OLD GOLD AND BLACK REVIEWER
As the fifth installment in the series by the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Arts, Artists in the Community presented renowned southern artist Willie Birch. Native to New Orleans, Birch came to Winston-Salem to help fourth, fifth and sixth graders in Forsyth County public schools create works of art which will be exhibited throughout the city in upcoming months.
By bringing together artists and the people of Winston-Salem, SECCA created the Artists in the Community project to draw focus to all aspects of life in the city.
Birch's trip to Winston has resulted in a series of placards created by the elementary students that will be placed on Winston-Salem buses for a period of three months beginning in December.
In addition, Birch has put together an exhibit of his work which is currently on display at SECCA. This compilation of recent compositions gives unique and valuable insights into the experiences of the artist, as well as illustrating his hopes and fears for the rest of the world.
On display at SECCA are both acrylic paintings by Birch as well as mixed media sculpture. They are unified through one common theme: identity.
Much of the work is autobiographical, telling the story of his childhood in New Orleans. He focuses on the great influences of his life: family, religion and jazz, and how they are interrelated.
The creations are very telling. One repetitious theme is the decoration of clothing with words and items.
This represents the people who would have possessed them. The normally superficial shrouds become, in themselves, guides to the people who wore them.
These autobiographical pieces carry other weight as well. They seem to represent a world as it was, yet is no more.
Whether they have changed for better or for worse, Birch points to things which no longer exist. Some of these things should not have died while others may not be far enough in our past.
The theme of racism in America is evident throughout all of the work, and is the main focus of his contemporary pieces. The concept of African-Americans' seeking out an identity, as people in the face of a society produced through hundreds of years of ignorance and hatred, comes full to the front in his works.
Within this concept Birch deals with society, lost heritage, ignorant hatred and ignored heroes. The final sense of the exhibit is a questioning of origins, destinies, and, above all, hope.
It is appropriate that an artist who has spent so much time focus on the world around him should be brought into a project which seeks to bring art out into the open. The free expression of the project is perhaps the great hope. If people still dream the dreams, and have not lost their vision to pain, then maybe there is hope.
For the audience viewing his works there may be many interpretations. There is no one who can share Birch's unique vision of life. But when an individual is opened to the life of another, understanding is the inevitable result.
The current exhibit succeeds greatly in its ability to face the questions of everyday existence from which most people hide. The issues of family, religion, crime and racism are perennial.
What truly sets the exhibit apart is that, even though all of this is being said, the message is not set in stone. It is for the individual to discover within themselves. Nothing tells you what the artist is thinking, and nothing tells you what he hopes. The art makes you answer those questions for yourself.
Hope becomes change when people agree on the need. The only way for you to know if there is hope is to ask yourself if, and what, you believe. If you are offended by what you see, why? If you are ashamed of what you see, why? If you don't care about what you see, why not?