The Right to Herself
Curated by Dr. Lauren Cross. Exhibited at The Center for Fine Art Photography in Ft. Collins.
The Right to Herself: Amplifying Diverse Women Artists, the 19th Amendment, and the Bridge the Self
When Black lesbian poet Donna Kate Rushing’s iconic “The Bridge Poem” appeared in the seminal text This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color by Cherrie Moraga and Gloria Anzaldúa, each stanza vividly described the exhaustive and emotional labor that women of color toll behind the scenes while doing painstaking “bridge” work: activism that champions anti-racism within the women’s movement and within everyday life. In the field of art, similar taxing experiences have been noted within the writings and the conversations of women artists of color as well (Jones; Pindell; Touchette).
As a self-identifying woman of color artist, curator, and scholar, I too have found myself reflected in this tiresome description. Rushing ends her final stanza with the more hopeful conclusion quoted above, she resolves that the solution to this burdensome work is to identify opportunities to be a bridge to one’s own liberation. To be true with and for oneself. This ending by Rushing is the true spirit behind my co-curation for The Right to Herself exhibition, which aims to allow women artists of color to unapologetically voice their specific experiences in response to the 100th anniversary of the 19th amendment—as an opportunity to be a part of and engage in “useful work”—as we reflect on the power of voting rights within our present moment.
I must be the bridge to nowhere
But my true self
And then
I will be useful…
Donna Kate Rushin, “The Bridge Poem”(1981)
Lincoln Center Gallery: https://lctix.com/exhibitinfo.php?id=159
Featured Artists:
Tya Anthony
Lyndsey Beal
Christa Blackwood
Marcella Ernest
Delphine Fawundu
Angela Faz
Karen Ann Hoffman
Ann ‘Sole Sister' Johnson
Letitia Huckaby
Gabi Magaly
Renluka Maharaj
Suchitra Mattai
Jennifer McClure
Michelle Rogers Pritzl
Pete Sands
Rachelle Mozman Solano
Susan Sponsler-Carstarphen
Chanell Stone.
The Right to Herself Catalog Essay
In this way, the artists featured in the exhibition seek to represent these contributions and experiences of women of color both historical and contemporary. Highlighted artists include: Tya Anthony, Lindsey Beal, Christa Blackwood, Marcella Ernest, Adama Delphine Fawundu, Angela Faz, Karen Ann Hoffman, Ann ‘Sole Sister’ Johnson, Letitia Huckaby, Gabi Magaly, Pallavi Govindnathan, Renluka Maharaj, Jennifer McClure, Michelle Rogers Pritzl, Pete Sands, Rachelle Mozman Solano, Susan Sponsler-Carstarphen, and Chanell Stone. The themes highlighted in the exhibition are split between two venues in Fort Collins: The Lincoln Center Gallery and the Clara Hatton Gallery at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, CO.
Press Release
For immediate release: 10/13/2020
The Center for Fine Art Photography
Press Contact: hamidah@c4fap.org, 970-224-1010
The Right To Herself explores the vote as a promise for agency through diverse artists' work.
The Right To Herself exhibition will explore the 100th anniversary of the passing of the 19th amendment, which legalized women's right to vote, through the lens of women who self-identify as indigenous, women of color, and/or embody diverse racial, ethnic, and economic identities. The exhibition and related programs will focus on various artists' perspectives of equity and the equal rights movement both in contemporary society and in history. The exhibition will explore the vote as a promise for agency and voice within society, and highlight the specific rights that diverse groups of women fought for historically into the present. In featuring these themes, the show will recall, reclaim, and reimagine the power of women of diverse backgrounds in front of the lens and rectify their lacking presence within photography and art history.
The exhibition is split between two locations:
· October 20 – November 28, 2020, at the Lincoln Center Gallery, 417 W Magnolia St., Fort Collins, CO
· October 22 – December 12 at the Clara Hatton Gallery, 601 W. Pitkin St., Visual Arts Building, at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, CO
It is also available virtually through the Center for Fine Art Photography's website www.c4fap.org. Additionally, the exhibition(s) will feature an accompanying billboard, catalog, virtual talks, and events that will be posted on the website.
This project is funded in part by a grant from the National Endowment for The Arts and from The City of Fort Collins Fort Fund Grant.
Suchitra Mattai, American Chorus, 2020, vintage sari, vintage needlepoint, embroidery floss, and fiber trim. Courtesy of K Contemporary gallery.
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