THE SUPPER CLUB THE SUPPER CLUB What does it mean to have a seat at the table? Antonio Cruz, , Lina Puerta, extension of her everyday life. A precedent Ask artist , and her many guests— LaToya Ruby Frazier, and Las Hermanas to Alba’s project is ’ The artists and otherwise—who have attended Iglesias, among others. As Alba continued Kitchen Table Series (1990), begun in 1989 with the twenty-fiveSupper Club dinners over to approach other artists to sit for subsequent self-portraits representing women seated at the past five years, and that question will be portraits, she decided that hosting dinners the table, accompanied by text that intimately met with many different answers. Although was a way to give voice to those featured revealed their relationships and daily lives.1 Of the first meals took place in restaurants, in in the photographs. And so, a journey of the series, art historian Robin Kelsey writes: recent years the level of production for each dinners, discussions, and the staging of gathering has been formalized. For each portraits has evolved into a complex network “Kitchens and streets. You could write a dinner, Alba plans the menu and identifies a of relationships. Each dinner has hinged on history of the twentieth century through host—an artist, intellectual, or art historian specific conversations, concentrating on a that pairing. If the city street is a place with a keen understanding of current cultural range of themes, bringing new participants of random encounter, of hustle and protest, politics—who provides a prompt thematically to the table on subjects like Identity, Race, the kitchen is a place of intimate habit, framing the dinner conversation, to provoke and Baltimore, a Tribute to Freddie Gray; of sharing and aroma…The street presses a discussion about race and visual culture. Finding Sanctuary After Orlando; Queer into the kitchen, stocking shelves and One of the most complex aspects of planning Intersectionality; What Would an HIV Doula burdening conversations. The kitchen is each dinner is finalizing the guest list. For the Do?; and The Prospect of Race Relations a delicate sanctuary, vulnerable to the last three years, in addition to organizing the Post Obama, to name but a few. To date, all threat of violence, and to the prejudice dinners, Alba has also personally cooked the of the thematic conversations have been and fear that abound outside.”2 meal in preparation for her guests’ arrival. recorded as part of a larger effort to produce a book about The Supper Club, which will One of the recurrent threads of discourse A seat at the table means more than just feature the portraits alongside excerpts of linking many of the gatherings at The 8th Floor simply being a dinner guest. Alba initiated these dialogues. is the notion of privilege. The privilege of being The Supper Club as a photography project, by invited to sit at the table, to be part of an oral staging portraits of her friends—artists of In developing this layered project, Alba is not history and growing archive of conversations color—as a means to explore and celebrate concerned with following the logic of socially that have responded to both historical the diversity of cultural and artistic identity, engaged art, perhaps because her practice is questions, such as the history of race in Latin specifically as it relates to race. Her interest rooted in photography and , informed America and immigration to the , was sparked by the media’s lack of diversity, by her early experiences in the fashion world. and contemporary issues related to gender which is writ large in the annual Hollywood Alba’s process reflects an understanding of politics and race. Issue of Vanity Fair magazine and the Academy how seamlessly art can overlap with life, and Awards, both glaring examples of the media how social relations inform the production of It is important to acknowledge the people overlooking the accomplishments of people of visual culture. Having hosted informal dinners involved in the dinners—the hosts, the color. Alba’s first portraits, which took place for artist friends for nearly two decades, guest-participants, those who work closely in the summer of 2012, included artists David the dinners within The Supper Club are an with Alba to produce each event and meal— and to recognize the political nature of the through the suggestions and ideas for dinner is this a table of artists of color, or are invitation. When The Supper Club began in themes, understanding the importance of we just a bunch of artists? Is that a hat 2012, Alba, with the support of Recess Art, including artists she did not know personally that we take off and put on when it’s hosted the first three dinners at restaurants in in the portraits, as opposed to solely those convenient? Like, what’s up?”3 : Tripoli, Kaz an Nou, and Joloff, with who were an active part of her community fifty artists in total. With the participation of at the moment of the project’s inception. As the conversation unfolded, ideas arose many influential figures—Maren Hassinger, This process of listening meant that when about the expectations of art viewers and , Clifford Owens, Lorraine O’Grady, Clifford Owens suggested having a black consumers. Specifically, how did this group Sanford Biggers, among them—an awareness male dinner, the politics of further limiting of artists consider their own racial identity of the project began to expand in terms of participants—from artists of color to men in connection with the expectations placed art world recognition. A partial listing is not only—were given serious consideration. In on artists of color? Other topics covered how sufficient, as it is all of the artists who sat for the end, Derrick Adams and Owens, both artists at the table perceived the difference portraits, combined with nearly five-hundred featured in the portrait series, agreed to host between identifying as a ‘black artist’ and dinner guests, that make the project whole. the dinner together. Organizing the Black Male ‘artist of color,’ ultimately questioning what it Alongside the excitement of being invited is a Subjectivity dinner opened up the idea of not means to identify with a community, of color palpable tension around omissions. Why was one, but two dinners based on Black Female or otherwise. a certain artist not included? Why did another Subjectivity, the first hosted by art historian 2. The Monk (Nicolás Dumit Estévez), 2013. Photographed in Inwood invited artist not show up? Dr. Brandi Summers and the second by artist 2012 marked a significant shift—one that Hill Forest Park, NY. Simone Leigh. seemed to register more vividly outside That the privilege of being at the table has of the black community—when police violence come up repeatedly as a point of discussion Going back to the very first dinners in the fall against African Americans and people of color over the last three years makes it clear that of 2012, Alba and Allison Freedman Weisberg, was thrust into the national spotlight, following there is a sense of responsibility in accepting Executive Director and Founder of Recess Art, the fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin by George the invitation to participate. The dinners kicked off the conversation by introducing the Zimmerman in Sanford, Florida. In the years are recorded, and what is said is likely to guests to “Chuleta,” the host of the dinner, that followed, these police shootings (or be included in the forthcoming book. Alba’s performed by artist Wanda Raimundi-Ortiz. in Martin’s case, shooting by a neighborhood hospitality, dedication to preparing the meal, The dinner officially began after Chuleta watchman) were more frequently covered in and welcoming presence, have a profound remarked: the media. The deaths of Michael Brown in effect on everyone at the table. Participants Ferguson, Missouri, and Eric Garner in Staten react in a variety of ways, some are more “…I’m less interested in the art world per se, Island, , had increased visibility 1. The Spiritualist (Maren Hassinger), 2013. Photographed in Inwood Hill Forest Park, NY. 3. The Oracle (), 2012. Photographed at The Sand vocal, while for others, the experience is more and I’m more interested in how the art outside the black community in part because Dunes of Provincetown, MA. subdued, reflective, or just about listening. world works, and what the art world has of technology, social media, and the ease to say about us, and what we say in with which bystanders could now record Alba’s openness and capacity for listening return,” she ventured. “…how do you these grim encounters between citizens and is integral to the project’s evolution: sorting identify yourself? Who are you? Are we— law enforcement. The Black Lives Matter movement coalesced and has informed waves in skin tones that suggest a multitude of races, representing fixed identities. In 2008, she of activism related to resistance against the but are drawn solely from Alba’s own body. continued with mask-making, producing policies espoused by the Trump presidency. As Estévez tries on each suit, he gestures photographs of fantastic, multi-racial as if to ask, what if I were individuals. Through the use of wigs, makeup, Although The Supper Club began with questions a… something or and photographic masks that distort the about what it means to be an artist of color, and someone wearer’s age, their personae incorporated was not initially focused on events like Martin signifiers of multiple ethnicities, and and Brown’s deaths, it is no coincidence that, in transferred gender from male to recent years, Alba grew more vocal about race female, and somewhere in in her practice. Her previous work referenced between. race in a provocative way that embraced ambiguity. A hallmark of her photographs With projects like Onnagata and If and is the use of masks to I were a… in mind, The Supper Club construct hybrid identities, creating portraits are a logical progression situations that explore what happens of Alba’s experiments in the when the signifiers of race, gender, construction and visual interpretation and age are scrambled, prompting the of identity. What has shifted is the viewer to question how these details intimate nature of her relationship with 4. The Thespian (Wanda Raimundi-Ortiz), 2014. Photographed in Elia’s studio, are to be decoded. For her 2003 series her subjects. Alba worked closely with Sunnyside, Queens, NY. Onnagata, she produced portraits each of the sixty artists to generate a of friends wearing photographic staging concept and to develop a set, masks. Onnagata, the Japanese whether it be in her studio, the artist- term for “woman’s manner,” refers subject’s own studio, or another location to male actors who performed altogether. Her capacity to synthesize as women in Kabuki theater. In elements of each sitter’s personal identity, this series, Alba established a artistic sensibility, and themes of their subtle ambiguity as to both the own artistic practice are reflected not only gender and race of her sitters. in the final photographs, but in the moniker bestowed upon each artist in their respective The same year as Onnagata, Alba made If I were other portrait title. a…, a performative video in which Supper Club than myself? artist Nicolás Dumit Estévez tries on three Site has also played an important role for many different body suits, constructed by Alba with Blurring the boundaries of race and of the portraits. With locations like Inwood the help of her mother, Elia R. Alba. Each suit gender for over a decade, Alba’s practice Park, where Nicolás Dumit Estévez, and Maren 5. The Female (Mickalene Thomas), 2012. Photographed on Lighthouse Beach, 6. The Pulsar (Abigail DeVille), 2014. Photographed at West Side Tavern, Chelsea, NY. is a photo transfer of the female body, has long resisted categorization in terms of Hassinger were photographed as The Monk Fire Island, NY. (2013) and The Spiritualist (2013), respectively; embedded with references to colonial uninhibited freedom, a life free of oppression. Weeksville Heritage Center’s Hunterfly Road histories and narrative imagery, visualizing Alba’s portrait depicts Báez as a figure from Houses, the backdrop for Dread Scott’s portrait the restrictions placed on women living in one of her own , an electrified beauty. The Revolutionary (2015); and the sand dunes the Americas during Spanish of Provincetown, where Heather Hart’s image occupation. Báez’s Similarly lit, , The Charmer, as The Oracle (2012) was taken, the surprisingly paintings embodies the sensibility of her fabric and versatile location for many of the portraits textile-based works, where collaged fabrics are turns out to be Alba’s own studio. Kalup applied onto canvas like a , Linzy as The Star (2015), and bundles of salvaged, as The Comedian (2013), and Zachary Fabri patterned fabrics are assembled as The Thinker (2014), strike some of the into monumental structures. most dramatic poses, with colorful mise- Although aesthetically suggestive en-scène that confirms Alba’s unique of Abstract Expressionism and vision, whether inside the studio or out. Minimalism, Smith’s sculptures and paintings are imbued with personal Viewing the portraits collectively, a meaning, inherent in the found through line emerges. Alba’s conceptual materials that accumulate in the framing, staging, lighting, and art production of her work. direction, with costume design by her mother and Jennifer Prosser’s Another prominent thread in Alba’s work makeup, result in striking effects. is the potential for the female gaze Fantasy connects nearly all of the to enable fantastic counternarratives photographs, the possibilities of and radical possibilities for self- which are seemingly endless, and identification. The “,” a term encompass even the unimaginable. coined by film critic and cultural theorist Portraits like The Storyteller Laura Mulvey in 1975, acknowledges the (Firelei Báez), 2014, The Female increased normalization of representations Gaze (Mickalene Thomas), 2012, of women in film for male consumption.4 The The Charmer (Shinique Smith), 2015, The female gaze, a counter to Mulvey’s term, is Pulsar (Abigail Deville), 2014, and The Hero and determined by women as both story tellers (Shaun Leonardo), 2014, are prime examples of have and protagonists. Alba’s portrait of Mickalene 7. The Syncretist (Sanford Biggers), 2014. Photographed in Pine 8. The Orisha (Juana Valdes), 2014. Photographed in Key Largo, FL. 9. The Chairman of the Board (Derrick Adams), 2015. Photographed fantasy personae. a cache of hidden, layered Thomas, The Female Gaze (2012), adds Brook, Tilton Falls, NJ. at Maison Gerard, French Art Deco antique dealers, West Village, NY. meanings, inscribed with struggles of another layer to the feminine perspective, Firelei Báez, The Storyteller, creates color daily life for women of color. The larger effect the female-on-female gaze. She captures saturated and highly patterned paintings, is one that suggests an alternate reality of a rare, intimate view of Thomas, whose practice is outwardly focused, celebrating of rooftops set in landscapes began with outlined by the setting sun. women and an expanded notion of beauty. The Northern Oracle: We Will Tear the Roof Off While Thomas’ paintings are often intensely the Mother (2010) and represents sites Playing off the natural landscape and built detailed with appliquéd rhinestones, acrylic, of “cosmic afro-futurism and environment, Alba’s The Kaisonian positions and enamel, Alba’s photograph on Lighthouse ancient native artist Nicole Awai under the Steeplechase Beach in Fire Island, New York, casts Thomas in legends.” Pier on Coney Island. Her moniker refers the ethereal light of the seascape, highlighted to a performer of kaiso music (the basis of with body makeup and minimal fabric calypso), popular in Trinidad and Tobago, to a painterly effect. where the artist was born. With origins in Nigeria and the Congo, kaiso music found its Several artists represented in The way to the Caribbean in the 18th century. Supper Club series are depicted as Like Awai’s work, the narratives in kaiso messengers or mediums: Heather songs often have a political subtext. The Hart as The Oracle (2012), Nicole staging of this photograph represents Awai as The Kaisonian (2014), Maren one of many magical moments of artistic Hassinger as The Spiritualist (2013), synthesis in the project. Originally, Jeffrey Gibson as The Disco Shaman Alba wanted to photograph Awai in (2015), and Clifford Owens as The the Caribbean, but was attracted to Conduit (2014). Renowned for his 2011 the Pier because it reminded her of project Anthology, Owens’ practice the Door of No Return in Senegal, has involved engaging other artists of a portal through which enslaved color to create a compendium of African Africans would walk before being American performance art history. By loaded onto ships. In the 1970s, soliciting scores from his peers, he has Africa scholars questioned the acted as a conduit, amplifying performance- actual scale and importance of based potentials. Alba’s photograph of this location in the slave trade,5 Owens is set in a house of mirrors that but its mythic and psychological multiply his figure into what registers as a significance as a site of trauma never-ending, reflexive Rorschach pattern. cannot be underestimated. In her art, Awai incorporates what she calls “black tar ooze,” 10. The Thinker (Zachary Fabri), 2014. Photographed in Elia’s studio, Sunnyside, 11. The Revolutionary (Dread Scott), 2015. Photographed 12. The Storyteller (Firelei Báez), 2014. Photographed in As The Oracle, Heather Hart channels desire Moving from which can be found in the sand on Coney Island Queens, NY. at Weeksville Heritage Center in front of the Hunterfly Elia’s studio, Sunnyside, Queens, NY. Road Houses, Crown Heights, Brooklyn, NY. through otherworldly spirituality. She the rooftops of Brooklyn beach. Like blackness as a racial construct, describes an oracle as “an object, temple or to the sand dunes of Provincetown, the ooze is not a solid form, but is something person that gives prophecy, wisdom or truth Masachusetts, Alba has styled her as a that continually shifts with the changing to the seeker.” Hart’s recent sculptural series priestess set against a surreal landscape cultural landscape. In a similar vein, Juana Valdes, The Orisha was photographed in Key face of potentially lethal violence, raising the participation enabled by The Supper Club Largo, Florida. The train of Valdes’ turquoise question, has survival become a new form of allow for many individuals and communities dress sculpturally cascades from her figure heroism? to enter this dynamic social circle, partake into the ocean. With origins in Nigerian in historic discourse, and have a stake in a spiritual symbolism, an orisha is a human The Earthseed (Simone Leigh) represents the project that celebrates the diversity of racial deity, recognized for extraordinary feats. Alba artist as a queen, wearing an African dress, identity, and more broadly cultural identity, describes Valdes as the orisha Olokun, the with necklaces, made by Alba, that reference through the sharing of meals, conversation, patron saint of Transatlantic slaves, ruler of the links in the chains that kept slaves in and, most enduringly, art. the deep oceans. Much of Valdes’ work deals bondage. As The Earthseed, Leigh is an with the triangular migration process between embodiment of the religion created by Octavia —Sara Reisman, September, 2017 Africa, Cuba, and the United States. Butler in her novel Parable of the Sower (1993), in which the main character suffers from Shot in the galleries of the , hyperempathy. Leigh’s artistic practice had Alba’s The Hero reflects Shaun Leonardo’s been primarily rooted in sculpture, until her focus on the performance of black masculinity recent Free People’s Medical Clinic (2014). as a societal expectation. Alba, with the help The project engages the intersections of of makeup artist Jennifer Prosser, transformed racial consciousness, public health, and him into a marble statue reminiscent of women’s work, as a means to compel viewer- Greco-Roman sculpture. Typically, these white participants to consider overlooked and figures were painted to replicate skin tone, “unknown Black women nurses, osteopaths, though over time the paint has worn off these gynecologists, and midwives - who have statues, leaving the stone in its unfinished over served an underserved population for form. Due to the lack of color, many assume centuries.” By bestowing Leigh with the name these figures solely depict Caucasians, but Earthseed, Alba pays tribute to the artist’s historically these statues had racialized focus on care in a community setting. characteristics. Alba’s photograph highlights this misperception, connecting Leonardo with As each of these portraits tells a story about Classical notions of masculine ideals, both the artists and the histories that inform their heroic and physical. Recently, Leonardo’s work practices, the exhibition begins to read as a has shifted focus, from drawings, paintings, hybrid, somewhere between a solo exhibition and performances that unpack masculinity, to and a large group show, one that may continue 13. The Kaisonian (Nicole Awai), 2014. Photographed under the 14. The Star (), 2015. Photographed in Elia’s studio, 15. The Comedian (Michael Paul Britto), 2013. Photographed in work that is exemplified by an ongoing project to grow as Alba is drawn to make just “one Steeplechase Pier, Coney Island, NY. Sunnyside, Queens, NY. Elia’s studio, Sunnyside, Queens, NY. I Can’t Breathe (2015). These self-defense more portrait” that will complete the series. workshops advocate for the de-escalation Like many creative endeavors, the artist may of conflict—in other words— survival, in the never feel her work is done. Yet, the layers of Nicole J. Caruth: The Supper Club appears to be What language are you using to frame was eye-opening. I realized that there was a a departure from your previous photographic the project? lot of division between artists amongst whom work, such as the doll heads and bodysuits, I had previously thought there was more unity. but it is in fact an extension of your interests in Alba: When I started The Supper At least that’s how I felt about my own artist hybridity and community. How do these ideas Club, I didn’t think community. I remember Nicole Awai saying that figure into the project? about it she felt like she represented “the good Black” and how uncomfortable she was with this, Elia Alba: A lot of my past work has and Simone Leigh talking about her choice to featured the faces and bodies not identify as Jamaican American because of artists and often my friends. “it’s very privileged to be something other For instance, in Larry Levan Live! than Black American, especially in the art or (2006), the mask is a performative the academic world.” That was a powerful tool that serves to unite a group of moment for me. I didn’t expect to hear that people. Once they put on the mask, from Nicole or Simone, but these ways all of them become Larry Levan. of identifying or being identified clearly 16. The Alchemist (), 2012. Photographed at Untermyer Gardens, My body suits If I were a… (2003) are existed. I felt I needed to delve deeper Yonkers, NY. similar; each suit is a combination into these issues and, personally, I of photographs of my own body. wanted to know more. That’s why the However, I digitally manipulated the first three dinners focused on how images to create multiple skin tones and artists see themselves. Even today exaggerated certain body parts. Another the question of identity is still on example is my video Unruhe (2002) where the table. doll heads of different races are floating peacefully in water on one side of a split Caruth: There was a point when screen. Water has brought many people to news headlines started to shape the United States. At some point, everybody the dinner conversations and traveled through water, whether forced or artists were prompted to reflect not. The underlying current in my work is the on timely articles about, for idea of bringing different people together. example, the Baltimore Uprising. Did you Similarly, The Supper Club brings different as realize this shift was happening in the moment, types of people to one place for a conversation. social practice, that print and social media was influencing the and I still don’t think of it in direction of the project? Caruth: Some curators might categorize The those terms. I started with the desire 17. The Hero (Shaun Leonardo), 2014. Photographed at the Brooklyn Museum, NY. 18. The Conduit (Clifford Owens), 2014. Photographed at Gibney Dance Center, Soho, NY. Supper Club dinners as “social practice art” to give voice to artists and to create a platform Alba: I didn’t realize what I was doing until due to its interactive and ephemeral nature. for their cultural concerns. The first dinner later. Sometimes, the most exciting things happen when people are not aware of what To develop the moniker, I need to understand magazine usually doesn’t change. Magazines it outside of that room. That was the most On behalf of the Shelley & Donald Rubin they are doing, when they are reacting to the the artist’s practice because I project elements like Vogue mostly feature blonde women, and it memorable dinner. There’s something about Foundation, I would like to thank Elia Alba, moment. The discourse around race started that I see in their work back onto them. The seems like every magazine cover has a 19-year- food and drink that brings people together. whose dedication and vision in realizing to change in February 2012 when Trayvon artist becomes an embodiment of their ideas. old model. Who can buy the clothes that they’re Food is love. The Supper Club dinners and photographs, Martin was killed. It really affected me Take, for example, Mickalene Thomas. Her work selling? Women in their 30s, 40s, and 50s who the many artists who sat for portraits, because he was a young man and my son Alex features strong, powerful, and very feminine look like they’re 19? That is a fantasy, a fucked- Elia Alba was born in . She and those who participated in the dinners, was 15-years-old at the time. It could have Black women who wear hats and glitter; they’re up fantasy. I try to present an alternative. received her BA from Hunter College in 1994 and have made this exhibition possible. Special been my kid. I always think about my kid and like fashion models. It feels like the women in completed the Whitney Museum of American Art thanks to Recess Art for initial support of how he’s doing; how he’s dealing with racial her large paintings are looking right at you. I Caruth: You could have stopped this project Independent Study Program in 2001. Her work the project; Third Street Artist-in-Residence tensions as he’s coming of age and coming to wanted to put that back on Mickalene. I wanted with the photographs, but you added this rich has been exhibited at Studio Museum in , Program, The AKS Foundation and The Andrew terms with his own identity. I’m not the kind of to make her one of the women in her work, so layer of food, of breaking bread with your fellow New York; , New York; W. Mellon Foundation through Lafayette artist who can separate her work from her life. I focused on the concept of the female gaze artists. What drew you to the dinner table as a RISD Museum, Providence; Stedelijk Museum, College; and the team at The 8th Floor— I talk about Alex a lot at the dinners because and imagined her as a Botticelli Venus by platform for conversation? Amsterdam; Science Museum, London; ITAU George Bolster, Matthew Johnson, and he’s so important to me, and I feel a certain the sea. I was also thinking about fantasy in Cultural Institute, São Paulo; Museo Nacional Anjuli Nanda—for their expertise in producing responsibility as a parent. The Trayvon Martin ’s practice; I wanted to create a Alba: My home life. My parents emigrated Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid; and the this exhibition. As always, we are grateful for case was very painful for me. Then, in 2014, new world with Saya in it. I was inspired by a from the Dominican Republic in the 1950s. 10th Biennial. Awards include Studio the generosity and support of Shelley and Michael Brown and Eric Garner were killed. 1970s-funk band called Aquarian Dream that For them, there was no such thing as going Museum in Harlem Artist-in-Residence Donald Rubin, allowing us to share this work At that point, I felt I could no longer host the had crazy album covers! I riffed on the cover for out to dinner. When I was young, they would program; LMCC Workspace Program; New York with a greater public. dinners and just talk about identity in the art their album Fantasy to create Saya’s portrait. have people over all the time. I remember Foundation for the Arts Fellowship; Pollock- world. I wanted to talk about how people their conversations. It wasn’t just gossip; Krasner Foundation Grant; and —Sara Reisman, Executive and Artistic Director relate to each other and how they related to Caruth: Are The Supper Club photographs a they talked about politics, about life, about Foundation Grant. Her work is in the collection actual events. counter narrative to Leibowitz’s photography, culture and their positions in the world. When of the Lowe Art Museum, Coral Galbes; El Museo specifically her photographs for theVanity Fair someone makes you dinner, love goes into del Barrio, New York; and the Smithsonian Caruth: What’s your process for selecting Hollywood Issues? Or is The Supper Club a POC the food. It makes people relax and leads to American Art Museum, Washington, DC, artists, determining their monikers, and version of what the Hollywood Issue could be if deeper exchange. Cooking and sharing a meal among others. scouting the photoshoot locations? it was inclusive? is very spiritual. At first,The Supper Club met at restaurants or gathered for take-out food. Nicole J. Caruth is a writer and curator who is Alba: I started with my friends and artists who Alba: The Hollywood Issue is a point of When I wanted to discuss broader politics, I concerned with the intersections of food and I felt comfortable approaching. For the first departure. It was the impetus to cast artists felt the best way to do this was to cook the contemporary art. A former New Yorker, she is few photographs, I knew exactly who I wanted as celebrities. I do see my work as more of dinners myself. I wanted artists to come to currently the artistic director at McColl Center to work with and what I wanted to do with their a counter narrative, not only to Vanity Fair, the table and be open to discussing serious for Art + Innovation, an artist residency and a image. Though sometimes it was random; an but a critique of all fashion magazines and matters. This didn’t start to happen until 2014, contemporary art space in Charlotte, NC. idea would pop in my head and if I felt I could do publications. They might throw people of when we discussed the tragedies of Michael justice to the artist’s image, I would reach out color a bone once in a while, but they’ll throw Brown and Eric Garner. This really brought to them in hopes that they would participate. the bone on the cover, while the inside of the people together. I felt it at the table, and I felt artists Image Credits Endnotes

1. The Spiritualist (Maren Hassinger), 2013. Archival pigment print. 11. The Revolutionary (Dread Scott), 2015. Archival pigment print. 1 Eckardt, Stephanie. “Carrie Mae Weems Reflects on Her Seminal, Photographed in Inwood Hill Forest Park, NY. Photographed at Weeksville Heritage Center in front of the Enduring Kitchen Table Series.” W Magazine. April 7, 2016. Hunterfly Road Houses, Crown Heights, Brooklyn, NY. Accessed September 7, 2017. https://www.wmagazine.com/story/ 2. The Monk (Nicolás Dumit Estévez), 2013. Archival pigment print. carrie-mae-weems-kitchen-table-series-today-interview. Photographed in Inwood Hill Forest Park, NY. 12. The Storyteller (Firelei Báez), 2014. Archival pigment print. Photographed in Elia’s studio, Sunnyside, Queens, NY. 2 Kelsey, Robin. “Vision & Justice: Around the Kitchen Table— 3. The Oracle (Heather Hart), 2012. Archival pigment print. Aperture Foundation.” Aperture Foundation NY. Summer 2016. Photographed at The Sand Dunes of Provincetown, MA. 13. The Kaisonian (Nicole Awai), 2014. Archival pigment print. Accessed September 7, 2017. http://aperture.org/blog/vision- Photographed under the Steeplechase Pier, Coney Island, NY. justice-around-kitchen-table. 4. The Thespian (Wanda Raimundi-Ortiz), 2014. Archival pigment print. Photographed in Elia’s studio, Sunnyside, Queens, NY. 14. The Star (Kalup Linzy), 2015. Archival pigment print. 3 Russeth, Andrew. “Spicy Meals Where Race Is the Main Course: Photographed in Elia’s studio, Sunnyside, Queens, NY. Elia Alba and Wanda Raimundi-Ortiz Broach Tough Topics Over 5. The Female Gaze (Mickalene Thomas), 2012. Archival pigment Lamb and Hummus.” Observer. October 9, 2012. Accessed print. Photographed on Lighthouse Beach, Fire Island, NY. 15. The Comedian (Michael Paul Britto), 2013. Archival pigment September 8, 2017. http://observer.com/2012/10/elia-alba-wanda- print. Photographed in Elia’s studio, Sunnyside, Queens, NY. ortiz-recess-supper-club. 6. The Pulsar (Abigail DeVille), 2014. Archival pigment print. Photographed at West Side Tavern, Chelsea, NY. 16. The Alchemist (David Antonio Cruz), 2012. Archival pigment 4 Gottschalk, Molly. “How the Female Gaze Is Changing print. Photographed at Untermyer Gardens, Yonkers, NY. Photographs of Women.” Artsy. April 10, 2017. Accessed 7. The Syncretist (Sanford Biggers), 2014. Archival pigment print. September 9, 2017. https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial- Photographed in Pine Brook, Tilton Falls, NJ. 17. The Hero (Shaun Leonardo), 2014. Archival pigment print. female-gaze-changing-photographs-women. Photographed at the Brooklyn Museum, NY. 8. The Orisha (Juana Valdes), 2014. Archival pigment print. 5 Fisher, Max. “What Obama really saw at the ‘Door of No Return,’ Photographed in Key Largo, FL. 18. The Conduit (Clifford Owens), 2014. Archival pigment print. a disputed memorial to the slave trade.” The Washington Post. Photographed at Gibney Dance Center, Soho, NY. June 28, 2013. Accessed September 8, 2017. https://www. 9. The Chairman of the Board (Derrick Adams), 2015. Archival washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2013/06/28/what- pigment print. Photographed at Maison Gerard, French Art Deco All images courtesy of the artist. obama-really-saw-at-the-door-of-no-return-a-debunked- antique dealers, West Village, NY. memorial-to-the-slave-trade/?utm_term=.539df20db34b.

10. The Thinker (Zachary Fabri), 2014. Archival pigment print. Photographed in Elia’s studio, Sunnyside, Queens, NY.

The 8th Floor is an exhibition and events space established in 2010 The 8th Floor is located at 17 West 17th Street and is free and by Shelley and Donald Rubin, dedicated to promoting cultural open to the public. School groups are encouraged. Gallery hours and philanthropic initiatives and to expanding artistic and cultural are Tuesday through Saturday, 11:00 A.M. to 6:00 P.M. accessibility in New York City. The8thFloor.org