Day five- The revolution will not be televised
Today we went to the National Gallery of Art’s East Building. This is the first art museum we’ve been to as a group and it felt like going home. I recognized many pieces by the same artists in the Carter’s collection, just on a massive scale. See below for our Calder vs the NGA’s.
left: the Carter’s Calder, right: the NGA’s Calder
We had the privilege of speaking to Nathalie Ryan before and after viewing their newly opened Elizabeth Catlett exhibition and in true educator style, she gave us a list of guiding questions to help us think critically about the exhibit’s curatorial choices. As a fellow teacher, I loved reading through the handout and observing how similar our approach to close looking and critical thinks prompts are. It was fun to be on the other side of a learning experience as well!
I was already a fan of Catlett’s work, but as I explored the galleries, I found so many new details about her life and observed the consistent duality in her work as she explored the complexities of her identity. The exhibition design reflected these themes beautifully through choices such as its color palette which was evocative of Catlett’s personal and professional tie to Mexico and its choice to provide side by side English and Spanish each time written material was included on the walls.
The first gallery of the exhibit which featured Catlett’s words paired with several of her pieces.
The works ranged from examinations of womanhood to the inherent trauma of Black personhood in America. Many of her politically motivated pieces are just as heartbreakingly relevant today.
far left: Target Practice, 1970, center left: Negro es Bello (Black is Beautiful), 1969/1970, center right: Black Unity, 1968, far right: Mask (Mask for Whites), c. 1970
After our time in the exhibit, we joined Nathalie in a classroom where she generously shared insight about institutional structure, her professional journey, and some NGA swag! I was very impressed by the amount of data they have collected regarding internal efficiency and visitor profiles. It felt like a bigger, NGA-specific version of Falk’s identity theory. I was inspired by the level of care and detail given to both visitor experience and internal structure.
A final closing thought- Nathalie shared with us the balancing act that many museums are currently facing between honoring their mission and in many cases, the artist’s intention while “flying under the radar” to avoid potential consequences from the current administration. This is a time of bravery and self preservation. Both are valid and necessary as we work to fight another day.
Leave a comment