The now-reopened Studio Museum in Harlem has a massive array of artwork spanning medium and time. When you first enter the museum, you are surrounded by beautiful portraits by prolific artists such as Gordon Parks to Deana Lawson, looking down upon you in the salon-style hang. However, what the Studio Museaum has in specialty of artworks apart of the collection, it lacks in the quality of presentation.
I have never before thought that an artwork looked better online until my visit to the Studio Museum. After viewing Carrie Mae Weems' Untitled (Black Love) triptych, I could only say I was disappointed to finally see one of my favorite artworks in person. This amazing triptych features high-contrast deep-black silver gelatin prints; however, the glass used to frame it only veils the image. The reflections created through the mixture of glass and light clouds the image, destroying the tonal range, hiding the subtleties of the carefully made silver gelatin print.
For a museum with the stature to gather such a spansive infamous collection, I assumed that they would have the resources to present the work better. There are museum-grade glasses made to prevent this one issue, leading me to believe it comes down to an issue of finance. I trust this issue is not from a lack of care, which is clearly present in the curation and grouping of these artworks. Highlighting a sense of community and appreciation that the museum is clearly striving for.
-Lewis James
I enjoyed reading your review of Untitled (Black Love) at Studio Museum in Harlem. Your frustration with the lack of justice of the artwork was a refreshing read. I also found it difficult to see the details of the piece due to the heavy glare from the glass. The photos themselves were dark to begin with, and the museum glass prevented much of the photo from being recognized. The glare was a noticeable issue that prevented full understanding and enjoyment of the artwork. Besides the glass, would there have been a better way to display the piece?
ReplyDeleteHi Lewis this is a great review!! I was thinking similar thoughts while going through this gallery, and questioning why the materials used seem to do an injustice to the photos themselves. Especially when it comes to black and white photography it’s important that we can identify contrast and shadow and with glass glare it’s hard to immediately define what the image is and why it is so beautiful. It’s a beautiful narrative being told nonetheless and I agree that it should’ve been treated differently when curating this display. I’m sorry that it was an underwhelming experience for you as it’s one of your favorite pieces but I do think that it’s admirable for you to be able to separate the art from the institution and have trust that this was not fully intentional by the artist.
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