Docent Tour Packet Depose and Dispose (of), Katrina Andry January 12, 2018 - March 18, 2018

“If the structure does not permit dialogue the structure must be changed”

-Paulo Freire

Exhibition Synopsis

Title: Depose and Dispose (of)

Artist(s): Katrina Andry

Location: Lewis Bear Family Gallery and Green Hut Gallery Number of Pieces: 9 prints, 44” x 60”; paper installation piece; plywood printing plates

Synopsis: Depose and Dispose (of) is an exhibition of work by Katrina Andry that invites

the viewer to engage in collective empathy and understand the tangible and societal consequences of loss through systemic brutality and its historical and contemporary implications. The exhibition consists of two print series: the first is an anthropomorphic series that explores the hybridities of humans and animals and the correlations between language and image; the partner series is titled The Promise of the Rainbow Never Came in which Andry crafts a slave mythology connected to the imagery of the eel and rooted in the brutalities of the Middle Passage and the dynamics of water. In addition to the print series, there will be an installation work and Andry’s wood printing plates.

Artist Statement:People of color are categorized as other in Western-centric societies where

rules of assimilation were, and are still, conditioned by colonialism and the European African Exploration from centuries ago. In order to justify the commodification and enslavement of African people and gain access to the natural resources of Africa, the Caribbean, and South and Central America, Western nations created contrived categories of race based on skin color as a signifier. This was done with the intention of constructing social hierarchies disguised as Enlightenment science to facilitate the mistreatment and domination of non-Western cultures. These categories still linger today along with the residue of colonialism, which buoy the idea that certain people, cultures, and societies are inherently peripheral and marginal to the needs and desires of Western traditions and narratives. As a result, this marginality conditions how people of color are treated and addressed in society.

The consequences of being marginalized by a dominant society are real and visceral, and are enacted daily. This can result, sometimes, in a violent, unjustifiable death. The loss of life does not only impact the victim, but ripples across social circles, communities, and generations that includes the victim’s children, spouse, neighbors, employers, friends, and family. This kind of loss and its impact across generations is hard if not impossible to correct, and has tangible and material impacts. This can include the loss of income for a family that may well lead to impoverishment, mental health issues, and even homelessness coupled with the anxiety and stress of losing a person you love to violence without any justice being dealt afterwards.

Depose and Dispose (of) is an exhibition which seeks to engage the viewer in the collective consciousness of being addressed as an animal, and how that strips a person of their humanity and rights of personhood. The correlation of language, perception, and action is strong. In a society that routinely refers to people of color as gorillas, coons, bears, etc., there exists a strong connection between being referred to as an animal, being perceived as an animal, and being treated like one. This exhibition features anthropomorphic figures posing passively amongst camouflage patterned flora (camouflage representing a violent death), and other objects symbolizing otherness and exoticism. The figures are thus portrayed simultaneously as part human and part animal resulting in their perception as not fully human, or sub-human, and so can expect to face the violent consequences of that assumption. The perception of people of color as not fully human is written into the eugenics-inflected history of people of color within the Western framework thus justifying their enslavement; their segregation from society; their mistreatment under Jim Crow; and now the systemic brutality they face by police and the justice system.

Katrina Andry, Bull (detail), color reduction woodcut and archival digital medium,2017, Ed.1/4

In this exhibition, Andry also creates a slave mythology connected to the origin of eels. This partner series, The Promise of the Rainbow Never Came, depicts homologies between people that were stolen for enslavement in the Americas and thrown overboard during their journey through the Middle Passage, and the lives people of color today and the loss of life they face as the result of the color of their skin. It’s estimated that anywhere between 14 million and 200 million people were thrown overboard en route to the Americas for a variety of reasons that included

people with fevers; babies just born; anyone with an unexplained illness; anyone who died en route; and anyone who revolted against their entrapment. The rainbow, a symbol of promise to never be destroyed by water again, is compared ironically to today’s situation of the ancestors of the drowned people still being violently erased.

Artist Bio: Katrina Andry

Andry is a native of New Orleans, Louisiana where she currently works and maintains a home studio and is an active member of the Staple Goods Collective. Andry received an MFA in Printmaking from Louisiana State University and since then has been a prolific and influential artist.

Andry was listed in the 2012 January-February issue of Art in Print as on the the top 50 printmakers and has completed several artists residencies from Joan Mitchell Center, Anchor Graphics, and Kala Art Institute.

Andry’s work explores the negative effects stereotypes have on people of color. Where stereotypes are typically used to help us normalize our surroundings by categorizing groups of people, the byproduct of stereotypes is that they also create arbitrary differences between people. Stereotyping establishes an arbitrary set of societal norms/rules that benefit the majority while it disenfranchises other groups of people. Katrina’s work challenges stereotypes placed upon people of color (the Other), that once had scientific research qualifying them, and how these ideas or stereotypes have become a part of how we see each other, whether consciously or unconsciously.

Andry often creates large scale (4’ or greater), color reduction wood cuts portraying white men in black face, or more recently, watermelon face acting out a stereotype that is most often placed upon people of color.

Katrina Andry, http://www.katrina-andry.com/about/Technique: Color Reduction Woodblock Printing

Many of our exhibitions have featured some form of printmaking (and there are many!). A defining feature for Depose and Dispose (of) is Andry’s use of color reduction woodblock printing.

In color reduction woodblock printing, the printed image builds up as the block that creates it is “reduced”.

1. A piece of wood/block is used. Andry prefers to use a single block of birch-ply to create her images.

2. A composition is sketched onto the wood, Andry uses sumi ink for her sketches, shellacs the wood and uses a sharp razor to take away the lifted grain.

Andry’s inspiration comes from the news, journals and books written by modern black philosophers and sociologists like, Angela Davis, bell hooks, Toni Morrison, Ta-nehisi Coates

3. Next Andry carves away everything that she wants to remain the color of the paper and prints the first color (i.e. orange)

4. Then the image is carved away everything that she wants to remain orange and then a second color (i.e. blue) is printed.

5. This process is repeated until every desired color is used

This process of carving as you go means that Andry has “killed” her block. Once she has made her editions, let’s say 10, then she can never go back and remake that same piece from that woodblock.

Image detail of the layers of color. Andry, Bull Ed.1/4 color reduction woodcut and archival digital medium, 2017

Docents are educators

Educators play a crucial role in helping students talk openly about the historical roots and contemporary manifestations of social inequality and discrimination. Docents, are informal educators and this role extends to them. Docents have only a few moments with a group of students, make these moments count by providing context to challenging topics and a place for students to ask questions.

Docent Activity: Before we can start conversations with students on this subject, we need to assess our own feelings.

(From the Let’s Talk! Guide) Consider the following statements and select the one that best describes how you feel

- I would rather not talk about race/racism.- I am very uncomfortable talking about race/racism.- I am usually uncomfortable talking about race/racism.- I am sometimes uncomfortable talking about race/racism. I am usually

comfortable talking about race/racism.- I am very comfortable talking about race/racism.

Now, self reflect- The hard part of talking about race/racism is ...- The beneficial part of talking about race/racism is ...

Understanding our own fears and insecurities in this discussion is an important part of opening the door to dialogue with students. All students can understand and comprehend the unfairness of prejudices and stereotypes based off of race, gender, religion, etc.

Important Tip: Accept that you do not have all the answers to questions or remarks, but embrace this as an opportunity for you and the students to learn.

Strategy for dialogue and conversation in the galleries

Grades 6-12 This has been adapted from the classroom structure in Let’s Talk!

When opening conversations on difficult topics such as race and racism, students of all age levels express strong emotions or may say something that is difficult to

ReiterateContemplateCommunicate

answer. This strategy can be used in the gallery for grades 6-12 to assist with curating understanding.

Reiterate: Restate what was just said. This enables students to reflect on what they have heard and not what they think they may have heard. Repeating limits miscommunication and misinformation.

Contemplate: Before students respond to difficult questions ask them to wait and think while you count to 10 in your head. Taking time to think about their response helps move students away from immediate emotional responses.

Communicate: Speak with passion and thoughtfulness. Explain that when they disagree they need to challenge the statement, not the person.

Grades K-5 This has been adapted from the classroom structure in Let’s Talk!

Use visuals of the same concepts as above.

What is the importance?

Visual Art has long played a role in shaping and reacting to the social and political climate. For example, the impressionists were taking a political and social stance against what the authority deemed to be art. It is not a modern notion that visual art can be political and used to help shape and challenge society.

Museums are places of informal learning and where once the museum was very exclusive in what and who it exhibited for, current museums are actively aware of their diverse communities. As places of informal learning and places of inclusion, the museum has a commitment to exhibit artwork that challenges and explores social and political issues.

Exhibitions such as Depose and Dispose (of) aid in a students understanding of ethics and social responsibility as well as provide a space for critical thinking and open questioning.

Repeat: Say it again

Think: Count 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Feel: Put yourself in their shoes

IDENTITY AND ART

Whose art History?

Most of 20th century American museums have rarely exhibited work of underrepresented artists; such as miorities, LGBTQ, or women artists. An ambitious 1990 exhibition, sought to bring marginalized artists to the mainstream. The Decade Show: Frameworks of Identity in the 1980s was organized by curators from The New Museum of Contemporary Art, The Studio Museum in Harlem and The Museum of Contemporary Hispanic Art and featured 200 objects with 94 artists of diverse backgrounds who were connected by their willingness to address the phenomenon of exclusion.

The Decade Show believed that as perspectives of the marginalized entered the mainstream they would receive greater political agency. The Artifact Piece, by Luna mentioned above was one such piece in the exhibition. The Decade Show had considerable impact. Many other institutions began to reconsider and tackle their relationship with artists outside the mainstream - including the Whitney museum of American Art.

As ideas and perspectives of non-white artists, queer artists and those with other intersectional identities were given space within the museum in the 1990s the terrain of art history began to shift. The effects are still seen today as more artists from the margins enter the mainstream institutions and their historiesAdditional artists to refer toThe below artists are examples of why the PMA should be exhibiting Andry’s artwork and how it is relevant in today's society. Through various forms of art these artists are speaking about the tensions in culture, race, gender, sexuality, identity, and exclusion.

Make note that all of these artists have exhibited in prominent art museums and that these museums are making an effort for genuine and inclusive art exhibitions where political and social issues can be explored and challenged by viewers of all ages.

The PMA has the institutional backing to explore and examine these political and social issues within our own community and on a broader scale. Depose and Dispose (of), allows the PMA to provide a space where we have the opportunity to address issues of race, gender, class, sexuality, identity, and

exclusion vs inclusion. Rather than shying away from these issues, Depose and Dispose (of) offers an opportunity for the PMA to provide a safe space to critically consider how POCs (people of color) are seen as bodies of difference, and dehumanized by culture at large. Through the lens of inclusion, we may hold a space to facilitate a discussion of these important topics by addressing issues that all people may face when marginalized by society and promote strategies for discussion and awareness of bias and prejudice. Kara WalkerWalker’s work has been exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art in New York; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; Solomon R Guggenheim Museum; Walker Art Center, and the Whitney Museum of American Art.

She explores the raw intersection of race, gender, and sexuality through the historically significant aesthetic of silhouetted figures.

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Carrie Mae WeemsWeems’ work has been exhibited around the world including, The MET, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; the New Orleans Museum of Art; the Museum of Modern Art; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; The Tate Modern, London; and the Guggenheim.

Weems is considered one of the most influential contemporary American artists. She investigates family relationships, cultural identity, sexism, class, political systems, and the consequences of power.

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Kerry James MarshallMarshall’s work has been exhibited in a variety of museums including; the Seattle Art Museum, Rosenfeld Porcini, London, National Art GAllery, Washington DC; MCA Chicago; and more.

Marshall’s work challenges the marginalization of African-Americans through rigorous paintings, drawings, videos, and installations. Marshall uses black folk art to structure his compositions and utilizes black culture and stereotypes for his subject matter.

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Jaune Quick-To-See Smith (in our collection)Quick-To-See-Smith’s work has been exhibited and in the collections of The Pensacola Museum of Art, the National Museum of Women in the Arts, the Smithsonian Art Museums, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Hood Museum of Art, and the Museum of Modern Art.

Quick-To-See-Smith is a Native American artist who uses humor and satire to present narratives on the ethical treatment of animals, humans and the planet.

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Faith RinggoldRinggold has exhibited at various places including; The MET, National Museum of American Art, The High Museum, the Guggenheim, the Museum of Fine Arts, and more.

Ringgold is a painter, writer, speaker, mixed media sculptor, and performance artist. In her earlier works she use art to confront prejudice directly and make political statements, often using racial slurs within her work to highlight the tension, political unrest, and the race riots of the 1960s. In her later work she deals with prejudice in a different way. Instead of using confrontational imagery to attack prejudice, she subverts it, and provides young people with positive role models, re-imagining hurtful stereotypes as strong, successful and heroic.

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James LunaLuna has had over 41 solo exhibitions, 85 group exhibitions, and has performed at venues that include; the Museum of Modern Art; Whitney Museum of American Art; New Museum of Art, San Francisco Museum of Art; Museum of Contemporary Art.

Luna is an internationally renowned performance and installation artist. He has given a voice through is art to Native American Cultural issues where the audience is confronted with the nature of cultural identity, tensions generated by cultural isolation, and dangers of cultural misinterpretations.

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Theaster GatesGates has had major exhibitions at; Art Gallery of Ontario, Istanbul Biennial, Venice Biennale, MCA Chicago, Documenta, and more.

Gates creates sculptures with clay, tar, and renovated buildings, transforming the raw material of urban neighborhoods into radically reimagined vessels of opportunity for the community.

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Eduoard Duval-CarrieDuval-Carrie has had exhibitions at; Figge Art Museum, Miami Art Museum, Musee des Art Africains et Oceaniens, Paris; Pol Museum of Art; Young At Art Museum, and more.

Duval-Carrie’s art reflects the culture and history of Haiti with reference to the Vodou religion. His work is political and executed in attempts to embody his nations spirit and its troubles. Duval-Carrie also examines the implications of coloniality on contemporary culture

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Suggested Tour Template (30 minutes)

● Location: Lewis Bear Family gallery and Green Hut gallery ● Note: Do not speak too much on the history of the building, the upstairs tour

will do that ● Popcorn Activity: When students first walk into the gallery have them gather

around and call out one word that they think initially describes the exhibition. (most likely students will call out the colors, the size, etc)

● Afterwards, begin by noting the size of the pieces to the students. ○ How big do you think they are? Bigger than a child? Bigger than an

adult? ○ Why would an artist make art at this scale?

● Woodblock Printing Table: Begin including information about color woodblock reduction process

○ Great opportunity to take them to the printing table and allow them to touch the art supplies and objects while you model the process

○ See the above “How to Use the Woodblock Printing Table” ● During the discussion of the woodblock printing process you can begin

discussing the theme of Katrina Andry’s artwork and its purpose ● Strategy: Tap into Empathy

○ Begin your discussion by asking students if they have ever been picked on or made to feel different because of their gender, what clothes they wear, what they look like, etc.

○ Use the Restate, Think, Feel strategy above ○ Continue to discuss how Andry is using art to talk about how the way

people are mistreated and portrayed has negative effects. (i.e. like an animal and not a person)

○Remember you do not need to be concerned about making statements of fact, or feel as if you are an authority on this. Just be an active facilitator.

If asked a question or a statement made that may seem uncomfortable, do not discourage the discourse, but continue to create dialogue by asking why and how they believe, or what do they or others think?

How to use the “Woodblock Printing Table” in the Gallery

In the gallery a table will be prepared with the base supplies necessary for woodblock printing. During the tour, have students gather around and explain/scaffold the process. (You do not actually have to carve into the wood or print.)

Supplies● Pencil● Set of wood carving gouges● Plexiglass● Rubber bryaer● Birch plywood● Printing paper● Ink and brush● Printing ink

Step 1: Sketch a design using pencil on your wood

Step 2: Andry uses ink to finalize her sketch. This helps to see the details when carving

Step 3: Andry shellacs the wood and uses a sharp razor to take away the lifted grain.

Step 4: Using the carving tools, you carve away at the wood. Different gouges create different cuts in the wood. Next Andry carves away everything that she wants to remain the color of the paper and prints the first color (i.e. orange)

Step 5: Then the image is carved away everything that she wants to remain orange and then a second color (i.e. blue) is printed. This process is repeated until every desired color is used

Talking Points/Questions

Add to this list after Docent Activity For all ages: Define mythology, and discuss/ask why stories are important for societies. Talk about the history of slave mythologies/stories and the role of these stories in American History. Define/ask what a stereotype is Define/ask how to show acceptance and tolerance. Define metaphor. How does metaphor play a role in Andry’s material and conceptual process? For example, is there significance in how Andry works one block until it is no longer recognizable?

Resources http://www.katrina-andry.com/blog/2017/1/5/my-processArtist StatementLet’s Talk!: Discussing race, racism, and other difficult topics with students Teaching Tolerance: A project of the southern poverty law center A Teaching Tolerance Guidehttp://www.tolerance.org/sites/default/files/general/TT%20Difficult%20Conversations%20web.pdfADC Websitehttps://portlandartmuseum.org/race-and-social-justice-an-educator-workshop/https://art21.org/artist/fred-wilson/https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2010/sep/27/paul-gauguin-tate-modern-exhibitionhttps://parenting.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/11/25/talking-about-racism-with-white-kids/http://thesafezoneproject.com/activity/theme/intersectionality/https://www.smm.org/racehttps://www.facebook.com/pbs/videos/10155968738078675/https://www.artspace.com/magazine/art_101/book_report/adrian-piper-cornered-dca-53390

https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/global-culture/identity-body/identity-body-united-states/a/identity-politics-from-the-margins-to-the-mainstream