New Museum Visit

The photography exhibit by David Goldblatt showed the hardships of apartheid in South Africa over a 50 year period and exhibited his older black and white photographs with the newer and often larger colored photographs. When comparing his older photos with the newer ones, I did not see a distinct difference in the subject matter. It seemed as if the colored photographs focused on the AIDS epidemic rather than the effects of apartheid. I liked that his photographs weren't staged or used as propaganda and protest material, but were merely a glimpse into where he was living and the photographs were able to speak for themselves. This aspect of his photographs allowed the people depicted to not be pitied for their circumstances, but instead showed them with dignity for living light-heartily with such hardships. On the other hand, Emory Douglas's show was strictly protest material from his involvement with the Black Panther group in the late 60's and 70's, but instead of photography, he showed his prints and illustrations from magazines, flyers, and posters. I thought the show really defined the culture and art style of that decade and held the historical context showing key figures and events dealing with racial segregation. The layering of drawn and photographed images over colored design made a loud statement that was full of energy. The work was powerful aside from knowing that it was actually used and effective in the movement. The last show I saw was the title "Lioness" by Dorothy Iannone, which I found to be overly perverted. I appreciate the shock value of sex, but I got the impression that I was walking into the bedroom of a nympho. The art aspect of the show was definitely lost and I felt as if the show was surviving on its shock value.