The Museum of Wisconsin Art’s “Here at Last! African-American Artists Who Teach at Wisconsin Colleges, Universities and Schools” provides an intriguing look at 15 artworks from five of the state’s influential African-American artists. But it also raises the question of whether the exhibit needed to reference ethnicity.
The works, located in the museum’s main gallery, transcend race and suggest that the exhibit could simply have noted artwork by important Wisconsin faculty.
This perhaps is best exemplified by Larry Chatman’s photography, in which he displays panoramic scenes of an Italian street ornamented with graffiti. The black-and-white print The Pope and Berlusconi,a 2006 photograph shot in Florence, Italy, explores graffiti’s role as public artan accessible, affordable medium used to increase political and social consciousness. His superb, provocative prints depict cultural scenes without referencing ethnicity.
Trenton Baylor’s three fascinating sculptures juxtapose cold metal and smooth wood in minimalist, twig-like forms. Switch, fashioned from cast bronze and walnut, and Brother’s Canopy, in cast bronze and spruce, evoke serenity and sympathy with melancholy undertones. Likewise, these pieces can be viewed without any clues as to the artist’s race.
George Williams highlights African-American male nudes in works that portray human struggle and strife. The use of skin color in these paintings reflects Williams’ unique interpretation more than a specific ethnicity, as the images transcend both race and gender.
The other two artists in the exhibit, Brad Bernard and Freida High W. Tesfagiorgis, produce portraiture that does in fact place more emphasis on race.
While the exhibition rightfully acknowledges the contributions of these talented individuals, one can’t help but think that the exhibit could simply have promoted their role as Wisconsin artists and educators. The exhibit would still highlight these terrific works of art, but it would also speak to an ideal the human race aspires to embrace.
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“Here at Last! African-American Artists Who Teach at Wisconsin Colleges, Universities and Schools” continues through Nov. 7.
