Addiction....: {Personal Post} PHOTOS: A Day at the Rubell Museum

~~Dionne Davenport mall scene and Joi from Friday vibes.~~ I had a little free time on my hands so why not do one of the things I enjoy? The museum! I've had the Rubell Museum on my list for a few months now and finally got the pleasure of experiencing. Fun fact: this site was formally the location of the segregated middle school Marvin Gaye attended- Randall Junior High. The current exhibits explore legacy, impact, future, identity, and empowerment.

Disclaimer... some artworks express sexuality that are NSFW. Proceed with caution. Off we go...

Amen.

Sleep by. Kehinde Wiley

(recreates historical European portraits of white subjects; replace the subjects with people of color from across the world. Reimaged of Jean Bernard Restout 'Sleep'.)

Big Black Rainbow (Smoky Eyes) by. Vaughn Spann

"I was thinking about the color and complexities in the U.S. I wanted to put the blackness back into the spectrum. The first one I ever made was an homage to Trayvon Martin, who died with a packet of Skittles and an Arizona Iced Tea in his hand."

Earth by. Christopher Myers

(more than 1 million people are buried on Hart Island in the Bronx, NY, including those not claimed.)

Another Man's Cloth x El Anatsui

(implications of trade, consumption, waste, and destruction that ensued during Ghana's past as a British Colony.)

Shoudal by. John Waters

Post Me, Post You by. Cajsa von Zeipel.

At first glance, it's shocking... but when I read the meaning for it, I had a verbal 'ohhhh' moment.

(plays with ideas of passive versus active perspectives and invites the viewer to investiate their own role in this dichotomy as they view the artwork.

...explore the power dynamics between viewer and participant in the digital age that we live in.)

Laugh Hard at the..., by. Jenny Holzer

Contagious Unemployment (All The Best) by. Josh Kline

Poverty Dilation by. Josh Kline

Mother by. Maurizio Cattelan

Nothing more attractive than a heavy prayin woman, un un. - 3 Stacks.

Protect me..., by. Jenny Holzer

It made me think of the spiritual perspective.

God... come in God.

A Refusal to Accept Limits by. John Miller

Red Legs on Red Milk Crate by. Tschabalala Self

Dos carnes by. Oscar Murillo

Untitled by. Rosemarie Trockel

Milk Chocolate by. Tschabalala Self

(Black femininity has often been presented as both alluring and novel, but rarely is the black female body given the agency to be seen on their own terms.)

word.

Two Girls by. Tschabalala Self

Good girl or Bad girl? Your choice.

Hedge Yer Bets by. Christina Quarles

This one gave me 'Strange' vibes from Boomerang.

Untitled by. Purvis Young

Unsure if the photo captured the details on this one. They were a sight to see in person.

"I only love her if her eyes brown."- Hov

Woman's Psyche by. Juanita McNeely

So much to unpack here.

schauen/wildnis by. Miriam Cahn

Existing in Rose Thoughts by. Jamea Richmond-Edwards

Electricity Runs Through Our Fingers by. February James

"I want the viewer to go so far into their mind that they forgot I brought them there."

Valentina by. February James

Jasmin 1 by. Karon Davis

Barnburner by. Rashid Johnson

Now we enter my favorite exhibit collectively. Artworks from the Unbranded Series by. Hank Willis Thomas. I loved these photos and the essence of what they captured.

"I realized that with any ad, the moment you remove the text and the logos all you're left with is the photograph, and basically the photograph tells us what's really for sale.

I wanted to look at how real ads could tell stories about the way we learn identity and culture etc. I think about advertisement as a form of social conditioning and almost brain washing, and that it's where we learn what our values are in our society."