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When the Children Come Home to Philadelphia
Curated by Monique Long, the show is a reflection of how the city has informed Cruz’s visual language and embraces systems of belonging and homecomings. The scope, in part, expands upon a decade-long dialogue and friendship between Long and the artist, who grew up mere blocks from each other in North Philly but only met in New York.
“That conversation evolved into talking about the ways in which we're born and raised, you know, affects the way we make and how we make,” shares Long. “ When the ICA approached me and invited me to do this project, I did have a lot of ideas, but to work with David Antonio, in our hometown, seemed like the obvious choice, and neither of us had worked in Philadelphia. So it just seemed like a proper homecoming, and in a way to sort of see the ideas manifest in a project together.”
Together, Long and Cruz have created an exhibition that speaks to the artist’s ongoing commitment to community, home and joy. Monumental portraits for which Cruz is best known, offer an extensive representation of highlights and landmark moments in his career. Signifying an importation transformation in the artist’s practice, Puerto Rican Pieta 2006 is concurrently one of the first and last pieces encountered in the exhibition. The painting reinterprets Catholic iconography with tender yet forceful imagery of him and his mother. Intimacy and profound love take shape in details like their intertwined hands over Cruz’s heart and the way their clothing blends into each other.
Decadent chandeliers, custom wallpaper and bespoke fabric hold space for the “Project Room.” Cruz conceptualized the beginning of the exhibition as a passage to pause and reflect through the layers of his work. There’s a sense of performance in the decor, the walls are topographical in their nods to the northern parts of the city, shadows echo throughout, and interplay with the displayed works. There lies an affectionate oil on canvas of Cruz and his childhood best friend. Conversations unfold between his art and his personal history in Philadelphia.
“I find this moment becomes about celebrating with them as much as it is about my work,” shares Cruz.
Queer peers are depicted alongside their chosen families. Cruz paints an extension of their worlds, nesting his subjects in furniture created to hold and support. In thinking about the support systems that hold him up, the artist sought to create art as a historical marker. He documents community making visible queer worldbuilding and people of color in art historical canons that historically excluded them.
“It's almost a thank you to the community in a way for that support in that sense of survival.”
When The Children Come Home will be on view through December 17, 2023.
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At Strada's New Hub, the Body Is Center Stage
Strada’s commitment to disrupting the art ecosystem through inclusivity and fresh talent was readily on-view. The slate of artists at “Embodies Spaces” reads like a masterclass of unique narrative-building and audacious creative drive.
Drawing from a rich tapestry of disciplines, the works delve into the philosophical, sociological, and cultural dimensions of the body. They breathe life into the perception of how our shared physicality molds our communal understanding.
Part one of the exhibition features pieces from New York-based designer, Tia Adeola, as well as works from renowned artists Qualeasha Wood, Milo Davis, Augustina Wang, Obi Agwam, and Thomias L. Radin. Details regarding part two of the exhibition will be released soon, but expect more of an emphasis on architecture rather than versus the bodily study of the first edition.
The backdrop of the exhibition launch was the bright, new space that Strada will be calling its permanent home. The goal of building a brick-and-mortar hub is grounded in the continued growth of the group’s art ecosystem.
“We loved the idea of having frequent monthly exhibitions, more time to prepare them and to have them exist in the community. I’m eternally grateful for the pop-up exhibition model we were doing, because it taught us the value of space and how to take advantage of it” chief curator Paul Hill said.
Soaring 20-foot ceilings (in hefty square-footage for a downtown gallery) create an intriguing cocktail of possibilities. At this event alone, substantial glass panels were suspended in the air with grace. Although works were not necessarily cohesive from an aesthetic standpoint, the breadth of space allowed each work to come through in impact and clarity.
A new gallery and exhibition series seemingly aren’t enough for Strada – the team is also looking into how they can disrupt the worlds of art news and auctions through in-house channels built on the unique energy of the collective. Expect more art presentations, more pop-ups, more hanging fixtures (?), and more of the unexpected from the group this fall.
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Nude Beyond the Naked
Hujar encountered various creatives in his life – Andy Warhol, Susan Sontag, and Nan Goldin to name a few – forming a luscious constellation of close friends and cultivating a genuine reputation. Despite his starry social circles – who frequented not only The Factory, but also Hujar’s cheap loft above the Eden Theatre – the artist never really earned a living. He even washed his laundry in his sink. Described as handsome, flamboyant, promiscuous – not glamorous – he wasn’t particularly interested in what seemed to appeal to his peers. For the majority of his life he declined commercial jobs and hung up on art dealers.
While Mapplethorpe transformed his subjects' personalities into performances, his characters into costumes, Hujar stripped them of these signifiers. His documentation transcended nudity, surpassing flesh and bones and uncovering the true nature of his subjects, qualities typically invisible to the eye. His photographs enacted a realm in which the soul could likely be heard whispering, aching to break free of its corporeal form.
Conceivably, the relevant question to ask is, "Why not then, but now?" Schultz suggests that, "A whole generation of younger artists is looking to Hujar for inspiration right now, ... artists across the spectrum who are interested in the questions of intimacy and desire, espcially as they relate to queer culture." In her introduction to Hujar's only book, Sontag cautions that photography “converts the whole world into a cemetery,” a nod to Roland Barthes conceptual explorations of the art form in Camera Lucida. Perhaps then, Sontag's ghosts are destined to rise from the dead – to find new life in a generation defined by an insatiable search for individuality balanced with a desperate need for collective understanding.
" ... Hujar captured the essence of a community in a way no one else did. You can really hear the echoes of Hujar’s world reverberating from his photographs. There is an immediacy to the work that is arresting, a penetrating quality where his subjects feel as if they’ve been summoned from the past into the present moment."
The show at 125 Newbury covers two lesser-known aspects of Hujar's work, "almost classical images of people posing for the camera in Hujar's studio ... and photographs of the piers on Manhattan's far West Side," an epicenter for the queer cruising scene at the time. His lens pierces a territory of emotional uncomfortability that arrests his audience – frozen between the paradox of vulgarity and vulnerability. He expressed once that he wanted two graves, one for his body, and one for his work. Don't show up to 125 Newbury expecting his body, but anticipate finding his soul through his body of work.
Peter Hujar: Echoes is open until October 28, 2023.
