The Studio Museum in Harlem Magazine Summer/Fall 2015 Studio magazine Board of Trustees This issue of Studio is underwritten, Editor-in-Chief Raymond J. McGuire, Chairman in part, with support from Elizabeth Gwinn Carol Sutton Lewis, Vice-Chair Rodney M. Miller, Treasurer Creative Director The Studio Museum in Harlem is sup- Thelma Golden Dr. Anita Blanchard ported, in part, with public funds provided Jacqueline L. Bradley Managing Editor by the following government agencies and Valentino D. Carlotti Dana Liss elected representatives: Kathryn C. Chenault Joan S. Davidson Copy Editor The New York City Department of Cultural Gordon J. Davis, Esq. Samir S. Patel Aairs; New York State Council on the Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. Arts, a state agency; National Endowment Design Sandra Grymes for the Arts; the New York City Council; Pentagram Arthur J. Humphrey Jr. and the Manhattan Borough President. George L. Knox Printing Nancy L. Lane Allied Printing Services The Studio Museum in Harlem is deeply Dr. Michael L. Lomax grateful to the following institutional do- Original Design Concept Bernard I. Lumpkin nors for their leadership support: 2X4, Inc. Dr. Amelia Ogunlesi Ann G. Tenenbaum Studio is published two times a year Bloomberg Philanthropies John T. Thompson by The Studio Museum in Harlem, Booth Ferris Foundation Reginald Van Lee 144 W. 125th St., New York, NY 10027. Ed Bradley Family Foundation The Ralph and Fanny Ellison Hon. Bill de Blasio, ex-oicio Copyright ©2015 Studio magazine. Charitable Trust Hon. Tom Finkelpearl, ex-oicio Ford Foundation All rights, including translation into other The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation languages, are reserved by the publisher. Jerome Foundation Nothing in this publication may be Lambent Foundation reproduced without the permission of the The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation publisher. MetLife Foundation Cover image: Surdna Foundation Stanley Whitney Target Elephant Memory (detail), 2014 The Andy Warhol Foundation for Collection of Debra L. Lee the Visual Arts Courtesy Kim Heirston Art Advisory Photo: Courtesy the artist and team Joyce and George Wein Foundation (gallery, inc.), New York Wells Fargo The Winston Foundation Inside back cover image: Juliana Huxtable Untitled (Psychosocial Stuntin’), 2015 Museum Purchase with funds provided by the Acquisition Committee Letter from the Director Photo: Julie Skarratt Rendering of conceptual design Adjaye Associates, Designer, in collaboration with Cooper Robertson, Executive Architect With each issue of Studio magazine, replace our current facility with a truly allow us to realize our incred- I have the opportunity to re lect on building designed expressly for us ible potential and better serve our the past half-year at The Studio by architect David Adjaye of Adjaye growing and diverse audiences. Museum in Harlem, and I am always Associates, in collaboration with I look forward to sharing more astonished by how much can hap- executive architect Cooper information about the project with pen in six months. This issue is a per- Robertson. With construction under- you in the coming months and years. fect example. As always, the Studio taken as a public-private initiative But in the meantime, I look forward Museum team has created exciting with support from the City of New to seeing you uptown, as we con- exhibitions, programs and initiatives, York, the new building will be tinue to celebrate the amazing leg- and our diverse visitors have had located right here on our current site acy of this institution and the profound, meaningful and enjoyable at 144 West 125th Street, and will generations of artists, supporters, experiences with art and artists. replace the oice building renovated visitors, sta, leaders, neighbors But this issue marks an extra- in 1982 by renowned architect J. Max and friends who have made us who special milestone. In early July, I had Bond Jr. that has served us so well we are today. the great pleasure to announce that for over thirty years. we are embarking on the next chap- For the irst time in our nearly ter in our institution’s history—a ifty-year history, the Studio Museum radical reinvention of The Studio will have state-of-the-art facilities Museum in Harlem. In the coming designed speci ically to support our Thelma Golden years, the Studio Museum will exhibitions and programs. This will Director and Chief Curator Summer/Fall 2015 2 The Studio Museum in Harlem is at the forefront of black contemporary art and culture, and we want you to join us! Follow us on online, share your experience and be a part of the conversation! facebook.com/studiomuseum twitter.com/studiomuseum instagram.com/studiomuseum Museum Studio Jr. What’s Up: Exhibition Schedule 5 Partnership Highlight: 58 Harlem Postcards: 6 Museum Cultural Ambassadors Spring and Summer 2015 Art Work, Two Ways: 60 Everything, Everyday: 10 Stanley Whitney Artists in Residence 201415 In the Developer: 63 Expanding the Walls 2015 In Conversation: Stanley Whitney 16 and Lowery Stokes Sims Mini Curator!: 66 Art Is...: Interview with 21 Maya Evans × Kevin Beasley Lorraine O'Grady DIY: Design a Float 68 Middle School Mondays 70 Beyond Coloring Page: Lauren Halsey 74 Afripedia Collective Highlights 26 Creatives in Africa Friends Elsewhere 28 Spring Luncheon 2015 77 Malaika Likes: Film Picks 34 Members 82 Member Spotlight: Angela Jackson 86 Supporters 88 Features The Studio Museum in Venice 92 Membership Info and Form 94 Faustin Linyekula × Christine Y. Kim 37 Visitor Information 96 Venice: 10 Perspectives 43 The Barbershop, the Beauty Shop 54 and the Bookstore Museum Museum 5 What’s Up Exhibition Schedule Summer/Fall 2015 Check studiomuseum.org for the latest on our exhibitions and programs. July 16October 25, 2015 Stanley Whitney: Dance the Orange Everything, Everyday: Artists in Residence 201415 Lorraine O’Grady: Art Is… One Stop Down: Expanding the Walls 2015 November 12, 2015March 6, 2016 Highlights from the Permanent Collection And More! Always on View Harlem Postcards Glenn Ligon: Give Us a Poem Adam Pendleton: Collected (Flamingo George) Summer/Fall 2015 6 Harlem Spring Postcards 2015 Sierra Odessa Awol Erizku Born 1990, St. Louis, MO Born 1988, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Lives and works in New York, NY, and Chicago, IL Lives and works in Los Angeles, CA Faceless People & Hand Holding Grapes, 2014 Fleeting Subjects, 2015 Miniature miracles and overlooked catastrophes: Working seamlessly across a wide range of media, These are what I ind when I stroll the upper island. including photography, sculpture and video installation, For a neighborhood whose historical signi icance Awol Erizku references and remixes disparate artistic comes in such great abundance, there could be more movements and traditions, from the photorealist still lifes emphasis put on restoring or preserving the build- of Dutch Masters to spare, minimalist constructions— ings that tell the intricate stories of Harlem’s legacy. giving them all distinctly twenty- irst-century updates. For many urban developers and city planners, the Throughout his work, the New York–born, Los Angeles– rebirth, transformation and progression of Harlem based artist strives to correct what he perceives as a mean tearing down the old and replacing with the marked absence of people of color throughout the new. For others, however, each “CLOSED” store- canon of art history. He integrates contemporary fabrics, front sign represents yet another blow to Harlem’s styles and symbols with a provocatively allusive sensibility unique identity. and aesthetic. Inspired by a shirt the artist purchased on 125th Street, depicting a golden statue of an Egyptian queen, the artist envisions the luxury of being fed grapes, a seemingly common practice among Egyptian royalty. Museum 7 Harlem Spring Postcards 2015 Kameelah Janan Rasheed Elaine Reichek Born 1985, East Palo Alto, CA Born 1943, New York, NY Lives and works in Brooklyn, NY Lives and works in New York, NY Nun on Lenox, 2015 Harlem Arcadia, 2015 Digital embroidery on linen, mounted to paper From traditional monotheistic faiths established thou- I live and work in Harlem, and my windows face Striver’s sands of years ago to new syncretic communities and Row, two blocks of historically important brownstones. new religious communities, Harlem has it all. One day, My subject matter often deals with the classics, and many while documenting the Hebrew Israelites proselytizing of the buildings close by have beautiful neoclassical orna- on the corner of Lenox and 125th, a black nun crossed mentation. One of my great pleasures is to take walks in my path. I immediately turned my camera toward her. my neighborhood. This embroidery is derived from a It was a reminder that while one may be fascinated by photograph taken on 137th Street on one of those walks. the newness of emerging spiritual communities here in Harlem, there is still much to discover about how black people make sense of traditional faiths established thou- sands of years ago. Summer/Fall 2015 8 Harlem Summer Postcards 2015 King Texas Narcissister Born 1986, Brooklyn, NY Born 1971, New York, NY Lives and works in Brooklyn, NY Lives and works in Brooklyn, NY Harlem, 2015 Bare Breasted Project (Harlem #2), 2015 I’ve always been impressed by who gravitates toward Narcissister, my character, employs humor and spectacle you when you step into the world. My process in the past as her primary tools in explorations of gender, race consisted of documenting people with whom I’ve had a and sexuality. Opening “ ixed and closed” stereotypical close connection. Since I began shooting on ilm, I’ve representations and turning them against themselves, been having a lot more brief encounters with people. I expose, in live performance, video and photography, It’s an unfamiliar feeling at irst, but I always remind the practice of representation itself. myself that I am being reacquainted with people. I don’t This image is part of an ongoing project that explores believe anyone is truly a stranger.