ART REVIEWS

Photographs and Text @Marshall H. Cohen

Elizabeth Catlett at the National Gallery

The revolutionary art of the American-Mexican sculpturer, printmaker, and painter Elizabeth Catlett is said to have changed the world view of black women. Black women have suffered global oppression, racism, and gender inequality, and these themes are explored by the current show at the National Gallery of Art.

Elizabeth Catlett (1915-2012),  lived and worked in Mexico and the United States, and was a black, revolutionary sculpturer, printmaker, and painter, and this powerful, and large exhibition of 150 works explore the themes of revolution as they occurred during the 20th and into the 21 centuries; the works—paintings, sculptures, and lithographs show deep, human emotions. We see proud, strong, although prosecuted women; some are educated, some in poverty, loving and nurturing, protective mothers and their children--- in both small size linocuts, oils, and lithographs, and full-sized sculptures. Catlett’s exhibition and its versatility show the influence of her teacher Grant Wood (1892-1942), who encouraged her to experiment with her art and so she did. Pablo Picasso ‘s influence is evident in Catlett’s use of a Cubism perspective in her beautifully curled and polished cedar, mahogany and bronze sculptures and linocuts and lithographs.The exhibition will hang in the NGA’s East Building until July 6, 2025. A beautifully illustrated catalogue, “Elizabeth Catlett: A Black Revolutionary Artist” with essays by Dalila Scruggs, editor and exhibition curator (NGA) is available at www.nga.com                                         

“The 1970’s Lens” Clicks at the National Gallery of Art

Using examples from photographs from the 1970’s, The National Gallery of Art (NGA) hosts an informative exhibition which gives meaning to the definition of “documentary photography” while showing the work by known and lesser-known photographers. The show is instructive to the professional photographers as well as part-time amateurs, some using a mobile phone, perhaps trying to capture a news item or a celebrity speaker or a contest entry. The exhibition includes 100 works by 80 photographers and may be seen in the NGA’s West Building until April 6, 2025. Identifying photographs as documentary can be difficult since virtually every photograph could be described as documentary, especially those taken as evidence or describing past or present social conditions, communicating a concept, or a performance, etc. If a photo truthfully captures an event over time or accompanies a story it likely falls under the heading of photojournalism, as the show tells us. There are many exceptions to these strict definitions of course. Photographs taken in combat situations, not included in this exhibition, more appropriately falls under a photojournalism category. This large show is subdivided into several categories, for example: Intimate Documentary, New Environments, Alternative Landscapes, Seeing Community, Life in Color, and Performance and the Camera. The works shown are largely intimate shots in urban situations, or landscapes and personal milestones. Many show the complexity of life during the 1970’s when the United States experienced the Civil Rights Movement, the Watergate Scandal, cultural diversity issues, social and economic turbulence, and urban sprawl. The rural and urban environment changed significantly during the 70’s affecting families, the workplace and the home, and it seems that there was always someone with a film camera to document the changing life-styles during that unique period of American life. Some of the notable examples in the show are: the lead-in image by John Simmons “Will on Chevy, 1971” which shows a positive image of a young man resting on a cool Chevy enjoying everyday life in Chicago. A second image (in the text) is by Bill Owens called “Ronald Reagan 1972” from his series Suburbia. It humorously shows Reagan in a home decorated for Christmas and according to the show’s wall notes “…he captured the apparent conformity and materialism of the new suburbs.”  One other work (among many) that earns a hard look includes Manuel Molina’s striking “Mushroom Worker 1981”, a gelatin silver print from the series The Puerto Rican Diaspora Documentary Project. (@Marshall H. Cohen).