‘I want to do projects that uplift the communities I belong to by using positive imagery. I want to cherish Black and Brown beauty, celebrate our heritage in a way that fights a system that establishes one-way of life and tells what and how things and people must be.’
Afro-Mexican artist Irene Reece about The Family Album as a Source for Activism
In the context of The Netherlands, where African American art has never had a dedicated solo show, I appreciate that the way the show was thought and how it is laid out responds to a rather didactic curatorial approach: the works are displayed in a loose chronological order, the wall-texts, although in Dutch, provide with a light contextual socio-political explanation of the time, they are accompanied by cultural artefacts that informed the visual arts and reinforced the mood of the time such as music, printed materials, and videos.
One of the reasons why I felt enthralled by the artwork is because the artist has mastered capturing the viewer’s eyes by forming fragmented black individuals that unapologetically return the gaze to the spectator. The artist is aware that ‘when working with black bodies, it becomes immediately political’, and in that sense the artist endeavours to force the observer into a dialogue.
Enthusiast of 24-karat gold or not, what is undeniable is that Lina Iris Viktor’s work provides with food for thought; she graciously interweaves complex aesthetics with conceptual and political commitment.
Spiritual practices, linked to masquerade inspire much of my approach to making and thinking through my research. I think my work is very much a mash up, a mash with masquerade and afro-futurism.