Stepping into the galley was like stepping in the past. The atmosphere was filled with history and story. Each piece draws your attention with its unique style. You began to understand that each art piece are connected. The central theme of Danielle’s exhibition is storytelling visualized through materials collected during tours she’s taken on the very soil on which her ancestors were once enslaved. Some could say this theme features a religious and or celebratory nature. These works explore the artist's identity because it resembles a family tree. It's as if she is taking a look into the history of her people; black history. With every piece, she tells a story of struggle, sacrifice, and perseverance. This could be considered a self-portrait where she feels connected to the people because as a black woman, she's faced with similar obstacles.
The pieces featured in this exhibition include photographs, news articles, tapestries, ironing boards, cotton, and other odd things collected with the intent to create art that speaks to the consumer and viewer and is also a catalyst for activism. Most of her art pieces are encapsulated by resign. Her art features the faces of warriors, former farmhands, and hard-working people of the land. The material used for every piece can conclude that this is an activist body of work where she sought to bring social change by telling ancestors' stories of using disturbing items like a noose and cotton which both have an ugly connection to the involvement with slavery.
"Queen of Angels" a mixed medium assemblage on a vintage ironing board,
has a woman with a collage of faces, stepping over news articles. The art features words like INSPIRE and vote in bold letters, honoring the women of Cuba who may have fought and sacrificed for those privileges. In one’s own observation, The woman in the piece is her mentor Gladys. She is covered with a beautiful flower halo to represent her angelic strength and drive. This floral textured crown is a symbol of how much Danielle respects and admires her mentor and close friend, Gladys. In fact, this is the only piece that has been encased by resign because it was her first piece. What is interpreted from this piece is that Danielle used a black woman not solely because of the close friendship but because of her views on how strong and determined she perceived black women to be. You can see from the power stride while surrounded by political articles. This demonstrates the resilience of black women. Danielle does an incredible job of using religious and political themes to tell an individual's narratives while also placing them in a community of other important stories.
Peter Thorough was another piece in the exhibition that stood out because it was also on an ironing board and the Cuban man featured on it seems to have an aloof and absent atmosphere. This piece features beautiful patterns throughout the man’s clothing and also speaks to the artist's capability to capture the viewer and send a message to the audience. The art conveys a message about social constructs and marginalization. The pieces in their own ways both explore social issues in connection to identity. Peter is also crowned to represent royalty. Danielle constantly shows us that she views her subjects and royals despite the role they held back. Peter thorough is one of the few pieces capsuled in resign honoring its permanence.
QUOTES:
“The art world was ready for something new, something beyond painting. A group of mostly women happened to be the ones to sort of take that on, partly because they felt excluded from the rest of the [male] art world, and thought, - Cindy Sherman article
‘Nobody is playing with photography. Let’s take that as our tool.” - Cindy Sherman article
“An artist has one duty and that is to tell the times.” – Nina Simone
SELF PORTRAIT:
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| PROPAGANDA, by Djennifer Georges |
This weeks selfie is is a commentary on propaganda and how similar it' is to the effects of representation in media. The postcard design is inspiration to "Queen of Angels" by Danielle Scott.
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