The Poetry of Black Daily Life in the Art of Whitfield Lovell
Each photograph in Lovell's current show is a window into the deep humanity of Black subjectivity in American history.
Le Rouge et Le Noir (The Red and the Black) is an evocative exhibition of Whitfield Lovell's latest mixed media portraits at DC Moore Gallery, reflecting on the haunted past and hopes of historic African American existence. The large-scale drawings on wood and paper by Lovell cover the entire gallery. The sculptures feature Black people dressed in period attire, frequently with discovered artifacts adhered to the surface. The illustrations are black on red backgrounds and white on deep black backgrounds. Lovell's poised figures emanate a serene confidence in this environment. Each painting serves as a window into the deep humanity of Black subjectivity throughout American history. Antique household objects, earthenware, paper fans, and a beaded, fringed clothing are among the various items integrated into the works, which date the figures to the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.The mesmerizing figures inspire spectators to reflect on each prop, which represents labor exploitation, allure, or Black cultural expression.
The unidentified figures in Lovell's pictures have a sense of stillness or quietude, as though they are trapped in time. The artist asks us to ponder his subjects more through their period clothes and collaged objects, as well as their gazes. A decorative fan, musical instrument, or toy car are among the pieces, which incorporate loaded symbols like American flags and rope, as well as common goods like a decorative fan, musical instrument, or toy car. The exhibition is based on Stendhal's 19th-century novel of the same name, in which he remarks, "A story is a mirror going down a main street." The ability of art to mirror and enhance ordinary life is a recurring theme in Whitfield's portraiture, confirming the importance of the mundane.
Three installations accompany the photographs, including an antique chair and a vintage telephone that visitors can pick up to hear music and voices. Two musicians perform the hymn "Lift Every Voice and Sing," which was performed by Kim Weston at the Watts Stax Benefit Concert in Los Angeles in 1972. Another plays portions from Stendhal's work and lyrics from Jacques Brel's 1959 song "Ne Me Quitte Pas" ("Don't Leave Me"), which was covered and popularized by Nina Simone in 1965, beneath a floating bookcase packed with multiple copies of Le Rouge et Le Noir. Alva Rogers and Joyce Bukuru recite the prose and songs, adding their own unique voices to the original writing.
The aural elements add to the poignancy of the pictures, while a dynamic sculptural piece provides a vivid counterpoint to the silence. "Cardinalis" (2021), a round, spinning table covered with a multitude of bright red cardinal figurines, is located in the gallery area furthest from the entry; "Lift Every Voice and Sing" plays out loud as part of it. This cluster of artificial birds appears to be an outlier in an exhibition of vibrant drawings that are amazing for their expressionistic depth as it spins. The moving birds, on the other hand, express freedom and collectivity: each one is fixed in place, but they move as a group, echoing the way Lovell's figures appear to be both still and moving.
Lovell's works depict the poetry of Black daily life with astounding care and detail, depicting anonymous historical characters and ordinary but associated things. The cardinal becomes a symbol of liberty as well as a key to Lovell's pictures, which expose the beauty and depth of unknown individuals, both individually and collectively.