KoriNewkirk

May 5-June 23, 2002

JohnsonCounty Community College • Galleryof Art Easeon Down Newkirk Road for flightsof fancyand films of the imagination. irresistible.His gaze directed at LosAngeles However,like that of Dorothy(more like Diana minesthe interstitialspaces between self and Oneof the wondersof the humancondition is Rossin The Wiz thanJudy Garland in identity,race, civilization and the unpredictability our abilityto imagine,fantasize or inventalter­ The Wizardof Oz), Newkirk'sexpeditional of paradise. Thetales between the lineskeep us naterealities. The American creative tradition possibilitiesare partdelight, part cautionary looking,and lookingsome more. hastaken this impulseto heartmore than most. tale,part humorand part quiet moments of In the moststraightforward terms, Jubilee It is therein PhillisWheatley's memories of the subversion.Although he grewup in a small (1999)is a paintingof the firesthat whipped Africanshores of heryouth, in JayGatsby's collegetown in centralNew York, he is now a acrossLos Angeles and our collectiveracialized failedmachinations for Daisy'sillusive heart, at starplayer in a constellationof LosAngeles­ consciousnessduring the 1992Rodney King the funeralto endall funeralsthat closes basedartists, including Edward Ruscha, uprisings.Like most of us,the artisthimself DouglasSirk's version of Imitation of Life,and CatherineOpie and DougAitken, that look neversaw this leapingwall of flamein person on the yellowbrick road that takesDorothy far at and recastthat vast,magical, catastrophe­ as he didn't livein LosAngeles at the time. Yet, from homein mindand body.We seemto ask, bound,man-made tourist mecca that Norman all hispaintings depict simple yet evocative what is on the otherside of the page,the frame, Kleincalls "the mostphotographed, least scenesin whichhe canimagine himself inserted . the screen,the wall?What stories are hidden rememberedcity." 1 Whatmakes his work Hecalls this his "blackviewpoint." 2 At 8 feet by there?How can we stepoutside our sometimes differentand so compellingis the exquisite 8 feet,Jubilee, which features a heart-stopping disappointing,often simply quotidian lives into unionbetween subject and materials -plastic mixof piquantreds, oranges and golds set someother, unexpected reality? ponybeads, artificial , hair pomade - that againsta gentleblue suggests an affinitywith Thesequestions echo and reverberate in the giveshis paintings and installationsnarrative the color-fieldworld of ClyffordStill and Barnett work of KoriNewkirk. His work setsthe stage possibilitiesthat areboth open-ended and Newman.Our field of visionis consumedby the paintingand our imaginationsset free. While it certainlysuggests disillusion and dystopia for some,it couldjust aseasily evoke magnificent sunsets,tropical vegetation or a mountain coveredwith fall leavesfor others. Each potentialnarrative trajectory leads to very differentdestinations, varied emotions and multipleendings . As we gazeat the work, each of us becomesthe starin our own mini-film, andeach choice we makeon our storyboard revealsour manyversions of selfand fantasy. In fact, Newkirkoften makes up mini-dramas for eachof hispaintings. For instance, in Stutter (2002),he showsthe fa~adeof a genericLos Angeles apartment building, harkeningback to EdwardRuscha's classic artist bookSome Los Angeles Apartments, a time capsuleof the cityfrom 1965. Newkirkupdates Ruscha'scityscape in full color,with that special smog-mediatedlight so specialto LosAngeles. Settingup the scene,Newkirk says of this dwelling,"It lookslike a blackfamily could live there.Not too fancy,but not too rundown either... somewherein the middle.Very late ?Os/early80s time frame. Mother might still havea smallafro, 3 kids,not enoughbedrooms. Happymost of the time,but still a struggle,too. Brown/rustcolored carpet. An old usedcar ... " 3 Thus,another mini-film set is waitingfor

Solon 6: 12, 2000, plasticpony beads, synthetic hair, aluminum, 83" x 73", protagoniststo fill the frame. Whileour many collectionDean Valentine and AmyAdelson, Los Angeles, CA hauntsare depicted, Newkirk never includes actualpeople in hispaintings. That absence is Museumof Art in 2001.For All Over pungent,yet slightlysweet smell of hair generouslyleft to befilled by viewers inventive (TheRemix), 2001, the artistused black hair pomade.If unfamiliar,it maymake a person's insertionof fantasyselves. Likewise, the beads pomadeto covera largewall with two hovering nosewrinkle in an effortto escape.If familiar, andhair that formthe paintingssuggest a "ghettobirds," L.A. slang for the ubiquitous whichis oftenthe casefor AfricanAmerican certainhuman affinity. policesurveillance helicopters that dot the audiences,it may bring back memories of Neverhemming us into a particularsystem of sky.Inspired by a sectionnear the endof Paul Saturdaymorning hair rituals - hot combson thoughtor interpretationabout his work, Beatty'sheartbreaking and satirical novel the stove,burning hair, laughter, family stories or Newkirksimilarly refuses to limit himselfin his The White BoyShuffle (1997), this quiet admonishmentsto stop being "tender-headed." approachto materials.After working with yet slightlyominous piece acknowledges the Thissmell is an art materialthat is as mucha unusualpainting materials such as antifreeze sometimesbanal absurdity of contemporarylife partof the installationas the image.Newkirk andglycerin soap during his undergraduate in LosAngeles, especially if you'rea personof thusopens up an unexpectedsensual realm in studies,he laterbegan incorporating various colorbut not funds.After all, the greatest the galleryspace and makes it a necessary culturalsignifiers of beautyand camouflage menaceto societyisn't alwaysthe oneyou elementin the experienceof hiswork. The mostoften associated with AfricanAmericans. expect.Choppers also evoke Hollywood action aromajumps off the wall,transforming a flat Manyof hispaintings are made with the plastic heroeslike Rambo and James Bond and the wall paintinginto a three-dimensionalencounter ponybeads made famous by LosAngeles-raised fantasyworld of comicbooks. Or is hedaring with unpredictableends. startennis players Serena and Venus Williams. usto beall we canbe in the U.S.Army? Newkirk'sconceptually rigorous practice also Eachshimmering strand of eachpainting is Mostsuggestively, the pomadepieces also form includesmore traditional sculpture, such as strungon braidedartificial hair. Artists such all-envelopingaromatic sculptures. As onetakes Legacy(1999), a circleof nineblack wooden as LornaSimpson have ventured into the in the largeinstallations that glistenbeautifully piesthat stand6 feet 2 inchestall. Each undeniablypolitical territory of blackhair and whenlit, oneis alsosurrounded by the distinct, combis toppedoff with a roundtop that recalls glamouras well, but unlikeher often direct engagementin that dialogue,Newkirk's work tendsto referencebut not foregroundthe politicalunderpinnings at play. Hairpomade is a highlyevocative and sensuous materialthat Newkirkbegan using in hisartwork in 1996.It carriesa richand varied cultural history. Forinstance, it wasused by MalcolmLittle to keephis looking glorious before hewas politically radicalized and reinvented himselfas the natural-hairedMalcolm X. The samestuff gave snake-hips Elvis his glossy black locksand flirty wispsover his eyes. Pomade has a distinctscent and comes in variousconsistencies andcolors that the artistsometimes customizes with pigments.It's a fantasticmaterial from whichto makelarge wall paintingsthat setsa grandproscenium for the narrativesequences of our manypossible selves . Oftenworking site specifically, Newkirk has usedhair pomade to createimages as varied andculturally resonant as basketballnets, snowflakesand city skylines or distinct topographies,as well as a typographical treatmentof the namesof firstbornsons from popularblack TV families of the 1970s,including JamesEvans Jr . from GoodTimes and Lionel Jeffersonfrom TheJeffersons. One of hismost impressivepomade installations was part of Still Nothing,2001, plastic pony beads, synthetic hair, aluminum, 67" x 40", the Freestyleexhibition at the SantaMonica collectionChip Tom and Michael Rabkin, Encino, CA .1

\ I I I I _1 1 I I I, I Crybaby, 2001, plastic ponybe ads, synthetichair, aluminum, 60 " x 84", collectionEileen Harris Norton , SantaMon ica, CA a heador a raisedfist. The Afro and Afro pie are tyrannyof thoughtthat permeateseven powerfulsymbols of the BlackPower movement revolutions?The artist does not answer, only asks . of the late 1960sand early 1970s that calledfor Byhighlighting the narrativeavenues of politicaland psychological revolution among possibilityin hiswork, I do not meanto ignore blackpeople . Thissculpture seems to forma Newkirk'sequally satisfying game of peek-a-boo ringof sentinelsguarding the poolof light with notionsof beautyand luminosity . Justas withinthe circle. Whatrevolutionary or not-so­ hismaterials are commonly used instruments in revolutionaryrealities are they protecting? beautyrituals, he translates those objects into Dramaticallylit, the sculpturecreates a wonderful beautifulart worksthat drawus in onlyto playof shadowsagainst the gallerywalls, disarmus . Oncewe're in hiszone, he gently seemingto multiplythe guardsstanding shoulder takesus down his yellow brick road to reveal to shoulderalong the peripheryof the room.Or all the storiesthat arealready in us,simply perhapsthe piesform a playpenor a prison? waitingfor a stage. Theymay even form a majesticcrown, and are -Olukemi llesanmi, curatorialass istant theya slyreference to Jean-MichelBasquiat? WalkerArt Center,Minneapolis, MN Whateverthe answer,something is amiss-the 1 NormanM. Klein,The History of Forgetting: circleis not complete.One of the teethfrom one LosAngeles an d the Erasureof Memory combis broken. Isthis a siteof struggle,escape, (London:Ve rso, 1997).250 Legacy, 1999,wood, metal, hardware, 74" x 100" dia., 2 E-mail interviewwith artist,Ap ril 2002 a momentof defianceagainst the occasional collectionEileen and PeterNorton , Santa Monica, CA 3 E-mailinterview with artist,April 2002

Cover: Jubilee,1999, plastic pony bead s, synthetichair, aluminum, 96" x 96", collectionDean Valentine and Amy Adelson, Los Angeles , CA Johnson County Community College • Gallery of Art • Carlsen Center • 12345 College Blvd., Overland Park, KS 66210