Latest Exhibits at the Bronx Museum of the Arts
Even if you never tire of Manhattan museums, and many don't, you should go out of your way to check out these 2 exhibits currently on display at Bronx Museum of the Arts. Making It Together: Women's Collaborative Art and Community explores the 1970s Feminist Art Movement when women artists worked collectively in new ways to engage communities and address social issues. Challenging the myth of the solo male artist through group identity, they created collaborative performances, women's co-ops, and inclusive community art projects. Check out activist art utilizing video and photo documentation as well as ephemera. Groups represented include Spiderwoman Theatre, a Native American collective that communicates native tradition and feminist issues through "storyweaving." Also on display are satiric posters created by the Guerilla Girls who challenge gender stereotypes and racial politics.
Photographer Jamel Shabazz with help from The Bronx Museum's Teen Council organized a small exhibit showcasing his highly acclaimed street culture photos. Shabazz's images not only document urban life but represent social activism. Born in Brooklyn, this former corrections officer gained acclaim for documenting the rise of hip-hop in the late 1970s and early 80s. Now his main mission is exposing inner city youth to the arts. His 1981 and 1982 photographs, Untitled (Two Boys: Sizzlin' Chicken) and Best Friends, from the museum's permanent collection, are a part of the exhibit.