A new exhibit at the Museum of Latin American Art gathers local, individually diverse artists in an aptly titled show: “Who are you?”
The show features works of art that approach the topic of human identity in various ways, artists relayed their own unique experiences with their respective identities through sculpture, photography and mixed media.
One of the fourteen artists featured in “Who are you?” is Craig Stone, Program Director for the American Indian Studies department at Cal State Long Beach. According to Stone, many museums are making efforts to engage with their surrounding communities, and MOLAA is no different.
“They [museums] want to have more community engagement, so that the concepts [the community is] dealing with resonate all over the world,” Stone said. The exhibition pushes the audience to question conventional ideals of identity, whether they are rooted in beauty or sexuality or ethnicity, according to Stone.
CSULB Master of Arts student Kimberly Morris displayed art that questions the political nature of hair. Describing herself as a “multi-ethnic individual of Creole descent,” Morris’ work takes the conventionally feminine idea of hair and transforms it through her use of sculpture and photography. Morris portrays feminized hair as something defining in her identity as a mixed race woman.
“I am constantly in a space of racial ambiguity. I question: ‘what am I?’ which kind of fits into this exhibition—who are you? I like to play with that ambiguity and I like to turn it back on the viewer. For you [the viewer] to question yourself: is it important to know what I am? Is knowing my race more important than the fact that I exist as a human being?” Morris said.
“Who are you?” is being exhibited at the Museum of Latin American Art from Jan. 17 to March 13. Admission to the museum is free on Sundays, with a $7 standard charge for all students on any other day.