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Art Review: Black Belt - The Studio Museum Of Harlem, NYC - Saturday 18 October 2003
Writer: Allison Eikerenkoetter
If you have an interest in the curious marriage between African-American and Asian-American cultures that came into being
in the 1970s and 80s, you have got to go to see Black Belt at The Studio Museum of Harlem. We’re talking a total
of 44 works by 19 contemporary artists. Everything from sculpture, paintings, drawings, video and mixed media is included
in the exhibit and it is something wonderful to behold. While every artist in the exhibition is unique in his or her own
way, here we are going to highlight a select few to give you a taste of what’s in store.
Even before you enter through the main door into the exhibit, there are impressive works demanding your attention from the
lobby entrance. One in particular is a massive painting by Y. David Chung appropriately called Black Belt Jones,
2003. The title is an homage to and borrowed from the 1974 film starring Jim Kelly. Chung has created a massive, visually
jarring piece through the depiction of heavily embattled bodies. There are people, both black and Asian, in a struggle of
urban frustration and street warfare. One’s eyes go from falling stone, to guns, to twisted bodies and unyielding
concrete. It’s a large work that takes up almost the entire wall on which it is displayed. When you look at it, it’s
almost as if you yourself have become part of the confusion. It’s a piece that swallows you up whole in its intensity.
Once inside the exhibit doors, the diversity of artistic manifestations continue to engage. Most pointedly, Iona Rozeal
Brown has created a series of highly creative and dynamic acrylic paintings done in the Japanese ukiyo-e style. What she
is presenting are Afro-Black figures in traditional Asian depictions. There are beautiful combinations of, for example,
dark brown skin, slanted eyes, nappy afros (with fisted 'Black Power' afro picks peaking out!), and Kimonos. Every figure
is elegant and wildly creative combination of cultures.
Housing Project: The Prison Industrial Complex, 2000-2003, by Clarence Lin is a mostly wood and metal replica of a
prison cell. Confining and stark, the only items in the life- sized unit are a toilet, bed, desk top and stool. The
simplicity and rawness of the piece (along with the bland colors) invoke a variety of complex emotions that are sobering to
say the least.
Enter My 36th Chamber, 2003, by Luis Gispert requires full body participation from the viewer. You literally must
remove your shoes and singularly enter a pitch black space. The idea for the structure came from the final battle scene in
Enter the Dragon and incorporates the use of a motion sensor to activate sound effects from martial arts films and
hip hop tracks. This piece was particularly popular with viewers and evoked a sense of both fear and fun in those who
dared to enter, as it were. Some, however, were content to simply listen to the sound track from a safe distance and
observe others as they gingerly walked into the black hole, crawled upwards through a narrow chamber, then moments later
when the sound effects went off, briskly scampered out.
Finally, a mention of David Huffman’s work is warranted. He has created a series of paintings evoking science fiction
characters and narratives. The paintings Evolution and Dark Matter, for example, explore moonscapes and
black martial arts characters in futuristic superhero styles. His work is strongly influenced by Bruce Lee films and are
amusing and wonderful to behold.
What has been covered here is but a small sampling of what is available at the Black Belt exhibit at The Studio Museum of
Harlem. In it’s entirety, the work is exciting and provoking and should not be missed.
The SMA is located at 144 West 125th Street. (212) 864-4500.
Exhibit runs through January 4, 2004 and will tour the U.S. thereafter.
RELATED LINKS:
Black Belt - on the Studio Museum
site
The Studio Museum of Harlem
PUBLISHED: Tuesday 28 October 2003
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::: RELATED LINKS
Black Belt - on the
Studio Museum site
The Studio Museum of Harlem
More Reviews
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