Schomburg Teen Curator Justin Rodriguez writes about going on a field trip to the Lenfest Center for the Arts and getting inspired:

This month, Schomburg Teen Curators visited the Uptown exhibition at the Lenfest Center for the Arts in Harlem, New York. The Lenfest Center for the Arts will be the second building to open on the University’s Manhattanville campus. It is an arts venue designed for the presentation and creation of art across disciplines, providing a dynamic new space for Columbia University School of the Arts. It was a very enjoyable experience. Deborah Cullen-Moralis, the head curator of the exhibition, provided insight on what it’s like to curate and set up an exhibition. She explained how she decided which pieces would be included in the exhibition and their importance.

Upon entering the exhibition, I instantly noticed its variety. In the center, there are two large floral acrylic pieces by Reza Farkondeh. At first glance, the left side of the large portrait has very subtle colors, but then but then as I continued to look at it, I noticed that the colors became more vibrant below. It has subtle shades of greens and blues, with some yellow and pink spread throughout. When you look to the right, the colors become more prominent, much brighter and more interesting. The pinks and greens become the center of attention and begin to take the form of leaves. On top of the colored canvases is text, which ponders the status of women under increasingly extreme religious and societal pressures. On a separate wall to the left, there are sewn portraits of historical Greek figures and on the opposite wall lies black and white photographs from the years 1982-2017 by John Pinderhughes. This selection is from his long-spanning series “Harlem Portraits,” which features his friends and neighbors with whom he’s had long relationships, as well as inspirational figures. From acrylic portraits, to sewn portraits, to photographs, the exhibition offered extravagant variety.

The exhibition highlighted cultural disparity, featuring art from Ademola Olugebefola, Duhirwe Rushmeza, Reza Farkondeh, Maren Hassinger, Sanford Biggers, David Shrobe, Tomas Vu, and Michael Kelly Williams. Williams’s art (Opus, Revelation and Improvisation and The Ark of Saturn’s Seas) revolves around materials such as brass, metal, aluminum, and cloth. These were sculptures that represent his collage aesthetic, combining folk, African, and musical inspirations. It can be interpreted that his artwork comes from a personal vision, as music may have played a very important role in his art and life. His artwork is very different from Tomas Vu’s “Dark Side of the Moon,” which is made up of mixed media on four acrylic panels. His imagery draws from nature, art, bodily systems, celestial constellations and space exploration, combining all these elements to create new abstract work. His work was influenced by oppositional forces, such as destruction and recovery, chaos and clarity, human and decay. His work also focuses on the beauty of galactic space, which forms a wonderful masterpiece.  

 This trip was an absolute joy. Having produced the Unshackled Ink exhibition, I already had experience curating an exhibition. However, Cullen-Moralis gave us a much more in-depth explanation of why certain pieces made it into the exhibition and what they bring to the term “diversity.” The Uptown exhibition allowed me to experience art that I’ve honestly never seen before. It showed me so many different styles that I’m not accustomed to seeing, such as metal sculptures, newsprint sculptures, acrylic panels, sequins, and several different mediums. It was absolutely beautiful. Another piece that caught my eye was Sanford Biggers’s Witness. As your eye scrolls down to the bottom of the piece, you notice the ancient African sculptures in a much smaller form. This was created around the themes of identity, spirituality, and race. The work intentionally complicates perspectives on hip-hop, Buddhism, politics, identity, and art history. It also addresses police violence against black people in the United States. Bigger sought to engage audiences with topics from slavery to lynching to present-day police shootings. The sculptures and shadows of the men in the background highlight years of violence. I value the truths represented in this piece.