In class we have learned; as well as watch videos, about artists that have explored identity through their portraits; Cindy Sherman and Frida Kahlo. We also had readings by authors who expressed their meaning of identity through their writing; John Berger and Joanne Finkelstein. We all have different ways on how we construct our identities, whether it be through experiences, emotions, connections, and rejections. A way we make sense of ourselves is through our identity. Constructing an identity is a complicated topic, which has different meanings to it. In Joanne Finkelstein's, The Art of Self Invention, he states "Identity is continuously re-styled and invented to suit the circumstances but, at the same time, it supposedly emanates from an inner quality that universalizes the human condition (Page 3)." We are constantly changing the way we identify ourselves because we go by what other people identify themselves as, the way we are viewed by the world and the characteristics that define us; our names, traditional characteristics, values and beliefs, religion, ethnic background...etc.
During the spring break, I had the opportunity to take a trip down to the Montclair Museum to see the Constructing Identity in America exhibition they had going on. The museum presented a lot of different artist that expressed what they felt “identity” meant to them. They showed it through self-portraits, sculptures, and/ or photographs of other people. As part of the assignment, we were instructed to take photographs of 5 different pieces that stood out to us, as well as presenting the themes that we learned and spoke about in class; class, identity, looking/gaze, manners, patriarchy, power and race. Below are the works of 5 different artists that caught my attention from the Constructing Identity in America exhibition.
The first piece is Whitfield Lovell, Trap, 2000 it represents ethnic and cultural identity. It consists of a portrait of an African American that is drawn on a wooden canvas with charcoal and attached to the bottom of the canvas there are metal animal traps. The figure in Lovell’s work is based on an anonymous photograph from around 1905. The traps are seen as poetic reminders of a shameful chapter in American history, practical devices for hunting and survival, or a reflection of mental bonds and the tether of trauma. His African American heritage inspired this piece, it memorializes the spirit and presence of the anonymous people who formed a key aspect of the African American experience.
The second and third pieces are Catherine Opie, Jo, 1993 and Catherine Opie, Richard and Skeeter, 1994. These two represent identity and nonconformity, Opie is very well known for her portraits of her friends, family, and acquaintances; she often photographs members of the LGBTQ community. Her work has been praised by so many due to their poignancy, dignity, and classic beauty. She feels that the LGBTQ is not a community that is represented in mainstream American culture as much. Therefore, she tries to provide visibility and representation to her friends and the LGBTQ community through her work. The people that are photographed in her two pieces are her two close friends; Jo and Skeeter, and her brother, Richard.
The fourth piece is Carrie Mae Weems, Framed by Modernism, 1997, this photograph represents artistic identity. This piece consists of three different prints with texts on the glass and two different artists in it; the author of this piece herself, Carrie Mae Weems and a painter, Robert Colescott. Weems began exploring a variety of photographic styles such as documentary, family albums, mug shots, 35mm and large format when she received her first camera in 1976 from a friend. This piece was commissioned by Colescott to be created to serve as an identifying portrait for the entrance of his solo show in 1997. Weems was the first for an African American to represent the United States. In this piece, Colescott appears in the photograph, fully clothes and uncomfortably averting his gaze from the nude woman behind him (Weems). Both artists are complicit in the imbalance of power between men and women as well as artist and model. At the same time, Weems pushes against this convention by positioning herself as both muse and master, as subject and author occupying both sides of the traditional relationship between an artist and a model.
The last piece is Barbra Kruger, Untitled (Seeing through you), 2004-05, like the first piece, this also represents ethnic and cultural identity. Kruger layers found photographs with succinct, provocative text, involving the viewer in interrogations about the struggle for power and control. Her work questions the viewer and is focused on reflecting aspects of identity through feminism, classicism, consumerism, desire, and individual autonomy, using the black and white images she collects from mainstream magazines that show these ideas. This piece shows multiple interpretations through the big text and the woman’s eyes, leaving yourself asking “Is the woman seeing or being seen? Is the viewer seeing or being seen through at the same time?” That is one of Kruger’s goals in her work, to intercept the stereotype, code, or convention by which power is arbitrarily imposed. The act of seeing is one imbued with power.
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