Left: Katrina Andry, The Weeping Willows’ Contrived Posture, (2019). Color reduction woodcut. Right: Colin Quashie, Rose Colored, (2018–19). Digital collage.
The work of Katrina Andry probes the power structures of race-based stereotypes using printmaking and installation in Over There and Here are Me and Me. She creates visceral images that beckon viewers to examine their own preconceived notions of society. For her exhibition at the Halsey Institute, Andry explores the stereotypes that engender gentrification and the negative effects of stereotypes on the lives of Black people and how these stereotypes give rise to biased laws and ideologies in our society. As Charleston’s neighborhoods are rapidly changing in multifarious ways, this exhibition provides a springboard for community-wide conversations on gentrification. Her large prints confront the viewer with these derogatory cultural clichés. The figures in the prints represent those who are targeted by racist characterizations. However, Andry specifically uses non-minority figures in this role to illustrate the fact that stereotypes are unjustly perpetuated.
Colin Quashie creates images that comment on contemporary racial stereotypes. In his latest series, called Linked, Quashie combines historical relics and artifacts with icons from past and present popular culture to sharply critique the way people of color are portrayed in modern visual culture. Using his signature caustic wit, he blends images to allow viewers to more fully explore how images of African Americans and Black culture are constructed today. In Gabriel, Quashie tweaks an image of Louie Armstrong, updating his signature trumpet with a set of slave shackles. Similarly, in Rose Colored, he shows Harriet Tubman donning a pair of rose-colored glasses, referencing the abolitionist’s view of slaveholders, for whom she still held a level of empathy.
Katrina Andry: Over There and Here are Me and Me and Colin Quashie: Linked are on view at the Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art (161 Calhoun Street, Charleston, South Carolina) from August 23 – December 7, 2019.
