Manual / Issue 14 / Shadows

Manual, a journal about art and its making. Shadows. This anti-visibility is not the same as being invisible, rather it is the power to operate against systems of imperial domination, including the gaze. It asks: How do we force the gaze to surrender? What if explanation were off the table? By enabling a petit marronage that can be expressed in the visual and symbolic use of shadow, the gaze is challenged. This issue of Manual and the accompanying exhibition (opening at the RISD Museum Fall 2020) posit that the right to opacity de-burdens contemporary work by artists who identify as Black and/or queer and/or feminist and/or non-binary and/or OVER IT—whatever sociocultural constriction “it” signifies. Opacity extends to artists who are simply not interested in explaining themselves or offering the emotional labor that is expended for inclusion. This right says, “I have given enough.” It also legitimizes and reclaims the shadow as a place of refuge, instead of being a place from which to escape. –Anita N. Bateman The RISD Museum’s fourteenth issue of Manual shines a light on the shadow, centering the black body as a site of possibility, liberatory self-awareness, radical non-conformity, and joyful defiance. This issue serves as a companion to the exhibition Defying the Shadow. Manual 14: Shadows opens with an excerpt on the shadow from W. E. B. Du Bois’s The Souls of Black Folk, followed by an introduction by Dr. Anita N. Bateman, who elucidates: “Operating in the shadow comes with a legacy of resistance, both in spiritual and ideological forms.” Softcover, 108 pages. Published Fall/Winter 2020 by the RISD Museum. Manual 14 (Shadows) contributors include: Andrea Achi, Emanuel Admassu, Anita N. Bateman, Makeda Best, Gina Borromeo, Rashayla Marie Brown, Shuriya Davis, Akwaeke Emezi, Tayana Fincher, Melanee C. Harvey, Kate Irvin, Sade LaNay, Kelly Taylor Mitchell, Dominic Molon, Oluremi C. Onabanjo, Kevin Quashie, Matthew Shenoda, and Leslie Wilson. This issue complements the RISD Museum exhibition Defying the Shadow, curated by Dr. Anita N. Bateman.https://digitalcommons.risd.edu/risdmuseum_journals/1040/thumbnail.jp

"Supreme Being: The Symmetry of What You Saw and What You Say" Exhibition Brochure

This digital image was photographed and uploaded to DLynx by the Visual Resources Center in January, 2018.This is the brochure for Rashayla Marie Brown's exhibition "Supreme Being: The Symmetry of What You Saw and What You Say" exhibition. The exhibition opened on January 19 in the Clough Hanson gallery. RMB’s work explores the coercive foundation of systems of display found in the desire to communicate a clear, moral message across various cultural contexts. With text and subtitles in direct address to the viewer, the exhibition also reflects the distance between an object’s past meaning and personal meditation on its meaning in the present

"Supreme Being: The Symmetry of What You Saw and What You Say" Installation Image

This digital image was photographed and uploaded to DLynx by the Visual Resources Center in January, 2018.This is an image documenting the "Supreme Being: The Symmetry of What You Saw and What You Say" exhibition.Melding the aesthetics of kitsch (bourgeois realism) and communist art (social realism) with those of high art (museum design) and film, RMB’s work explores the coercive foundation of systems of display found in the desire to communicate a clear, moral message across various cultural contexts. With text and subtitles in direct address to the viewer, the exhibition also reflects the distance between an object’s past meaning and personal meditation on its meaning in the present. The opening was held in the Clough Hanson Gallery on January 19, 2018 from 5:00-7:00 pm

"Supreme Being: The Symmetry of What You Saw and What You Say" Installation Image

This digital image was photographed and uploaded to DLynx by the Visual Resources Center in January, 2018.This is an image documenting the "Supreme Being: The Symmetry of What You Saw and What You Say" exhibition.Melding the aesthetics of kitsch (bourgeois realism) and communist art (social realism) with those of high art (museum design) and film, RMB’s work explores the coercive foundation of systems of display found in the desire to communicate a clear, moral message across various cultural contexts. With text and subtitles in direct address to the viewer, the exhibition also reflects the distance between an object’s past meaning and personal meditation on its meaning in the present. The opening was held in the Clough Hanson Gallery on January 19, 2018 from 5:00-7:00 pm

"Supreme Being: The Symmetry of What You Saw and What You Say" Artist Talk Image

This digital image was photographed and uploaded to DLynx by the Visual Resources Center in January, 2018.This is an image of Rashayla Marie Brown's artist talk before her "Supreme Being: The Symmetry of What You Saw and What You Say" exhibition. The exhibition opened the next day on January 19 in the Clough Hanson gallery

"Supreme Being: The Symmetry of What You Saw and What You Say" Installation Image

This digital image was photographed and uploaded to DLynx by the Visual Resources Center in January, 2018.This is an image documenting the "Supreme Being: The Symmetry of What You Saw and What You Say" exhibition.Melding the aesthetics of kitsch (bourgeois realism) and communist art (social realism) with those of high art (museum design) and film, RMB’s work explores the coercive foundation of systems of display found in the desire to communicate a clear, moral message across various cultural contexts. With text and subtitles in direct address to the viewer, the exhibition also reflects the distance between an object’s past meaning and personal meditation on its meaning in the present. The opening was held in the Clough Hanson Gallery on January 19, 2018 from 5:00-7:00 pm

"Supreme Being: The Symmetry of What You Saw and What You Say" Artist Talk Image

This digital image was photographed and uploaded to DLynx by the Visual Resources Center in January, 2018.This is an image of Rashayla Marie Brown's artist talk before her "Supreme Being: The Symmetry of What You Saw and What You Say" exhibition. The exhibition opened the next day on January 19 in the Clough Hanson gallery

"Supreme Being: The Symmetry of What You Saw and What You Say" Official Installation Image

This digital image was photographed by Chip Pankey and uploaded to DLynx by the Visual Resources Center in February, 2018.This is an installation image of Rashayla Marie Brown's exhibition "Supreme Being: The Symmetry of What You Saw and What You Say". The exhibition description reads as such: "In an 'undisciplinary' installation, Rashayla Marie Brown (RMB) explores a diverse array of media including writing, photography, voiceover acting, and an installation of a makeshift red 'dark room,' school desks, red vinyl window coverings, and a red carpet. Melding the aesthetics of kitsch (bourgeois realism) and communist art (social realism) with those of high art (museum design) and film, RMB’s work explores the coercive foundation of systems of display found in the desire to communicate a clear, moral message across various cultural contexts". Lauded as a 2017 Artadia Awardee, artist-scholar Rashayla Marie Brown (RMB) manages a living studio practice across an extensive list of cultural production modes, including photography, performance, writing, drawing, installation, and video art. Pictured in this photo are the works "Your Future and Your past or a Young Brown Girl's hand in Front of Painting of a Young Brown Girl", "Beauty Supply Store", and "Supreme Being".The exhibition opened on January 19 in the Clough Hanson gallery

"Supreme Being: The Symmetry of What You Saw and What You Say" Official Installation Image

This digital image was photographed by Chip Pankey and uploaded to DLynx by the Visual Resources Center in February, 2018.This is an installation image of Rashayla Marie Brown's exhibition "Supreme Being: The Symmetry of What You Saw and What You Say". The exhibition description reads as such: "In an 'undisciplinary' installation, Rashayla Marie Brown (RMB) explores a diverse array of media including writing, photography, voiceover acting, and an installation of a makeshift red 'dark room,' school desks, red vinyl window coverings, and a red carpet. Melding the aesthetics of kitsch (bourgeois realism) and communist art (social realism) with those of high art (museum design) and film, RMB’s work explores the coercive foundation of systems of display found in the desire to communicate a clear, moral message across various cultural contexts". Lauded as a 2017 Artadia Awardee, artist-scholar Rashayla Marie Brown (RMB) manages a living studio practice across an extensive list of cultural production modes, including photography, performance, writing, drawing, installation, and video art. The exhibition opened on January 19 in the Clough Hanson gallery

"Supreme Being: The Symmetry of What You Saw and What You Say" Artist Talk Image

This digital image was photographed and uploaded to DLynx by the Visual Resources Center in January, 2018.This is an image of Rashayla Marie Brown's artist talk before her "Supreme Being: The Symmetry of What You Saw and What You Say" exhibition. The exhibition opened the next day on January 19 in the Clough Hanson gallery