As its 25th anniversary celebration reaches a high point this weekend with special galas and a rare performance by Philip Glass, the Menil Collection has mounted a new exhibit aimed at exploring the changing meanings of love in today's interconnected global society.
Along with concurrent shows — running at Centre for Contemporary Art in Lagos and St. Louis' Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts — The Progress of Love is a three-part exhibition examining how media, technology and free markets are affecting notions of love in Africa.
Through the work of more the 20 artists from Africa, Europe and the U.S., the Menil's portion of the project concentrates on what it's calling "systems of love," the modes and symbols used to reflect anything from friendship to romance to patriotism.
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Zanele Muholi, Miss D’vine II, courtesy of Stevenson, Cape Town and Johannesburg.
During a preview tour on Tuesday, co-curator Kristina Van Dyke, who also directs the Pulitzer Foundation, highlighted an installation by Nigerian-British artist Yinka Shonibare as the genesis of Progress of Love.
"Shonibare reworks other historical paintings by dressing up these mannequins in African textiles. It helped me to see how African and Western notions of love are implicated and intertwined for several important centuries."
The piece on view, she explained, was based on French painter Jean-Honoré Fragonard's The Swing, a work made as European culture flourished amidst rampant colonial tensions and African slave trading.
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Yinka Shonibare, MBE, The Swing (after Fragonard), courtesy of the artist, Stephen Friedman Gallery, London, James Cohan Galley, New York/Shanghai and Tate Modern, London.
While the notions of love may be somewhat cryptic at times, Progress of Love offers a unique opportunity to see strong pieces by leading contemporary artists like Lyle Ashton Harris (right) and Lynette Yiadom-Boakye alongside vintage work from Mozambican photojournalist Ricardo Rangel and acclaimed South African photographer David Goldblatt.
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Lyle Ashton Harris, Untitled (Green Field), 1/10, courtesy of the artist and CRG Gallery, New York.
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Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, Marble, courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York, collection of Richard Ekstract.
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David Goldblatt, Richard and Marina Maponya, Dube, Soweto, Johannesburg, January 1972, Courtesy of David Goldblatt and Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg.
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Ricardo Rangel, The Three Marias, Casablanca Bar, Courtesy of Afronova Gallery.
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Mary Ellen Carroll, Me Like Blacks.
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Samule Fosso, Untitled, from the series Mémoire d’un ami (Memory of a Friend).
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Zwelethu Mthethwa, Untitled, from the series Interiors, courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York.
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Zanele Muholi, Miss D’vine IV, courtesy of Stevenson, Cape Town and Johannesburg.
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Toyin Odutola, Orlando (Self-Reflection II), Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York.
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Kelechi Amadi-Obi, Queen Amina 2.
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Kendell Geers, Ritual Slip (iJogolo) VI, courtesy of the artist and Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg.
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Billie Zangewa, The Inquisition, private collection, Paris.
