To celebrate and honor Martin Luther King Jr., the Ulrich Museum of Art selected pieces that represented his mission and work for a pop-up exhibit.
“They’re artists and collections of works that kind of speak to his political engagement and social activism,” said Taryn Trapani, the registrar and collections manager at Ulrich. “That was my theme to go off of. (I selected) Native (American) or Indigenous artists, Black artists, queer artists.”
King is well-known for his non-violent activism during the 1950s and ‘60s Civil Rights Movement. Through advocating and protesting, King pushed to end segregation based on race.
The pop-up exhibit was designed to make audiences and viewers reflect on how society continues to manage social and political issues that many face every day within the framework of King’s work.
Each piece in the exhibit was by an artist from an underrepresented community and deals with themes of politics and activism. Several mediums were employed throughout the exhibit, including photographs and paintings.
One of the pieces on display by Chinese artist Ai Weiwei was a COVID-19 mask with a surveillance camera drawn on it. It was titled “Surveillance, MASK.”
The exhibit also included pieces from the Gordon Parks Foundation, which works to preserve the photographs of Gordon Parks, a photojournalist who was known for photographing civil rights issues, poverty and African Americans.
Ulrich has curated pop-up exhibits in honor of King in the past. While the exhibit has since closed, Trapani said the museum plans to continue them in the future.
“We do it just to honor him because it’s important for us to honor underrepresented artists and communities as well,” Trapani said. “By showing these artists and giving them space and a spotlight, (we want to) make audiences reflect.”
