Similar to them previous articles I have posted I will address Joe Scanlan’s Donelle Woolford project as honestly as possible and interpret the articles written about him to the best of my ability. With that said “Scanlan’s” Donelle Woolford project piqued my interest due to two reasons. The artist is a fabricated black woman who was fabricated by a white male. Being that I am a black female artist my initial reaction regarding the project was curiosity. Why would this individual purposely take on this specific role (Black female artist)? What is the goal of the project? Race and gender is a rather sensitive issue. Scanlan’s project embodies and amplifies all the problematic elements that surround both. Most notably, it reveals a lot of the problems in the art world. Admittedly, I found it unsettling that the Whitney Biennial accepted this piece. Curiosity began to evolve to questioning the integrity of the individuals who gave the okay to exhibit Scanlan’s work. Was this a poorly executed stunt to get more than a few head turns from the public? Why exhibit what is essentially a puppet and not the real thing?
Ryan Wong’s “I am Joe Scanlan” article not only reveals his identity and true intentions of the Scanlan/Woolford project but he unveils something much more thought provoking. Earlier I mentioned how Donelle Woolford’s existence evoke issues of race and gender with in the art world. From my personal perspective and experience I have observed the lack of minorities who take on a professional role with in fine art institutions. Specifically institutions on the collegiate level, gallery, or museum. Black women from what I have seen are a rarity. Containing a “diverse” group of artists in an exhibition conjures up the question what is diverse? YAMS Collective artist Andre Springer stated “Not just, ‘We Need two black people, we need an Asian. We need some queer people.’ We want to see people actually genuinely appreciate aesthetic of the diversity that is America, and propel that in the art world” in the Ben Davis’s “The Yams, on Whitney and the Supremacy” article. I agree with his statement. The presence of minorities in a majority filled occupation is very minimal. Donelle Woolfords being exposes Whitney Biennial ( and various other museums/galleries) cookie cuter solution to representing a diverse group of artists. In retrospect Wong’s Donelle Woolford project produced a much need discourse about race, gender, representation, social status and many more topics with in the art world. I am not so naive to blame these on going issues on “the whiteman” or “white folks”. There are many other factors involved regarding minorities and the many issues in the art world, but I am not so naive to totally disregard it either. Being aware of what is and what isn’t and being able to distinguish between the two is most important in my opinion.
No comments:
Post a Comment