#bkmcontemporary

[brooklynmuseum]

Duke Riley’s scrimshaw takes forms as varied as the trash collected. Though many take the form of bottles, some are whimsical as this lawn flamingo.

By swapping the typical base materials of whales’ teeth and bones for discarded plastics collected from New York City’s waterways, Duke Riley revives the art of scrimshaw and shines a light on environmental issues. The objects are treated to appear like ivory and then decorated with modernized imagery and decorative motifs reminiscent of those used by the nineteenth century whalers.

The term scrimshaw originally refers to the artworks created by nineteenth century North American whalers by covering discarded whales’ teeth, bones, and baleen with incised decoration. Whale products in North America and Europe as well as ivory throughout the world were used in both art and commerce. In the twentieth century commercial applications of these materials were replaced by plastics and other petroleum products.

Overfishing of whale populations in the nineteenth century did irreparable damage to the world’s oceans. The petroleum products that have replaced that industry continue to leave a lasting mark on land and in the sea. See for yourself how Riley’s work highlights the cycles of environmental destruction caused by human industry in #DukeRileyBkM.

📷 Duke Riley (American, born 1972). No. 265 of The Poly S. Tyrene Memorial Maritime Museum, 2020. Salvaged, painted plastic. Courtesy of the artist. © Duke Riley. (Photo: Duke Riley Studio)

[johnmichaelantonio]

Reposted from @brooklynmuseum "One of my favorite works in the Museum’s collection is this soothing, yet expressive, painting by the artist Ed Clark, which was exhibited in Soul of A Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power. Painted from 1978-1980, Clark used his signature technique of moving paint across the canvas with a janitor’s push broom instead of a paintbrush. The use of a broom, creating thick bands of color, imbues a sense of movement and monumentality to the work. For me, the painting conjures the image of a sunset—something I look forward to watching each night during quarantine." — @julia_mellor, Assistant Manager, Special Events #ArtfortheSociallyDistanced ⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ Ed Clark (American, 1926-2019). Untitled, 1978-1980. Acrylic and mixed media on canvas. Brooklyn Museum, Purchased with funds given by The LIFEWTR Fund at Frieze New York 2018, 2018.13. © Ed Clark (Photo: Courtesy of Weiss Berlin and the artist. Photo by Gunter Lepkowski) #BKMContemporary #MuseumfromHome #MuseumMomentofZen https://www.instagram.com/p/B_sVsdNHTPx/?igshid=v12afymrb4hk

[talktoyourdna-blog]

Artist Hank Willis Thomas (American, born 1976). Kama Mama, Kama Binti (Like Mother, Like Daughter) 1971/2008, 1971/2008. © @hankwillisthomas courtesy @brooklynmuseum #TheYesUniverse #BrooklynMuseum #BKMContemporary #HankWillisThomas (at Brooklyn Museum)

[brooklynmuseum]

Oftentimes Warhol’s renown as a coolly disengaged observer of the twentieth century is at odds with some of the subjects he chose, which exposed the current of death and violence that exists simultaneously with the U.S. myth of upward mobility through purchasing power. Paintings presenting images of police violence against peaceful protesters during the 1963 Civil Rights marches in Birmingham, Alabama, and empty electric chairs used in state executions reveal authority and violence as forms of social control that are arguably as powerful as advertisements. The series Guns, Knives, and Crosses and painted reproductions of evangelizing advertisements show religion and faith intermingling with life’s anxieties and threats. In these and other ways, Warhol explored the desires, hopes, and prayers of modern life.

#WarholRevelation is open through June 19. Find out more and get your timed ticket: https://bit.ly/revelationbkm 

📷 Visitors at Andy Warhol: Revelation. Brooklyn Museum November 19, 2021–June 19, 2022. (Photo: Matthew Carasella, Brooklyn Museum. Artworks by Andy Warhol © 2021 The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. / Licensed by Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Used with permission of @warholfoundation) #warholfoundation

[brooklynmuseum]

One of Warhol’s enduring legacies is his skill in revealing, without much artistic intercession, the enduring icons, obsessions, and compulsions of American society. From translating branded home goods into Pop-inflected contemporary relics, to adoration of the rich and famous to paintings literally glorifying the dollar, Warhol canonized consumerism and commercialism in his art and life, embodying American capitalism.

#WarholRevelation is open through June 19. Find out more and get your timed ticket: https://bit.ly/revelationbkm

📷 Visitors at Andy Warhol: Revelation. Brooklyn Museum November 19, 2021–June 19, 2022. (Photo: Matthew Carasella, Brooklyn Museum. Artworks by Andy Warhol © 2021 The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. / Licensed by Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Used with permission of @warholfoundation) #warholfoundation

[brooklynmuseum]

Opening May 14, The Slipstream: Reflection, Resilience, and Resistance in the Art of Our Time centers artists of color and draws examples from our collection of contemporary art to contemplate the profound disruption that occurred in 2020. Borrowing its title from an aeronautical term that refers to the pull of the current left in the wake of a large and powerful object, the exhibition examines the placement and displacement of power that runs through American history and continues today. In 2020's slipstream, the confluence of the devastating effects of the pandemic, civil unrest across the United States, a contested presidential election, and unchecked climate change will continue to shape conversations about the state of the nation and world. The exhibition seeks to hold space for individuals to find their feelings of fear, grief, vulnerability, anger, isolation, and despair—as well as joy, determination, and love—reflected in art.⁠

Derek Fordjour (American, born 1974). Blue Horn, 2017. Oil pastel, charcoal, acrylic, cardboard, and carved newspaper mounted on canvas. Brooklyn Museum; Gift of Tiffany Hott, 2019.31. © Derek Fordjour. (Photo: Brooklyn Museum)⁠

[brooklynmuseum]

"One of my favorite works in the Museum’s collection is Fred Wilson’s striking Grey Area (Brown Version). It speaks to many in our community and there are a lot of ways to interpret it. The artwork is a commentary on how the racial identity of Ancient Egyptians has been whitewashed throughout history, and it's also a celebration of Black and Brown beauty and power, the diversity and solidarity in our communities, and a celebration of sisterhood. ⁠⁠

It’s also very beautiful to look at! The bust of Nefertiti is one of the most recognizable images in art history and her image is a symbol of pride for a lot of women. I have seen these queens greet many of our visitors in my eight years at the Museum. I love to witness people gravitate to this installation and insert themselves into the lineup of queens, especially at our First Saturdays!"

Posted by Lauren Argentina Zelaya , Director of Public Programs

Fred Wilson (American, born 1954). Grey Area (Brown version), 1993. Paint, plaster and wood. Brooklyn Museum, Bequest of William K. Jacobs, Jr. and bequest of Richard J. Kempe, by exchange, 2008.6a-j. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: Brooklyn Museum)

[brooklynmuseum]

We’re honoring Pride Month with a look at LGBTQ+ artists who use languages of craft, textile, handiwork, and assemblage to express queer themes and identities. Inspired by woven and assembled forms, this selection of artworks reminds us of how seemingly small-scale, everyday gestures can create connection, community, visibility, and change. In Diedrick Brackens’ when no softness came (2019), a bright green figure lies backwards atop a galloping steed. Inspired by the imagery of Black cowboys, the artist abandons tropes of equestrian portraiture—which shows horseback, typically male victors in heroic and commanding poses—and acknowledges other experiences of masculinity: of softness, vulnerability, respite, and becoming. Across Brackens’ practice, traditions of weaving, material histories of fiber, and striking figuration come together in an exploration of queer Black identity and cultural mythology. Brackens uses hand-dyed cotton, a crop that connects directly to the history and labor of enslaved African Americans in the U.S., as a way to “pay tribute to those who came before me.” Together with the loose, excess threads on the surface, slight sag of the textile, and irregular bottom edge, this piece equally contains visual allusions to queerness, difference, and fluidity. ⁠

Posted by Joseph Shaikewitz Diedrick Brackens (American, born 1989). when no softness came, 2019. Cotton and acrylic yarn. Brooklyn Museum, Purchased with funds given by The LIFEWTR Fund at Frieze New York 2019, 2019.12. © Diedrick Brackens 2019 (Photo: courtesy of the artist and Various Small Fires Los Angeles and Seoul⁠

[brooklynmuseum]

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For more than 30 years, Liz Johnson Artur has been photographing people mainly from the African diaspora as part of her ongoing Black Balloon Archive project. In AfroRussia, which she completed for her solo exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum in 2019, the London-based artist documents the stories of Russians of African and Caribbean descent and explores the complicated nature of identity. Like Johnson Artur, many were born to Russian mothers and African or Caribbean fathers who studied in Eastern Europe as part of the Soviet Union’s efforts to expand its influence during the Cold War as nations gained independence from European colonialism. After meeting and filming numerous subjects, Johnson Artur says, “We all agreed that we felt Russian as well as African.” 

Tune in today at noon on our Instagram Live to get some Screen Time with Artur as she joins curator Drew Sawyer in a chat about this work, and more. 

This is the last weekend to view works by Artur and twelve other artists from our video art collection, as part of the first program in our Art on the Stoop: Sunset Screenings series. Stop by the plaza now through Sunday—screenings begin at 6pm.⁠ Next week we’ll announce our second program lineup, featuring a new roster of artists that will be on view October 14–November 8. Stay tuned! 

Liz Johnson Artur (Ghanian Russian, born Sofia, Bulgaria, 1964) AfroRussia, 2019 [Excerpt]. Single-channel video (color, sound): 13 min., 45 sec. Brooklyn Museum; Gift of the Contemporary Art Committee 2019.16

[brooklynmuseum]

Get an inside look into the inspiration and process behind artworks in KAWS: WHAT PARTY on April 22 during a virtual conversation between KAWS and curator Eugenie Tsai. Tickets here!

Installation view of ⁠KAWS: WHAT PARTY. (Photo: Michael Biondo) 

Virtual Brooklyn Talks are presented by Bank of America 

[brooklynmuseum]

"When I wanted to see freedom captured, I always went to the Brooklyn Museum to see Mickalene Thomas’ A Little Taste Outside of Love when it was on display. In the midst of challenging times, exploring self in all our glory in physical solitude can be liberating and may shape how we engage the world. This artwork reminds me of Audre Lorde’s Uses of Erotic, and how accepting the importance of focusing on joy, health, serenity, and pleasure are important to shape and enhance the culture we want for ourselves. We all are valuable beings that have so much to contribute to society. Once we strip away all the misconceptions that distort how we perceive ourselves, we encounter a naked truth that we are all important. We are powerful people that can get through challenges together, once we individually heal and love who we are. The way she reclines passively in her own beauty, exudes power because she shows the security and commitment within herself. Although we are exercising physical distancing, we are also practicing social solidarity by taking care of ourselves and by extension, our communities. I hope we keep on loving our light and sharing it, even if it is digitally." 

Posted by Nikiesha Hamilton , Special Assistant for Administration/ Government and Community Liaison, Director's Office Mickalene Thomas (American, born 1971). A Little Taste Outside of Love, 2007. Acrylic, enamel and rhinestones on wood panel. Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Giulia Borghese and Designated Purchase Fund, 2008.7a-c. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: Image courtesy of the artist and Rhona Hoffman Gallery, Chicago)

[brooklynmuseum]

In anticipation of the (now virtual) New York Caribbean Week and the annual Labor Day Parade, this August we're highlighting artworks in the Museum's collection that celebrate the presence of Caribbean culture and its diasporas.

Nick Cave is among the most prominent and influential contemporary artists working today, and his Soundsuits are simultaneously costumes and sculptures, their title evoking the rattling, swishing, and rhythm of their motion. Richly detailed in an array of materials and textile applications—here, mass-produced metal flowers, black-on-black sequining, and embroidered floral embellishments—Cave has cited Mardi Gras Indian clothing, Dogon masks and dances of Mali, and Trinidadian Carnival pageantry as visual and conceptual inspirations. Cave designed his first Soundsuit in response to the 1992 police beating of Rodney King, suggesting an armor that conceals race, gender, and class, deflecting white supremacist stereotyping and its often deadly results. In drawing on the street-centric traditions of Caribbean carnival to do so, Cave's works emphasize the liberatory potential of public, shared rituals in music, dance, and art. 

Posted by Carmen Hermo Nick Cave (American, born 1959). Soundsuit, 2008. Mixed media, Exhibited ACTUAL dims: 112 x 43 x 35 in. (284.5 x 109.2 x 88.9 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Mary Smith Dorward Fund, 2009.44a-b. © Nick Cave (Photo: Image courtesy of Robilant Voena

[brooklynmuseum]

Imagine you could enter this artwork. How would you describe this setting? What would the temperature be? Is there anything else around you?

The whole image is primarily shades of grey, black, and brown. The undulating groundline fills the lower quarter of the image and the rest is filled with a sky that becomes darker the higher up in the image we look. Small red, blue, yellow, and purple flecks dot the sky like stars. I hear the sound of wind in a desert when I look at this image, but stillness can have many sounds. What do you think there might be?

In the center of this setting is a figure. How would you describe the body language? How would you describe their expression? The figure stands, feet firmly planted on the ground, legs far apart as though she has stopped mid-stride. Her arm hangs at her side and her head turns to look at us. I can never decide what emotions are present on her face. Is she disturbed by our presence? Are we being judged? Or is the expression more neutral, passively observing us?

Draped from the neck to the calves of this figure is a sheer, diaphanous garment with yellow-white dots that mirror the starry sky. The cloth hangs closely to the figure’s body, creating a shadowy silhouette, but suddenly floats away from the body at the hips and legs. A yellow-white line curves from the middle-left of the composition, becomes blue and pink, and disappears into the figure’s hand. What is this line that the figure holds? Is it a string? Is the figure drawing a line in the same way the artist has created this image through line and shading?

Very faintly behind this central figure is another shadowy outline, barely visible - at first glance it looks like just a darker space around the central figure, but it can also look like the outline of a frontal body: two shoulders facing us squarely, arms hanging down on either side. The artist has included shadowy figures in the backgrounds of her other works - is this also another figure? If so, what is this figure’s relationship to the person in the foreground?

This work, entitled Journey I, is a lithograph, a type of print, by Minna Resnick. Resnick has described her work as exploring communication - both verbal and body language - as well as the interior life of women more broadly. Resnick shares that she is intrigued by the elusive nature of communication and the ways in which it relies on historical and cultural circumstances in order to be understood. In a work like this, which lacks many clear historical or cultural reference points, how do we understand the subtle body language of this figure? 

To what type of journey might the title of this work refer? How would a different setting change our understanding of the person’s body language? Share your reflections in the comments below, and explore  other works by Minna Resnick in our open collection.

Posted by Christina Marinelli Minna Resnick (American, born 1946). Journey I, 1975. Lithograph. Brooklyn Museum, Designated Purchase Fund, 77.235. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: image courtesy of Minna Resnick)

[brooklynmuseum]

"This has brought us time to reflect and be thankful for simple, yet extraordinary things, that we often take for granted—like the air we breathe or the safety of loved ones. Though we should all take care of one another during this time, this piece makes my heart reflect on those that live alone or in isolation with 'me, myself, and I'. Close your eyes to envision the sun shining over your body and radiating your cells to good health and calling for mental and physical well-being. This sculpture reminds me of strength, courage, and perseverance. The braids remind me of the vines of the earth—braided and intertwined, showing we are all one." 

Posted by Laval Bryant, Director of Marketing Kehinde Wiley (American, born 1977). Bound, 2014. Bronze. Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Kehinde Wiley and Sean and Mary Kelly in honor of Arnold Lehman, 2015.59. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: Max Yawney photo, courtesy of Sean Kelly, New York)

[brooklynmuseum]

Today, on the eve of the U.N. Climate Action Summit in NYC, millions of young people around the world are on school strike, with support from those who are walking out of their workplaces and homes, demanding an end to carbon dioxide–producing fossil fuels. The Brooklyn Museum supports the call to take immediate action to address the climate crisis. We are also committed to our own institutional initiatives to go green, which include museum-wide efforts to work with the City to reduce energy consumption by 2050 as part of CreateNYC and to reduce plastics and paper usage in our day-to-day operations.

In the spirit of today’s action, we share a timely work from our contemporary art collection. Valerie Hegarty’s Fallen Bierstadt (2007) is a decaying emblem of Manifest Destiny inspired by 19th-century American landscape painter Albert Bierstadt. Hegarty’s work comments on our hubris in thinking we can "triumph" over the natural world, speaking today to the urgency of the human-induced climate crisis.⁠⁠

Valerie Hegarty (American, born 1967). Fallen Bierstadt, 2007. Foamcore, paint, paper, glue, gel medium, canvas, wire, wood, 2008.9a. Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Campari, USA, 2008.9a-b. © artist or artist's estate

[brooklynmuseum]

In anticipation of the (now virtual) New York Caribbean Week and the annual Labor Day Parade, this August we're highlighting artworks in the Museum's collection that celebrate the presence of Caribbean culture and its diasporas.

Nari Ward’s layered and evocative sculptural practice takes shape from found, and often discarded, objects. Ward draws on Jamaican folk art traditions of repurposing and reimagining new forms from unexpected materials. In Crusader, a shopping cart acts as a chariot, an old chandelier as its prow, and a ring of used gas cans encircles a tall, curved cocoon made of interlaced plastic bags. The gas cans and applied tar extract point to oil as fuel for energy, and of global conflict and change. The shopping cart references social and material instability at home, given their use by unhoused people for mobile storage. Though Crusader sits silently when installed in a gallery, it was once navigated by the artist, poised within the shopping cart’s protective shell, through the streets of New York City, its subtle rattle competing with the sounds of Harlem. 

Starting September 9, come view Nari Ward’s video of Crusader, along with other videos from the Brooklyn Museum’s collection, in an upcoming outdoor screening series—stay tuned for details!

Posted by Carmen Hermo Nari Ward (Jamaican, born 1963). Crusader, 2005. Plastic bags, metal, shopping cart, trophy elements, tar extract, chandelier, plastic containers. 2008.52.1a-b. © artist or artist's estate  Installation view of 21: Selections of Contemporary Art from the Brooklyn Museum, 2008