"Thick as Mud" deserves a closer look
A short review of "Thick as Mud" - now showing at the Henry - (as well as an even shorter review of the "new to me" Burke Museum).
But First - A Stop at the Burke Museum
I recently had reason to travel to Seattle, Washington - specifically the Burke Museum of Natural History on the University of Washington campus, my alma mater. While there I took the opportunity to tour the newly reimagined (well, 2018, but “new” to me) museum which houses a refreshingly modern display of art and artifacts from regional and global Indigenous cultures as well as impressively updated natural history displays. It was a far cry from the tiny museum I remembered from my college years (in the late 1980s).
With working labs you can see into, one-of-a-kind objects all around you, and galleries filled with curiosity and conversation, at the Burke, you see—and feel—a world alive…. [focused] on dinosaurs, fossils, Northwest Native art, plant and animal collections, and cultural pieces from across the globe. ~ (Burkemuseum.org/about)
The working labs were one of the highlights for me, as well as installations designed to open discussion about the rightful ownership of artifacts. (I specifically enjoyed a display showcasing totem poles commissioned from contemporary artists - master Tlingit carver Nathan Jackson and his son Stephen Jackson. The new poles hold space to tell the story of the Kaatz House totem poles that the museum returned to their place of origin (with a full explanation of the dual nature of this form of reparation). While not the largest nor smallest museum I’ve visited in my life, I was impressed with the work they’ve done to highlight and repair current relationships with various indigenous cultures while showcasing the art and traditions practiced today and relative to the past. I would highly recommend a visit to the museum if you are in the area. However, not being of Native American descent myself, I hope my portrayal of the museum is accurate and I welcome any corrections. I am certainly encouraged by their Equity and Inclusion Statement, part of which reads:
Diversity, equity, and inclusion have the power to heal. These values are a way to help repair damage done to communities by a colonial model of museums that for decades privileged collections, preservation, and research over cultural autonomy and community survival.
The Burke has committed to decolonization as a key institutional priority, and across the museum we now work as facilitators and stewards, not as gatekeepers and designated authorities; we are learning to step back and allow the relationship between community and collections to be primary.
“Thick as Mud” at the Henry Art Gallery - now through May 7, 2023
As long as I was on campus, I decided to wander around a bit and visit some of my old haunts from my art school days - one of which being the Henry Art Gallery.
As the front desk attendant was explaining that entry was by donation (very apologetically since part of the gallery was off-display), I was expecting to be modestly engaged during a quick stroll through. Much to my surprise, however, I found the exhibit of 8 artists (Dineo Seshee Bopape, Diedrick Brackens, Ali Cherri, Christine Howard Sandoval, Candice Lin, Rose B. Simpson, Eve Tagny, and Sasha Wortzel) to be striking in their approaches, content, and context. Maybe it was because I had just stepped out of the Burke before entering these halls, but their explorations of people and place “across multiple geographies and a range of aesthetic approaches” struck me with their poetic and poignant methods of interaction with their audience.
I was especially drawn to the piece “Master Harmoniser (ile aye, moya, là, ndokh)” - a Digital animation video from 2021 by contemporary multimedia artist Dineo Seshee Bopape.
From the Institute for Contemporary Art:
[The] title calls to the elements: earth, wind, fire, and water…summoned in various languages from West and Southern Africa…. By transforming soil samples from Virginia, Louisiana, Senegal, Ghana, and South Africa into material for sculpture and video, Bopape highlights the connectedness of the disparate places—historically and materially. She forges harmonic conversations with ancestral pasts, presences, and futures.
At the Henry, this piece was installed within its own room and as I stepped into the environment I was grabbed by the jarring reverberations of stone against stone while words I didn’t understand were spoken and displayed. I felt a deeply grinding tension building as I was immersed in unexpected sounds juxtaposed with visuals of a person slowly stepping across a clay-formed landscape overlayed with unknown markings and interjected with movement created in stop-motion type film cuts. And yet, despite my overwhelmed senses, I was pulled metaphysically into an environment that was both foreign and somehow familiar, gentle yet brutally powerful. The artist held me in this complex and uncomfortable moment - willing me to see and feel each passing step.
While this work by South Africa-based artist Dineo Seshee Bopape held my attention the longest (still causing me to pause and reflect on it more than a week later, and surely longer) all eight artists contributed to a powerful show - including Los Angeles-based artist and poet, Diedrick Brackens, with these lasting last words on display which also pulled me deeper into the show:
they forget my restless body broken,
and instead imagine flight, stardust,
lakes on fire, mathematics. some know
they all return to me, that heaven
is a muddy riverbed.
(last stanza from Diedrick Brackens poem, “I fed my husband my ears and fled.”)
I honestly can’t say that I remember any of the shows I have seen at the Henry in the past. (Granted, I’ve only stopped by a few times since I graduated during passing trips through Seattle). I’m sure there have been many notable shows over the years and maybe even ones I saw that caused me to pause as this show did. But I suspect the work of these artists will stay with me much longer than any prior show given the extent to which I’ve returned to the artist and Henry websites to learn more and the amount of time I’ve spent reflecting on their impact.
The Henry didn’t need another exhibit to engage me. With “Thick as Mud” I fully felt the transformative potential of art that is powered by incredible artists displayed together in this thoughtful presentation.
From Henryart.org
Across the artworks, mud becomes an agent of time and transformation and a medium of decomposition and creation. As such, Thick as Mud tracks the afterlives of violence against people and the environment while also evoking the potential for regeneration. The exhibition is an invitation to ask what lives in the mud and to reconnect with the possibilities that this material holds.
If you are in the Seattle area, I hope you have a chance to see the show!
~ Jennifer
(updated 3/20/23 to correct typos and add photo and article summary notes)
Article Notes and Sources
Artist Mentions: Nathan Jackson, master Tlingit carver, and Stephen Jackson - learn more at (washington.edu); Dineo Seshee Bopape, Diedrick Brackens, Ali Cherri, Christine Howard Sandoval, Candice Lin, Rose B. Simpson, Eve Tagny, and Sasha Wortzel (8 artists from “Thick as Mud”)
Art Mentions: “Master Harmoniser (ile aye, moya, là, ndokh)” - a Digital animation video by contemporary multimedia artist Dineo Seshee Bopape; Diedrick Brackens poem, “I fed my husband my ears and fled.” (published at fourwayreview.com)
Resources: Burke Museum of Natural History; Henry Art Gallery; Institute of Contemporary Art