Undercover at Spelman
By Serene Al-Kawas and Marcia Vaitsman
An exhibition at the Spelman College Museum of Fine Art has taken on a life of its own. “Undercover: Performing and Transforming Black Female Identities” houses many artists, famous and unknown, under a larger concept of disguise and reinvention. The exhibit ties together over 50 works, each functioning differently though dependently. The pieces include video, photography, painting, sculpture and more, each resonating with another, bringing life and energy to the room. Artists such as Lorna Simpson, Renee Cox, Lalla Essaydi, Cindy Sherman, and Emma Amos are featured, their work drawing new meaning in its placement within this vast but vital concept.
Lorna Simpson is a heavy hitter in this vein of identity work, but even in an exhibition as large and important as this, her work shines. On one large wall of the gallery, Simpson’s 54 duotone lithographs of wigs and text are displayed as an installation. The sheer number of panels is overwhelming, yet each seems to carry an identity and personality of its own. It becomes rather obvious, as each of these images is a wig portrait, that the lack of people in the work is a means of concentrating on the wigs themselves. The prints are made on thick felt panels, and push-pinned to the wall, giving them lifelike texture without the intrusion of a glass frame. The wigs come in many sizes and shapes, including braids, afros, mustaches, merkins and even blonde waves. Though much of what Simpson is discussing in her work is prevalent in Black female identities, she makes a point forcing her work to be post-structural and inclusive; this is a conversation in which a white woman can participate as easily as a Latino man. No longer is the dialogue limited to her immediate cultural group, and the work is stronger for that. The pieces seem to simultaneously imply forced disguise as well as chosen reinvention. The notion that hair is such a massive part of our outward identity that it shapes our inner identity is relevant in modern society as well as historically; revolutionary America saw wigs as a sign of class. Hair seems to penetrate beyond vanity and strikes a chord within us as a reflection of our identity.
Though less known than some fellow contributing artists, Lalla Essaydi, a Moroccan born artist showcases pieces from her work “Les Femmes du Maroc,” a unique series of portraits of Moroccan women. Essaydi examines the Arab female identity by applying layers of calligraphy on the different surfaces (fabric, walls, bodies) in her photographs, and then positions her subjects in 19th century Orientalist painting inspired poses, as well as Muslim prayer stances. Though her work does not fall under the title of Black female identities (despite being African), Essaydi’s work is highly relevant in both contemporary Eastern and Western cultures, fusing the two through influence, history, and imagery. Though less information about this work was readily available at the exhibit; the pieces speak beautifully and eloquently on their own. Bringing the deep history of Islam and the Arab world into a liminal space, visually defined by the limitless white in her photographs along with the traditionally male written calligraphy, Essaydi makes public a private world that has started to seep into contemporary Western culture without enough attention and understanding. Her beautiful work functions on many levels, and certainly bends the meanings of “disguise” and “reinvention”, leaving the viewer wondering where each ends and the other begins.
Undercover is a collection of work by female artists, each strong and meaningful individually. The combination of these pieces is dynamic and brings new life to each piece; this exhibition featuring so many important artists cannot be missed. The exhibit will be up at the Spelman Musuem of Fine Arts until December 5, 2009.
Serene Al-Kawas and Marcia Vaitsman are artists living in Atlanta.
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