Laughing My Way Through the Norton Museum of Art

"Untitled (Bucket)" by Subodh Gupta (2005)

It's been a long time since I laughed my way through a museum. But then again, I can't remember the last time I went to a museum with my friend Ellen. 

Ellen and I were baby lawyers in New York together and shared an office for a while. I remember interviewing summer associate candidates from nearly prone positions on our desks after being out too late the night before. What was the firm thinking?  I'd like to know the acceptance rate of those eager law school students. But I digress. The topic for today is our visit to the Norton Museum of Art. 

After a leisurely lunch catching up, it was time to take in some art. We of course had to stop for a photo at "Untitled (Bucket)" by Subodh Gupta. Ellen took umbrage at artists who name their work "untitled." They spent all that time creating their work and couldn't think of what to call it? Gupta does assist the viewer with the parenthetical in his title, but we'd figured that part out. What could I do but laugh?

 For the record, Gupta's work features everyday objects -- items that were part of his daily life growing up in India -- that have been exaggerated or magnified in some way. The wall card explained that Gupta's intention is to "question the ambivalence of a contemporary society that is caught between traditional customs and globalization." Issues of class seem to be at play as well. I love artwork like this one that can be appreciated on different levels. 

"Wave Brake" by Awol Erizku (2017)

Surprisingly, Gupta's bucket wasn't the only one we came upon during our visit. There was also Awol Erizku's "Wave Brake." Yes, that's an actual mop bucket in front of the painting. And yes, it's part of the work.This is the type of contemporary art that really makes people scratch their heads. And I suspect more than one helpful patron has moved the bucket to the corner for the cleaning staff to retrieve. Ellen was thinking about doing it herself. What is going on here?  Some research was definitely required.

First, there's the corrugated metal "canvas" with the number "12" painted on it. The material is one that can be found on many buildings. The number is apparently slang for "police" in Los Angeles neighborhoods and rap music. It's kind of like "5-0" in the old days. Erizku has said it's his way of "marrying abstract art and contemporary music and creating a vernacular for himself." While I haven't found anything about the white paint in the piece, to me it's a reference to whitewashing reports of police violence. 

The work originally appeared without the mop bucket in Erizku's anti-Trump exhibit in 2017. But the bucket does kind of lose me. Is it a reference to cleaning up the issue of police brutality? The wall card says "the work can be read as a moment to break, or brake, and reflect on systems of oppression, such as unjust policing and unfair labor practices in the U.S." I am on board with the sentiment but it takes some work for the viewer to get there. Work, I suspect, that few museumgoers do. For more on Erizku's anti-Trump exhibit, click here. The article also includes one of Beyonce's pregnancy photos -- done by Erizku -- in which she takes her pose from Botticelli's "Birth of Venus."

"New York Mural" by Stuart Davis (1932)

We both were taken with Stuart Davis' "New York Mural." The colors nearly vibrate off the canvas. It has so much movement that I had to catch myself from breaking into my jazz hands pose. (I had already been reprimanded once by a guard for getting too close to a painting when I was pointing out a nice detail.) 

Davis painted this work for a 1932 exhibit at MOMA, which was just three years old at the time. The hope was that the show would encourage the administrators overseeing the construction of Rockefeller Center to commission murals created by American artists as "decoration" for the new building. At the time, Mexican artists Diego Rivera and Jose Clemente Orozco were the best known names in mural painting. Most of the artists in the MOMA show were easel artists who had an interest in expanding their practice.

Ultimately, Rivera was selected to paint the mural in Rockefeller Center's lobby. As you may know, Rivera was a very political artist. So perhaps it shouldn't have come as a surprise when the mural featured Lenin smack dab in the middle of the work. The Rock Center powers that be demanded that Rivera remove Lenin from the image. When Rivera refused, he was fired and the mural was painted over. Jose Maria Sert was hired to create a new mural, and his "American Progress" still welcomes visitors to Rock Center today. To see that mural, click here. And in case you're wondering, Davis did end up creating some "murals" as a WPA artist. Click here to see his "Swing Landscape," a work that again calls jazz to mind. The word "murals" is in quotes because most of the WPA murals were not actually painted on walls. Instead, they were large scale portable canvases. I'm not sure that technically qualifies as a mural, but it does sound like a practical approach. 

"Victorian Couple" by Yina Shonibare (1999)

I'll leave you with this wonderful "Victorian Couple" created by Yinka Shonibare. I've seen Shonibare's work before at Art Basel, although my memories are of smaller creations with globes as heads. To see some of those works, click here, Here the focus was solely on the fabrics, and they are glorious. 

The incorporation of Ankara fabrics is a trademark of Shonibare's practice. The colorful textiles were brought to West and Central Africa by Dutch merchants in the 19th century and are often seen in clothing from the region. Shonibare's work often speaks to issues of colonialism and post-colonialism, issues that are embedded in the very fabric of his creations. He has said that the beauty of the work is important but there's a degree of darkness behind the facade. 

Shonibare has a studio of craftspeople -- including costumiers and sculptors -- who bring his ideas to fruition. While this is a common practice in the art world, it's a necessity for Shonibare. One side of his body is paralyzed as the result of an inflammation of the spinal cord contracted when he was just 18. As he has aged, his disability has advanced. Today he uses an electric wheelchair to get around. "I do have a physical disability," Shonibare has said, "And I was determined that the scope of my creativity should not be restricted purely by my physicality. It would be like an architect choosing to build only what could be physically built by hand." For an interesting article about Shonibare with multiple images of his works, click here. 

It was a great outing, made more fun by having Ellen at my side. We didn't even get to the sculpture garden, but it's good to save something for next time. For more information about the Norton Museum of Art, click here. Get out there and have some fun with art!