A New Look at Black Power

It was one of the most disturbing art images I had ever encountered, chilling in simplicity, large in scope, horrifying in its implications, powerful in its message.

Hanging from the 40-foot high ceiling of the brightly-lit rotunda was a piece of huge, thick rope. At the bottom end was a tightly wound noose. The rope was dropped in the middle of 9 oak stools formed in a perfect circle. On top of each of the stools was a white pointed hood like those worn by the Ku Klux Klan. The 2 eye holes for each KKK hood were pointed inward creating a circle of eerie, blank, vacant stares forever focused on the dangling noose. The only words in the room were on a card that explained the installation, created in 1992, was entitled Duck, Duck Noose (an obvious play on the children's game "Duck, Duck Goose") by Gary Simmons.

"What makes good art is when you take something that exists, something familiar and twist it, turn it. distort it and create something new with it," Simmons said in his explanation of his work. "What I am making is giving form to these ghosts that haunt us in the way we define certain racial constructions and stereotypes."

Equally provocative were the large photos entitled "Strange Fruit" (the title of a Billie Holiday song about lynching) created by Hank Willis Thomas, all of which were designed to question the idea of black freedom in modern America. On one wall, was a giant vertical photo of 2 young, muscular black youths at the playground, one trying to dunk a basketball through a noose and the other trying to stop the move.  Nearby was the work entitled "From Cain't See in the Morning to Cain't See at Night" in which a hunched-over cotton picker in a field of white cotton finds himself head to head with a prepared-to-rush football lineman in an almost identical posture.

Thomas' thought-provoking "From Cain't See ..."

These are just some of the featured pieces in the Corcoran Gallery's latest exhibition 30 Americans,
a wide-ranging survey of work by many of the most important African American artists of the last three decades now on view until February 12.

"Often provocative and challenging, 30 Americans focuses on issues of racial, sexual, and historical identity in contemporary culture. It explores how each artist reckons with the notion of black identity in America, navigating such concerns as the struggle for civil rights, popular culture, and media imagery. At the same time, it highlights artistic legacy and influence, tracing subject matter and formal strategies across generations," the program website explains.

Tales, Tidbits, and Traveling Tales
The Corcoran is well aware of the provocative nature of its current exhibition. A sign at the entrance desk states" "Visitor discretion is advised. Some content in 30 Americans may not be appropriate for all audiences." Now I clearly understand why the Corcoran felt compelled to issue its warning. But I think this is one of those must-see exhibits. A major role of art is to make us think.  30 Americans definitely forces us to do that as painful as that process can be.  30 Americans makes all of us examine where we are, where we were, and where we are headed.  But don't take my word for it. See the exhibit for yourself. But be prepared for some powerful thinking prompted by some powerful images.