Caribbean Expedition to El Museo Del Barrio

Caribbean Expedition to El Museo Del Barrio

Having limited knowledge of the Caribbean and its artists’ works, I was doubtful that I would find anything intriguing or noteworthy at El Museo del Barrio’s Caribbean:  Crossroads of the World exhibition.  However, to my surprise, I found countless pieces that not only piqued my interest, but enabled me to see commonly accepted themes revealed through an innovative perspective.  What especially struck me was the widespread influence of agriculture and slavery throughout the pieces—surely, plantation life and stories of the harsh workload Caribbean natives endured create a major portion of the rich tale these people can offer society today through their art and oral tradition.

Two pieces that especially resonate in my mind, even weeks after visiting the museum, are Consalvos’ mixed media collage, “Uncle Sam Wants Your Surplus Fat,” and Lam’s “The Dream,” a work created with oil on canvas.  Despite the differences between the two works, each one represents a unique portion of the Caribbean culture and its people’s values.

As someone who loves to inspect multiple perspectives, I couldn’t help but stifle a grin at Felipe Jesus Consalvo’s “Uncle Sam Wants Your Surplus Fat.”  Although the exact year in which his artwork was created is not known, it was circa 1920s-1950s.  Referred to as a mixed media collage, the medium-sized artwork (around two feet by two feet) consisted of clippings from all different kinds of sources, including, but certainly not limited to, newspaper clippings, photographs, advertisements, and magazine clippings on .

At first, I found it difficult to discern the cacophony of images that I was being bombarded with, ranging from heads smoking cigarettes to cut-outs of the typical American girl holding beer bottles.  However, once my eyes adjusted to the pandemonium, I was able to see the perversion of capitalism within Consalvo’s ingenious artwork that promoted satire and criticized the American way of life.  Don’t be fooled by the seemingly playful images!  They were actually representative of the sarcastic and demeaning tone of the piece!  Consalvo personifies the anti-American sentiment that characterized the Caribbean region, Cuba in particular, as he highlights the consumerism America emphasized—this becomes prevalent through his repeated attachment of images and advertisements for cigarettes, liquor bottles, and Campbell’s soup cans.  In addition, he mocks America’s forefathers George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, ultimately creating foolish spectacles out of both of them and placing clown heads upon men that were otherwise dressed in sailors’ outfits.  Consalvo’s media collage belittles American politics and reduces it to a state of disorganized child’s play.  Considering America’s role as the head of international politics, being a world leader in multiple negotiations between European nations during the time periods of World War One and World War Two, it was interesting to see the country being portrayed as else wise in this collage.  On the other hand, the other works of art within the museum viewed Caribbean culture from related countries in the particular region in question.

Wilfredo Lam’s 1947 oil on canvas painting,“The Dream,” was another noteworthy work at El Museo del Barrio that not only challenged my senses, but created an ominous mood.  The ambience brought on by Lam’s work was foreboding and frightening in some aspect as the dark colors created an abyss within my soul.  The purple and black shading worked effectively to pique fear within me, immediately bringing to mind the thought of failure and death simultaneously.  The painting consists of abstract creatures and shapes, each comprised of a triangular head and undefined features, like scraggly lines, for the body outline.  The dark creatures looked as though they were feeding off one another, resembling the common perception of vultures feeding off human flesh in the depths of hell.

To me, the painting was an artistic rendition of Lam’s perception of hell and the destruction it would render upon its inhabitants.  The undefined features of the creatures especially led me to consider the uncertainty of hell, a location that no one has returned to reveal information about, despite all the literature, artwork, and media published in relation to it.  Hell remains an obscure and taboo concept that many scurry from in an attempt to avoid its negative nature—taking this into consideration, its abstract nature is completely appropriate and well-fitting.  However, the fact of the matter is that Lam mustered up the courage to tackle the subject in his inspiring rendition of the place and successfully portrayed an abstract, yet effective depiction of hell.  The abstract quality of the faces within the painting also made it relatively simple to relate to the figures.  Whereas the other paintings and works of art within the exhibition portrayed darker-faced figures of Caribbean descent toiling in the fields, this painting displayed creatures that did not look human at all.  Yet the irony of the situation lies in the fact that I was able to identity with these unidentifiable creatures more easily since they could have represented the common man—anyone with darkness in their lives, or something they had an innate fear of.  This abstract quality is exactly what enticed me to look at the painting, despite all of the other visual stimuli with a more diverse, colorful palette prevalent within the very same room of the exhibition.

Overall, the experience at El Museo Del Barrio opened my eyes to a completely new culture and diverse history that I had previously had very limited knowledge on.  Although I have come to learn more about the emphasis of plantation life on the people’s morale, I have much left to learn.  The trip to the exhibition promoted not only a greater appreciation for the arts in my own life, but also sparked a hunger within me to learn more about other cultures and become a more multifaceted individual that can embrace diversity and appreciate innovative knowledge.