Curatorial Statement
In contemporary American society if
there’s one issue that that has affected us for quite some time and still
affects us and our daily lives today it’s the race identity. According to PBS,
the word ‘race’ has no biological meaning. Race seems to be just a mere concept.
Yet we identify people by it not just physically but in many aspects of life. Race
can affect a person’s love life, their profession, their family and themselves
as a person. While some people believe we live in a post-racial society others
are reminded that we don’t on a daily basis. With race being such an
overwhelming topic it’s no wonder why artists like to depict it through their
art.
This curatorial project does not
center on just one aspect of the race identity. Instead it focuses on different
aspects in hopes of getting people thinking to see what race means to them.
Because race is a concept with no actual meaning it’s safe to assume that each
person will define race differently. Race
is more than just the color of a person’s skin and while many people believe
it’s only skin deep, people who are more affected by it will probably tell you
differently.
This project is NOT about racism.
This project is about race and how people identify it. I say this because when
people think race they automatically think of the problems people’s perceptions
of race have caused. This project only deals with people perceptions not what
they do base off those perceptions. The reason why I wanted to focus on
people’s perceptions is because if people didn’t view race the way they did
they wouldn’t form hate off of it. Instead of seeing an African American man
and thinking he must be a thug because he’s black, a person could easily say
that’s a man of a different skin tone than I who is probably just like me. This
projects purpose is to help people see how they view race because sometimes we
don’t realize it.
The reason why I chose the race
identity for this project is because even though it’s always been relevant it’s
recently been brought back into the spotlight after the fatal shooting of
17-year-old Trayvon Martin by George Zimmerman. Do I believe Zimmerman is
racist? No. Do I believe Zimmerman has a perception of African American men
that made him feel Trayvon was up to no good and resulted in his shooting? Yes.
Trayvons death has brought the race identity back into the spotlight and what
it means to us as a country. The fact that this young boy may have lost his
life because of what another man’s perception of his race might have been is a
need for us all to evaluate how we view race so that something like this
doesn’t happen again.
The following pieces of art focus
on different aspects of daily life from love to careers. The idea is to see how
race plays a role in each photo and in essence plays a role in that aspect of
life. The purpose is to see and measure the significance the race identity has
in normal day to day activity.
Visual Presentation
Title of work: Buzz and Nan at the Afterhours
Artist: Nan Goldin
Year created: 1980
Media: Photography
http://www.moma.org/collection/browse_results.php?object_id=102267
This photo is of a black man and a white woman sitting at the bar together after what looks like a few drinks. Up until the year 1967 interracial couples were not allowed to exist. Not only were interracial couples not allowed to exist but they were all together looked down on. In fact, before this law passed a young black boy by the name of Emmet Till was murdered at the age of 14 for supposedly flirting with a white woman. Even today, some people still look down on interracial couples. Abc news recently shot an investigative piece where they sent a fake interracial couple into a diner and showed them revealing to the young girls father that they were in love. The father, who was really just an actor, pretends he disapproves of his daughter dating a black boy. While there were several cases where people stand up against the dad for being mean towards the young man there were also scenes when the couple walks away and many people in the diner support the father. I bring this up only to make light of the fact that race still plays a pivotal role in relationships. At one point in history a photo like this could’ve never been taken. A black man would’ve never been allowed to be this close to a white woman especially in a social scene where they seem like they have some sort of relationship. Even though today, it’s legally allowed that hasn’t changed other people’s perception of it just because of how they identity another race.
This photo is of a black man and a white woman sitting at the bar together after what looks like a few drinks. Up until the year 1967 interracial couples were not allowed to exist. Not only were interracial couples not allowed to exist but they were all together looked down on. In fact, before this law passed a young black boy by the name of Emmet Till was murdered at the age of 14 for supposedly flirting with a white woman. Even today, some people still look down on interracial couples. Abc news recently shot an investigative piece where they sent a fake interracial couple into a diner and showed them revealing to the young girls father that they were in love. The father, who was really just an actor, pretends he disapproves of his daughter dating a black boy. While there were several cases where people stand up against the dad for being mean towards the young man there were also scenes when the couple walks away and many people in the diner support the father. I bring this up only to make light of the fact that race still plays a pivotal role in relationships. At one point in history a photo like this could’ve never been taken. A black man would’ve never been allowed to be this close to a white woman especially in a social scene where they seem like they have some sort of relationship. Even though today, it’s legally allowed that hasn’t changed other people’s perception of it just because of how they identity another race.
Title of work: Model
Artist: Frederick Wiseman
Year created: 1980
Media: Film
This photo relates to not just the race identity but also of
Americas idea of beauty. African American women were never regarded, at least
not in the general public, as beautiful until recently. Today, an African
American has been ranked by People magazine as the World’s Most Beautiful
Woman. However in the past, an African American couldn’t even grace the pages
of a magazine none the less the cover. The significance of race in this photo
is that an African American woman, in other words a woman who is
stereotypically not regarded as beautiful, is doing the make up for a Caucasian
model that is considered beautiful. It’s a little bit ironic. I think that’s
saying something that a woman who is of a race that is not identified with
beauty is helping a woman of another race become beautiful.
According to UXL Encyclopedia of World Biography, “Model
(1980) extended Wiseman's analysis of American culture by looking at how images
are constructed in the advertising business.” This could be an indication of
how even the media knows how America identify race. So even though America is
falling in love with these models that they believe are beautiful, it’s people
who don’t even match that idea of beauty that are behind it. This brings up the
question, if the tables were turned and the models were of a different race,
would the audience still consider them beautiful?
It brings up the idea of beauty and whether we identify all
races with beauty or just one.
Title of work: Middleton Street, Dorchester,
Massachusetts
Artist: Nicholas Nixon
Year created: 1981
Media: Photography
Often
time’s different races are identified with different economic levels. For
example, African-Americans are identified as poverty stricken while Caucasian
is identified as rich. While this may reflect how many people identify races
it’s not always true. In this photo we
see a family and what looks like a mom and her 3 children in their home. Now
someone at first glance might believe this family doesn’t have much. However,
you pay more attention you can see the house that they’re in is pretty well
kept. The young boy has on a Cub Scout uniform and in the background there even
seems to be pretty decent wallpaper. Does this mean this family is rich? No.
But it does mean they may not fit the stereotypes their race is identified
with.
Title of work: Fido Patee Pour Chats
Artists: Laszlo Sos and Eva Kemeny
Year created: 1982
Media: Architecture and Design
This
photo has huge relevancy to the race identity in America. In a part of this
photo there is a group of black boys and their grandmother who is poverty and famished.
You can see on their faces that they are depressed, hungry, and in need of
help. In another part there is a white girl who seems pretty happy and unlike
the young boys is well fed. Do we identify certain races with poverty and
therefore don’t find it a big deal when we see them like this? Is it not until
we match them next to another race when we see that there is a serious problem?
If the tables were turned and the young boys were well fed and happy but the
young girl was not, would it cause more of a public outcry? If people truly
believe that certain races identify with low economic levels something should
be done. If statistics show certain communities are suffering due to poverty
than we as a country need to come together to fix that problem. 
Title of work: Untitled
Artist: Bruce Horowitz
Year created: 1983
Media: Photography
What
about the race identity and success? Does that even exist? Do we as a country
identify a race with successful men and women? Stereotypically speaking, I
suppose if you consider Wall Street you might consider a white male. This
photo, however, has something else in mind. It’s a simple piece of art work. It
looks like a photo of a mother and child. The mother is looks like she’s
successful. She’s in a business suit and in area that looks to be more of a
place of business than just a community. Her daughter is dressed up in some
pretty fancy clothes as well which could suggest that her mother can afford
clothes like that. This is significant to the race identity just because it’s
not something we see often. Therefore, unfortunately it’s not something some
races are generally identified with. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. We
choose what we identify races with. We could very easily identify an African
American female with business and success as some identify them with poverty
and unemployment. If we choose not to it’s a reflection of how we view race not
a reflection of what race is in America.
Title of work: Domestic workers waiting for the
bus
Artist: Joel Sternfield
Year created: 1983
Media: Photography
The
name of this photo is Domestic Workers waiting for the Bus. But when I look at
this photo I see much more than that. I see friends socializing. I see a woman
with grocery bags who might have went food shopping for her family and is
planning on cooking a big dinner for them when they get home. But apparently
the photographer saw Domestic Workers waiting for the Bus. I’m not making that
reference to say that the photographer undermined his photograph subjects but
instead to once again say that the race identity is all based off of
perception. Would the photographer have named this piece of work the same if
the subjects had been of a different race? Since they’re not doing domestic
work in the photo why make note of the fact that they’re domestic workers? This
makes reference as to what some of us might connect certain races to. This
piece of art also brings to attention the race identity and profession. Since
so many races have problems when they try and move up the career ladder, is
this the kind of profession we most identify them with?
