Gaze at an arresting, moving, intriguing, or perplexing work of art, and something inside us stirs. This inward, internal sense and intensely personal response permeates guest curator and Vineyard resident Sandra Grymes’ exhibition, “Interiority.” This stunning show, featuring 10 top photographers at the Featherstone Center for the Arts, runs through August 17, and is not to be missed. As Grymes says about these artists, “They capture moments in time, place the Black experience as the center of the historic narrative, and challenge us to look anew.”
Straight ahead when walking into the handsomely hung show is Ayana V. Jackson’s “Mary Fields: One of the Freest Souls Ever to Draw a Breath or a .38.” We feel the rush of the wind as “Mary,” heavily clad in women’s garments of yesteryear, sits astride a mighty steed, galloping forward in an unknown landscape at a terrific speed. At nearly 40 x 60 inches, this enormous work incites our imagination. Who is Mary Fields? What is she running from … or to? How did the artist (who is also the model) create such a perfectly composed image, so that even the ripples of her heavy garments echo the swirl in the horse’s flying tail? Mary Fields (c. 1832 – Dec. 5, 1914), better known as “Stagecoach Mary,” is both a physical and symbolic pioneer. Not only did she traverse the rigorous Montana terrain through all weather, but she was the first African American woman to carry mail for the U.S. Postal Service on a Star Route. However, even without us knowing her identity, Jackson conveys Mary’s heroism in a single instant.
Where Jackson is afire, Carrie Mae Weems gifts us with a poetically poignant photograph of a mother and daughter, “The Considered, See Bergman.” The two stand gazing at each other, with wispy smoke mystically swirling around them. The mother, dressed in black with her back to us, is just inches away. We peer over her shoulder into the mirror that she and her beautiful daughter, standing opposite her, hold up between them. We see the mother’s adoring expression reflected in the mirror as she looks at her daughter. But because the mirror faces outward, her love pours upon us as the onlookers, drawing us into the heart of this most intimate moment.
Genevieve Gaignard says, “As an interdisciplinary artist, I investigate personal histories, popular culture, and racial currents through my lens as a biracial woman navigating unsettling American realities.” In the large, mixed-media work “Golden Brown,” the 1950s-era photograph of a light-skinned Black woman smiling out from under her snazzy, brimmed hat recalls fashion magazines like Ebony. Set against vintage wallpaper, the woman becomes an ideal, perhaps for homemakers of an earlier age. Gaignard states, “Even when Black people are forced to move toward acceptance, toward the comfort levels of others, the style still has to have its own spin on it.”
We move back even farther in time with Fabiola Jean-Louis’ “Marie Antoinette Is Dead.” Her photograph recalls the crystalline colors of opulent 17th century Baroque paintings. But Jean-Louis, a Haitian-born artist living in Brooklyn, N.Y., rewrites art history, creating an alternative narrative. An exquisite young woman of color replaces the doomed French queen. Astonishingly, Jean-Louis crafts her embellished European silks and taffeta from paper. She nestles an African-associated kente-clothed doll on Antoinette’s lap, and ritualistic items within arm’s reach. However, it is the queen’s soft, confident gaze that tells us she fully embraces her royal role, claiming a place within a history from which people of color have long been excluded.
Lyle Ashton Harris creates arresting portraits, presenting himself in multiple guises as he explores the intersection of race, gender, and desire. With eyes closed, skin glistening and lit with stage-like lighting, Harris appears to be channeling the famous singer in “Billie Dreaming in Blues.”
John Pinderhughes’ dramatic images in his “Illustration” series sparkle with intensity. His masterful use of color and dramatic lighting creates unexpected images that stop us in our tracks. One of America’s leading photographers, Pinderhughes is recognized for both his award-winning commercial work and his striking fine-art photographs.
His daughter, Sienna Pinderhughes, is a filmmaker, installation artist, and photographer. All three art forms are evident in her oval-shaped piece “They Are a Reflection of You.” There is a cinematic quality to the wonderfully intriguing scene in which Pinderhughes faces away, wearing a tulle dress. She regards herself in an ornate mirror, allowing us to see her face. She stands in the middle of the woods, leaving us to wonder if it’s the slender trees that are the reflections of her mentioned in the title. An incongruous old-fashioned bell hangs high above from a tree, inviting us to imagine our own story for the image.
Frank Stewart brings a very different sensibility. He captures everyday life in real time, whether people at Carnival, a funeral, or the jazz pianist Ahmad Jamal at his instrument. In the extreme close-up of the latter, the musician tilts his head down, looking at the keyboard reflected brilliantly in his glasses. In a single glance, Stewart crafts a reverent portrait of Jamal, a National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master and recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Grammy for his contributions to music history.
Stewart’s protégé, Rahim Fortune, is an artist from the Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma. He uses photography to pose fundamental questions about American identity. With a keen eye, he captures small-town life in Texas, where a tired cowboy rides along the sidewalk in front of a well-worn church, or Praise dancers throw up their hands in ecstasy, shouting their “Hallelujahs.”
Deborah Willis, a MacArthur and Guggenheim Fellow, among other honors, utilizes her art and pioneering research to explore cultural histories that center on the black body, gender, and women. We see this in “Clothesline 2,” where fabric imprinted with “Votes for Women” and photographs of women from various historic eras are displayed. Strung between two trees in a lush but anonymous backyard, the battle for women’s right to vote becomes rooted in the land.
The exhibition’s array of inspiring images guarantees that each of us will leave with our own richly personal experience. “This show is about interiority,” says Grymes. “You walk away with whatever it is you need to.”
“Interiority” is on view through August 17 from noon to 4 pm daily. For more information, visit featherstoneart.org.