Chattanooga Pulse

“Collaborations,” currently on view at the Chattanooga African American Museum provides a deeply moving experience through its exposition of multiple styles that express the intimacy of human experience. These contemporary works not only inform us of the complexity of the black perspective in America, but also bring the viewer into close contact with the facets of that perspective.

Rose Martin, executive director of the museum, explains with simple eloquence that these works “make you feel.” During my first encounter with this exhibit, I was quickly struck by the directness of the works and by the artists’ clear devotion to the substance of their work. Carmen Davis, curator of this exhibit, has presented the works with a kind of “woven” approach. Where one finds something new, near it are other pieces that echo works encountered earlier in one’s tour.

Most of the works are figural, employing a wide variety of media with a surety of effect. Bisa Butler’s quilt of “Marvin Gaye” (2008) applies dye and fabric like print to provide a stunning likeness. Somewhat more expressionist, Phyliss Stevens’ quilt “Red Hot Afternoon” (2005) projects a tactile sense of frank eroticism. Frank Frazier, who was present at the opening reception, employs various media and collage in his three-dimensional jazz archetype “Ubuntu” (2007). Much simpler, but breathtaking, Chukes’ ceramic sculpture “Gypsy” blends the tactile with color into startling presence.

In fact, “presence” plays a significant role in this collection. The term “aura” explicitly connects a work to its setting, like the Statue of Liberty in New York’s harbor. Experiencing the work in its setting remains paramount. In the “Collaborations” collection, the presence of these works intimately engages the viewer. Of all the senses of the word “collaboration,” the most essential sense involves the relationship between the work and the viewer. You are an essential part of this collaboration. You complete the meanings inherent in these pieces.

The sublime collage by Ariston Jacks, “X+Isador=Saturn” (2009), with its glassed-in portions, plays with this sense of setting by giving it mobility, surely paradoxical. Elements of the collage “Witness” by Leroy Johnson (2007) seem almost childish, but the horror of youth provides a powerful spiritual force. Children themselves are the subject of Kirsten Williams’ “The Bringers of Light” (2008), children advancing to futurity, spiritual progress.

“Dancin with Possibilities” by Kevin Cole (2008) rushes the viewer with exuberant joy through the seemingly impossible expressionist wood construction. There are also a number of lithographic works, including John Biggers’ “Hazel” (2000) and Samella Lewis’ “Together We Stand” (2007). The sense of history and political struggle remains an important part of the presence of “Collaborations.”

Terrific paintings engage the eye; “Harlem August Rain” by Tafa (date uncertain, 1999 or 2000) and “The Long Walk Home” by William Tolliver (1989) work the oil medium so that their clear subjects verge on abstraction. “Hard Times” by Dean Mitchell (2009) and “Blue Collar” by Mario Robinson (2006) share a commonality of subject and tone, but they push their respective media, watercolor and pastel, into powerful renderings. “Not Alone,” by Marjorie Williams-Smith (2008) paradoxically possesses a unique quality of such elegant abstraction, sublime play!

A very interesting sense of the term “collaboration” can be found in the painting “Refugees” by twins Jerry and Terry Lynn (2008), in which stillness of effect emerges from a very dynamic use of color. I watched Jerry and Terry produce a performance portrait of “Algebra” from Atlanta during the Heritage Festival as “artists in motion.” More wonderful artistic play!

Such a delightful array of works in numerous styles can be found here. Go, and complete this great collaboration.

“Collaborations: Two Decades of African American Art”
$5
10 a.m.- 5 p.m. Monday-Friday
Noon – 4 p.m. Saturday
200 E. MLK Blvd.
(423) 266-8658. www.caamhistory.org