As mentioned in my Ruth Asawa gallery reaction post, I had always gone out with my friends to visit galleries and essentially go “gallery hopping”. This was before I learned what the purpose, real meaning, and work behind them meant. Now, because of this class and the performances and visits we have done, I can say I learned something new and have a growing appreciation for the arts now that I know what and how the industry kind of works.
The works displayed almost always carry meaning and a personal connection and touch by the artist themselves to be hidden in their paintings, photos, and more. It has always been satisfying to visit and learn about an artist’s story and life experiences solely based on their Wikipedia personal life description and then having the details connect with their work.
The photos from the Resurrection City gallery really spoke out to me. I have been extremely vocal about social justice and civil rights since the Black Lives Movement. When the movement was at its highest moments and prime, I had just transferred to Brooklyn Tech High School from Leon M. Goldstein High School. Tech is much more diverse and also much a very active Black Student Union club in our school that made a lot of events based on what was going on with police brutality during this time. I was able to to witness and also be a part of the culture and movement to advocate for not only the rights of the people who died, but also the rights for those in minority groups.
Resurrection City was about the ‘Poor People’s Campaign’: a part of the Civil Rights Movement about a fight for those in poverty to gain economic justice. I noticed from the photos that even during the harshest times, there is always love and support. People in communities gather together to protest and this was evident in the Salsa exhibit we went to at the Museum of New York.
The other exhibit sharing the same space, Welcome to Camp America, had photographs speaking about the double life in Guantanamo Bay. For the longest time, the detention camp was known for its harsh conditions and for the worst of the worst prisoners who would be kept there “indefinitely without trial”. Former President Barack Obama even promised to close the camp, however, was unable to. The photos from the gallery show how the soldiers working at the camp had fun times, however, the prisoners did were treated unfairly and inhumanely.
