Ahlam Shibli’s Panel 61

Posted on November 1, 2016 by Experiment Station

The story of migration is ongoing. In the final, 60th panel of The Migration Series, Jacob Lawrence leaves us with the words “And the migrants keep coming.” The Phillips has invited contemporary artists to continue Jacob Lawrence’s work. Check the recently launched Jacob Lawrence website for additional works to be unveiled in this dynamic curated selection, or contribute your own #Panel61.

Ahlam Shibli, untitled (Arab al-Sbaih no. 29), Jordan, 2007. Gelatin silver print, 15 x 22 3/4 in. Courtesy of the artist © Ahlam Shibli

Ahlam Shibli, untitled (Arab al-Sbaih no. 29), Jordan

The series of 47 photographs constituting Arab al-Sbaih were taken in four different places: the Irbid Refugee Camp, Irbid City, the al-Baqa’a Refugee Camp, and Amman. Three generations of Palestinian refugees have been living there since the 1948 war that followed the declaration of the Israeli State and resulted in the Palestinian Nakba. The title of the series references the original name of the village Arab al-Shibli in the Lower Galilee of Palestine (currently Israel). A part of the villagers who fought for their lands in 1948 against the Jews were expelled to Syria and Jordan; the other part took shelter at the Mount Tabor Monastery. After several months of hiding in caves on the land of the monastery, at the end of the war, the families who managed to return to their homes had to change the original name of the village, Arab al-Sbaih, to Arab al-Shibli in order to protect themselves from Israeli revenge. The refugees in Syria and Jordan on the other hand are preserving the memory of their homeland by naming their shops after places in Palestine and reproducing the social structure of their original villages.

Glenn Ligon’s Panel 61

Posted on October 24, 2016 by Experiment Station

Glenn Ligon, Rückenfigur, 2009. Neon, Edition of 3 with 2 artist’s proofs, 24 x 145 1/2 x 4 in.

Glenn Ligon, Rückenfigur

Glenn Ligon’s Rückenfigur (2009) is an example of the artist’s painted neon sculptures. Ligon is best known for exploring the limits and meaning of language with his text‐based work. In this piece, neon letters spell out “America,” Ligon’s homeland, and a frequent subject of his practice. The title “Rückenfigur” is a German term for a figure seen from behind; often used in an art historical context, it describes a figure in the foreground of a painting, surveying the scene before him, with his back to the viewer. Likewise, although the word “America” is legible to its audience, the letters face the wall, away from the viewer—the non‐symmetrical letters indicating the characters’ true direction. Ligon reveals the back of the word, inviting a consideration of multiple points of view and dichotomies in American culture.

Your #Panel61

Posted on October 20, 2016 by Experiment Station

In the final, 60th panel of The Migration Series, Jacob Lawrence leaves us with the words “And the migrants keep coming.” The story of migration is ongoing; what would the 61st panel look like today? Featured below are some thoughtful responses to this question by local artists. Submit your #Panel61 on our recently launched Jacob Lawrence website.

Judy Williams, Multitude Long Journey, 2016. 20 x 20 x 1.5, oil on canvas

Judy Williams
“My artistic production is my attempt to pay homage to the vast distribution of humanity seeking asylum and refuge from the abominations of war. Across the world a multitude of disparate peoples individuated by each one’s personal story are on the move, migrating, yearning to alter their path of destiny, creating a new geography. My daily practice of painting further attempts to represent those who now flee their homes in pursuit of new places of hope, peace, and love.”

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Antionette Simmons Hodges, The Protesters. Acrylic, 20 x 16 in.

Antionette Simmons Hodges
“Surely, Lawrence would continue with themes related to social issues of life in the cities. To follow his themes of the conditions in the cities, I painted The Protesters, using Lawrence’s simple color palette and stylized figures. The painting is of a demonstration for human rights, which could have taken place in the sixties for racial equality, or today showing unity for a common cause pertaining to immigration or protesting the many shootings of unarmed African Americans.”

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Antionette Simmons Hodges, Jo Joe & Billy (set). Acrylic, 24 x 12 in.

Antionette Simmons Hodges
“This could be any southern African American couple from the past, much like my parents. I never thought of my folks as part of the Great Migration, but they were! Wiley and Annie wanted to start a new life together, free from the limits of segregation. Mom and Dad came from large families, grew up farming the land in Wetumpka, Alabama. They decided in 1940, before I was born, to leave Alabama’s cotton fields, as did many of my aunts and uncles. My parents settled in Buffalo, NY, while other family members’ destinations became Cleveland and Detroit. All were looking for a better way of life for their families, which they found working in the steel mills and car factories.”

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Melissa Lowry Mosley, True North No Boundaries

Melissa Lowry Mosley
“In keeping with Lawrence’s migration theme of internal personal shift and external societal movement, my artwork commemorates the first African American NASA astronaut (Guion “Guy” Bluford, August 30, 1983) in space, and therein remembers the thirteen African American men and women who would follow him into space—two of whom were killed in space shuttle disasters (including the second African American man in space), the two who would retire having never flown in space, the very first named African American Astronaut trainee who would die in an aircraft accident, and those waiting still! The watercolor bears the caption: Continuing to move North: True North. No boundaries. Slipping our surly bonds of ‘space’ and claiming our place among the stars.”