“You Look Beautiful Like That” 10899
Wilshire Blvd. UCLA Hammer Museum Through May 5, 2002
The exhibit “You Look Beautiful like That,” features
two African portrait artists, Seydou Keïta and Malick
Sidibé, whose black and white photographs reveal the styles
and values of their communities.
These photographs have traveled from the community of Bamako,
the capital city of Mali, where both Sidibé and Keïta
resided and did business.
What makes Keïta and Sidibé’s photography so
intriguing is that it exposes the nature of its subjects. The
photographs reveal certain desires of the sitters, as each subject
has had a say in his or her own pose. For example, one man posed
with a sheep for no other reason than that he likes his
sheep. A few men appear standing next to motorcycles while
others are photographed with their wife or friends. Viewers
can see how both the photographer and the subject make their own
statements through this medium.
The expressions on each of the subjects is ultimately very
different and each is telling in its own way. The eyes brilliantly
reveal certain wants or needs and whether happy or serious, each
subject’s expression penetrates to the viewer.
The photographs of Keïta and Sidibé reveal a side of
the population that Western photographers might have neglected.
They are members of a community photographing those aspects of the
community that are not apparent to outsiders. Although many of
the differences between the photographs are subtle, the
sitter’s personal statement combined with the
photographer’s reaction to that statement make each portrait
engaging in its own distinct way.
Phoebe Bronstein
“Mirror Image” 10899 Wilshire Blvd. UCLA
Hammer Museum Through May 5, 2002
Looking at the mirror image of an artist may show a reflection,
but may reveal as little about his/her identity as any other
work.
This new exhibit called “Mirror Image” was created
to capture the way some artists have explored self-portraiture.
While the exhibit is meant to probe into the ambiguity surrounding
the line between accurate self-presentations and fictional
personas, the works simply make statements instead of providing
insight on the real or fantasy aspects of the artist’s
life.
In Christian Marclay’s “False Advertising”
(1994), he draws himself in a series of posters advertising
concerts for different types of music ““ including rock, folk,
jazz and classical. Although Marclay is a musician, he does not
play from any of the genres presented in the posters. And since he
looks so completely different in each poster, the viewer is left in
the dark as to Marclay’s true appearance. It is also known
that he presents this series more as a parody of the stereotypical
characteristics given to the musicians of the particular genres
instead of the creation of a mirror image.
Francisco de Goya’s self-portrait is more accurate,
providing viewers with a direct presentation of the curves of his
face and his dark emotions associated with much of his work.
However, this image is only a simple etching and was later known to
have the purpose of advertising his later works.
Artist Patty Chang had the most effective mirror image in the
exhibit. Chang creates a literal image of the constraints put on
her and possible limits she puts on herself. Viewers can become
familiar with the artist by interpreting the meaning she puts
behind the fitted suit and uncomfortable wire pulling at her
mouth.
Art lovers often become familiar with an artist’s
subjects, mood, technique, and even political views. However, the
curiosity about artists’ personal lives and how they view
themselves still remains dissatisfied despite the intentions of
this exhibit.
Sophia Whang