institutional critique Archives

Hyperallergic, 2022

Seph Rodney recounts his experience at Simone Leigh’s symposium held in conjunction with the artist’s presentation of Leigh’s work at the US Pavilion for the Venice Biennale. The symposium “Loophole of Retreat” brought together artists and theorists alike to consider political liberation and sovereignty for Black women. He writes about Lorraine O’Grady’s conversation with Leigh, one that concerned the Decolonize Museums protests that happened outside of her retrospective at the Brooklyn Museum in 2021. She began to question just what the privilege of a solo institutional show provided her, and how she could make new allyships with those afforded less power than her, notably trans activists.

New York Times, 2022

Aruna D’Souza offers historicizes the foundational years at Just Above Midtown, the gallery project of Linda Goode-Bryant, which platformed artists including David Hammons, Lorna Simpson, and Maren Hassinger early in their careers. D’Souza addresses the show’s goals to highlight the gallery’s history of the 1970s and 1980s, while also enlivening its archive as it remains active into the 2020s. For Goode-Bryant, the question of integrity arises: “Can JAM be JAM at MoMA?”

performance Black female artists JAM gallery Just Above Midtown New York black avant-garde political art Linda Goode Bryant black writers western cultural hegemony race and class institutional critique

Ithaca Times, 2021

G.M. Burns reviews Stephanie Sparling Williams’ new book, Speaking Out of Turn: Lorraine O’Grady and the Art of Language, which he marks as crucial in contextualizing O’Grady’s artistry. The article also includes an interview with Dr. Williams that explores her interest in engaging the artist’s work.

soul both/and redux feminism retrospective Cutting Out CONYT Brooklyn Museum Msc poetry recuperation language academia radicalism art-world racism 2021 women artists art market Speaking Out of Turn: Lorraine O'Grady and the Art of Language art institutions black women artists Stephanie Sparling Williams institutional critique Cutting Out The New York Times Black subjectivity class privilege risk ideology practice critical race theory