How art gives shape to cultural change - Thelma Golden
Summary
TLDRThe video script discusses the transformative power of art, particularly black artists, in shaping culture and history. The speaker, a curator, reflects on how exhibitions and museums serve as spaces for dialogue and exploration of identity, race, and creativity. Highlighting artists like Glenn Ligon, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and Carol Walker, the curator examines the role of art in redefining narratives, fostering community, and challenging perceptions. The script also touches on the global influence of African art and the continuous evolution of cultural discourse through exhibitions like 'Black Male' and 'Flow.'
Takeaways
- 🎭 The speaker's work is deeply influenced by artists, particularly black artists, who have shaped their understanding of art and culture.
- 🖌️ The speaker's project focuses on art, specifically black artists, and how art can transform our cultural perceptions and self-understanding.
- 🌟 The significance of Dino might and Jean-Michel Basquiat is highlighted as pioneering black artists in their respective fields.
- 🤔 The speaker is interested in artists who reinterpret history and create new spaces for understanding within the larger narrative of art.
- 🏛️ The concept of the artist's studio as a laboratory and the museum as a think tank is introduced to reimagine the role of art institutions.
- 📈 The exhibition 'Black Male' at the Whitney Museum is discussed as a pivotal moment that explored race and gender in contemporary art.
- 🗣️ The power of images in shaping self-perception and societal understanding is emphasized through a personal anecdote from the 'Black Male' exhibition.
- 🏢 The speaker's work at the Studio Museum in Harlem is about considering the museum's role as a catalyst for community change and cultural dialogue.
- 🌐 The series of exhibitions titled 'Freestyle' aims to discover and define the work of young black artists who are seen as cultural catalysts.
- 🌟 The idea of 'post-black' art is introduced to describe artists who work from a historical perspective but are rooted in the present moment.
- 🌟 The speaker is excited about the potential of young artists to bring energy and innovation to the community and to redefine cultural narratives.
Q & A
What is the significance of artists in the speaker's understanding of art and culture?
-The speaker emphasizes that their work in understanding art and culture has been greatly influenced by following artists, examining their meanings, actions, and identities, which has led to a deeper comprehension of the role of art in shaping cultural narratives.
Why is Dino might significant to many people?
-Dino might is significant because he was the first black artist on prime time TV, which was a groundbreaking moment in representation and visibility for black artists in mainstream media.
What is the primary focus of the speaker's overall project?
-The speaker's overall project is focused on art, specifically on black artists, and more broadly on how art can alter our perceptions of culture and ourselves.
Who are Glenn Ligon and Carol Walker, and why are they important to the speaker?
-Glenn Ligon and Carol Walker are artists who form the essential questions that the speaker wanted to bring as a curator to the world. They are important because they represent the kind of artists who understand and rewrite history, creating new spaces for understanding within the larger narrative of art.
What was the purpose of the exhibition 'Black Male' that the speaker curated at the Whitney Museum?
-The exhibition 'Black Male' aimed to explore the intersection of race and gender in contemporary American art, providing a space for a complex dialogue with multiple points of entry and showcasing how the museum could serve as a platform for such discussions.
How did the speaker's experience with the exhibition 'Black Male' change their perspective on art?
-The speaker's experience with 'Black Male' was life-changing, as it confronted them with the power of images in shaping people's understanding of themselves and each other, leading to a deeper appreciation of art's capacity to facilitate dialogue and challenge perceptions.
What is the role of a museum according to the speaker's vision?
-In the speaker's vision, a museum should act as a catalyst in a community, housing artists and allowing them to be change agents as communities rethink themselves, fostering cross-cultural dialogues, creativity, and innovation.
What does the term 'post black' mean in the context of the speaker's work?
-The term 'post black' refers to artists who start their work now by looking back at history but are centered in the present moment, aiming to redefine what it means to be African American in America and contribute to the broader cultural discourse.
What is the significance of Harlem in the speaker's projects?
-Harlem holds significant importance in the speaker's projects as it is considered the heart of the black experience and a place where history, present, and future are considered simultaneously, making it an ideal location for exploring and showcasing the work of black artists.
How does the speaker view the role of young artists in shaping cultural discourse?
-The speaker views young artists as vital in shaping cultural discourse, not only for their aesthetic innovations but also for the energy and excitement they bring to their communities, serving as important voices that help us understand our current situation and envision the future.
Outlines
🎭 The Influence of Black Artists on Art and Culture
The speaker, a curator, draws parallels between their work with art exhibitions and the playwright Adrienne Kennedy's work with influential figures. They emphasize the importance of understanding artists' contributions to culture and history. The speaker's focus is on black artists who have reshaped cultural narratives and created new spaces for understanding art. They discuss their role as a curator in fostering dialogues about race and gender through exhibitions like 'Black Male' at the Whitney Museum, which highlighted the power of images in shaping societal perceptions. The speaker also recounts a pivotal moment during the exhibition where a visitor's assumptions about the racial identity of artists and their artwork challenged their understanding of representation in art.
🏛 The Role of Museums in Community and Cultural Evolution
The speaker discusses the significance of Harlem as a cultural epicenter for the African American community, noting its historical importance and its ongoing role in shaping cultural identity. They question whether museums can act as catalysts for change within communities and serve as platforms for artists to drive social transformation. The speaker's work at the Studio Museum in Harlem involves curating exhibitions that explore the potential of art to redefine cultural movements and engage in cross-cultural dialogues. They reflect on the museum's founding in the late 1960s amidst social unrest and its evolution to the present day, highlighting the importance of historical context in understanding contemporary art. The speaker also references Muhammad Ali's 1975 lecture at Harvard, emphasizing the interconnectedness of the individual and the community, which resonates with their curatorial approach.
🌟 Nurturing the Creative Spirit and Reimagining Cultural Discourse
The speaker shares their vision of nurturing the creative spirit, particularly in urban America, and the importance of museums in fostering this spirit. They discuss an exhibition featuring 40 young artists over eight years, which aimed to consider the impact of this generation on society and their role in both the global art scene and their local communities. The speaker also talks about their latest project, 'Flow,' which seeks to create a global network of artists and explore the future of Africa and its influence on the 21st century. They reflect on the privilege of discovering new art and artists and the personal growth they've experienced as a curator. The speaker concludes by emphasizing the importance of art in facilitating conversations about beauty, power, and identity, and the excitement of engaging with the current generation of artists.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Art as a Catalyst
💡Black Masculinity
💡Post-Black
💡Cultural Movements
💡The Studio Museum in Harlem
💡Exhibition as Dialogue
💡Reinventing Museums
💡Representation
💡Harlem Renaissance
💡Cross-Cultural Dialogue
Highlights
Adrianne Kennedy's influence on the speaker's approach to understanding art and culture through artists.
The importance of Dino and Jean-Michel Basquiat as pioneering black artists on prime time TV.
The speaker's project focuses on art, particularly black artists, and how art can change cultural perceptions.
The significance of artists who understand and rewrite history within the larger narrative of art.
The idea of creating a new narrative in art history and the world through understanding artists' work.
The concept of the artist's studio as a laboratory and the museum as a think tank.
The 1994 exhibition 'Black Male' at the Whitney Museum, exploring race and gender in contemporary American art.
The powerful impact of images on people's understanding of themselves and each other, as seen in the 'Black Male' exhibition.
The mistaken racial assignment of artworks by visitors, highlighting the complexity of racial representation in art.
The speaker's move to Harlem and the importance of the community in shaping the black experience.
The role of the museum as a catalyst for change in the community, as explored through the speaker's work.
The Studio Museum's founding in the late 60s and its historical context within the civil rights movement.
Muhammad Ali's poem about the individual and community, and its relevance to the speaker's curatorial work.
The 'Freestyle' series of exhibitions aiming to discover and define young black artists working in the current moment.
The concept of 'post-black' art and its significance in defining contemporary black artists' work.
The importance of considering the current generation of artists and their impact on cultural discourse.
The speaker's vision for reimagining cultural discourse in an international context through the 'Flow' project.
The speaker's personal discovery through curating and the importance of art in understanding beauty, power, and identity.
Transcripts
[Music]
[Music]
[Music]
the brilliant playright audrianne
Kennedy wrote a volume called people who
have led my plays and if I were to write
a volume it would be called artists who
have led my exhibitions because my work
in understanding art and in
understanding culture has come by
following artists by looking at what
artists mean and what they do and who
they are JJ from Good
Times significant to many people of
course because of Dino might but perhaps
more significant as the first really
black artist on prime time TV Jean
Michelle basat important to me because
the first black artist in real time that
showed me the possibility of who and
what I was about to enter into my
overall project is about art
specifically about black artists very
generally about the way in which art can
change the way we think about culture
and ourselves my interest is an artists
who understand and rewrite history who
think about themselves within The
Narrative of the larger world of art but
who have created new places for us to
see and understand I'm showing two
artists here Glenn Ligon and Carol
Walker two of many who really form for
me the essential questions that I wanted
to bring as a curator to the world I was
interested in the idea of why and how I
could create create a new story a new
narrative in art history and a new
narrative in the world and to do this I
knew that I had to see the way in which
artists work understand the artist
studio as a
laboratory imagine then Reinventing the
museum as a think tank and looking at
the exhibition as the ultimate white
paper asking questions providing the
space to look and to think about answers
in 1994 when I was a curator at the
Whitney Museum I made an exhibition
called blackmail it looked at the
intersection of race and gender in
Contemporary American art it sought to
express the ways in which art could
provide a space for a dialogue
complicated dialogue dialogue with many
many points of entry and how the museum
could be the space for this contest of
ideas this exhibition included over 20
artists of various ages and races but
all looking at black masculinity from a
very particular point of
view what was significant about this
exhibition is the way in which it
engaged me in my role as a curator as a
catalyst for this dialogue one of the
things that happened very distinctly in
the course of this exhibition is I was
confronted with the idea of how powerful
images can be in people's understanding
of themselves and each other I'm showing
you two works one on the right by Leon
golb one on the left by Robert kscott
and in the course of the exhibition
which was contentious controversial and
ultimately for me life-changing in my
sense of what art could be a woman came
up to me on the gallery floor to express
her concern about the nature of how
powerful images could be and how we
understood each other and she pointed to
the work on the Left To Tell me how
problematic this image was as it related
for her to the idea of how black people
had been represented and she pointed to
the image on the right as an example to
me of the kind of dignity that needed to
be portrayed to work against those
images in the media she then assigned
these Works racial identities basically
saying to me that the work on the right
clearly was made by a black artists the
work on the left clearly by a white
artist went in effect that was the
opposite case Bob kott African-American
artist Leon golb uh a a white artist the
point of that for me was to say in that
space in that moment that I really more
than anything wanted to understand how
images could work how images did work
and how artists provided a space bigger
than one that we could imagine in our
day-to-day lives to work through these
images fast forward and I end up in
Harlem home for many of Black America
very much the psychic heart of the black
experience really the place where the
Harlem Renaissance
existed Harlem now s of explaining and
thinking of itself in this part of the
century looking both backwards and
forwards I always say Harlem is an
interesting Community because unlike
many other places it thinks of itself in
the past present and the future
simultaneously no one speaks of it just
in the now it's always what it was and
what it can be and in thinking about
that then my second project the second
question I ask is can a museum be a
catalyst in a community can a museum
house artists and allow them to be
change agents as communities rethink
themselves this is Harlem actually on
January 20th thinking about itself in a
very wonderful way so I work now at the
studio Museum in Harlem thinking about
exhibitions there thinking about what it
means to discover Arts possibility now
what does this mean to some of you in
some cases I know that many of you are
involved in cross-cultural dialogues
you're involved in ideas of creativity
and Innovation think about the place
that artists can play in that that is
the kind of incubation and advocacy that
I work towards in working with young
black artists think about artists not as
content providers though they can be
brilliant at that but again as real
Catalyst the studio Museum was founded
in the late 60s and I bring this up
because it's important to locate this
practice in history to look at 1968 in
the incredible historic moment that is
and think of the arc that has happened
since then to think of the possibilities
that we are all privileged to stand in
today and imagine that this Museum that
came out of a moment of great protest
and one that was so much about examining
the history and the leg Legacy of
important African-American artists to
the history of Art in this country like
Jacob Lawrence Norman Lewis ramir
Bearden and then of course to bring us
to today in 1975 Muhammad Ali gave a
lecture at Harvard University after his
lecture this A student got up and said
to him give us a poem and Muhammad Ali
said me we a profound statement about
the individual and the community the
space in which now in my project of
discovery of thinking about artists of
trying to Define what might be black art
cultural movement of the 21st century
what that might mean for cultural
movements all over in this moment the
miwe seems incredibly precient totally
important to this end the specific
project that has made this possible for
me is a series of exhibitions all titled
with an F freestyle frequency and flow
which have set out to discover and
Define the young black artist working in
this moment who I feel strongly will
continue to work over the next many
years this series of exhibitions was
made specifically to try and question
the idea of what it would mean now at
this point in history to see art as a
catalyst what it means now at this point
in history as we Define and redefine
culture Black Culture specifically in my
case but culture generally I named this
group of
artists around an idea which I put out
there called post black really meant to
Define them as artists who came and
start their work now looking back at
history but star in this moment
historically it is really in this sense
of discovery that I have a new set of
questions that I'm asking this new set
of questions is what does it mean right
now to be africanamerican in America
what can artwork say about this where
can a museum exist as the place for us
all to have this conversation really
most exciting about this is thinking
about the energy and the excitement that
young artists can bring their works for
me are about not always just simply
about the aesthetic Innovation that
their minds imagine that they
Visions create and put out there in the
world but more perhaps importantly
through the excitement of the community
that they create as important voices
that would allow us right now to
understand our situation as well as in
the future I am continually Amazed by
the way in which the subject of race can
take itself in many places that we don't
imagine it should be I am always amazed
by the way in which artists are willing
to do that in their work it is why I
Look to Art it's why I ask questions of
art it is why I make exhibitions now
this exhibition as I said 40 Young
Artists done over a course of eight
years and for me it's about considering
the implications it's considering the
implications of this generation has to
say to the rest of us it's considering
what it means for these artists to be
both out in the world as work travels
but in their communities as people who
are seeing and thinking about the issues
that face us it's also about thinking
about the creative spirit and nurturing
it and imagining particularly in urban
America about the nurturing of this
Spirit now where perhaps does this end
up right now for me it is about
reimagining this cultural discourse in
an international context so the last
iteration of this project has been call
flow with the idea now of creating a
real network of artists around the world
really looking not so much from Harlem
and out but looking across and Flo
looked at artists all born on the
continent of Africa and as many of us
think about that continent and think
about what it means to us all in the
21st century I have begun that looking
through artists through artworks and
imagining what they can tell us about
the future with they tell us about our
future and what they create in their
sense of offering us this great
possibility of watching that continent
emerge as part of our bigger dialogue so
what do I discover when I look at
artworks what do I think about when I
think about art I feel like the
privilege I've had as a curator is not
just the discovery of new works the
discovery of exciting works but really
it has been what I've discovered about
myself and what I can offer in the space
of an exhibition to talk about beauty to
talk about power to talk about ourselves
and to talk and speak to each other
that's what makes me get up every day
and want to think about this generation
of black artists and artists around the
world thank
[Applause]
[Music]
you
5.0 / 5 (0 votes)