The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Surrealist back in the spotlight
Interest in art by minorities leads to High exhibit of modernist Lam.
The subject of a major retrospective opening today at the High Museum of Art, Wifredo Lam was multicultural before it was cool.
And now that multiculturalism is au courant, so, increasingly, is the work of this surrealist, whose place in the art-world firmament slipped to the margins after his 1982 death.
Organized by Boston College’s McMullen Museum of Art, “Wifredo Lam: Imagining New Worlds” draws more than 40 paintings, as well as a selection of drawings, prints and ephemera, from public and private collections across Europe, Latin America and the U.S.
It’s a deep dive into the multifaceted career of an artist who cut a singular path across the globe (calling Cuba, Spain, France and Italy home, sometimes more than once, with important encampments in Martinique and Haiti).
With a similar spirit of wanderlust, Lam moved through many of the 20th century’s art movements and engaged with some of the leading lights of his time, including Pablo Picasso, Andre Breton and Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
Born in Cuba to a Chinese father and a mother of African and Spanish descent, Lam seemed to take to internationalism as a birthright. But, because he’s not a household name on these shores, the exhibit presents a challenging “sell” to a largely unknowing public by the High.
Still, while Lam may not have the instant name recognition of, say, Cézanne, Degas and other modernist masters showcased in “Masterpieces of European Art from the Pearlman Collection,” the exhibit he replaced on the second floor of the museum’s Wieland Pavilion, his work is quickly gaining cachet.
Lam’s career also will be surveyed in a major European exhibition tour kicking off this fall at Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, before stops at
Lam
dancers in white appear stark against a black background stage set with a bench and seven ropes strung from opposing directions that are knotted at the center.
Dancers whip through turns; their hard-edged, angular forms recalling Keith Haring’s outlined figures that appeared on New York subway walls around the time the work was created. A man falls to his knees, spinning while a seated woman stiffly ignores him; later, women repeatedly throw themselves at men who catch them, but drop them indifferently, suggesting an emotional disconnect. The work has great dynamic impact; images combine with Anderson’s and Gabriel’s words to evocative effect.
“Odetta” is Rushing’s third work for the company. The ambitious undertaking drew an impressive array of individual performances from dancers, but could benefit from a bit more chiseling. Rush- ing’s biographical work in 10 sections largely avoids historical context, choosing simply to honor the artist and focus on her life journey using art to inspire social change.
Dante Baylor’s earthtoned costumes reflect the Folk revival’s “patchwork quilt” of cultural influences. As Odetta’s spirit and voice, Hope Boykin embodies the artist’s warmth, radiance and mobilizing power through a rich vocabulary of rhythmic strides, rocksolid extensions and fluid hip and shoulder isolations. Generous arm gestures beckon toward her audience.
Rachael McClaren and Marcus Willis show comic gifts in “There’s A Hole In The Bucket.” Standouts also include Kanji Segawa’s solo, “Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child” as well as Sarah Daley and Yannick Lebrun in “Cool Water.” But too often, group patterns are predictable and lack visual tension. The ballet was a crowd-pleaser on Thursday, nonetheless.
In the end, “Odetta” tries too hard to be uplifting without enough depth to be earth-shaking. There is room to dig deeper.
Odetta was a contemporary of Ailey; delving into her history seemed to breath new life into “Revelations.” Boykin led the opening “I Been ‘Buked” group with new found emotional intensity. McLaren warmly invited us to witness her baptismal transformation; the “Sinner Man” trio possessed stunning athleticism. Finally, “Rocka My Soul in the Bosom of Abraham” rang out a clear message that for Ailey artists, dance is religion and the stage moment is glorious.