By Jaida Dent
On March 4, the Brooklyn College Art Gallery opened its doors for its newest installation. Curated by Professor Bentley Brown, the gallery presents two exhibitions: Deborah Willis’s “Saturation: Beauty in the Everyday” and Mason Webb’s “Sonic Saturation”.
“One thing I really want to do in curating [the exhibition], is create an exhibition that puts an artist from a previous generation in conversation with an artist from a younger generation […] I really like this pairing of two approaches that are totally different, but are focused on the same trajectory of feelings,” Brown told The Vanguard.
Having previously worked with both artists, Brown views these exhibitions as conversations between one other rather than two separate bodies of work. The exhibitions incorporate an array of mediums, which students can take away as a source of inspiration for both their art and where they can go in their careers.
“I want students to say, ‘I can, I’ve been, I have access to the highest level of art making and I can do that too’,” said Brown.
The first collection, Willis’ “Saturation: Beauty in the Everyday”, honors the photographer and curator who uses her work to document and highlight the beauty of the Black experience. She is also a professor and chair of the Department of Photography & Imaging at the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University (NYU).
“When we think of Black people, I want to show a broader narrative that we are, you know, as we struggle, we have fun, we have joy, we have beauty,” said Willis.
Saturation in art is seen as the vividness or intensity of a color. Willis’ work falls in line with this theme as she uses and manipulates saturation to enhance the stories told in her photography.
“Sundays in Harlem” gives a perspective of the Black experience through the lens of religion with the influence of American Poet and Playwright Langston Hughes’ fictional character, Jesse B. Semple, otherwise known as “Simple”. Hughes was a powerhouse in poetry and literature and rose to prominence by being at the forefront of the Harlem Renaissance, a movement of African American art during the 1920s and 30s.
Willis cites both Hughes and Semple as sources of inspiration for these photos, as documenting Sunday services allows her to “reconstruct an imagined past”. The works fall in theme with saturation as the eyes are drawn to white clothing worn by everyone photographed in contrast with the darkness of their skin or even the metallic glow of the instruments.
While the word saturation assumes colors of a bright intensity, it is also present in dull or muted shades. “Carrie at Euro Salon, Eatonville, Florida” may not be saturated in color, but rather in story. This collection creates a thread of connection between artist and photographer, Carrie Mae Weems, with Zora Neale Hurston, another prominent figure from the Harlem Renaissance.
Carrie is photographed in a beauty shop in the same town where Hurston grew up and would create her work. The usage of cool colors in the photos allows the attention to be placed on the entire piece, rather than a singular point. Willis combines an over-the-shoulder shot with the usage of mirrors to allow viewers to see Carrie’s reflection both up close and from a distance. The place provides and creates beauty, while also being beautiful in itself for being a place of community and safety for Black women.
“Mirrors are central to my work in terms of the idea of reflection and looking for not only self-approval, but also the idea of women embracing their own beauty is what I am thinking about,” said Willis.
The second collection is Webb’s “Sonic Saturation”. Webb is a multidisciplinary artist with roots in the fashion and music scene in Atlanta. Webb’s collection of work goes beyond a canvas and is seen on large steel structures, covered in colors created from paint and wax.
“I’m always thinking about saturation more in terms of the relationship to these different materials […] My scale of change is kind of playing with these different things and letting those resonate along the way not only by the choice of material itself but also with the marks that are being made,” said Webb.
Webb’s usage of “saturation” takes a literal approach as his utilization of different mediums brings the term to life. “Quaker” is a 96-inch long fluorescent light bulb dripping in wax. The colors of the wax can pop and create a vibrant glow on the wall behind it. Webb’s approach to saturation is magnified by the piece’s title and its reference to religion. Webb cites his experience and knowledge of religion as elements carried in his work and uses light as a means to recreate a spiritual setting.
“In Quaker religion, their church is like a big open area and then they have a skylight and that’s their meeting with God. [It creates] this kind of feeling of blessings and new chapters and those moments can have spiritual impact,” said Webb.
Saturation goes beyond what is seen, but also encompasses what is heard, as demonstrated in Webb’s “Tar One”. The piece consists of speaker equipment surrounded by stainless steel covered in text writing and paint. Webb’s exhibition was accompanied by music from Gwai Mak, an Atlanta and Los Angeles-based artist. The inclusion of music pays homage to Webb’s influences as well as providing a sensory experience for viewers.
The works displayed in both collections use saturation to make viewers consider what is important in an image or a piece of art. The pieces also harmonize together in a way that makes the viewers rethink concepts like religion and beauty through the eyes of artists from two different walks of life.
“Don’t be afraid to explore and don’t let everything feel too precious. As artists, you’re supposed to take chances and you’re supposed to go for things,” said Webb. “I just hope for young students here to see that you can go crazy, build huge things and push the limits of material itself.”
The exhibitions will be on view in the Art Gallery at 0400 Boylan Hall until April 1.