Late Review: Manifest Justice

From May 1 to May 10 of this year, an old, abandoned theater in Baldwin Hills was turned into a giant gallery with over 200 works of art by over 150 artists for a pop-up art exhibit called Manifest Justice.

The large-scale exhibit featured art that spoke to social justice issues; everything from gender wage inequality to mass incarceration, but—with the people of Baltimore still out in the streets protesting the death of Freddie Gray—works of art that dealt with police brutality and police murder seemed to speak to people the most.

There was an installation piece by Artist Ti-Rock Moore called, “Protect and Serve,” that consisted of a neon sign of the words, Choke Hold, but with the letter O being substituted by a noose; there is no mistaking the connection the artist was making to how Black people were treated by the KKK, in the days after the end of the Civil War, and the way they are treated by the police today.

“Dis Arm,” an image of a police baton on fire, by well-known Street Artist Robbie Conal, seemed to be there to remind us that the anniversary of the 1992 L.A. Rebellion had just passed.

Other pieces even seemed to speak about the future.  For instance, a painting by Graffiti Artist Mear One, of a youth wearing a gas mask and kaffeiyah, holding a large shield with the words, “Fight For Humanity,” spray-painted on it.

Another piece, “American Dreamers (Phase 2),” a large installation of a gutted police car in the middle of the floor, couldn’t help but stand out to most people.

Looking at this piece, (which was made to look like an NYPD car on one side, and a Ferguson police car on the other side), one could imagine a future society where this art piece was actually a relic of a horrible, long-forgotten past.

The car had many plants, a sort of garden, growing from inside it.  And, in an interview with a local TV station, the creator of the piece, Jordan Weber said, “It’s a symbol of young black Americans who have not come to fruition before being taken.”

It is very significant that many artists are being brought together to display these kinds of art pieces to large crowds; art that makes people confront the reality, injustice and horror going on right now.

At this time, there are no plans to take the Manifest Justice exhibit to other cities, but you can see photos of most of the pieces mentioned here, (and many more), at www.manifestjustice.org/artists

Recommended: November '12 Issue of Juxtapoz

My love/hate relationship with Juxtapoz magazine continues.  One month I see it on the magazine stand doing some gimmicky Halloween issue that makes me feel like I should never look through it again.  But then this month, they have an amazing Art & Politics issue curated by Ron English!!!

It's a very impressive group of artists that English has rounded up.  There are some well-established street-artists you've heard a lot about, like Shepard Fairey and Robbie Conal; documentary filmmakers Morgan Spurlock and Susan Saladoff; and some up-and-coming artists--who are not new to the art world, but will probably start receiving a lot more attention--and that you should start following: Molly Crabapple and Ernesto Yerena Montejano.

One of the stand-out interviews is with conceptual artist Tom Forsythe who was involved in a long legal battle, in the 90's, with the toy-company, Mattel, who sued him for his depictions of Barbie dolls that he used a various series of photographs.  He talked about why he choose to work with Barbie:

"I needed something that exemplified the crass consumerism I meant to critique.  It took a nano second or so to come up with Barbie, since Barbie had every consumer need imaginable, and every outfit and accessory that any good consumer could dream of. . ."

But, my favorite interview in the issue is with revolutionary communist artist Dread Scott who was in the national spotlight in the late 80's when his installation piece, "What Is the Proper Way To Display A US Flag?" caused so much controversy that the US Senate passed legislation to "protect the flag."  (And that later resulted in a landmark Supreme Court decision that ruled flag burning to be protected by the First Amendment).

In the interview, he shares his very refreshing views on his approach to art ("I make art with the basic assumption that a lot of people agree with me"), how he sees the role of art, and the role of the artist.  He says about being a communist and an artist:

"For me, constantly making work that concentrates my communist world view has limited some opportunities.  Some people in powerful places in the arts don't want a truly radical work to get seen and sometimes my work gets pigeonholed into the "political art ghetto."  But my work has been shown in major museums, had many students study it, been called disgraceful by G.H.W. Bush, and outlawed by Congress.  All because I stuck to my beliefs."