Culture and Memory (review)

Culture and Memory Since it s i ncept i on over t hi r t y years ago, t he Ar t i st -i n-Resi dence program at t he St udi o Museum in Harlem has become one of t he most i mpor t ant f orms of suppor t f or young cont emporary art ist s in New York Cit y. This program has l aunched t he careers of many art ist s, i ncl udi ng Xenobia Bailey, Willie Cole, Leonardo Drew, David Hammons, Kerry James Marshal l , Tyrone Mit chel l , Al i son Saar, and Nari Ward, among ot hers. This year 's exhi bi t i on f eat ures t he work of t he t hree resident art ist s for 1999- 2000: Nicole Aw ai , Sanf ord Bi gger s and Terry Boddie. Upon f i r st i nspect i on, t he obvi ous rel at ionship bet ween t he works of t hese t hree art ist s i s t he yout h and newness of it s creat ors t o t he art worl d. However, f urt her st udy yiel ds evidence of each art ist 's int erest in wor ki ng wit h syst ems of si gni f i cat i on, bot h in t erms of l anguage and si gns, uni f yi ng t heir work t hemat ical l y. Weavi ng nar r at i ves t hat address t hemes as diverse as popular or mass cult ure, symbol ic syst ems, post -col oni al i sm and hist ory, i mmi gr at i on and cult ural memory, t he t hree art ist s creat e works t hat nevert heless manage t o relat e t o one anot her t hr ough t hese rich t hemes. Al l of t he art ist s are clearly int erest ed in f orm and in creat ing a work t hat i s visual l y engagi ng at t he same t ime t hat it is didact ic. The aest het ic value of si gns and symbol s is reinf orced as t hese art ist s ask l anguage t o t ransf orm it sel f and t o "per f or m " bot h concept ual l y and aest het ically. Nicole Awai is original l y f rom Trinidad. She received her M.F.A. f rom t he Universit y of Sout h Florida and did f urt her st udies at t he Skow hegan School of Paint i ng in Maine. In her work, she t ackles perhaps t he last r emai ni ng bast i on of t he so-cal l ed cl assical art s: pai nt i ng. Her canvases are i nst al l ed unst ret ched. They have a dream-like qualit y t hat she shares wit h t he work of Terry Boddie. Images ent er and move t hr ough her wor ks f Leet ingly, of t en onLy part ially visibl e. She draws t he spect at or in for a cl oser view, as t he smaller i mages visibl e in t he backgr ound of t he work are of t en f undament al t o a more compl et e reading: her A St udent 's Companion ( 2000) is a prime example of t hi s ef f ect . The ent ire "t ext " of t he vi sual i mages relies upon t he "pr esence" of t he primer, underl ining syst ems of aut hor i t y and how t hese are uphel d t hr ough such publ i cat i ons. In Awai 's work They gave me a glass of rum, and one said t o me, what did I t hink about all t his? ( 2000) , t he t it le of t he work is cent ered across each of t he...