Students who normally walk past the Bryan Center's Brown Gallery without so much as a glance in, may now be enticed to turn off their iPods and enter. Characterized by vibrant color and enigmatic layered imagery, artist David Wilson's digital collages and assemblages are now on display in the new exhibition, Heavy Burden: Digital Collage Examination of African-American Forced Labor.
Wilson's art consists of pictures, overlaid with relevant historical documents and images, that chronicle various aspects of slavery.
"Each piece is a combination of seven to 10 different photographs, and some of my own work is incorporated," Wilson said.
The results are visually complex, photograph-like prints accented by washes of bright color.
"I start with archival resources, usually that I find online, that deal with slavery and reconstruction," the artist said. "And I take those photographs that are copyright free and that are very powerful, and I work them into a collage medium as if I were doing it on paper."
The exhibition also showcases Wilson's assemblages, which consist primarily of stacks of blocks that feature different images on each side.
"The assemblages are a new medium for me, so I can't say what's going on-they sprung to life on their own. I like hard angles and shapes in my work, and so working in 3-D, a block serves that purpose," Wilson said. "The blocks are great because each side is its own canvas. So when they're all together they make multiple images and multiple meanings."
The tone of the exhibition is didactic, with each collage accompanied by a note informing the viewer of the specific facts of slavery the piece is meant to address. The issues Wilson emphasizes range from the dehumanizing effect of slave auctions in "Heavy Burden VI: To Be Sold and Let" to the sometimes unacknowledged intricacies of the slave-master relationship in "Heavy Burden XII: Bella Domestic (House Servant)."
The majority of the works focus on portraits of slaves, juxtaposing the humanity of the figures with coldly impersonal historical documents. This instills past events with new emotional relevance. For example, in "Heavy Burden XVI: Cotton Moon (Up Before Daybreak)" the quiet solemnity of the female slave pictured commands the viewer's respect.
"The overall subject matter of slavery can help anyone who's interested to get an idea of how to endure and persevere and at the same time preserve your dignity," Wilson said.
The exhibition opened on Martin Luther King Jr. Day and will intentionally be displayed during the upcoming Black History Month.
"I wanted [the exhibition] around this period, and it worked well with the artist," said Beatrice Crosti, head of the Visual Arts Committee and manager of the Brown Gallery.
In addition to the relevance of the exhibition's content, Crosti chose to display Heavy Burden because Wilson's work is done in a unique medium that the gallery has not previously presented.
"I try to do a whole variety of exhibitions, and I try to use every kind of medium," she said.
The change of medium proves to be refreshing, and Wilson's work, with its significant content unconventionally displayed, manages to add some interesting color to the sometimes-monochromatic Brown gallery.
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