Wangechi Mutu at the Brooklyn Museum

Walking into the Brooklyn Museum’s new Elisabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art wing, I was directly confronted with sexually charged sculpture followed by Judy Chicago’s The Dinner Party, 1974-79. Only by wandering further, into the Global Feminism show did I run into Wangechi Mutu’s Installation, Try Dismantling the Little Empire Inside of You, 2007. It is one of the more visually bold works in the show, which confronts feminism through grotesque aesthetics. There were other pieces that also dealt in the grotesque, but the visual tactile qualities of Mutu’s grotesque surfaces seemed to be missing from many of the other rooms in the wing. First impressions got me thinking about her recent visit to Pratt Institute, and her lecture on how she used the scarring of the walls as complementary elements to the drawing and painting sections of her installations.

This gives way to the many curatorial errors in how the show was set-up surrounding Ms. Mutu’s work. To the left and right of her installed wall, there was Tracy Rose’s Venus Baartman, 2001, and Bemi Searle’s Girl from the colour me, 1999. These works were important pieces of modern feminist work from South Africa, but Mutu’s Installation should have taken up the entire sectioned area. The three works were done by African female artists, who are addressing feminist issues, but all of the mediums and specific themes were not. It was impossible to stand in front of her work and not see the works to the left and right. Furthermore, there were many video artist’s in the show, and were in close proximity of each other. Audibly, they would intrude on Mutu’s installation and it was extremely difficult for me to even stand in front of the work and take notes on the piece while hearing wailing, trumpets, and singing. It was completely overwhelming and did not give me the chance to fully focus on the work and the emotions that is directed me to have. Instead, it would have been a wiser decision to lower the volume of the video works, to an even-toned, acceptable level, or place them in areas where the sound could be better contained.

Embedded in the installation, the wall appears to have these jewel-like pearlescent forms, which may or may not have been intended to also be seen as acne. This duality comes from her use of the pearlescent forms coming out of reddish sores on the wall which may represent something positive emerging from the grotesque or the grotesque could at any time consume the jewel-like pearls. In contrast to the violent imagery on the mylar panels, these precious scars jut out of the surface making the entire wall feel like a spongy organic wall-being. The mylar panels portray a pictorial scene, making the entire installation reference an internal and external perspective.

Next to the piece, the placard describes Mutu’s materials used, and a quote: “I think a Revolution dies when somehow it is deemed to have completed its work… Feminism in all its various iterations has permeated only certain very privileged classes and sections of women’s lives worldwide… and only succeeds when it transcends, mutates, and empowers every section of our personal, social, economic and political lives”.… giving more meaning to the work at hand. It is unclear if this statement was made in reference to the work, or if it was applied to the work as a well rounded perspective on the artist view on Feminism. I feel that the particular imagery in the installation directly relates to the quote. In that context, the imagery and meaning of the work became more encompassing and well-rounded.

The cutout imagery consists of women’s legs, skulls, machine parts, and a chimpanzee. The machine parts are attached to the larger, goddess-like figure on the right who seems to be simultaneously emitting and dismantling the leg and skull figures. Above this ball of collected bleeding and diseased imagery, there is a chimpanzee with a saint-like halo, giving a similar hand gesture to the blessing of Christ. The ball also has stick-like star shapes which allude to a 3-dimensional, geometric object made of thorns. Below there are long natural grass stands that give an outdoor setting to the floating, thorny ball and the goddess-like figure. It is important to mention that none of Mutu’s chosen images or painted areas are attractive, but they are so beautifully, technically executed it makes the installation a very vibrant section to the entire Global Feminism show. Because the machine parts are attached to the main figure and the diseased, bleeding, grotesque images are coming out of the breast or armpit of the figure, the piece seems to be an internal and external struggle of the standards of beauty; As if, the figure is ridding themselves of these vile concepts, but can’t really get away from them at the same time. This is a blessed process, by a monkey- one that seems comical but ominously serious.

I feel that this piece was particularly meaningful to me because as a feminist woman, I feel the same internal struggle of contemporary beauty standards and what I should and should not be doing as an independent woman. To me, the monkey could represent the socially sanctioned media, where it gets to deem what sorts of things are attractive. Mutu represents these things as painful and negative which only lead to a personal infestation of what women want. It is something that all women deal with, but some get sucked into the easier, thornier web of social trends. Women want to feel attractive and emotionally valid, but what we really need as women is to create our own personal standards- not allowing it get inside and taint ourselves.

Intentions of a blogger

Finding myself on Saatchi's website- http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk, I ran into some new artists that I found particularly interesting in regards to the type of work that I have been resonating with lately. I would like to pass their fascinating sense of energy and strangeness along to you. In order, Alisa Margolis, Michael Bauer, and Jacqueline Humphries.

What I would like to know, is why this type of work is not being shown in Chelsea? As a student, as an artist, and as someone involved in the professional art world, I find Chelsea to be particularly mis-representational of the work that I have seen in emerging artists. I guess this is what has prompted me to start this blog in the first place. Every good artist needs to be a critic , but not every critic is an artist. My intention for this is not to be a space for my personal rants or an allegorically, sexually transmitted disease. It is instead a place to infect the community with a new artistic perspective and to get people talking. Not to mention, STD's are a major social issue, but I have some weird sexual perversion that I love to include in anything that I find passionate. Throughout this process, I hope to have other artists and critics contributing and conversing over new art today.

If you are interested in posting an art critique to this blog, please contact me and I will review your submission. Happy STD'ing.