BLACK MATTERS 16. September - 04. November 2017 Galerie Barbara Thumm Markgrafenstrasse 68 D 10969 Berlin Fon +49 30 283 903 47 Fax +49 30 283 903 48 info@bthumm.de www.bthumm.de
16.09. 04.11.2017 BLACK MATTERS in cooperation with Octavio Zaya Radcliffe Bailey, Nick Cave, Barkley L. Hendricks, María Magdalena Campos-Pons, Lorraine O Grady, Dread Scott, Carrie Mae Weems a.o. Some things and some words can carry meanings that have larger lives of their own, regardless of the meanings that we ordinarily ascribe to them. But unless we are parts of these things such as social bodies or movements or use those words in a historically specific way, we cannot pretend that we have the authority to speak in their names, in the case of things, nor can we deny their intrinsic history, in the case of words. The exhibition Black Matters originates in this understanding, and follows a direction that does not try to approach the subject in a vacuum, beyond history, nor does it try to speak for the subject. The circumstances under which the exhibition has been constructed began with the current and pervasive interest that African and African-American artists, and other artists of African descent, have been garnering in Europe, particularly through mainstream museums and gallery exhibitions, biennials, prestigious prizes, specialized coverage, and collectors. This positive reception from providers and consumers of contemporary culture contrasts sharply with the increasingly restrictive European policies toward African immigrants. It has also been used opportunistically and cynically, particularly by those who deny the widespread and expanding racism within Fortress Europe. In addressing these issues, Black Matters could be unpacked from the two different angles, based on the ambiguity in meaning of the title as a phrase. If we put aside the references that this phrase might call to mind in relation to so-called dark matter in astrophysics an unidentified type of matter distinct from dark energy, baryonic matter, and neutrinos Black Matters acknowledges, on the one hand, those matters that are of interest to Black people in general and artists in particular, matters which happen to be the same kinds of things, issues, and experiences that matter to all kinds of races and people, with the exceptions of the matter of race itself, which is mostly ignored in our cultural discourse, and that of the Black experience, usually portrayed as insignificant or unworthy of widespread attention. The exhibition, in this context, tries to cover the diversity of issues, interests, and media that contemporary African and African-American artists involve in their production and practices. On the other hand, Black Matters is concerned with issues similar to those that Toni Morrison covers in her book of the same name: the Eurocentric nature of our culture despite the four-hundred-year presence of first Africans and then African-Americans, British-Americans, Black-Caribbeans, etc., in the midst of Western societies; the negligible representation of Black artists and writers within the canon; the prevalent ignorance of Black experience, and the treatment of Africans and people of African descent in a society that continues to ignore matters of race and racial discourse. In this regard, it is important to call attention to the relation of the exhibition s title to the Black Lives Matter movement, because of how the movement s name implies, in a context of evidence, that Black lives far to often are regarded as if they do not matter, a context typified in the US by the brutalizing and killing of Black people at the hands of the police and the indifference of society in general and the criminal justice system in particular. The exhibition s title thus yokes these two different senses together: the matters of interest to Black people Black Matters and the fact that Blackness still matters that we are far from having entered a post-racial social condition. Although these two senses are distinct, they complement each other: the matters important to Black artists must matter to us all, as our multiple subjectivities share a common space of art. Octavio Zaya Octavio Zaya is an art curator, writer and editor born in the Canary Islands and living in the US since 1978. He is the Director/Executive Editor of Atlántica. Journal of Art and Thought. He was a curator at the 1st and 2nd Johannesburg Biennials (1995, 1997), he was also a curator at Documenta 11 (2002), and he curated the Spanish Pavilion at the 53rd Venice Biennale. He is currently curating a large retrospective of Luis Camnitzer for Museo Reina Sofia, Madrid (2018).
Radcliff Bailey Radcliffe Bailey Transplant 2016 exhibition views BLACK MATTERS Galerie Barbara Thumm, 2017
Radcliff Bailey Radcliffe Bailey Transplant 2016 Photograph printed on aluminum with glitter and acrylic paint 186,99 x 123,49 x 5,08 cm, framed
Radcliff Bailey Radcliffe Bailey Western 2015 exhibition views BLACK MATTERS Galerie Barbara Thumm, 2017
Radcliff Bailey Radcliffe Bailey Western 2015 Mixed media on paper 150,31 x 210,18 x 9,82 cm, framed
Radcliffe Bailey Western (detail) 2015 Mixed media on paper 150,31 x 210,18 x 9,82 cm, framed
Radcliff Bailey Radcliffe Bailey Notes from Tervuren 2013 / 2014 Gouache, collage and ink on sheet music. 56,81 x 47,92 x 3,81 cm, framed
Radcliff Bailey Radcliffe Bailey Notes from Tervuren 2014 Gouache, collage and ink on sheet music. 56,81 x 47,92 x 3,81 cm, framed
Radcliff Bailey Radcliffe Bailey Notes from Tervuren 2013 / 2014 Gouache, collage and ink on sheet music. 56,81 x 47,92 x 3,81 cm, framed
Nick Cave Nick Cave Untitled 2015 exhibition view BLACK MATTERS Galerie Barbara Thumm, 2017
Nick Cave Nick Cave Untitled 2015 Mixed media (including cast-iron figure, ceramic birds, strung beads and metal flowers) 235 x 101,6 x 88,26 cm
Nick Cave Nick Cave Untitled (detail) 2015 Mixed media (including cast-iron figure, ceramic birds, strung beads and metal flowers) 235 x 101,6 x 88,26 cm
Nick Cave Nick Cave Untitled (detail) 2015 Mixed media (including cast-iron figure, ceramic birds, strung beads and metal flowers) 235 x 101,6 x 88,26 cm
Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons Untitled #3, Catch of the day I, Untitled #5 2016-2017 exhibition views BLACK MATTERS Galerie Barbara Thumm, 2017
Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons Untitled #3 2017 Ink and watercolor on Stonehenge s archival paper 160 x 115 cm
Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons Catch of the day I 2016 Ink, watercolor and Gouache on Stonehenge s archival paper 100 x 65 cm
Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons Catch of the day I (detail) 2016 Ink, watercolor and Gouache on Stonehenge s archival paper 100 x 65 cm
Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons Untitled #5 2017 Watercolor on Stonehenge s archival paper 140 x 115 cm
Barkley L. Hendricks Barkley L. Hendricks Passion Dancehall #5, JohnWayne 2015 exhibition views BLACK MATTERS Galerie Barbara Thumm, 2017
Barkley L. Hendricks Barkley L. Hendricks Passion Dancehall #5 2015 Oil and acrylic on linen 189,23 x 189,23 cm
Barkley L. Hendricks Barkley L. Hendricks JohnWayne 2015 Oil and acrylic on canvas framed 180,97 x 180,97 x 8,25 cm
Lorraine O Grady Lorraine O Grady Untitled (Mlle Bourgeoise Noire Shouts Out Her Poem), The Fir-Palm 1980-83 / 2009, 1991 / 2012 exhibition views BLACK MATTERS Galerie Barbara Thumm, 2017
Lorraine O Grady Lorraine O Grady Untitled (Mlle Bourgeoise Noire Shouts Out Her Poem) 1980-83 / 2009 From the series: Untitled (Mlle Bourgeoise Noire), 1980-83/2009 Silver gelatin fiber print 127 x 101,6 cm
Lorraine O Grady Lorraine O Grady The Fir-Palm 1991 / 2012 Silver Gelatin Print (Photomontage) 127 x 101,6 cm
Lorraine O Grady Lorraine O Grady Untitled (Mlle Bourgeoise Noire Beats Herself with the Whip-That-Made-Plantations-Move) 1980-83 / 2009 From the series: Untitled (Mlle Bourgeoise Noire), 1980-83/2009 Silver gelatin fiber print 127 x 101,6 cm
Dread Scott Dread Scott Burning the US Constitution 2011 exhibition views BLACK MATTERS Galerie Barbara Thumm, 2017
Dread Scott Dread Scott Burning the US Constitution (detail, no. 1 of 3) 2011 Archival pigment prints. Triptych framed 67,31 x 50,8 cm
Dread Scott Dread Scott Burning the US Constitution (detail, no. 2 of 3) 2011 Archival pigment prints. Triptych framed 67,31 x 50,8 cm
Dread Scott Dread Scott Burning the US Constitution (detail, no. 3 of 3) 2011 Archival pigment prints. Triptych framed 67,31 x 50,8 cm
Carrie Mae Weems Carrie Mae Weems In the Mountains of Santiago de Cuba, Untitled (Woman walking along railroad tracks) 2002, 2001 exhibition views BLACK MATTERS Galerie Barbara Thumm, 2017
Carrie Mae Weems Carrie Mae Weems In the Mountains of Santiago de Cuba 2002 Gelatin silver print framed 79,05 x 79,05 x 5,1 cm Edition of 8 + 2 AP
Carrie Mae Weems Carrie Mae Weems Untitled (Woman walking along railroad tracks) 2003 Gelatin silver print framed 52,7 x 52,7 x 4,44 cm Edition 2 of 5 + 2 AP
Carrie Mae Weems Carrie Mae Weems Not Manet s Type 1997 exhibition views BLACK MATTERS Galerie Barbara Thumm, 2017
Carrie Mae Weems Carrie Mae Weems Not Manet s Type (Detail) 1997 5 silver prints with text on mat framed 62,86 x 52,7 x 4,11 cm Edition 2 of 5, with 2 AP
Carrie Mae Weems Carrie Mae Weems Not Manet s Type (Detail) 1997 Silver print with text on mat framed 62,86 x 52,7 x 4,11 cm Edition 2 of 5, with 2 AP
Carrie Mae Weems Carrie Mae Weems Not Manet s Type (Detail) 1997 Silver print with text on mat framed 62,86 x 52,7 x 4,11 cm Edition 2 of 5, with 2 AP
Carrie Mae Weems Carrie Mae Weems Not Manet s Type (Detail) 1997 Silver print with text on mat framed 62,86 x 52,7 x 4,11 cm Edition 2 of 5, with 2 AP
Carrie Mae Weems Carrie Mae Weems Not Manet s Type (Detail) 1997 Silver print with text on mat framed 62,86 x 52,7 x 4,11 cm Edition 2 of 5, with 2 AP
Carrie Mae Weems Carrie Mae Weems Not Manet s Type (Detail) 1997 Silver print with text on mat framed 62,86 x 52,7 x 4,11 cm Edition 2 of 5, with 2 AP