Constructing an Identity at the Montclair Museum

How does one construct an identity? It happens with life experience that one goes through that  makes us who we are as individuals. Artist construct their identity through symbolic and/or metaphorical representation. At the Montclair Museum, over 90 different pieces of art generally showcases what that means. I was drawn to artist such as Dulce Pinzón, Sonia Benjamin, Barbara Kruger, Jeffery Gibson, and Fahamu Pecou. Not all of the artist’s works are the same, however, they do share a similar concept of “American Identity.” 

Ducle Pinzón, Bernabe Mendez (Spiderman), 2007

Throughout the semester, we focused on self-identity. We dove deep into issues such as patriarchy, ethnicity, social class, stereotypes, and the look/gaze in artist’s work. In Pinzón’s piece, Bernabe Mendez (Spiderman), 2007, it surrounds the idea of cultural identity. Her subject Bernabe Mendez is her definition of an everyday superhero. Bernabe is dressed in a Spiderman costume as he is scaling the wall doing his job which is cleaning windows. It is a comparison to  the comic book superhero. The comic book hero climbs building in the city as well. This piece is not much of an ethnic issue, however it does call out to the working class. Berger classifies this the best. He claims, “Images were made to conjure up the appearances of something that was absent. Gradually it became evident that an image could outlast what it represented; it then showed how something or somebody had once looked—and thus by implication how the subject had once been seen by other people.” (Berger pg 10) With Pinzón’s piece, she wants us to see how she is representing real-life superheroes. 

Ben Jones, Juxtaposition #11, 1989

We also discussed mannerism and how it effects social class throughout the semester as well. In Ben Jones’ piece, Juxtapositions #11, 1989, His piece is part of a series that tells a story of two different people as they both contrast in society. It’s about wealthy woman donning a mink coat as she walks past a homeless person in rags lying on the pavement in front of a Lord and Taylor. In our readings, The Art of Self Invention, Joanne Finkelstein discussed, “Since the fifteenth century across Europe treaties on social rules have been largely concerned with the control of natural body functions, the appetites and emotions. They have warned their readers about the likely experience of embarrassment and disgust when the controls over the natural body are transgressed. They suggest ways of avoiding such discomforts by commending specific habits, for instance, that individuals not set or scratch their private parts or eat noisily in public. Being well mannered and socially adept enables the individual to avoid being a joke and minimize the risk of humiliations or schadenfreude.” (Finkelstein pg 78) Jones’ piece put us in place with what he saw. The geometric shapes and patterns that are proper and clean show us the woman in the mink coat, while the second panel that is a cluster of many lines represent the homeless person. He gives us a perspective of the social difference coming from a person “outside looking in.”

Sonia Benjamin,
Directions on How To Wear an Indian-Jewish Sari,
2005

Siona Benjamin’s Directions on How to Wear an Indian-Jewish Sari, 2005, is another piece that deals with cultural identity as well as mannerism. Being an Israel Jew from India, her piece are not conflicting with two identities. However I see it as combining two cultures into one, creating her own identity. The mannerism of the piece is depicted through the cultural aspect and on how the traditions of her culture dictate on how she should present herself. Finkelstein states, “The socially adept individual must be intelligent, alert, even-tempred, educated and physically graceful. Such an individual would be ideally be open but not shallow, honest without being earnest, and appear to be completely without guile, while not appearing to be naïve. Knowing how to behave towards others has be an articulated concern for hundreds of years and a great deal rests on possessing the correct manners. An individual’s reputation and opportunities for advancement are affected by their delivery of a good public performance.” (Finkelstein pg 79)

Barbara Kruger, Untitled (Seeing through you), 2004-05

In Barbara Kruger’s piece, Untitled (Seeing through you), 2004-05, we see a woman inside of a distinctive red frame. The question being asked is if the woman in the picture is seeing through us, or we are seeing through her. The holes in the also very distinctive in the placement. They are around her lips, eyes, and nose. They are mostly on her lips. I feel as if our subject is encased in the red frame while stare through her and she stares through us. 

Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, What is an American, 2003

Jaune Quick-to-See Smith’s piece, What is an American, 2003, is a very compelling piece that questions social classes of America. In the piece, Smith uses Native American culture and compares it to today’s culture. Smith utilizes a drawing of Native American clothing as the subject, however the repetition of today’s society of generating profit, Disney, and fitting the image pops out in the background.