Art Exhibit Depicts Black-on-Black Carnage
Described as a visual call to action, artist James Pate shines a disturbing light on the countless number of individuals who lost their lives to gun violence in African American communities via a moving exhibition titled Kin Killin Kin--on display at the DuSable Museum of African History, 740 East 56th St., through Nov. 2013.
“I had serious blues behind it from the time I started this exhibit in 2000,” said Pate who created the collection of oil paintings, charcoal drawings, newspaper clippings, video testimonials and a chain-link memorial fence. “I took a page from what a blues singer would do to help me flush it (the anguish) out much like a blues singer would do to make himself feel better.”
Curated by Willis Bing Davis, Pate’s exhibit is a personal protest against the “insidious” acts of violence--a visual comparison of Black-on-Black terrorism to Ku Klux Klan terrorism
“It often is said that we (African Americans) in a “strange fruit” kind of way, are doing the business of the KKK with Black-on-Black violence, Pate wrote in his introduction to the exhibit. “I was moved to use art as a means to illustrate this sentiment, complete with brothers in pointed hoods, in the hood. Every piece that I complete is also my way of accepting responsibility as a member and team player in my community. Every piece is a moment of silence and dedication to all the people who have to deal with our losses.”
The artist hopes that troubled youth, young adults, drug traffickers and gang members who feel hopeless will see the provocative images such as Turn of Endearment, a brightly colored oil painting that depicts a young man gradually turning away from a life of crime, and will be inspired to do the same thing.
“This project is worth every stroke if one child can be moved to look forward to gaining skills that can, not only provide a means for healthy survival, but also self-expression,” Pate said. “I placed historical imagery in some of the compositions with the hope that an adolescent would feel a real sense of their bloodline connection beyond their own parents and grandparents. As an artist, my fuel tank is always full just by realizing that I am part of a lineage that designed and built ancient Egypt.”
Pate feels that if Jacob Lawrence can create a series of works depicting the South to North migration of the American Negro, then he could and should chronicle this “violent” period in African American history when ‘Kin Killed Kin.’
“My exhibit asks the question, ‘what happened between then and now?’”
“There is no doubt in my hope, that this wound will heal,” Pate expressed. “But until that day, I will channel as much of my creative resources as I can for the purpose of influencing change.”
Pate grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio but currently resides in Dayton, Ohio, and has two teenage children.
Pate’s original collection was purchased by Arthur Primas.
“He’s allowing us to continue to exhibit the original collection as long as we want,” Pate said. “Right now, we’re scheduled to continue exhibiting the originals through 2015. After that we’ll use the originals selectively to display at various locations throughout the country and will include schools and hopefully prisons. Some museums want to use the exhibit as outreach to bring youth in. The objective of the exhibit is to help youth and perpetrators, pause and reflect on how they can make a positive contribution.”
When asked about reactions to the exhibit, Raymond Ward, DuSable Museum spokesperson said, “Everyone thinks it’s great and something that is needed.
As part of the interactive portion of the exhibit, visitors can write the name of someone close to them who was lost to gun violence and tie it on the chain link-fence memorial part of the exhibit.
South Siders Valencia King and Phyllis Brown visited the Museum and exhibit last Thursday.
“I just tied, three tags on the memorial fence in memory of three male friends who were shot,” King said. “I didn’t know about the exhibit until we walked down here. It’s pretty awesome in light of what’s happening.”
Brown said, “Part of the problem with all the violence is that we’ve lost our since of religion and our values. People turned away from God. During the Civil Rights Movement, Black people were strong; now, nobody teaches morals. The mothers are young and so are the grandmothers. I love the Black male youth and would go up to them and tell them so. They would look at me and say ‘thank you for that.’”
Ward said tags on the memorial fence grew from three that were tied there as an example of how to use it when the exhibit first opened, to the thousands that have been tied as real memorials there since.
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