FALL FOR DANCE Program 1 Speaks
Sep 29, 2023
BALLET X
Oct 4, 2023
COMMENTARY By CELIA IPIOTIS
“A capacious artist, he captures the complexity of emotion in his art” noted Barabara Haskell, curator of the Henry Taylor B Side exhibition at the Whitney Museum that captures an over 30 year career and includes paintings along with a selection of his assemblage sculptures, rarely exhibited early drawings, a large grouping of painted objects on recycled cigarette packs and other everyday supports, and two new installations, specifically for this exhibition.
If you’ve never seen the Los Angeles based artist’s work, this is a particularly robust opportunity to engage with his extraordinarily tactile paintings and imaginative sculptures. Favoring vibrant colors, his art reframes historical realities, particularly those impacting people of color, and in an unassuming yet bold way captures not just the people but the incidents. that shaped them. Historically astute, Taylor paints the activist, intellectual Eldridge Cleaver–best known as a charismatic member of the Black Panthers–invests Whistler’s Mother painting with the long lean Cleaver in place of Whistler’s mother. In that same room, stand choir rows of outfits worn by Black Panther members. Don’t miss the mystical installation outdoors and all the rest of the timeless items.
In tandem with the Taylor exhibition stands the eclectic Harry Smith visual and musical exploration. Prodded by Whitney curator Elizabeth Sussman to “pay attention to the form not just the subject matter,” Smith engendered a remarkable career few have heard of. Evidently he never held a job, yet produced a voluminous archive. Originally directed towards anthropology, and translating symbolic images to film. A keen interest in African American and indigenous cultures, he popularized folk music and taps into indigenous culture.
The first solo exhibition of this artist, filmmaker, musicologist, collector and radical non comformist, Smith (1923-1991) the Whitney draws viewers into his evocative artwork and the explosive sounds of Charlie Parker and John Coltrane and more. A distinctive style emerges and playfulness.
This will be the last exhibition overseen by the amazing Adam Weinberg.
EYE ON THE ARTS, NY — Celia Ipoitis
