This White Canvas Means Nothing

My SAMO experience for this quarter began in quite an unexpected way, to be honest. On Thursday, January 3rd a fellow CST-er Andreea Sabau and I decided to begin the new year with a trip to the Woman Made Gallery. The gallery showcased a collection of art made by women while also raising awareness for the equal placement of women’s art in the art world. I was quite excited to view and interpret this gallery until both of us walked into the rustic building to find that it was closed. It was a sad day. Disappointed by our discovery Andreea and I ended up Ubering to the Museum of Contemporary Art at Chicago also known as the MCA.

The names of the contributing artists of the West by Midwest exhibit line the walls of the museum. If you would like to see the awesome building the Woman Made Gallery was in, visit Andreeas blog! Photo courtesy of me

I have never been to the MCA before (maybe I did but just can’t remember), I know right, I guess I’m considered “uncultured”. The first thing I must state though is that I walked in as a partial skeptic of modern art. Yes, even though I consider myself an amateur photographer, I struggle to grasp the concept of modern art and its confusing antics. One thing I would also like to mention is that there’s definitely a stigma towards modern art, people think that artists merely throw some paint and objects together and sell it for millions of dollars which isn’t necessarily true.

 

I’m going to talk about a couple exhibits that intrigued me and one of them was called “A Body Measured Against the Earth”. To my “dismay” it was not an actual body measured against earth, I mean we were in the MCA so I’m not sure what I was expecting. The purpose of the exhibit was however meant to showcase the relationships between the mind, body, and earth in the form of art. There, pieces of artists collections were sprawled out along the walls each with a small blurb. One piece that struck me was one called “Disappearance Suit” by Maria Gaspar.

Maria Gaspar, Photo courtesy of Maria Gaspar

I will include a photo of it below but this piece showcased Gaspar (The artist) dressed in a suit of grass laying in a field of grass. It sounds a bit perplexing but this piece had a deep meaning that resonated with me. Maria is a first-generation Mexican-American artist and inspired by her heritage, this piece represented the invisibility and hypervisibility that some immigrants experience when moving somewhere.

Disappearance Suit (Marin Headlands, CA), 2017 Courtesy of Maria Gaspar

While this artwork conveyed a deep relationship between heritage and her land, I believe it was more indicative of a current event being Trump’s presidency. With recent issues regarding border security, our rather sensitive president Donald Trump has made an effort to erect a wall at the southern border of North America. Unfortunately, these events brought a wave of attention towards illegal immigrants and I believe that Gaspar’s description of the “invisibility or hypervisibility” immigrants face is nodding to this event.

 

To be completely honest this didn’t strike me till much much later on our viewing of other exhibits in the museum but this work of art really impacted me as a learner. Granted Gasper comes from a Hispanic background, I began to see the greater extent of Trump’s impact on North America and how even groups of artists were recognizing the disembodiment of our country. This realization was somewhat of a “Cycle of Liberation” moment for me as my perspective had shifted not only away from the stigma of modern art but also from our country’s level stability. It saddens me to see what our president has said about immigration especially coming from a family whose grandmother immigrated to the U.S. from the Philippines.

 

Craft Morphology Flow Chart, 1991, Mike Kelley. Some of the handmade dolls seen in the West by Midwest exhibit. Photo courtesy of me

After walking up a couple flights of stairs, which was a large feat considering we walked 3 miles from the train station to the Woman Made Gallery, Andreea and I moved on to the main exhibit West By Midwest. Described as a parallel to history’s western expansion, the plastered paragraph on the wall of the museum informed us of how this exhibit showcased the work of sixty-three artists who moved westward to pursue art (So the collection was quite extensive).

Cradle of Filth, 2013 Amanda Ross-Ho. Ms. Ho’s piece Cradle of Filth represents a large scale depiction of someone’s creativity on an enlarged version of a backpack she discovered. Photo courtesy of me

It showcased quite the collection of pieces including an eight-foot backpack, tables of plush toys, and a book highlighting the “punk” response to the American fetishization of Japanese culture. Of course, these works of art were interesting yet I was most impacted by a piece that was a basketball hoop. This piece was called Suggett by Kori Newkirk and it wasn’t just any normal basketball hoop. In some ways it was ominous. The hoop was silver and was placed high off the ground with strings of pony beads and synthetic hair replacing what was originally the net. According to the blurb which accompanied the piece, there was a common perception made by individuals around him that he played basketball as he was a tall black man. Defying these stereotypes in a sense Kori’s reconstruction of the hoop references the black body without directly stating that creating a powerful piece of art.

Suggett, 2002, Kori Newkirk. The large piece stretches about 10 feet referencing the black body. Newkirk explains that the name of his piece comes from a public park near his hometown in upstate New York. Photo courtesy of me

After doing some research on Kori and some of his work, I found that he commonly takes everyday objects and warps them into something representative of African-American pop culture with a deeper meaning usually regarding race.

Kori Newkirk, photo courtesy of Janm

I was honestly really struck at a personal level by this piece as it wasn’t uncommon for my friends to make stereotypes growing up because of my Asian-American background. This piece also impacted me as a learner because I feel like I sometimes don’t realize that there are other stereotypes around me that I don’t see. It sounds wrong in a way, but because I have focused so much on my individual social identity as an Asian-American individual, I don’t always recognize when something may be disrespectful as for the case of Kori’s story.

Upon closer view of Newkirk’s piece, the viewer will notice the pony beads and synthetic hair that make up the net of the hoop. Photo courtesy of me

It was honestly really disappointing that we didn’t get to see the Woman Made Gallery yet I took away a lot from our visit to the MCA. I look back on my skepticism of modern art after visiting this museum and I’ll honest in saying that my perception has changed. Beyond this, however,  I feel as though I took away the most from the meaning of the art. It ended up being a visit of personal reflection not only upon my social identity but of those around me.

Here is me standing awkwardly in front of the last piece of the West by Midwest art exhibit. Photo courtesy of Andreea Sabau