It has been persistently following an agenda, which is now out in the open.
Read below (also at the AGM's website here) the extraordinary statement, made publicly on the AGM's website, on the exhibition Unmasked now on display (which is a "satellite" exhibition coordinated with the Mississauga Central Library, across the City Centre grounds, a short five minute walk from the AGM). Below that, I will quote from Tau Lewis' writing, one of the artists presenting in this exhibition, and how she has assimilated the AGM's very language which was designed to lure her into projects such as "Unmasked," a language that the AGM has become an expert in constructing, with words and phrases such as "European colonialism" and "appropriated" (and of course many other similar words and phrases.) The European "colonizers," according to the AGM, continue their nefarious behavior of appropriating the works of their (former) colonies, "bringing great wealth and status to [white] artists and institutions who did so." By exhibiting works by Tau Lewis and other non-white artists, the AGM's mostly white managers and administrators are on a mission of re-appropriating those stolen goods and ideas back to their owners.
Here is the full statement on the AGM's webste on Unmasked :
The contemporary artists presented within this exhibition have responded to selected works held within the AGM’s Permanent Collection, and work to reclaim agency over their representations. They aim to expand upon and subvert a dialogue that was so rigidly enforced and perpetuated by problematic historical images, aesthetics and politics.And here is a one line quote from the exhibition's notes which succinctly presents the AGM's worldview:
For over a century people of colour, and the cultural objects they have created, have been positioned as a tool by western artists to convey a more “simple” and “pure” culture. These peoples and their aesthetics have been romanticized and even fetishized in an attempt to indicate an idealized independence from the problems that plagued “civilized societies” — while their own cultures were being annihilated under European colonialism.
The aesthetic of art produced within colonized nations has been and continues to be appropriated and misrepresented to further these ideas — o, while the works of Black artists have historically been plundered and relegated to the vitrines of natural history museums. Even in Canada, the history of collections and collecting practices is fraught with violence and erasure.
This exhibition aims to bring to light the fact that not only do these attitudes still persist, they are maintained literally and symbolically within galleries and museums. The AGM commits to unmasking these harmful and persistent ideologies, and to highlighting alternative voices in order to actively decolonize the Permanent Art Collection.
For over a century people of colour, and the cultural objects they have created, have been positioned as a tool by western artists to convey a more “simple” and “pure” culture.
The figure above is a mask from Tau Lewis' collections. Lewis is presenting her works at the exhibition Unmasked.
The mask is not carved or sculpted, but a profile of the artist's face through a simple and common (but unpleasant) method used by sculptors usually for mock-up masks, or for entertainment such and masked balls. Similar structures can be constructed of the whole body or parts of the body such as a hand.
Below are images from Lewis' videos showing her technique.
And from this, a mask is formed which the artist then decorates according to her designs:
A photograph of the mask sells for $800 at this site!
The irony (or hypocrisy) here of course is that the exhibition is opening up a "safe place" where "non-western art" will not be "exploited" by western artists, and can resume its "authentic" primitive voice, which according to the AGM's notes is
...to convey a more “simple” and “pure” culture.Since when, in our contemporary art world, have non-whites ever made to feel threatened or exploited? The bigger, nefarious, purpose is to dislocate and disband white and Western artists through attack words like "appropriation" and "colonization" in order that they are intimidated and made to feel guilty, and spend their precious energy, time and talent giving credence to mediocre Third World artists like Lewis.
The other irony (hypocrisy) of course is that Lewis would never be making such "art," nor would she have such a profile at institutions like the AGM, if white artists, white cultural leaders, and the white AGM troupe didn't give her such a "space" to present her work, but as long as she channels back to her heredity and race, and manages to instill some guilt inducing material into her works to pulling at the strings of her white Canadians with her primitive,“simple” and “pure” tribal art.
But who wants sophistication if one gets something "pure?"
Looking at Lewis' work, it is clear that she has fallen into the trap of the contemporary artist (no matter who the artist is - black/white/Asian/male/female/gay/transgender) and she explains this lucidly and "proudly." (I've added my own notes as commentary):
A self-taught [Note: almost all artists now loudly declare that they are self-taught. This isn't some grandiose declaration, but a rejection of centuries of western art and western methods] sculptor, Lewis combines natural and synthetic materials to create simulations of living things. She considers the history and symbolism of each material, exploring the political [Note: political now s a loaded word to mean discrimination and even in some cases racism as experienced by the artist from the "white" culture under which he (she) works) There s never any valid or substantial demonstration of that accusation by the artists] boundaries of nature, identity [Note: "identity" means racial identity, and can be expressed only by non-whites. Whites have been expressing their "identity" for centuries, and more recently at at the "discriminated" expense of blacks and other non-whites.] and authenticity. Her work is bodily and organic, with an explicit strangeness and subtle morbidity [Note: This is not specific to black/non-western artists, but a new and disturbing trend (more disturbing than false accusation of racism) is the appearance of alien forces - alien god-heads - in contemporary art. This is a serous rejection of God and a willing introduction of Satanic/Evil forces. These artists have NO idea what they're delving into]. Her current practice relies heavily on her surrounding environment; she constructs sculptural portraits using found objects, repurposed materials and live plants sourced from urban and rural landscapes [Note: I.e. she works with material she never "created."]. She connects these acts of repurposing and collecting with diasporic experience and black bodies. Her portraits are recuperative gestures that counter persistent tendencies to erase or peripheralize black artists and narratives within Canadian art and history.These irresponsible and callous "cultural representatives" are short-changing young people like Lewis, who may have some talent as a plaster mask creator for theaters and entertainment projects (e.g. masked balls), and dug her into a hole where posterity will not be kind towards her.
Lewis has exhibited at the Art Gallery of Ontario, the Spring Break Art Fair in New York and New Museum, New York. She has received support from Toronto Arts Council and Ontario Arts Council [Note: The various Canadian governmental bodes distribute huge sums of money to mediocre and even talentless non-white artists who are bold enough to present their art through a "racialized" commentary. The purpose of these funds is to support non-white and non-Western (and non-Christian) artists and bring then out into the mainstream society. This way, Canadian art will be inundated by such art (which would otherwise remain n obscure corners of ethnic organizations) and the (white) public can be pushed into thinking of art as something which is/was hijacked by white society to the detriment of non-whites.]. Recent and forthcoming exhibition sites include: Night Gallery, Los Angeles, USA; COOPER COLE, Art Gallery of York University, Toronto, Oakville Galleries, Toronto, and Plug In ICA, Winnipeg.
One day, it will be "racialized" communities which will rise in mutiny against the AGM and its coven of artist "representatives."
But there is an underlying spiritual theme to all art. Lewis, who has rejected Western art, which still has at its historical base Christianity (however much modernists have rejected that), is delving into her own spiritual base and core. This piece below, on her Instagram page, shows the horned head of Lucifer. And an astute commentor tells her so approvingly:
