Art and Activism

What Makes It Great? / Featured / November 18, 2020

By Suzanne Révy

Progress toward a more equitable world often feels like a snail’s pace: two steps forward, then one step back. Following protests in the late 1960’s and cultural transformations in the 1970’s, there was a fall back to social conservatism with the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980. In response, artists and photographers pushed back against the ideals of Reaganism and produced potent political art to counter the mythical narratives that swept Reagan into office. “To Make Visible: Art and Activism 1980-2000” at the Addison Gallery of American Art in Andover, MA mines its deep holdings to present a multi-media exhibition illuminating how the art of resistance blossomed in the early 1980’s and flourished into the 90’s; the show will be on view through January 3, 2021.

(Feature Image) Kerry James Marshall “Souvenir II” acrylic, collage and glitter on unstretched canvas banner, 108″x120″, purchased as a gift of the Addison Advisory Council in honor of John “Jock” Reynolds’ Directorship of the Addison Gallery, courtesy of the Addison Gallery of American Art.

Lorna Simpson “Screen 4” 1986, Wooden accordion screen, gelatin silver prints and vinyl letters, Museum Purchase. (Installation photograph by Suzanne Révy)

The centerpiece of the exhibit is a powerful Kerry James Marshall acrylic and collage canvas made in 1997 of an ordinary living room that includes commemorative photographs of Martin Luther King flanked by John and Robert Kennedy hanging on the wall above a couch. The figure of a winged Black woman offers flowers, and along the top, the presence of angelic photographic specters of lesser known figures who died for civil rights. They endow the vernacular interior with a heavenly aura. Incorporating photographic references in the painting, Marshall honors the sacrifice and significance that Civil Rights plays in Black identity and claims a space for marginalized lives. Likewise, Lorna Simpson employs photographs alongside text to resist the objectification of a Black female figure in “Screen 4” in which the cropped figure draped in a simple white shift dress is declared to be “no more exotic than the sparse room she posed in.” Additionally, three large black and white photographs “A Young Girl between Carrolburg Place and Half Street, Washington DC, 1989” by Dawoud Bey, “Hoodie Boy, Pittsburgh, 1997” by Lonnie Graham and “Street Boy, 1983” by Rudolph “Rudy” Robinson emphasize the power of portraiture to affirm the humanity of the subject.

Dawoud Bey “A Young Woman between Carrolburg Place and Half Street, Washington, DC” 1989, gelatin silver print, museum purchase, courtesy of the Addison Gallery of American Art.

Lonnie Graham “Hoodie Boy, Pittsburgh, PA” 1997 from the series Tribal Nations, gelatin silver print, gift of the artist, courtesy of the Addison Gallery of American Art.

Rudolph “Ruby” Robinson, “Street Boy” 1983, gelatin silver print, museum purchase, courtesy of the Addison Gallery of American Art.

Personal history has always shaped political activism and in the 1980’s and 90’s artists who felt disenfranchised from mainstream culture exploited their own lives to critique dominant ideas. Self-portraiture was a persuasive tool. Blythe Bohlen’s use of long shutter speeds and movement create a sense of ghostly unease. Mark Morrisroe’s confrontational self-portrait attests to his restless energy alongside an image by Nan Goldin, another member of the rebellious “Boston School of Photography” who gained recognition photographing the punk and gay communities of Boston – and later New York. The daring celebration of their outlier status served to rail against tradition and propose an alternative sense of belonging.

Blythe Bohlen “Self Portrait: Vertical Motion Up, Medium” from Self-Portraits: Studies in Motion, gelatin silver print, gift of Herbert and Paula Molnar, courtesy of the Addison Gallery of American Art.

Mark Morrisroe “Self-Portrait” December 1981, chromogenic print, museum purchase, courtesy of the Addison Gallery of American Art.

Nan Goldin “Jimmy Paulette and Taboo! Undressing, NYC” 1991, cibachrome print, museum purchase, courtesy of the Addison Gallery of American Art.

Some of the most biting critiques of the Reagan administration’s apathy toward the AIDS crisis spring from the gay community. Hunter Reynold’s rephotographed newspaper collage, “Gloves Required for all Patient Contact” features blood stained articles sewn together and features a young Dr. Anthony Fauci. Artist collectives such as Group Material and Gran Fury raised awareness of AIDS with text and photography advertisements on subways and in bus stops to point up inherent health biases against those who were different.

Hunter Reynolds “Gloves Required for All Patient Contact” 2011 chromogenic color prints and thread, purchased as a gift of Louis Wiley in memory of Paul Monette and his partner Roger Horowitz. (Installation photograph by Suzanne Révy)

Top: Group Material (active 1989–1996), AIDS & Insurance, 1990, published by Real Art Ways (active 1975–present). Plastic exterior bus advertisement. Gift of Suzanne Hellmuth and Jock Reynolds (PA 1965) Middle, from left: 1. David Wojnarowicz (1954–1992), “Untitled (face in dirt)” 1990, gelatin silver print, purchased as the gift of Louis Wiley, Jr. (PA 1963) and John Clarke Kane, Jr. (PA 1963) in memory of Paul L. Monette (PA 1963) on the occasion of their 50th Reunion, with additional support from the Monette-Horwitz Trust; 2. Tim Rollins (1955–2017) and K.O.S., “A Journal of the Plague Year: 1988. Mixed media on canvas. Gift of Robert and Evelyn Doran, 2017.15; 3. Bill Jacobson (b. 1955) “Song of Sentient Beings #1612” 1995. Gravure print. Gift of John O’Reilly and James Tellin. Bottom: Bottom: Gran Fury (active 1988–1995), Kissing Doesn’t Kill. Greed and Indifference Do., 1989. Color offset lithograph. Courtesy of Louis Wiley, Jr. (PA 1963) (Installation photography by Suzanne Révy)

In addition to this exhibit, the Addison Gallery is presenting the work of two twentieth century masters whose pictures may not be overtly activist, but are undeniably political. Robert Frank held a mirror up to American society in the late 1950’s and found it fell far short of its stated ideals in his opus, “The Americans.” It is a rare treat to see the full set of prints on display. Roy DeCarava brought an empathetic eye when photographing his Black neighbors in Harlem, somehow coaxing the subtle details of their lives in the low key tonal ranges of his gorgeous prints. Frank’s and DeCarava’s documentation of those living and working in places other than behind the white picket fences of 50’s suburbia is an extraordinary testament to the power of art to move and to inform.

Roy De Carava “El Station, Man Waiting” gelatin silver print, museum purchase. (Installation photograph by Suzanne Révy

The Addison Gallery of American Art is open by appointment only. To Make Visible: Art and Activism 1980-2000 and the Roy DeCarava exhibit will be on view through January 3, 2021, Robert Frank: The Americans will be on view until April 11, 2021.

For more information and to make a reservation go to:
https://addison.andover.edu/Pages/default.aspx