{"id":19319,"date":"2021-04-12T08:22:16","date_gmt":"2021-04-12T12:22:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/?p=19319"},"modified":"2021-04-12T08:23:20","modified_gmt":"2021-04-12T12:23:20","slug":"james-ari-montford","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/2021\/04\/12\/james-ari-montford\/","title":{"rendered":"James Ari Montford Envisions ‘Black Indians In Space’"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cAt every turn this country has the opportunity to do the right thing, they don\u2019t,\u201d James Ari Montford tells me. We talked recently about his exhibition \u201cIndigenous Voice\u201d at Howard Yezerski Gallery<\/a> in Boston from Feb. 17 to March 20, 2021. The gallery was filled with artworks digging into his Black and indigenous roots as well as the racism of the United States.<\/p>\n

The pieces included his \u201cBlack Indians in Space,\u201d mixed-media artworks combining imagery of astronauts and racist stereotypes. There were also computer laptops with keyboards altered to spell out \u201cGenocide,\u201d \u201cHolocaust\u201d and \u201cWer BIPOC.” On the floor in a corner was a folded pile of blankets meant to evoke blankets with which smallpox spread from European colonists to Native Americans, and above the blankets a text that was an amalgam of racist myths. \u201cThey all underscore the indigenous experience I\u2019ve had in my life,\u201d Montford says.<\/p>\n

Montford, who lives in Boston and Providence, will be one of the speakers\u2014with L\u2019Merchie Frazier, Edmund Barry Gaither, Dell M. Hamilton, Jon Henry and Nafis White\u2014at the online \u201cArt & Racial Justice\u201d symposium from Bridgewater State University<\/a> on Monday, April 12, at 6 p.m.<\/p>\n

\"by<\/a>
by James Ari Montford. (Howard Yezerski Gallery)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u2018Black Indians in Space\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

Montford says his \u201cBlack Indians in Space\u201d artworks speak of \u201cPeople of color in the next realm and the next life.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we get to Mars, how many Black people are going to be standing there on Mars?\u201d Montford asks. \u201cThat\u2019s the reality of how we are going to be represented in space?\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cBlack Indians in Space: It\u2019s a measure of the impossible. It\u2019s not going to happen,\u201d Montford says.<\/p>\n

\"by<\/a>
by James Ari Montford. (Howard Yezerski Gallery)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The mixed-media artworks picture figures in spacesuits floating in black voids\u2014the faces range from Montford\u2019s own to sports mascots to \u201cBlack stereotype images.\u201d Montford is working larger than his previous works\u2014at around 3 feet by 4 feet. \u201cBlackness is also what these pieces are about\u2014the vast scale. \u2026 That black, just a deep, rich black.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m definitely connected to it all by the notion of being a cyborg,\u201d Montford says, referring to the satellite-connected pacemaker he had put in during an emergency operation last fall to aid his heart. \u201cI\u2019ve lived longer than my Black body can sustain.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cStress levels are just incredible,\u201d Montford says. \u201cPTSD\u2014Post-Traumatic Slavery Disorder. I live it. That\u2019s the reality. \u2026 Because of PTSD, Post-Traumatic Slavery Disorder, I\u2019m physically impacted by issues and system racism and stress, all these issues that are present in Black life. And this Black body is the result of that. \u2026 Without health insurance I\u2019d be dead.\u201d<\/p>\n

\""Enunciation"<\/a>
“Enunciation” by James Ari Montford. (Howard Yezerski Gallery)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI\u2019m somebody who attended a Klan rally with [artist] Barkley Hendricks in the 1980s and that changed my life\u2014in terms of racism and it being endemic in the culture,\u201d Montford says. It makes him continue to wonder: \u201cAt some point, will there be a race war? That\u2019s a real question.\u201d<\/p>\n

The coronavirus pandemic, the police murder of George Floyd, and the Black Lives Matter protests that took place internationally in response \u201chasn\u2019t impacted me in a way other folks might relate to. In part because everyday is a struggle. I\u2019m fearful of being stopped by police every time I leave the house, every day. That might be more powerful to me than the pandemic.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI grew up fearful as a kid of that whole Emmett Till situation,\u201d referring to the racist murder of an African American 14-year-old in Mississippi in 1955. \u201cWhat I\u2019ve seen is it hasn\u2019t changed. \u2026 Will this man who killed George Floyd be acquitted? Will he serve some time? That shouldn\u2019t even be a question.\u201d<\/p>\n

\""Not<\/a>
“Not My Color” by James Ari Montford. (Howard Yezerski Gallery)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u2018Not My Color\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cNot My Color,\u201d a set of crayons in which the one labeled \u201cflesh\u201d is caucasian pink, was inspired by testosterone patches Montford was prescribed by his doctor some years back. \u201cI open it up and it\u2019s pink, it\u2019s \u2018flesh\u2019 color. Oh, my God, I can\u2019t put this on my body,\u201d Montford says. \u201cThese folks making these decisions sitting around corporate tables, they don\u2019t think it had to be Black and brown because they don\u2019t have insurance.\u201d<\/p>\n

Previously:<\/strong> James Montford\u2019s \u2018Post-Traumatic Slavery Disorder\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

If this is the kind of coverage of arts, nature, cultures and activisms you appreciate, please support Wonderland by contributing to Wonderland on Patreon<\/a>. And sign up for our free, (hopefully) weekly newsletter<\/a> so that you don’t miss any of our reporting. (All content \u00a9Greg Cook 2021 or the respective creators.)<\/em><\/p>\n

\n
\"James<\/a>
James Ari Montford’s 2021 \u201cIndigenous Voice” exhibition at Howard Yezerski Gallery.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"by<\/a>
by James Ari Montford. (Howard Yezerski Gallery)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"James<\/a>
James Ari Montford’s 2021 \u201cIndigenous Voice” exhibition at Howard Yezerski Gallery.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"by<\/a>
by James Ari Montford. (Howard Yezerski Gallery)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"by<\/a>
by James Ari Montford. (Howard Yezerski Gallery)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"James<\/a>
James Ari Montford’s 2021 \u201cIndigenous Voice” exhibition at Howard Yezerski Gallery.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\""Indigenous<\/a>
“Indigenous Trauma,” by James Ari Montford, 2021. (Howard Yezerski Gallery)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cAt every turn this country has the opportunity to do the right thing, they don\u2019t,\u201d James Ari Montford tells me. We talked recently about his exhibition \u201cIndigenous Voice\u201d at Howard Yezerski Gallery in Boston from Feb. 17 to March 20, 2021. The gallery was filled with artworks digging into his Black and indigenous roots as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19305,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[100],"tags":[552,849],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19319"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19319"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19319\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19329,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19319\/revisions\/19329"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19305"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19319"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19319"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19319"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}