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The VMFA’s ‘Congo Masks’ Exhibit Leaves Out Much-Needed Historical Context

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It was the Congolese people, and their struggle, that shaped the art of the Congo during the colonial period. And it is the context of these people and this struggle that is missing from the exhibit at the VMFA.

In 1876, King Leopold II of Belgium founded a private holding company called the International Association for the Exploration and Civilization of the Congo; it was formed specifically for the purpose of collecting African wealth. Only a few years later, this company founded a colony in the Congo — and by 1885, a Conference of European countries established the Congo Free State under the personal rule of Leopold and his private army.

As colonial ruler of the Congo Free State, Leopold II reigned with brutality and terror.

The invention of the rubber tire and discovery of latex in the Congo fueled Leopold’s savage greed: It is estimated by many that the human cost in terms of lives lost in the quest for rubber was as high as 10 million under Belgian colonial influence.

The Congolese died from violence, disease, and starvation.

Interestingly, the privately owned collection of art currently on display at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA), “Congo Masks: Masterpieces from Central Africa,” dates, for the most part, from the Belgian colonial period, and specifically to the savage rule of Leopold.

Under Leopold, the Congolese fought not only for their lives, but for their identities. A struggle against an oppressor who wanted to take more than just their sovereign wealth: Belgium was a colonizer who wanted to take their languages, their beliefs, and their very selves. It was these people, and this struggle, that shaped the art of the Congo during the colonial period. And it is the context of these people and this struggle that is missing from the exhibit at the VMFA.

When touring the exhibit, an occasional “Community” sign describes the influence of colonialism, but only just: mentions that knowledge of specific artists was lost, or that an entity called the Leopard Cult developed as a form of resistance to colonial power, were the only acknowledgments describing the actual Congolese experience as the context of this art.

The closing sign in the exhibit attempts to describe the “Lives of Masks,” pointing out that during colonialism masks were taken from where they were created by international collectors. While these are hints about the real background and context of these masks, it is a quote from the Belgian owner of the collection in the exhibit catalogue that speaks much louder:

“After 1885, the start of Belgium’s colonial enterprise in the Congo, the government encouraged resident Europeans to investigate traditional Congolese life, art, and ritual ceremonies. As a result, as early as the 1880s, masks were collected by Europeans (some of which are included in this book and exhibition).”

What a disingenuous way to describe the power of the colonist who was responsible for the deaths of millions of people. What is the VMFA thinking?

Perhaps there is more information in the exhibit catalogue if you read past the foreword (it is available in many of the exhibit rooms to read). Yet as soon as you open this book, you see the 11 contributing authors on the cover flaps: Nine white men and two white women. These are experts in Africa — experts in African art — but they are not African. Missing entirely from this exhibit is the voice of the Congolese themselves.

In a post-Wakanda world, we all know the words of Black Panther’s Killmonger to a European museum curator demanding a dialogue about who owns art:  

“How do you think your ancestors got these [pieces]? Do you think they paid a fair price? Or did they take it… like they took everything else?”

This exact conversation about who owns art — especially art collected during colonialism — is one that is happening more often, and rightfully so.

French museums are making progress towards returning art to their countries of origin, following French President Macron’s announcement that “African heritage cannot be the prisoner of European museums.” And the VMFA has been a part of a similar conversation: recently the board voted to return art stolen by Nazis. Even a Congolese art collector, Sindika Dokolo, insists that the responsibility of art museums to decolonize their collections is a need urgent and equivalent to that of repatriating collections looted from Jews during WWII.

And yet, as reported in the RTD, some of the Congo masks at the VMFA are likely worth 8-9 million dollars each. Visitors pay to see the exhibit that includes at least some masks that originated or were collected as early as the 1880s under Leopold’s reign. When does the continued exploitation of Congolese bodies, lives, and creativity enter this conversation?

The VMFA already knows the answer to this. Instead of acknowledging the lived experiences of artists of the Congo, persevering with their craft despite these colonial horrors, the exhibit instead reduces that story to a mere display of art. It is a dangerous precedent to set, when here in our city — and across this country and others — we struggle to reconcile brutal histories of oppression with truth, reconciliation, and justice. The Congo masks are not just masterpieces of art; they are symbols of bodily and spiritual resistance to one of the most brutal colonial invasions of Africa. It is truly disappointing that visitors to this VMFA exhibit will not learn this at the museum. 

*Dr. Amy Rector is a member of the VMFA. 

VMFA Repatriates Painting Stolen by Nazis

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The Board of Trustees governing the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA) announced today that they will be repatriating a painting from their collection that was looted by top Nazi Reich official Herman Göring in 1940.

The painting, Madonna and Child Enthroned with Saints Nicholas of Tolentino and Sebastian, was taken from the Goudstikker Gallery after the family of the gallery fled ahead of the Nazi invasion. Göring, the head of the German Luftwaffe, organized one of the greatest bouts of art theft in modern history. According to the Telegraph, he had stolen almost 26,000 railway cars worth of art from around Europe. German officials in 2015 alone found 1,400 pieces of his stolen art in a Munich apartment.

Observers of art the Nazis were typically anti-modernists, and held modern art up as a stylistic example to be discouraged — which is why the Madonna and Child Enthroned with Saints Nicholas of Tolentino and Sebastian would have been such a prized piece. The piece was owned by Jacques Goudstikker, a Jewish art dealer, and one of the wealthiest art dealers in Europe. Goudstikker specialized in Dutch and Flemish paintings. Married to a Viennese Opera singer, the Goudstikker family fled to the U.K. ahead of the Nazis, with Jacques unfortunately dying in transit. Göring made the acquisition of the Goudstikker’s collection a priority once the occupation of the Netherlands was complete.

Madonna and Child Enthroned with Saints Nicholas of Tolentino and Sebastian

Repatriating Jewish art has been ongoing since the end of World War II (WWII), yet in 1998, 39 countries signed a joint agreement to identify stolen art from families who perished during the Holocaust. Almost every single European country, along with Brazil, Israel, Canada, Russia, and Argentina, were signatories to the agreement. Also in 1998, the U.S. State Department hosted a conference which set forward guidelines requiring museums to analyze their acquisitions, with a specific focus on art looted by Nazis. Around the same time, the Germans set up a Lost Art Database that could act as a global repository for “lost cultural property” from the WWII years.

Luckily, the Goudstikker family kept meticulous records 0f their collection. Upon WWII ending, the painting was returned to the Netherlands, but the Dutch government chose to sell it to an unknown buyer instead of returning it to the Goudstikker family.

The painting was eventually bought in “good faith” by the VMFA in 1958. In the press release from earlier today, the VMFA’s Director Alex Nyerges was quoted as saying, “The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts is pleased to return this painting to Marei von Saher, the painting’s rightful heir and owner…It is simply the right thing to do.”

Bravo.

BustArt’s Pop-Graffiti Explosion in Richmond

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Swiss muralist BustArt has landed in Richmond, and his latest pop graffiti mural sits at the intersection of E Franklin St and N 18th St in Shockoe Bottom. Searching out a shady spot on the sidewalk during Richmond’s 85-degree heat, he sighed from relief on a break from working the wall.

“Too hot for a Swiss guy,” he said.

For the past few weeks, he’s been in Greensboro collaborating mural projects with Richmond’s Nils Westergard. Both have collaborated on multiple large-scale projects in the past — however, BustArt’s pop graffiti style contrasts with Westergard’s hyper-realistic black and white portraits to create a dualistic image. The two styles compliment each other as opposites, combining the playful and approachable with RVA’s famous dark and brooding pieces.

“I’m only here because I lost my passport in Greensboro,” said BustArt, as we chat about creating art in Richmond. Planning to paint his way up to D.C., he commented, “Nils made all these arrangements to get walls for me, so I can make my way up to D.C. to get my new passport.”

BustArt Paiting in Shockoe Bottom

Richmond may not have been the original plan, but BustArt said he is glad that he made it to the River City. The other sites he passed in the South have been underwhelming in comparison, and he admires Richmond for its murals.

“It’s always crazy, I like it,” he noted on painting in the U.S. versus Europe. “Way different, bigger.”

Street art in the U.S. is different for the European artist. It’s different, bigger, and even came with a delivery cyclist dropping off a little natural supplement while he painted.

“See, people make my life nice here,” BustArt said.

The delivery man responded, “Hospitality, man. Southern hospitality.”

BustArt noted that graffiti on the street often tells the life of the neighborhood. Seeing the youth out being active means something there is alive — there’s a little bit of revolution left in the people’s mind. Saying he saw a little revolution in Richmond, he added that there’s more happening in the U.S. right now than in Switzerland.

“Switzerland is not at all busy,” he said. “Here, I wouldn’t say it’s super busy, but everywhere something is constantly going on. It starts with the crazy cars, to the food places, to all the decoration, to those really old fucked up places, to the super crazy new stuff.”

Richmond, he said, is somewhere in between the old and new; the old buildings are appreciated because they’re more fun to paint. He prefers the older structures (largely due to their worn textures), but noted he likes the contrast of the newer buildings along the background in the cityscape.

The E Franklin St wall is part of an older building. When it’s finished, Spongebob, Road Runner, and a 1940s Juliet Jones-inspired female figure will all be staring into the street. Every one of BustArt’s pieces include a pop culture character. For larger projects, he asks the surrounding residents who their favorite cartoon characters are: In Greensboro, a neighbor’s request gave him the subject for his Marvin the Martian wall.

His process: There isn’t one. BustArt chooses his characters and rolls from there.

“Most of the time, I don’t know what I’m doing,” he said. “I plan basics like the characters, but the rest is just totally free style. On the spot.”

The method works, and for the most part, the results are the same.

“I always mix it up really colorful, really poppy, really mixed,” BustArt said. Since he’s been in the U.S., he can’t remember how many murals he has painted. He completes one a day, minus his massive collab piece with Westergard in Greensboro — but even that only took two days.

Keep an eye out for your favorite cartoon characters next time you’re traveling between D.C. and North Carolina. If you can’t find them anywhere, check out BustArt’s Instagram and website. Odds are, they’re nearby somewhere.

*Photos by Christina McBride. Cover photo by Landon Shroder

Atomic Cocktail: The Psychedelic Synthesis of Pop Culture

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A leading artist of the 1980s “Lowbrow” movement is visiting Virginia, and his exhibition at the Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) is his first solo show in almost a decade. Todd Schorr’s paintings are staples of pop surrealism, populated by classic cartoon and comic figures from the mid-twentieth century. Todd Schorr: Atomic Cocktail is Mickey Mouse, Mr. Peanut, and the fairytale grotesque like you’ve never seen them before.

“I was among a handful of artists in the mid 1980’s who began exhibiting paintings in galleries…that combined a common influence of imagery derived from old comic books, early cartoon animation, horror and sci-fi movies, hot rod culture, and psychedelic poster art,” Schorr said.

Atomic Vacation by Todd Schorr

Growing up in the late 50’s and early 60s, Schorr was inundated with the constant looming threat of nuclear warfare.  From “Duck and Cover” drills in school, to the culmination of the Cuban Missile Crisis, his work combines the tension of those decades with the popular visual culture of the era.

Fusing the influence of Renaissance masters like Salvador Dali, and early animated cartoons, Schorr created a cocktail of psychedelia and surrealism. These often autobiographical works take us into the looking-glass-esque world of the bizarre. He communicates through a synthesis of childhood experience, and the pervasive visual culture that shaped it. 

Schorr said that the basis for what we consider pop-culture began at the turn of the 20th century.

“This is the visual language that every generation since then has grown up in,” he said. “I do firmly believe that the cartoon is the strongest form of graphic art of this century.”

MOCA curator Heather Hakimzadeh, says that despite growing from the same 1950s roots as its creator, the exhibit will appeal to everyone. 

“He definitely does come from the viewpoint of someone born and raised in midcentury America. But I feel like so much of the imagery that he’s given us is universal, and has imbedded itself in our culture,” said Hakimzadeh. “Everyone can recognize things in the work that will build connections.”

Schorr’s exhibit contains a narrative flow that will allow viewers to connect the pieces within the context of their own stories, and provides a commentary on the endurance of visual art in our modern world. Our children are raised on popular iconography, and the generational consequences of these works bleed through decades. 

“I think about where we are now, in 2018, Western society, and the image production that we do right now: millions of images, created all the time, by everyone,” said Hakimzadeh. “I think about our own children and future generations, and what shapes them. These images, and the things [Schorr is] showing us created who we are. We’re looking back to look forward.” 

These early- to mid-century cartoons, comics, and classic films shaped our school principals, our heads of corporation, and the baby boomers who are in congress making policy, said Hakimzadeh. She wonders how the imagery our children see every day in our age will affect who they become as the next generation. 

Despite it’s universal, monumental implications, Hakimzadeh said one of the best things about the exhibit is that it is accessible to everyone.  

“Contemporary art can be intimidating. People come into the art space and they’re expecting white walls, no didactic and learning tools, to see something plain and simple on the floor and not understand it,” said Hakimzadeh. “Instead, people are going to go in and see things that resonate, that have meaning for them.”

The exhibition will show works new and old, from Schorr’s classics, to sculpture, to never before exhibited paintings. Among these is No Solar Power for Fairyland, which Schorr calls “a take on the distribution of available power sources,” and includes “a compressed history of graffiti which runs along the bottom portions of the fairy tale buildings starting with the earliest cuneiform characters.”

“When you go see a painting in person, you see things you’re never going to see in a little tiny screen. You’re going to have an experience that’s vastly different,” said Hakimzadeh. “I think people are going to come in and connect this this, and know work is being made about their life, and the imagery that has made their life.”

Alongside the show, Schorr is promoting his new monograph, Neverlasting Miracles. Todd Schorr: Atomic Cocktail runs through December 30 at the Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art in Virginia Beach.

 

Atlanta-Born Urban Art and Music Event Comes to Richmond

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Some could argue that Richmond’s art scene is its best-kept secret. To the local Richmonder, the murals that grace the sides of our buildings everywhere might get lost during your daily commute, but to out of towners like Jabari Graham, they established it was the perfect city and environment to host the touring arts and culture event he founded, Art, Beats and Lyrics.

Art, Beats, and Lyrics, opening tonight at the Main Street Station, is a “nationwide cultural experience and exhibition,” according to Graham. The 2001 Jackson State alum founded the exhibition in 2004, hoping to bring his love of art and music together in one. Graham drew an audience of 300 in the first year, but has since partnered with Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Honey and taken his event national, packing stadiums across the country. Art, Beats, and Lyrics has even been credited with bringing acts such as Drake and Kendrick Lamar to Atlanta, Georgia, for the first time.

© Kat Goduco Photography

“I’m good at seeing what people gravitate to and putting it out there for everyone,” said Graham, who got his start in event planning and logistics at UniverseSOUL Circus. After he was laid off, he decided to use his skills to venture off on his own and wrote down an idea that had been brewing in his brain, which became the foundation for his art and music exhibition.

© Kat Goduco Photography

“You can’t be afraid to take a risk on anything. If you can think of it, put it in writing and pitch it to the right people to get funding, or if you have the funding yourself, it’s satisfying to see it come to fruition,” he said.

Although Graham is an Atlanta native, coming to Virginia is almost like coming home; his mother is an alumna of Virginia State University, and he has family in Newport News. In addition, he has been sure to build relationships with local artists who will be showcased Friday night, including Earl Mack, along with other talented artists from around the world. With the relationships he’s building, coupled with the southern hospitality that he has been receiving from movers and shakers in Richmond, Graham is thrilled to bring his show here, especially with the premiere of light boxes that will be showcased for the first time.

© Kat Goduco Photography

“I’m ready to rock and roll, and give people a push to start their own movement as well. Whether it gives them that ‘umph’ to produce more art that can be showcased through events like this, or motivates them to start writing that business proposal they’ve been dreaming of, I’m hoping that this event can encourage that,” he said.

The event is tonight, September 21, at Main Street Station. All art on display will be available for purchase, including originals and prints. Tickets are free, but an RSVP is required.

“Prometheus Rising” at Shockoe Artspace

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Ian Hess was just another art student trying to find his place at VCU. Getting lost in the sea of aspiring artists on campus, Hess flunked out of his drawing class. What could have derailed his career, though, ended up leading to his first solo show, when Hess found himself in a summer make-up course with Professor Ryan Lauterio.

The relationship that would form between professor and student would feed a storm of creativity and individuality brewing inside Hess, nurtured by the teachings of Lauterio.

“This is solidly the most meaningful bar-none relationship in the arts that I’ve had. I’ve been injected, IV-style, into this overall process,” Hess, now 26, said while laughing.

Even after Hess completed Lauterio’s class and moved on to painting and printmaking, he kept up with his former professor. Lauterio, co-founded and director of Shockoe Artspace, invited Hess to regular critiques at the gallery, an experience Hess found more helpful than his university education.

“During one of the critiques, I asked Ryan when am I gonna get a show here? And he was like, ‘Uhhh, I don’t know man, not anytime soon!’” Hess laughed. Years later, and after two other artists had to back out of doing a group show, Hess got the chance to debut his work at Shockoe Artspace with his solo exhibit, “Prometheus Rising,” which opened earlier this month. 

Dozens of paintings and a few sculptures by Hess fill the downtown gallery. They’ve been inspired by Greco-Roman busts, Hess said. The artist feels drawn to the style and period by an interest in antiquity and the fallibility of the Greek gods. Despite the fall of Rome, and the noted flaws of gods like Zeus, remnants of Greek culture remain in American society today, enshrined in our democratic processes and displayed in great architecture.

“There’s some part of power that corrupts people, so even in the gods there was an idea of perfection, an understanding of what is human that could not be separated from any of their philosophies or religion,” Hess said. “There are things within this civilization that fell…that still stand.”

By bringing it back to the classics, Hess has created vividly intense images that are whimsical, erratic and bold.

His paintings are physically distressed, creating the appearance of character and age. Hess used a variety of mediums from etching to cross-stitching to even recycled arcade machine parts to create the artwork for this exhibit.

A unique feature of Hess’ work, even going back to his older art, is his ability to obscure the face. While this came out of Hess not feeling skilled at drawing faces, he has carved his own style out of broken fragments, literally, from Greek culture whilst studying portraiture.

Using busts that were either seriously broken or just had a chip on the nose, Hess gravitated towards these imperfect sculptures. “It’s the broken aspects that end up naturally in the work, and a large part has come through me,” Hess said, revealing that this project started after a romantic break-up.

“You’re thrust into the ether, the mercurial madness of chaos of trying to figure out what the hell is going on,” Hess said. “There is no doubt everyone’s going to experience loss and in some way, I’m trying to get those moments into the work.”

Hess said the pieces of art are having a conversation with each other, but he’s still figuring out what the dialogue is about. “If in the pieces, there is enough room that someone can insert their own story in such a way that it resonates with them more so than the reason it was created, then there’s nothing wrong with that,” he said. 

It’s been a long journey from Hess’ school days to having his own solo exhibit. He went from holding down a job trying to teach people how to paint while they drank heavily, to now being one of the founders of local gallery, Endeavor RVA. Many aspiring artists have the dream of making their talents a full-time gig. When I asked Hess how he made this transition, he said it’s about taking every opportunity.

“It’s such an organic and relentless process but it’s one of those things that the work you put into it, you’ll get the rewards or experience or meet the right people,” Hess said.

Image may contain: 1 person

The theme of the exhibit,”Prometheus Rising,” stems from the title of a book by Robert Anton Wilson. The subtext of “Prometheus Rising” is “Whatever the thinker thinks, the prover proves.” From a psychological perspective, this means that your brain wants to manifest the thoughts you have. For Hess, a quote from a book he read at 16, became a way of life.

“From this book and what it’s taught me, I’m gaining my own power through my thoughts,” Hess said. “I think we have unlimited power to make the most utopic, incredible vision for all of civilization ever.”

On the night of the opening, the gallery was filled with people gazing at beautifully bizarre paintings–many of which would be sold by the time I stopped in. The utopic and incredible vision Hess talks about came true in a space he stood in as a young art student only years ago.

“Prometheus Rising” will be on display until Nov. 24 at Shockoe Artspace, located at 12 N 19th St. Follow Hess on Instagram @ian.c.hess to keep up to date on his future projects.