Hamza Walker, the Brick’s artistic director, has opened a searing Monuments art exhibit. Tremendous triptych This breathtaking odyssey digs deep into the intersections of race, history, and memory. The multimedia exhibit opened to the public in the spring of 2023. It took eight years of diligent effort to get it realized! Walker conceived of the exhibit in the aftermath of the Unite the Right rally. Imagine that one of the signs at this white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in August 2017. This rally sparked a national discourse regarding Confederate monuments and their appropriateness in America today.
Our Monuments exhibit features a rich and multidisciplinary array of works. These Righteous Resistance pieces take a stronger look at the legacy of white supremacy here in the United States. One striking example depicts a fountain with statues of two glorified, white Baltimore natives. This arresting work installation with its aggressive post-protest surface, splattered with blood-red paint, ideally forces confrontations. This incredibly haunting imagery establishes a perfect backdrop for the unfolding search for truth, horror, and myth that is American history.
Kara Walker, a prominent American artist renowned for her provocative works addressing racial themes, transforms a Jackson equestrian statue within the exhibit. Her reconfigured statue, now called Unmanned Drone, provides a fierce indictment on the American white supremacy horror show. Above all, it dares the audience not to look away from hard truths.
A Diverse Collection of Perspectives
The Monuments exhibit features a stunning variety of artistic practice, each providing interesting and important views on issues of race, history and social justice. Besides Walker’s work, the exhibit features Jon Henry’s powerful series of photographs, “Stranger Fruit.” These haunting photographs of Black mothers holding their living sons in poses that suggest they are in fact dead are deeply impactful. This ghostly surrealism reminds us, in a palpable and visceral way, of the reality that Black families today continue to experience discrimination when seeking housing in America.
Andres Serrano’s intimate photographs from 1990 capture Ku Klux Klan members in a way that humanizes the hate while forcing viewers to grapple with its reality. The transformed exhibit features an enchanting short film by Julie Dash. Its cast includes the remarkable opera singer Davóne Tines, deepening the story’s exploration of race and identity.
Nona Faustine’s series of self-portraits in the capital illuminates her experience as a Black woman. She stands with pride at all the important locations of the slave trade around New York City. These images awaken personal and social memory, encouraging an interrogation of the ways that slavery continues to shape our world today. Artist Kahlil Robert Irving fills a room with a detailed bronze replication of Ferguson, Missouri. This region came to represent the deep racial divide in America following the 2014 shooting death of Michael Brown, killed by a white police officer.
Walker wants the viewer to understand the transformative impact of presenting these works together. She states, “removed from their pedestals and taken out of context and placed in a space in conversation with work by artists.” This methodology fosters an important and necessary dialogue and reflection process around difficult and oftentimes tragic histories.
Confronting History and Healing
The Monuments exhibit is more than an artistic exhibition. It’s a cathartic, healing and confronting space. Walker’s work challenges viewers to engage with provocative questions about race and identity in America. “Who heals a wound that continually opens itself?” she asks, highlighting the ongoing nature of these discussions.
As Bennett Simpson, another contributor to the exhibit, describes it, It’s a pretty sumptuous artwork. He posits that it bears a burden that pushes audiences. “There’s a lot of beauty in it, but it’s heavy. It deals with real shit that people don’t often really want to deal with,” he explains. And the emotional weight of the works pushes spectators to connect profoundly with their meaning.
The exhibit features remnants of the controversial Robert E. Lee statue, which was famously surrounded by white men with torches during its unveiling—a powerful symbol of racial division. The statue has since been melted down, and a piece of granite from its base now bears graffiti reading: “As white supremacy crumbles.” This new and fourth element points to the profound changes underway in our discussion. It highlights the vital importance of ongoing conversations around race and race relations.
Jalane Schmidt writes powerfully about how these artistic transformations help to make tangible and visible the process of taking the power out of ugly symbols. “It takes away some of that power to harm,” she says, emphasizing the significance of recontextualizing these monuments through art.
A Call for Reflection
The Monuments exhibit is more than an artistic display. It challenges you to look more deeply at America’s past story and our present story. The exhibit will be on view now through May 2023. It asks attendees to immerse themselves in a rich variety of creative practices that push back against the inheritances of white supremacy.