The Studio Museum in Harlem Magazine Summer/Fall 2014 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 Teri Trotter, Secretary The Studio Museum in Harlem is sup- Thelma Golden ported, in part, with public funds provided Dr. Anita Blanchard Managing Editor by the following government agencies and Jacqueline L. Bradley Jamillah James elected representatives: Valentino D. Carlotti Kathryn C. Chenault Copy Editor The New York City Department of Cultural Joan S. Davidson Samir Patel Affairs; New York State Council on the Gordon J. Davis, Esq. Arts, a state agency; National Endowment Design Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. for the Arts; the New York City Council; Pentagram Sandra Grymes and the Manhattan Borough President. Arthur J. Humphrey, Jr. Printing George L. Knox Allied Printing Services The Studio Museum in Harlem is deeply Nancy L. Lane grateful to the following institutional do- Original Design Concept Dr. Michael L. Lomax nors for their leadership support: 2X4, Inc. Bernard I. Lumpkin Dr. Amelia Ogunlesi Studio is published two times a year Bloomberg Philanthropies Corine Pettey by The Studio Museum in Harlem, Booth Ferris Foundation Ann G. Tenenbaum 144 W. 125th St., New York, NY 10027. Ed Bradley Family Foundation John T. Thompson The Ralph and Fanny Ellison Reginald Van Lee Copyright ©2014 Studio Magazine. Charitable Trust Ford Foundation All rights, including translation into other Hon. Bill de Blasio, ex-officio The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation languages, are reserved by the publisher. Hon. Tom Finkelpearl, ex-officio 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 Charles Gaines Target Numbers and Trees V, Landscape #6, 1989 The Andy Warhol Foundation for Collection of Marc Selwyn the Visual Arts Courtesy the artist and Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects Joyce and George Wein Foundation Photo: Robert Wedemeyer Wells Fargo The Winston Foundation Inside Back Cover: Theaster Gates On Black Foundations, 2012 Courtesy White Cube, London and Johnson Publishing Company LLC Photo: Ben Westoby Page 2: Charles Gaines Numbers and Trees V, Landscape #5, 1989 Collection of Beth Rudin DeWoody Courtesy the artist and Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects Photo: Robert Wedemeyer Letter from the Director tribute to Angelou in The New York work by the pioneering conceptu- Times much more eloquently than I alist, along with Material Histories: ever could. She wrote, “with words, Artists in Residence 2013–14, she rendered not only her own life debuting brand-new work made visible but also nothing short of a right here at the Museum by Kevin history of black social movements in Beasley, Bethany Collins and the second half of the 20th century Abigail DeVille; Under Another and the participation of a woman, Name, highlighting the Museum’s and women, who helped make it permanent collection; and happen, against a million odds.”1 Vantage Point: Expanding the Alexander wrote that Angelou’s first Walls 2014, featuring the photo- memoir, I Know Why the Caged Bird graphs of our teenage artists in Sings (1969), found a readership of residence. This fall, we’ll explore millions and helped clear a path for the legacy of two profoundly pow- a boom in black women’s writing. erful African-American publica- But it did even more than that. tions with Speaking of People: Photo: Timothy Greenfield-Sanders Angelou’s insistent embrace of the Ebony, Jet and Contemporary Art. specificity and universality of black This slate of exhibitions resonates women’s experiences shaped the particularly strongly with the One of the great joys of creating attitudes and values of generations Studio Museum’s goal to cele- Studio magazine is the opportunity of Americans, myself included. brate artistic icons while nurtur- to showcase amazing artists of Just last year, contemplating the ing the next generation of African descent. Each issue is filled progress and trajectory of my life, I creative visionaries. with remarkable achievements of a was drawn back to Angelou’s writing Thank you for joining us in this diverse range of creators, writers about hers. I found a copy of the exciting endeavor. I look forward and thinkers from around the world. Modern Library’s wonderful volume to seeing you around and, most Sometimes, however, our celebra- The Collected Autobiographies of definitely, uptown. tions take the bittersweet form of Maya Angelou (2004), and took them memorials, and as we were prepar- in all at once. I was reminded of how ing this issue we found ourselves profoundly, deeply and powerfully penning more tributes than usual. she lived her life. As an author, poet, In the following pages you’ll find actress, professor, dancer, singer, Thelma Golden homages to visionaries who repre- activist and more, she encountered, Director and Chief Curator sent the incredible range of cultural and touched, a profound number production by and about people of of people. color around the world. We at the In this spirit, I hope the Studio Studio Museum are honored and Museum’s exhibitions and programs proud to have known them. continue to remind visitors from all Then, when the texts were fin- over the world of the incredible ished, the images captioned and the power of art and artists. This summer files turned over to the graphic we are pleased to present the land- designers, I heard the news: Maya mark exhibition Charles Gaines: 1. Elizabeth Alexander, “In a Commanding Literary Voice, Maya Angelou Sang Out to the Angelou had passed away. My dear Gridwork 1974–1989, featuring World,” The New York Times, May 29, 2014, friend Elizabeth Alexander paid important and illuminating early accessed June 1, 2014, http://nyti.ms/1gCckly. Museum Features What’s Up: Exhibition Schedule 5 The Passion of St. Charles 45 Summer/Fall 2014 Studio Visit: Ayanah Moore 49 Harlem Postcards: Spring 2014 6 Artist × Artist: 52 Fall 2014: Speaking of People: 8 Remembering Terry Adkins Ebony, Jet and Contemporary Art Performing Prison: 58 Catching Up with the Artists in 10 The Art of Incarceration Residence Not When You Want, but Always on 61 Draped Down: 16 Time: In Conversation with Otabenga Dressed in the Vernacular Jones & Associates Spring 2014: Glenn Kaino: 19.83 19 Studio Museum Interns: 66 Where Are They Now? Ralph Lemon: Drawings 21 Beyond Studio Jr. In Memoriam: Stuart Hall, José Esteban 25 Art Work, Two Ways: 69 Muñoz, J.D. 'Okhai Ojeikere Marie "Big Mama" Roseman Elsewhere 27 The Past. The Present. The Future.: 72 Expanding the Walls 2014 Finding Harlem 34 DIY: Unconventional Puzzle Art 74 Prospect.3 Preview: 36 Interview with Franklin Sirmans Coloring Page 76 Return of the Native 40 10 Years of Collaboration: 78 Children’s Art Hour at Harlem Simone Leigh: Gone South 41 Hospital Center Friends Spring Luncheon 2014 80 Member Spotlight: Lara Land 85 Members 86 Supporters 91 Membership Info and Form 94 Visitor Information 96 Summer/Fall 2014 4 Museum Museum 5 What’s Up Exhibition Schedule Summer/Fall 2014 Check studiomuseum.org for the latest on our exhibitions and programs. July 17–October 29, 2014 Charles Gaines: Gridwork 1974–1989 Material Histories: Artists in Residence 2013–14: Kevin Beasley, Bethany Collins, Abigail DeVille Vantage Point: Expanding the Walls 2014 July 17, 2014–March 8, 2015 Under Another Name November 13, 2014–March 8, 2015 Speaking of People: Ebony, Jet and Contemporary Art Always on View Harlem Postcards Glenn Ligon: Give Us a Poem Adam Pendleton: Collected (Flamingo George) Summer/Fall 2014 6 Harlem Spring 2014 Postcards Ivan Forde Paul Mpagi Sepuya Cauleen Smith Born 1990, Georgetown, Guyana Born 1982, San Bernardino, CA Born 1967, Riverside, CA Lives and works in Harlem, NY Lives and works in Brooklyn, NY Lives and works in Chicago, IL From/To:, 2011 February 16, reflected sunlight from Did I Say You Could Take My Picture?, A.C. Powell Jr. Building, 2014 2014 Tropical birds, cared for by an older Dominican gentleman, are brought February 2014: I’m looking through Most of the images that I use in my out onto St. Nicholas Boulevard photographs I made during the win- films emerge from a desire to see just off 145th Street in the summer ter of 2011 on the third floor studio something that does not exist. months. They calmly perch on this of 144 West 125th Street. It was The genre of street photography as ledge and down on the sidewalk as about this time of year—January, practiced by venerables such as passersby look and interact with February—in the reflected sunset Helen Levitt and Roy DeCarava has them, while their caretaker answers light cast by the Adam Clayton always been a source of nourish- questions from the curious. The act Powell Jr. building across the street. ment, but I’m too slow! I see some- of display summons interaction During my time there I kept thinking thing and just stand there slack- between cultures and histories about the complicated point where jawed, amazed and grateful. Then it’s within the diaspora. Resembling a black and gay history meet in over. Maybe I look around for some- flag, this image represents arrival Harlem, and the shadows cast by the one else who saw it too. Since my and departure, characteristic of generations of leaders in one strug- camera never left my pocket, a all nationalities represented in our gle that often existed in opposition shared grin, wink or sigh is my only community. The origin of this bird’s to the other.