Gallery Response Essay - David Gonzalez
Part 1 - Curatorial Activism defined
Curatorial Activism is defined as an art exhibit organizing pieces of artwork, with the aim of the artworks being the center of a historic movement, whether being political, advocacy, or touching upon political problems today. It can expose the injustices the government places on the people they reign over. Of course, not tyrannically, as artists we have a right to paint write or create as we please. Whether if it's the truth or exposing it without being of political power is something politicians need to work on. In the This Is What I Know About Art, by Kimberly Drew, "103 artists selected for the exhibition that year, only nine were Black" in one of her highlights in her book, which has me thinking is this is a discrimination problem or a social problem or maybe even both. Even when drew was Younger, in this quote "As time went on, I also realized that I didn't get many opportunities to learn about the artists and movements that got me interested in art in the first place. There have been black people since the beginning of time, but I was not seeing any of their art in any of my classes." Were these artists exception, or were they handpicked because of race and social class. Injustices we have been discussing in class. "I have coined the term ‘curatorial activists’ to describe those individuals who have committed themselves to ‘counter-hegemonic initiatives’ that give voice to those who have been historically silenced or omitted from the ‘master narrative" from Towards Curatorial Activism by Dr. Maura Reilly. This quote really stuck out to me from his essay because authors, historian, and curators can expose artists who do speak for the silenced and omitted, offering more than the censored publicly. Kimberly, who is a curator, uses social media like Instagram Tumblr, and other social media to speak for the weak and oppressed in her gallery. Giving the artists who are speaking the truth to have a spotlight in the media. Kimberly Drew is an activist because of these reasons stated. Drew finally states, "It's absurd to think about how many internships are still unpaid, and how elitist and morally corrupt it is to hire unpaid or underpaid labor.” Many oppressions, not just interns, but immigrants, skilled laborers are never rejoiced in the way they maintain our society.
Part 2 - Art Example
Juan Carlos Giraldo, Lui's Arm with Flag
This really stuck out to me the most. A hand reaching out for a flag, supposably the flag of their country. In this picture it would be the flag of Columbia. The hand reaching as if he's reaching for a dream, a dream to better his life for himself and his family. The artist Juan Giraldo, connects this as activism, he wants to "illuminate the complexity of their lives." Unfortunately for most, the American Dream which people who come to The USA for has drastically been inflated over the years. As more and more Hispanics are working demanding hours, the hard construction jobs, the graveyard shifts, and the leading manufacture jobs.
Dakota Santiago, Working Class New York Series, 2015
I can sense the accomplishments of the laborers of the working class in this image. As I said in the last image, Hispanics work the demanding hours for the high demands of the real world. With the many hours of work, under compensated pay, and unfortunately their labor is cheap because their immigrants. I manage people of high skill like them on a daily t my job. The aim here just like the previous image is to shed some light on the working class, not just Hispanics, but for all races who do trades and manufacturing jobs.
What really stuck out to me on this piece of art, is the mystery behind the blurry images as seen in this picture. The picture here are mugshots taken as close angle of the camera. When a camera is not focused enough on an image, it creates this blur distorting the images. The aim here was to create the colors of bruising, cuts, and marks that references violence and abuse to those that may have experience this trauma in their lives. This would connect to activism as anyone who has experienced this kind of violence personally, want their voice to be heard, this artwork works to aim that.
Work Cited
Reilly, M. (n.d.). TOWARD a CURATORIAL ACTIVISM. Western Art – It’s a White Male Thing, 1. https://www.maurareilly.com/pdf/essays/CIAFessay.pdf
Drew, Kimberly. This Is What I Know about Art. Penguin Workshop, 2020.
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