Only white and male? Questioning the Pop Art canon
Nadine Wojcik cmb
June 23, 2020
The Museum Ludwig in Germany spent two years examining the diversity of its collection. The resulting show, "Mapping the Collection," highlights long-overlooked female, queer, Indigenous and African American artists.
Image: Rheinisches Bildarchiv, Köln/Estate of Corita Kent Immaculate Heart
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A German museum re-examines its artistic diversity
Works by Indigenous, African American and queer artists have long been absent from Cologne's Museum Ludwig. An exhibition spurred by critical self-examination is changing that — and it comes at a timely global moment.
Image: Ana Mendieta/VG Bild Bonn
LA performance drama
For the exhibition "Mapping the Collection," Museum Ludwig Director Yilmaz Dziewior inventoried the collection from a post-colonial viewpoint and organized numerous artistic loans. Long marginalized artists were made the focus. The show includes this photo of a performance by Mexican-American artist collective Asco. Entitled "The Gores" (1974), it addresses Los Angeles society in a cinema style.
Image: Harry Gamboa Jr
Man or woman?
For more than six decades, artists have been questioning inherited gender rolls, yet their works are missing from museum collections. The Cuban American artist Ana Mendieta stuck her male friend's beard hair on her upper lip for her 1972 performance "Facial Hair Transplants" (photo above). The act raises the question: Is she (still) a woman or (already) a man?
Image: Ana Mendieta/VG Bild Bonn
Indigenous life, diverse inspiration
The artist T.C. Cannon once said he wanted to simply be a good artist — and not a good Native American artist. Cannon, a member of the Kiowa Tribe, often depicted themes of Indigenous daily life in the US to challenge widespread prejudices against Indigenous populations. He drew inspiration from Matisse and van Gogh, as well as from Pop Art stars Robert Rauschenberg and Larry Rivers.
Image: T.C. Cannon/Tia Sammlung
In between
Many influences flowed into Senga Nengudis' performances with stockings (such as the above from 1976), including post-minimalism, feminist self-assertion and feelings of African American self-worth. These kept her from being categorically pigeonholed, and her art defied what was expected then of African American artists. At the same time, her identity kept her shut out of established art circles.
Image: Adam Pendleton
The outsider
Who belongs? Who stands apart? In his work "Rimbaud in New York" (1978-79), the gay artist David Wojnarowicz sought out places where he thought the 19th-century French writer Rimbaud would have gone, were he still alive then. By photographing a friend in a Rimbaud mask, Wojnarowicz brings the viewer into a historic New York City as experienced by a social outsider.
Image: David Wojnarowicz/Rheinisches Bildarchiv Köln
Political statement
How did the politics of the 1960s affect white artists? Pop artist Claes Oldenburg took part in the August 1968 anti-Vietnam protests in Chicago that overlapped with the Democratic National Convention. The demonstrations were violently disbanded by police with help from firefighters. To memorialize the events, Oldenburg created this "Fire Plug Souvenir — Chicago, August 1968."
Image: Claes Oldenburg
Artists of today
Conceptual artist Adam Pendleton (right), born in 1984, is one of the youngest artists represented in the exhibition. However, his work also draws on the past. His video projects grapple with African American history and art history. Above, a still from the 2016-17 project "Just back from Los Angeles: A Portrait of Yvonne Rainer," about the titled choreographer, filmmaker and writer (left).
Image: Adam Pendleton
Filling the gaps
These and other works are part of the exhibition "Mapping the Collection" at the Museum Ludwig in Cologne. Two years of research preceeded the show. The process identified clear gaps in the collection. The museum set a goal of acquiring works by African American, Indigenous and queer artists to permanently fill its holes.
Image: Rheinisches Bildarchiv Köln/Nina Siefke
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Who decides what belongs in an artistic canon? For instance, in the Pop Art canon? Is it the loudest or most extroverted artists? Those who have the most shows to their names or whose works are the most expensive, such as those by Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol or Claes Oldenburg? Is it a coincidence that these accepted representatives of the genre are all white males?
The Museum Ludwig in Cologne, in western Germany, hosts the largest collection of Pop Art outside of the United States. Over two years, it critically examined these works to see if they were truly representative of American art of the 60s and 70s. The answer was definitely not, and it spurred the newly opened exhibition, "Mapping the Collection."
The show aims to expand perspectives on American art of the time by presenting lesser-known artists from the museum's collection alongside loaned works, with the emphasis on female, queer, indigenous and artists of color. Exhibited artists include Senga Nengudi, Adrian Piper and T.C. Cannon.
"Perspectives were missing from our collection. Why have they not been represented? We don't have an answer, but we are working on it," Museum Director Yilmaz Dziewior said at the exhibition's press conference. "We believe these artists deserve more attention because they addressed questions of their time that are still relevant today."
The 60s and 70s were tumultuous years in US history. There were the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy and African American civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., the Black Power self-determination movement, protests against the Vietnam War, and rising feminist and gay liberation movements.
Senga Nengudis performance 'Inside/Outside' (1977) relates to the elasticity of the human bodyImage: Timo Ohler/Senga Nengudi
Many artists addressed these social upheavals, including African American, Latinx and Indigenous artists. However, their works are rarely seen in art museums, even though the contemporary artistic style transcended ethnic and social differences. The role of relationships and alliances between artists was also of key importance.
Despite this interconnectedness, artists did not have equal chances when it came to the art market or institutional reception.
"In order to overcome a one-sided narrative of art history, it is not enough to just exhibit these other pictures now. Instead, one must critically question one's institution and collection," said curator Janice Mitchell, who led the 2-year inventory of Museum Ludwig's collection.
The museum consequently bought new works in preparation for the exhibition. According to director Dziewior, further purchases are planned.
While the exhibition is particularly timely due to the Black Lives Matter protests, Mitchell said this must not distract from the fact "that these topics are always present and you have to grapple with them."
The exhibition "Mapping the Collection" opened at the Museum Ludwig in Cologne on June 20. It will run through August 23.
