Even though the titles such as "Kin XX (Be my knife)" address injustice, the individuality and humanity within the subject's faces is a profound challenge to any easy categorization of the works. As Quashie notes, the viewer is compelled to ask -- who is or was that woman or man? A viewer cannot reflect upon the institution of slavery without regard for its individualized impact upon families, communities, and black lives. By constantly being provoked to ask such questions, the viewer is forced to acknowledge the personal nature of human experience, even when human beings are caught in a larger political world.
Q3. On one hand, it is very difficult to remove race from the consideration of the Lovell exhibit, given the stress put on race in the essays addressing Lovell's works attached to the exhibit and the presentation of the exhibit itself. Given that black artists still remain underrepresented in American art history, particularly artists whose...
Pictures of the artifacts of slavery and the race of the subjects bring the issue of race to the forefront.
Yet, evaluating the output of any black artist also challenges the ability of the viewer to 'unsee' race, particularly if he or she has grown up within the American discourse of race. Lovell's works are profoundly unique portraits of individuals whose names and histories have been wiped away by the obliterating legacy of slavery. These imagined individuals are not faceless representatives of a black collective, but are treated with as much detail and honor as any portrait of a 'named' person of the period. Lovell's work references a historical period that is particular to the black experience, but the subject's pictorial biography cannot be limited to that of the experience of slavery and their race.
