In honor and in the spirit of the upcoming Brooklyn Artists Ball at the Brooklyn Museum I paid a visit to Wangechi Mutu’s exhibition, A Fantastic Journey. Upon entering Mutu’s fully immersive environmental installation I am transported into her world. Mutu was born in Nairobi, Kenya and lives and works in Brooklyn. Her work is reflective of this remove from her source and seems to be a sorting out of all the issues that have surrounded her such as gender, race, war, colonization, globalization, and the eroticization of the black female body. What results is visually ravishing. My favorite works are her collage, which join unlike and discordant elements into a fractious and electric harmony. Such as her 2003 diptych entitled Yo Mama, inspired by a Nigerian political activist whose native form is clad in a mica-flecked unitard as she nails the head of a snake with her stiletto heel, all in the midst of a pink desert. Adding another veil through which to view her works is a multipart suspended structure of black garbage bag balls enveloped in and dangling from gold thread. This is the beauty of Mutu’s work; at one moment light and whimsical while closer examination reveals unexpected and slightly jarring details. I chose this multi-layered silk organza dress by Erdem from the lovely local Brooklyn boutique Pink Label. Also, I am very excited to be a Dance Party Host this year for the Brooklyn Artists Ball on the evening of April 16th. For those of you who can, I would love for you to Join Me in celebrating and supporting the borough’s dazzling artistic community.
Erdem dress, Alexander Wang heels, Eddie Borgo bracelets
The Brooklyn Museum, Wangechi Mutu: A Fantastic Journey
Clothing and Jewelry by Pink Label Boutique, Hair by Cosma De Marinis, Photographs by Tylor Hou
Brooklyn Artists Ball, April 16th, tickets here