Emails Regarding Caucasian Artists As Members of the Collaborative |
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Susan Matthews |
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J Michael Walker |
Christie Shinn |
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The following are email correspondences between HABLA Underground founding members, regarding the involvement of Caucasian artists in the collaborative. The emails were written during the first week of the founding of the Collaborative. Intimate and very personal in their perspecives; the letters address the problematic dearth in the mainstream art world of the representation of non-Caucasion artists and of art which celebrates non-Caucasion cultures.
White males overwhelmingly and disproportionately comprise a gross proportion of the pool of artists who are celebrated in museums, art galleries, art journals and periodicals, and in the student and faculty bodies of art institutions. The second most represented group of individuals in the mainstream art world are Caucasian women. Artists in general who hold Masters of Fine Arts (MFA) degrees are most likely to find a niche in this most competitive industry.
Susan Matthews has every qualification that one would think would gain her entry into the mainstream art world. She is White, blond-haired and blue-eyed, attractive and holds an MFA from San Francisco State University and a BFA from the University of California, Berkeley. Susan's story is testimony that it is not merely the artist of color who is systematically omitted from the mainstream art world, but art in general which reflects themes and images outside of the White realm.
- Lili Bernard, Founder and Organizer of HABLA Underground |
----- Original Message -----
From: Susan Matthews
To: Lili Bernard and HABLA Underground Artists
Date: Saturday, August 29, 2009 9:19 AM
Subject: Re: Caucasian Artists in HABLA Underground Artist Collaborative: Walking Together II
Dear Lili,
Tears came down as I read your letter. You have no idea what it means
to me, and of course I accept your invitation to participate in
HABLA! I was called to do these paintings, and I am doing them
because I have to paint what moves me. It has been a very interesting
journey... with all the sincerity in my work, it has been stacked in
the studio, one rejection after the other from the mainstream. The
mainstream just does not see it, as we know. On the other hand, in
spite of the fact that I look "mainstream" myself, I have been
embraced by the Latin and African American art worlds, where I
participate in the Bay Area. I have much to say about this subject,
as I have asked myself many questions over the years. It is difficult
to find a forum because this is a subject that most people prefer not
to touch.
I am aware that my work has been ignored because of its content, and
also aware that it comes straight out of my soul, and the soul has no
color. It is difficult for a Caucasian artist to show this work
because the academic community and white gallerists are afraid it is
"cultural appropriation". How can a painting of one's friend or
teacher be cultural appropriation? Not to do the paintings would be to
continue the separation and exclusion of peoples from one another.
Once I showed my slides to a gallerist in SF and she said, "What's
this ethnic thing"? In a state of shock, I answered, "Well, was I
only supposed to paint my white friends?" Then she stated the usual,
"your work does not fit our program at this time". But I had
researched the galleries and knew the gallery showed figurative work.
I came to Ave. 50 Studio from Oakland because it was an opportunity to
exhibit and share this work with people who would understand it. It
is a great relief to be included in this project! Congratulations on
your guts and insight. I will come to LA whenever I need to. I am
humbled.
Susan Matthews
----- Original Message -----
From:J Michael Walker
To: Lili Bernard and HABLA Underground
Cc: Professor Ruth Weisberg
Sent: Thursday, August 27, 2009 10:35 PM
Subject: Caucasian Artists in HABLA Underground Artist Collaborative: Walking Together
Dear Lili,
Sweet and wise words all,
and clearly expressed from a thought-filled heart.
To add my little "two cents worth,"
in twenty-five years of exhibiting my art
and sharing my writing, here in L.A., in Mexico,
and across the U.S.,
i have never encountered resistance from our colleagues -
that is, from other artists of the heart.
To the contrary, I have always walked into a community group -
black, latino, women, homeless, hiv+ -
and felt welcome, often as family itself.
Resistance has only come from gallery dealers and curators,
who couldn't figure out how to categorize me, or
how to place me into one of the boxes they had so carefully constructed.
At the end of the day, it all comes down to our art:
We cannot fake that.
Depth of spirit, of talent and study and insight,
will always guarantee that we connect with one another.
So many more important and profound things connect us
than could possibly keep us apart.
Blessings to you all,
jmichael
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
J Michael Walker
http://www.allthesaints.com
http://www.jmichaelwalker.com
http://allthesaints.wordpress.com/
http://www.autrynationalcenter.org/allthesaints/
http://www.heydaybooks.com/public/books/ats.html
----- Original Message -----
From: Lili Bernard
To: Susan Matthews and HABLA Underground
Cc: Professor Ruth Weisberg
Sent: Thursday, August 27, 2009 4:17 PM
Subject: Caucasian Artists in HABLA Underground Artist Collaborative: Walking Together
Sweet Susan Matthews, My Sistah,
It is I, Lili Bernard (your fellow Ashé artist from the recent art show at
Ave 50 Studio), who has organized HABLA Underground: Harvesting Asian Black
Latino Artists and who has invited various artists to attend. You were
strong on my list of invitees. The invitation you received was composed by
me and came to you directly from me. I am making the basement gallery of my
art studio, on Chung King Road in Chinatown, available as the HABLA
Underground Gallery (HUG). I suggested at our first meeting that we
formulate four pillars for a model of success and that one of the pillars
might be inclusiveness, the embracing (the hugging) of all ethnic groups in
our struggle for representation.
Christie Shinn, to whom you addressed your email below is a fantastic artist
and now also an actress. I had the pleasure of first meeting her
through my dear friend, Wilki Tom, at the Ashé opening. I came to
learn, very quickly, that even more beautiful than her art is Christie's
heart and soul. At our first meeting, on Tuesday, Christie's insights and
ideas were very inspired and her offering of collaboration and help, very
dedicated and generous.
At the beginning of Tuesday's opening meeting, I prefaced my talk with a
statement that I had invited Caucasian artists to join our collaborative for
the reasons that I will state below. I said that we cannot fight racism with
racism and paraphrased Obama, He said that we must walk together in order to
break down the barriers that divide us. I asked if anyone had a problem with
that and no one expressed a problem. The room was filled with a beautiful
display of many ethnic backgrounds. We were approximately 30 people of all
different heritages, African, Asian, Latino, European and Native American. I
explained that I was a product of a mixture of all those cultures and embrace them all.
I did not expect that you would be able to make the meeting because I
understood that you live in the Bay area. However, when I asked our Ave 50
Studio Director/Curator, Kathy Gallegos, if she felt that you (Susan
Matthews) might be interested in joining our collaborative, she answered
with a resounding "Yes." She further stated that you would even make it down
for openings. I was excited at the news and I invited you.
You are my sister, Susan, not only as an artist, but in your love for the
culture from which I, my siblings, my parents and my ancestors hail: Cuba,
the island upon which I was born. During the closing reception of our Ashé
show, when I was videotaping you give the talk about your Chango and Oya
paintings and about your trips to Cuba; I felt that sisterhood with you,
that attraction that your soul has to the spirit of my native culture.
Your art, celebrating a love for the Afro-Cuban culture, has nothing to do
with your own personal skin color. In the beginning and in the end, there is
only one race and it is the human race. I had invited other Caucasian artist
friends of mine to join the collaborative and at least three of them
attended the meeting. They, like you, are artists whose work celebrates a
love for cultures outside of their own "ethnic group." For whatever reason,
their hearts and minds identify with our heritage and with our struggle.
As you have experienced in your difficulty in finding a venue in which to
display your Afro-Cuban-centric art, it is not just the non-white artist
that is underrepresented, but it is art in general which celebrates
non-Caucasian culture, which has non-Caucasian imagery, that is often
omitted from the mainstream art world. In your choice or in your soul's
innate attraction to painting Afro-Cubans, you suffer in your art with us
artists "of color." So we become one in the struggle.
As I stated in my email, the Civil Rights struggle was won with the help of
our Caucasian brothers and sisters. There is a terrible problem of gross
underrepresentation of artists of color and of art, such as yours, that
celebrates nonwhite culture. The dearth has to be addressed and we are doing
that with action.
I hope that you do accept my invitation to join our collaborative. I thank
Kathy Gallegos, my Cuban sistah, for the example she showed me in including
your art in the Ashé show on my Afro-Cuban culture. I look forward to
walking the walk with you and to breaking down the barriers with you that
attempt to block us (you and me together with other artists) from having our
beautiful art exhibited in the mainstream art world. People long to see and
buy our "kind" of art. They just don't know where to find it. We are
building our own platform. Please join us in our mutual struggle.
Our first show will open on September 12 in conjunction with the next
Chinatown Quarterly Art Nite when all 33 Chinatown art galleries have group
openings and huge crowds come out. So we have a lot of work to do! Let's
role our sleeves up and get down to it.
Ashé,
Your Sister in Love,
Lili Bernard
Fine Artist
http://lilibernard.com/
"There is nothing more artistic than to love others." Vincent Van Gogh
----- Original Message -----
From: Susan Matthews
To: Christie Shinn and HABLA Underground
Sent: Thursday, August 27, 2009 2:47 PM
Subject: Re: Next HABLA Underground Meeting is this Sunday, August 30, at
3:00 pm
Christie,
I am not sure who referred me to this meeting. This might be a
strange email, but for the past 12 years I have been painting about
Cuba and Africa, places I have traveled to and am connected to for
various reasons. Of course, I have been unable to show this work in
major or mainstream galleries, for all the reasons we know. I myself
am not a minority artist, in the sense that my skin is as white as can
be. I had the sense that I should not come to the meeting because of
this. Of course, I have become involved with the African American art
world of Oakland, which is my town, and I exhibit also in Latino
venues. So there you have it. An interesting issue. What do you
think?
Best,
Susan Matthews
----- Original Message -----
From: Christie Shinn
Date: Thursday, August 27, 2009 9:48 AM
To: HABLA Underground Founding Members
Subject: Re: Next HABLA Underground Meeting is this Sunday, August 30, at 3:00 pm
Hi All;
My apologies for the last email! I think my laptop was acting rather
stubborn. I just wanted to let you all know that it was wonderful
meeting all of you, and I will be looking forward to this week's
meeting! It will definitely be nice to meet you all again and perhaps
some new faces.
Kind regards,
Christie Shinn
web: http://www.christineshinn.com
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