Jewish Museum's "Draw Them In, Paint Them Out: Trenton Doyle Hancock Confronts Philip Guston"

 An exhibit titled “Draw Them In, Paint Them Out,” focuses on examining Philip Guston’s influence on Trenton Doyle Hancock and how their work aims to comment on White Supremacy in the history of the U.S. It is important to note that Guston is a white Jewish man while Hancock is a black man, yet, they both use symbols of white supremacy to understand their own role in complicity and suppression is the system.

To continue, both artists utilize satire to comment on structures of white supremacy, weaponizing art to combat social justice issues. The main focus of the show is to understand how Hancock used Goston as an inspiration for his own work. Interestingly, they both seem to include alter personas in which they can creatively express themselves and how they view the system, in this case white supremacy and all it has been fundamentally ingrained in society. For example, Guston’s piece “The Studio” (1969) features a KKK member painting a self-portrait, in which Guston sees himself as this KKK member. In much of the content at the exhibit, there were many KKK members present in the works, but, Guston makes the distinction that he recognizes his own complicity in white supremacy. In contrast, we see Hancock taking a similar approach, inserting himself in the works to understand how he battles white supremacy.

Finally, both are successful in capturing the severity of the effects of white supremacy. The satirical style in which they create aims to create a less intimidating atmosphere in which they manage to exaggerate shapes to signify the severity of the crimes committed in the name of white supremacy. WC 273

Eva Goldstock Vazquez *

The Studio (1969) by Philip Guston