Best regards, Andrew Stewart
Begin forwarded message: > From: H-Net Staff via H-REVIEW <[email protected]> > Date: February 22, 2021 at 6:42:15 PM EST > To: [email protected] > Cc: H-Net Staff <[email protected]> > Subject: H-Net Review [H-Africa]: Onwuzuruoha on English and Barat, 'Among > Others: Blackness at MoMA' > Reply-To: [email protected] > > Darby English, Charlotte Barat, eds. Among Others: Blackness at > MoMA. New York Museum of Modern Art, 2019. Illustrations. 488 pp. > $65.00 (cloth), ISBN 978-1-63345-034-9. > > Reviewed by Nkenna Onwuzuruoha (University of Utah) > Published on H-Africa (February, 2021) > Commissioned by David D. Hurlbut > > _Among Others: Blackness at MoMA_ is a weighty collection: the > compilation offers a history of black art currently or once housed at > one of America's most prestigious museums so far-reaching that it is > nearly impossible to hold with one hand. Vibrant images are > beautifully placed throughout, including well-known works by Jacob > Lawrence, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and Kara Walker, which many would > travel long distances to experience in person. Released in 2019, only > months before unprecedented racial unrest, _Among Others_ imparts > those engaged in anti-racism a means to educate themselves on the > history of black erasure in white-dominant, elite spaces, such as the > Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). The anthology could easily exist as a > coffee-table read for art lovers and art history neophytes who are > first moved by images before written text, but it proves to be much > more than that. > > Readers discover a nuanced formulation on blackness at MoMA by > reading Charlotte Barat and Darby English's introductory essay. At > nearly eighty-five pages, it is long enough to be considered a > monograph. Though MoMA published the collection, Barat and English > refuse to water down the museum's feeble past attempts to recognize > the richness of black artists it agreed to showcase. The authors > force readers to sit with the discomforting truth on MoMA's history > with their title: "Blackness at MoMA: A Legacy of Deficit." They > assert MoMA denied black artists and exhibitions it featured the > regard they deserved. While readers quickly grasp MoMA's complicated > history with black artists, the authors continue to highlight these > struggles with the hard-hitting statement, "Both historically and > today, in neither art nor political culture can black subjects assume > fair representation. We have had to pursue it, insist on it, insert > it, stand witness to its withholding or diminishment or > withdrawal--then again pursue it, insist on it, insert it. The > history of blackness at MoMA is a case in point" (p. 17). Throughout > the introductory essay, Barat and English unearth MoMA's conflictions > with showcasing black artists, such as William Edmonson, and its > missteps acknowledging monumental periods of African American > history--for example, the 1969 protest led by artist Faith Ringgold > calling for the end of MoMA's "cultural genocide" against blacks and > Puerto Ricans (p. 56). Their opening essay in _Among Others_ carries > a level of gripping honesty that many would deem impressive. > > Barat and English include artifacts in their essay that they, > presumably, only had access to as curators at MoMA and, more > importantly, with the museum's permission to delve through its > archives. For example, included is a letter written in 1938 by former > MoMA director Alfred H. Barr stating that he saw little "intrinsic > value" in Alain Locke's work. To Barr, several pieces that Locke > wanted to contribute to a prospective compilation were "pretty > mediocre" (p. 34). Additionally, an excerpt from a 1994 Friends of > Education committee membership note illustrates ways to increase the > number of black patrons that goes against the public relations firm > MoMA hired for the endeavor. Barat and English see the note as a > failure to recognize the sense of alienation black artists feel when > attempting to coexist in spaces dominated by those not of African > descent. These and other artifacts make Barat and English's essay an > exceptional historiographic project. The 508 citations also speak > volumes to the herculean effort to produce an intellectual piece > destined to become a significant contribution to the art world. The > research and final product are on caliber with other books English, a > professor in art history at the University of Chicago and former MoMA > adjunct art curator, has published during his tenure at both > institutions. > > Art historians may, however, find themselves engaged with _Among > Others_ less critically for the most considerable portion. The > eponymously titled section has over 150 contributors, each writing > typically one page, sometimes two or three, on the particular > artist's style and contributions to a larger artistic movement before > providing a condensed interpretation of select works. A few pages > into the collection, there is a table of contents organized by artist > plates, and near the end, the list is organized by contributors. The > many hands involved in this project, some well known like Kara > Walker, who profiles José Clemente Orozco, and others whose > connection to the art world is less apparent, make the collection an > encyclopedia of sorts. The more than 350 pages devoted to these > plates are trusted refreshers, likely closely reviewed by editors > Barat and English, which one could reference when researching an > artist or artistic movement. Nevertheless, these contributions do not > match the magnitude of Barat and English's essay as an authoritative > source, especially if one is looking to encounter a detailed > biography for an artist. > > Between Barat and English's essay and the series of artist plates is > Columbia University Architecture, Planning, and Preservation > professor Mabel O. Wilson's brief section titled "White by Design." > The scholar poses a question specific to her field yet abstractly > maintains some implication for the art community: "What then is > architecture's power, particularly of racialization, both within the > institution and beyond the archive's walls" (p. 102)? Wilson's > contribution to _Among Others_ reminds readers that much of the art > they expect to discover in this collection captures rather than > affects black people's daily lives. She makes the argument that > architecture and design "racially divide spaces in cities and towns > across the United States," which has tremendous power in dictating > the welfare of these minoritized people (p. 106). Before her essay > comes to a close, Wilson answers her own question by revealing that > "the power of the architecture and its archive is to build > 'whiteness' by design" (p. 108). As bereaved as her ending may leave > readers, between the lines of pessimism, her words offer the same > hope as Barat and English's, "It's not all bad news," in their essay > (p. 15). If one acknowledges the pathology of racism when brought to > light, reparative measures can begin. Ultimately, _Among Others_ > achieves the objectives that English, Barat, Wilson, and the myriad > of contributors set for it. It is exhaustive but not exhausting for > the way it is meant to be read--not page by page but more as an > anthology or reference guide. It is visceral on account of its > truthfulness but gentle in its handling of black subjectivity. > Overall, the affective nature of the publication will interest a wide > variety of readers. > > Citation: Nkenna Onwuzuruoha. Review of English, Darby; Barat, > Charlotte, eds., _Among Others: Blackness at MoMA_. H-Africa, H-Net > Reviews. February, 2021. > URL: https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=55564 > > This work is licensed under a Creative Commons > Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States > License. > > -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. 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