‘These Works Demand You to Confront Them’: How Artist Kevin Beasley Transforms Cotton Into Social Commentary

ARTNET NEWS
Production still from the Art21 “New York Close Up” film, “Kevin Beasley’s Raw Materials.” © Art21, Inc. 2019
As Kevin Beasley drove down the long, twisting driveway up to a farmhouse in Valentines, Virginia, for a family reunion back in 2011, he was just getting started on a journey that has finally culminated in a solo show at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York. What triggered the artist’s years-long project was encountering fields planted, as far as the eye could see, with cotton. The plant is more than just a crop. It has infiltrated every aspect of capitalism, social interaction, cultural history, and identity in America. When Beasley saw the white-tufted stalks, it was a moment of reckoning. [More]

Popular posts from this blog

Passing on Your Collection to Another Generation

Museum Calls Off Kehinde Wiley Show, Citing Assault Allegations

Was Jesus naked on the cross? Yes, according to Michelangelo, the Bible, and Roman customs