. I was devastated because I said no. I was an alternate at Mt. Sinai, and that was the hardest thing that I have ever had to do. At the time, I thought that I really ruined it for other Black women. Then I thought the best thing that I can do for myself is to try to do what I want to do, and be the best that I can be at that. In spite of health problems and money problems that happened early, I said ‘I'm still going to do this, because nobody's asking me to do it.’ And I think that that is what art is about. That it is something that you have to do and that you are going to do it whether anybody recognizes it or not. I've met people who've said, ‘I used to be an artist.’ I said, ‘What does that mean? Does that mean like you used to be a dancer? You're a dancer because you dance, and you're an artist because you do things.’ I hope people don't give up. Don't give up!”
[Beverly Buchanan, Untitled, 1990, colored ink on paper, gift of Lynn Boland and Katherine McQueen]
http://www.marciagyerman.com/curator-wia.html
Robert Colescott
In a 1999 interview with Paul Karlstrom for the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Colescott commented on the push and pull between serving the Black community and honoring artistic freedom: “See, I think in the first place, the way that one serves is to serve art first. And so you want to . . . And the way you serve art is by being to yourself. And you can't have two masters. You can't be afraid to . . . to . . . you can't be afraid to hurt and to deal with subjects that have that potential. The only way that you can be true to yourself is to follow your own star. And I think considering the attitude of a lot of people in the Black community is that they really don't want to leave this up to the judgment of the artist. They want to have some kind of control over these visual statements. And I would just be happy if the . . . if Black artists, Black American artists could be free to express themselves. I think then they could do their real job, which is being courageous . . . courageous citizens, courageous artists.”
[Robert Colescott, 𝘐𝘴𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘦, 1990, acrylic on canvas, gift of Polly and Mark Addison, 2015.5.11]
https://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/interviews/oral-history-interview-robert-colescott-11502
William Hawkins
In a 1987 interview for the project The Mind's Eye, the self-taught Columbus, Ohio artist explained his newfound success in the larger art market: “I ain’t gonna send nothing to New York that I can’t sell. And I think about great things so when you’re on a vacation going there, you see something wonderful, see a great picture, something what the other man can’t draw. Always try to draw something that interests the young generation.”
[William Hawkins, Untitled, 1995, paint on panel, gift of Ron and June Shelp, 2018.20.2]
https://www.demischdanant.com/news/film-clip-william-hawkins
Jean Claude Sévère
Little has been recorded about Haitian artist Jean Claude Sévère. He studied under Philome Obin beginning at an early age but Sévère eventually set aside his artistic career for the more lucrative trade of waiting tables on cruise ships. His paintings were most often narrative, whether scenes of daily life on the island or historical scenes, as seen here.
[Jean Claude Sévère, 𝘓𝘦 𝘙𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦-𝘷𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘴 𝘈𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘯, 1991, gift of Ron and June Shelp, 2018.20.8]
Enrique Chagoya
In a 2007 interview with 𝘓𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘘𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘺, Chagoya describes one of his first series, created for a group protesting the invasion of Central America by the Reagan Administration: “I was in need of a therapeutic outlet; it takes a very tough spirit to do social work—to not become overwhelmed by the grandness and intricacy of the world, the underlying sensation that one is barely, if at all, significant. So while my work was politically and socially motivated in terms of the content, I was really making art for myself… exercising my freedom of expression. Occasionally I feel a bit guilty about the self-indulgence of it, but I think we must be self-indulgent in exercising our rights, our political and social voice. And I welcome others to be self-indulgent in that regard as well. Vive la difference!”
[Enrique Chagoya, 𝘗𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘰𝘳 𝘈𝘳𝘤𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦, 2006, color lithograph on paper, gift of Polly and Mark Addison, 2009.2.8]
https://lelandq.wordpress.com/2007/11/30/in-conversation-with-enrique-chagoya/
Celia Calderón
Celia Calderón is an important if understudied artist of the Taller de Gráfica Popular (TGP), serving in a leadership role for the group in the early 1960s. She also worked to connect the TGP with others internationally, traveling and studying in the Soviet Union and the People’s Republic of China in the 1950s. As they declared in their declaration of principles: “The TGP believes that, in order to serve the people, art must reflect the social reality of the times and have unity in content and form.”
[Celia Calderón, 𝘓𝘢 𝘯𝘢𝘤𝘪ó𝘯 𝘯𝘰 𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘢 𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘦𝘹𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘫𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘴, 1947/1960, offset lithograph on paper, gift of Marcelo Calle (CSU 2003 graduate), 2012.4.123]
Pablo O’Higgins
One of the founders of the Mexican printmaking collective known as 𝘛𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘦 𝘎𝘳á𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘢 𝘗𝘰𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘳, he created this print of a conquistador standing over a defeated Aztec army warrior while a temple in the background blazes afire.
“What gave us strength and allowed us to develop in a useful way was that immediately after getting together our first plan of action was to decide how to connect our graphic art with the immediate problems of Mexico…Thus the 𝘛𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘦 𝘎𝘳á𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘢 𝘗𝘰𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘳 achieved a secure and dynamic base that permitted it to interpret not only Mexican events, but also international affairs…”
-O’Higgins (1930s) quoted in 𝘔𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘗𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦 𝘊𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, Gregory Allicar Museum of Art: 2012
[Pablo O’Higgins, 𝘓𝘢 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘤𝘪ó𝘯 𝘥𝘦𝘭 𝘔é𝘹𝘪𝘤𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘨𝘶𝘰, 1960, Offset lithograph on paper, gift of Marcelo Calle (CSU 2003 graduate), 2012.4.8]
Brian Jungen
In a 2006 interview with Terence Dick, Jungen commented on appropriation: “If it’s OK for North American sporting teams to use imagery and language and even some crude ceremonial practices of Native Americans, then I feel like I have every right to use sports equipment. What sport fulfills in contemporary North America is this kinship ritual among fans.”
[Brian Jungen, 𝘛𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘚𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘬 (𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘙𝘶𝘭𝘦), 2005, Wood with ink, gift of Polly and Mark Addison, 2013.3.16]
Darío Escobar
Talking about illusion in a 2005 conversation with the Cuban critic Emiliano Valdes, the artist argued that “if we accept that art can never convert itself into a mechanical reflection of the artist’s life or of the world itself, then we can perhaps consider the possibility of illusion as a more concrete, complex alternative within the creative process. . . These intentions call upon social autobiographical and political situations. . . . Illusion is not something that is ‘constructed', as say high-tech is, it is rather something that is invented, that is born through labor itself, that may itself perhaps be a construct, but through a poetics, since this is the primary task of the creative.”
Check out our video for a recent ACT Shorts at the Museum program to learn more about this print: https://bit.ly/ACTShorts [Darío Escobar, Untitled, 2013, Mixografía® print on handmade paper, Gregory Allicar Museum of Art, CSU, gift of Mixografía®, 2017.15]
Catherine Opie
Catherine Opie’s High School Football series is described by The Met:
“Poignant studies of group behavior and American masculinity on the cusp of adulthood, the photographs can be seen as an extension of the artist’s diverse body of work related to gender performance in the queer communities in Los Angeles and San Francisco.”
[Catherine Opie, 𝘊𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘸 𝘏𝘪𝘨𝘩 𝘚𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘉𝘢𝘯𝘥, 2007, Digital reproduction, gift of Linny and Elmo Frickman, 2017.7]
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/830493
Paul D. Miller (DJ Spooky)
Musician, film maker, and artist, this print is part of a multimedia work called 𝘛𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘢 𝘕𝘰𝘷𝘢: 𝘚𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘢 𝘈𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢, and the installation "Manifesto for a People's Republic of Antarctica.”
Miller explains in an interview with 𝘚&𝘍 𝘖𝘯𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦:
"Antarctica represents a place mediated by science—it's literally almost another world. Some of my favorite science fiction books, like Kim Stanley Robinson's 𝘈𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢 and Crawford Kilian's 𝘐𝘤𝘦𝘘𝘶𝘢𝘬𝘦, deal with some of the same themes: science, art and the weird un-worldliness of the ice terrain."
[Paul D. Miller (aka DJ Spooky), 𝘔𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘧𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘗𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦'𝘴 𝘙𝘦𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘤 𝘰𝘧 𝘈𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢, 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘛𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘢 𝘕𝘰𝘷𝘢: 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢 𝘚𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴, 2008, screen print on paper, gift of Polly and Mark Addison, 2013.3.12]
http://sfonline.barnard.edu/ice/miller_01.htm
Glenn Ligon
Hilarie M. Sheets’s profile of Ligon from 𝘈𝘙𝘛𝘯𝘦𝘸𝘴’s April 2011 issue quoted him saying: “I’m interested in what happens when a text is difficult to read or frustrates legibility—what that says about our ability to think about each other, know each other, process each other.”
[Glenn Ligon, 𝘞𝘩𝘪𝘵𝘦 #𝟷, 1995, Aquatint and etching on paper, gift of Polly and Mark Addison, 2013.3.9]
William Pope.L
In an interview with 𝘏𝘺𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘪𝘤, Pope.L commented:
“I find my work ‘White People Are The Future’ and the notion of contradiction used in the same question by you fascinating because everyone knows there’s no contradiction. Several hundred years from now Green People historians will look back and view White People as the Neo-Egyptians of our times. Apologies, I was trying to be funny. So much for humor. Ha! Contradiction and affect together again at last.”
[William Pope.L, 𝘎𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘗𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘈𝘳𝘦…, 2005, pen and marker on paper, gift of Polly and Mark Addison, 2017.1.11]
https://hyperallergic.com/510667/pope-l-crawl/
Paul Valadez
“The work has to do with my childhood and language. I grew up in a bicultural family, Anglo/white on my mother’s side and Mexican on my father’s side and I felt that I never fit in. I was either Mexican or white depending on what side of my family I was spending time with. . . . In the concept behind the series, this artwork has very little to do with “music”, but it does have to do with images and language, ‘the language of images,’ if you will.”
-Paul Valadez
[Paul Valadez, 𝘗𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘥𝘢𝘴…𝘌𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘋𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘢, from “The Great Mexican-American Songbook,” 2016, acrylic, graphite, ink, and collage on found paper, gift of the artist, 2017.13.4]
Binh Danh
“Binh Danh emerged as an artist of national importance with work that investigates his Vietnamese heritage and our collective memory of war. His technique incorporates his invention of the chlorophyll printing process, in which photographic images appear embedded in leaves through the action of photosynthesis.”
[Binh Danh, 𝘉𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥, 2005, chlorophyll print and resin, museum purchase, 2008.1]
Mel Chin
As Chin describes: “The policeman’s nightstick is a symbol of authoritarian force loaded with potential for brutality and physical control.” [Mel Chin, 𝘔𝘰𝘤𝘬 𝘜𝘱 𝘔𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘭𝘢, 1995, collage, gift of Linny and Elmo Frickman, 2018.2.3]
Sama Alshaibi
The artist explores identity and humanity in her writings 𝘔𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘋𝘪𝘢𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘢 (𝘗𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘌𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘈𝘳𝘵): “My images act as a visual objection to the denial of our national identity and humanity. By utilizing the loose graffiti writing style over the pregnant belly, the work alludes to all the architectural surfaces within the West Bank. […] Excerpts of poems from noted Palestinian poets, such as Mahmood Darwish and Fadwa Tuqan, expressively capture our collective voice of determination and longing. These writings act as discussions, declarations, and documentation of life under occupation.”
[Sama Alshaibi, 𝘐𝘯 𝘔𝘺 𝘊𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘺’𝘴 𝘌𝘮𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘦, 2004, digital archive print, gift of Polly and Mark Addison, 2017.1.2]
Juan Antonio Roda
"Yo hago una pintura no-figurativa pero no abstracta…No me gusta que sea totalmente abstracta, me gusta que sea viva."
"I make non-figurative but not abstract painting ... I don't like it to be totally abstract, I like it to be alive."
-Juan Antonio Roda, 𝘙𝘰𝘥𝘢 𝘴𝘶 𝘗𝘰𝘦𝘴í𝘢 𝘝𝘪𝘴𝘶𝘢𝘭, Museo Nacional de Colombia (2014)
[Juan Antonio Roda, 𝘙𝘦𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘞𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯, 1970, oil on Masonite, gift of Ron and June Shelp, 2018.20.7]
Deborah Roberts
“Whether I was aware of it or not, otherness has been at the center of my consciousness since the beginning of my artistic career. My early ideals of race and beauty were shaped by and linked through paintings of renaissance artists and photographs in fashion magazines. Those images were mythical, heroic, beautiful, and powerful and embodied a particular status that was not afforded equally to anyone I knew. Those images influenced the way I viewed myself and other African Americans, which led me to investigate the way our identities have been imagined and shaped by societal interpretations of beauty. Having one’s identity dismantled, marginalized and regulated to non-human status demands action. This led me to critically engage image-making in art history and pop-culture, and ultimately grapple with whatever power and authority these images have over the female figure.”
[Deborah Robert, 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘵 𝘓𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴, 2018, pigment print on paper, on loan from a private collection]