CURATOR’S FOREWORD

There are several areas of contemporary discourse—from social justice to mental health—in which the question often arises: “what does doing the work look like?” In this group exhibition, “the work” is both personal and collective, theoretical, and tangible. In conversation with The Kreeger Museum’s permanent collection of historic artworks, 2021-2023 Hamiltonian Fellow artists Kyrae Dawaun, Cecilia Kim, Ara Koh, Samera Paz, and Matthew Russo present contemporary photographs, sculptures, drawings, and videos that embody labor in various forms. In this exhibition, work serves as a path toward connection, expression, and transformation.

In Cecilia Kim’s PerformedLabor series, three videos evidence the artist’s preparation of traditional Korean dishes. Her face, along with most of her figure, are concealed behind an opaque black partition. In each video, her hands emerge from a round aperture and begin assembling the ingredients that rest within the foreground. The size of the ornate serving dishes, along with the mounds of small bites steadily stacking up within them, suggest this durational performance may be an effort of hospitality. Perhaps this anonymous female figure is preparing to host a group of loved ones? Could this series of domestic rituals be in anticipation of some sort of communal celebration, or might the special occasion be the act of gathering in itself?

The works that surround Kim’s video installation include Pablo Picasso’s iconic works At The Café (1901) and Fruit Bowl and Glasses (1943), as well as Paul Cezanne’s The Dark Blue Vase, III (c. 1880). These works and others that adorn the atrium gallery, formerly a sitting room, echo Performed Labor’s decorative aesthetic qualities and connect its compositions to the art historical still life. In conversation, paintings of vases filled with carefully arranged flowers and patterned bowls filled with sumptuous fruits highlight lasting motifs tied to gender and class. Traditions that tend to taste, sight, and smell—historically demarcated as “women’s domestic work”—are reflected upon as time spent and care given. Thus, the tedious work of preparing a beautiful meal is exalted as an intimate act of care spanning across generations.

Just around the corner, Samera Paz presents a sentimental, self-reflective take on the still life. With three photographs, she documents a slew of diaries, beauty products, and clothing. The spines and pages of each journal reveal signs of weathering over time, yellowing at the margins. Some of the words written are clearly legible, yet many of them are blurred, barely discernible markings that force the viewer into a struggle for clarity. Dates ranging from 2001 to 2013, along with an old portrait confirm the diaries to be documents of the artist’s adolescence. This radical act of shared introspection introduces a deep sense of vulnerability. Through this still life and other object studies, Paz uses her belongings to confront her past, and hold a mirror to her present self.

Though this image and Paz’s other photographs are hung in solitude, the contemplative gaze they embody is evoked in the warmth of the gallery space, largely occupied by floor to ceiling with bookshelves containing the Kreeger’s monumental collection of art books. In this meditative space of study, we are called to consider the work of bearing witness to oneself; assessing the possessions, people, and practices we choose to hold on to over time.

Reaching the end of the hallway, viewers are greeted by the unassuming beauty of Kyrae Dawaun’s a confluence toward an ill Delta. The sculpture, constructed with white oak, copper, limestone, and concrete, takes inspiration from both exterior landscapes, and the interior architecture of the museum. Its edges mimic the wood grain of the floor it rests on, meanwhile its powder blue, water-like surface dances with shadows; faint reflections resulting from the sunlight passing through trees just outside the gallery window. Its endpoint gives rise to the Delta, a pyramid of solid stone and nestled copper. These textures and colors find fellowship with David Urban’s Band of Hope (1996), which hangs within its sightline.

Geologically defined as a triangular landform created by the deposition of sediment, a delta is the result of things rushed downstream by one body of water and pulled into slowness by another. Walking along the pathway suggested by the sculptures L shape and catching glimpses of your own shadow, viewers are invited to contemplate the necessary work of taking pause and moving with intention. A confluence toward an ill Delta raises the question, what new formations and fortifications might slowness bring about?

Descending into the lower level, Ara Koh’s CoreSamples envelop the staircase landing. Thirteen sculptures of fired clay ranging from two, to nearly six feet tall spread across the floor space, commanding our close attention. Upon observation, the methodical nature of Koh’s clay building makes itself evident—every inch of each structure is filled with texture, traces of the artist’s hand. Rippling bands of earth tones encode the passage of time, resembling patterns of erosion found in canyons after centuries of effortless shapeshifting. The structures are staggered in a way that allows their folding into and behind one another. As the viewer moves around them, earthlike formations take shape, diverge, and vanish. This sculptural approach to landscape painting that is guided by feeling, color and form is perfectly complemented by the pure abstract expressionism of Clyfford Still’s Untitled (PH-440) (1964)—its jagged gestures seem to double the angular peaks of Koh’s CoreSamples.

Taking cues from this line of expressionism, Matthew Russo’s Practiced Play, Iterations #1-3 imbue a sense of experimentation and playfulness. Perched center floor in the contemporary gallery, Russo’s casted sculptures made of resin, foam, plastic, and cement bend and curve atop and around one another. Much like Sam Gilliam’s Cape (1969), the brightly colored works convey a spirit of effervescence. From a distance, their abstract forms become enmeshed within the geometric shapes of Frank Stella’s Flin-Flon XIII (1970). A few steps away, Russo’s Workplace Drawings #1-15 offer vignettes of a wandering mind. With each illustration, viewers glimpse into afternoon daydreams and are prompted to tease out the relationships between objects. Situated between representational and fictitious, Russo’s drawings and sculptures are fostered by deep rumination and childlike wonder.

Doing The Work champions the care and intention that helps us bring meaning to the work we do. Rather than focusing on end results, this group exhibition is evocative of progression, calling attention to the patience, play, and serendipity that occurs within periods of growth and development. It inspires a deeper consideration of the ways in which unseen processes shape our interior lives and inform our broader social landscape—how we assign value to our time, energy, and efforts. By placing these contemporary works in the context of the Kreeger’s permanent collection, two fundamental truths emerge at the fore; the work looks different for each of us and there is always more to be done.

Anisa Olufemi Fellowship Manager Hamiltonian Artists