The First Kin

Posted on December 12, 2016 by Experiment Station

Whitfield Lovell, Kin I (Our Folks), 2008. Conté on paper, paper flags, and string, 30 x 22 1/2 in. Collection of Reginald and Aliya Browne © Whitfield Lovell and DC Moore Gallery, New York

The importance of home, family, ancestry feeds my work entirely. African Americans were generally not aware of who their ancestors were, since slaves were sold from plantation to plantation and families were split up. Any time I pick up one of these old vintage photographs, I have the feeling that this could be one of my ancestors.—Whitfield Lovell

It was quite unexpectedly, in response to seeing a young boy in an ID photograph, that Whitfield Lovell began the first in his ongoing series of Kin works. As he recalled, “There was something about the emotion in his eyes that immediately spoke to me. I was compelled to draw that young man’s face at a certain life-like scale, and to capture as much of his expression as I could.” Lovell’s subtitle for the work, “Our Folks,” set the tone for the series, which has grown to a veritable family of 60 some relations—each one individualized with the artist’s careful attention to capturing the character of his subjects and their distinctive facial attributes.

The banner of American paper flags beneath the male figure, one of various flag motifs that recur in subsequent works by the artist, alludes to the complicated history of patriotism for African Americans, expressed by Frederick Douglass as early as 1852 when he asked a crowd in Rochester, New York, “What to the slave is the 4th of July?”

Whitfield Lovell: The Kin Series and Related Works is on view through Jan. 8, 2017.

Whitfield Lovell’s Cage

Posted on December 5, 2016 by Experiment Station

Whitfield Lovell, Cage, 2001. Charcoal on wood and found objects. Collection of Julia J. Norrell. Courtesy DC Moore Gallery © Whitfield Lovell and DC Moore Gallery, New York

I know why the caged bird sings . . .
–Maya Angelou, “Caged Bird,” 1983

The first act of liberation is to destroy one’s cage.
–Michael S. Harper, poet, 1977

From the front, the cage attached to the lower body of this drawn woman could be associated with the shape of a dress, perhaps even as an indirect reference to the cage-like construction of garments such as 19th-century crinolines. Yet from the side, the cage extends out and becomes suggestive of a pregnant womb. It is harmoniously married to her frame, yet it simultaneously traps her. The contradiction speaks to the uneven treatment women historically have received, being at once matriarchs in the domestic sphere and victims of subjugation and inequality in the public one.

Whitfield Lovell: The Kin Series and Related Works is on view through Jan. 8, 2017.

Nobody, No Time!

Posted on December 1, 2016 by Experiment Station

Whitfield Lovell, Kin VI (Nobody), 2008. Conté on paper and wooden chain, 30 in x 22 1/2 x 7/8 in. Collection of Julia J. Norrell © Whitfield Lovell and DC Moore Gallery, New York

With the provocative subtitle for this Kin and the symbolism of the chain cradling the female face, Whitfield Lovell explores the sense of alienation of the ordinary individual while also challenging assumptions about what it means to be accepted in society. Lovell chose to depict this woman because she immediately felt like someone he knew, reminding him of an older relative. “Nobody” is also the title of a 1905 song written by Bert Williams and Alex Rogers that was later performed by Nina Simone, one of the artist’s favorite singers.

Nobody
When life seems full of clouds an’ rain
and I am filled with naught but pain,
who soothes my thumpin’ bumpin’ brain?
Nobody
When winter comes with snow an’ sleet,
and me with hunger and cold feet,
who says “Ah, here’s two bits, go an’ eat!”
Nobody
I ain’t never done nothin’ to nobody,
I ain’t never got nothin’ from nobody, no time!
And until I get somethin’ from somebody, sometime,
I don’t intend to do nothin’ for nobody, no time!
When I try hard an’ scheme an’ plan,
to look as good as I can,
who says “Ah, look at that handsome man!”
Nobody
When all day long things go amiss,
and I go home to find some bliss,
who hands to me a glowin’ kiss?
Nobody
I ain’t never done nothin’ to nobody,
I ain’t never got nothin’ from nobody, no time!
And until I get somethin’ from somebody, sometime,
I don’t intend to do nothin’ for nobody, no time!
Nobody, no time!”
–lyrics by Bert Williams and Alex Rogers, 1905

Whitfield Lovell: The Kin Series and Related Works is on view through Jan. 8, 2017.