Table Of ContentTHERE'S AN ABSTRACTION THAT HAPPENS IN THE CITY WHICH INTERESTS
ME. SIMULTANEOUS SHIFTS IN CULTURE AND MEANING WHEN YOU HAVE THE
MEXICAN TAQUERIA NEXT TO THE BLACK WIG SHOP ACROSS THE STREET
FROM THE VIETNAMESE NAIL SALON.
YOU CANNOT STEP INTO THE SAME RIVER TWICE. FOR FRES
n 1493, on Columbus's second voyage, the Spanish explorerJuan Ponce de
Leon came totheAmericas. In a series ofvoyages from his home port ofSan
Juan, PuertoRico, hediscovered the Bahamasand Florida. Basedon hisdiscov-
eries, SpainclaimedalloftheterritorysouthofVirginiatoKeyWest, andwest
totheMississippi.ThedrivingforcebehindmuchofdeLeon'sexplorationswas
his obsessionwith tales ofthe Fountain ofYouth.This mythical fountainwas
reputed to flow with water that cured illness and granted eternal youth.
Perhaps equally important to both the explorer and his king, it was also
rumoredtositamidstatreasureofgoldand silver.
MarkBradford'scommissionedinstallationinthegalleryoftheWhitney
MuseumatAltria, VeryPowerfulLords, was inspired bya letterwritten byJuan
Ponce de Leon in 1521 in which he implores the King ofSpain to continue
fundinghisexplorations.Theconquistador'squestforyouth, beauty,territory,
andwealth providedBradfordwithatapestryofideasaptlyrelatedtocontem-
porarysociety, given the persistence ofthese myths and the perpetuation of
thesedesires.Consistingofalarge-scaledwall paintingandseveralsculptures
madeofmanipulated foundobjects, theexhibition brings togetherculturally
diverse notions ofritual with Eurocentricemblems ofyouth and pulchritude
as manifestedthrough systems ofpowerandcommerce.
Forthisinstallation,Bradford'smaterialsaredrawn largelyfromproducts
and services designed to make one look or feel good via artificial enhance-
ment—permanent press hair papers, signage promising the transformative
potentialofconsumerproducts, linoleum flooringand checkered mats lifted
from standard salon decor, bottled water, and the promotion ofnature as a
spiritual means to transcend the burdens ofculture. Bradford has used our
culture'sdrivingdesireforpermanentyouthandbeauty(acknowledgingthat
in contemporary Western culture, one must have youth or the appearance
ofyouth tobe considered beautiful) as the central anchorto his installation.
He investigatescultural systems ofpower, hierarchy, and control, both ofthe
past andthe present.
Bradford's paintings recall formal aspects ofmodernism while being
grounded in the urban materials ofhis Los Angeles community, a synthesis
ofart historical concerns and popular black aesthetics. His previous work,
drawnmorecloselyfromhisexperienceasasalon stylist, centeredon investi-
gations ofethnicity, beautyand artifice, and ritual and process. His signature
painting process incorporates layers ofsinged permanent press end papers
with synthetic polymerorcellophane hairdyes tocreate translucent washes
ofcolor.The final paintings recall the investigationsofthegrid characteristic
ofmodernist painting, such as that ofAgnes Martin (whose work the artist
oftenspecificallyreferences intitles suchasPressin'Agnes, andOnaClearDay,I
CanUsuallySeeAlltheWaytoWatts), but invigoratedwith socioculturalcontent.
Abstraction, for Bradford, becomes a semiotic
vehicletointroduceanambiguous interpretation
ofraceandethnicity.Whilethepoliticalissuesof
African-American hair have been extensively
treated in contemporaryart ofthe pastdecade,
with hair functioning as a material stand-in
for issues of racial representation, Bradford
pushes the synecdoche a step further. Byfocus-
ing on the processes andrituals associatedwith
his community, the artist both celebrates and
questions culturally determined stereotypes
which, however, simultaneously provide the
venue to express increasinglyhybrid manifesta-
tionsbasedonthose definitions.
In Bradford's earlierworks (left), his mate-
rial sources and the textured, slightly scarred
surface ofthe paintings suggestedatype ofskin.
The work functions as a substitute for physical
subjectivity, a presence-in-absence resembling
the strategy ofearly-nineties artists' use ofthe
painterlymark, text, orrepresentational synec-
doche to address issues ofcorporeality and the
OnaClearDay,ICan body. Inthe more recentpaintings, however, the elegant spatialdepth ofhis
UsuallySeeAlltheWayto delicate, jittery grids has become increasingly interrupted by found-object
Watts,2001(detail). — —
Mixedmediaoncanvas, elements print media such as magazine images orpostertext thatdisrupt
72x84in.(182.9x the purity ofthe painted surface and fix his works more firmly to specific
213.4cm).Collection
materialconnotations.
ofNinahandMichael
Lynne;courtesy Bradford's engagementwiththeaestheticofa specificpartoftheblack
Lombard-FreidFine urban community also reflects his exploration ofclass and trade structures
Arts,NewYork
within neighborhoods dominated historicallyby specific ethnicities. "Until
Pressin'Agnes,2002. about 1950, CentralAvenue andthe southeast partofthe citywere the only
Permanentwaveend
papersandsynthetic places blacks, and, forthatmatter, Mexicans couldlive," he explains:
polymeronwall,95x Tliehousingcovenantsstartedliftingandthemiddleclassfled tothenorthern
145in.(241.3x368.3 and western parts ofthe city. The urban population became imbalanced.
cm).Collectionof
theartist;courtesy With the absence oftheprofessional class, the dope man and the "gangsta"
SusanVielmetterLA. became the norm, as did out and out violence on any male who was "sissy"
Projects,LosAngeles
orother. Thedepartureofthemiddleclassholdsalotofhistoricalimportance
because they became entrenched in a new integrated model that was
morepalatable to the mainstream white society, and inner-citystyle went
virtually unnoticed until the entertainmentindustrytapped the commercial
potentialof"gangsta"rap. Gangstarapmadeeverybodypayattentiontoinner-
city style, ifonly as a new sitefor colonization. But inner-city style has
always been here, the skeleton in the closet now worth some money, but
still hardly official orrespected. I use the aesthetic ofsoutheastLosAngeles
to highlight that region and all it carries, not in a romantic sense but
to explicate its tenacity and complexity. A hybridityfrom within a kind
ofboundedness.2
L
—
In the Whitney exhibition, the large multipanel painting, The Devil Is
BeatingHisWife(2003), which occupies thegallery's back wall, functions as the
visualanchorofthe installation's multimedia elements.This newwall piece is
—
Bradford's first which usesentirely"non-art" materials the permanent press
end papers, inexpensive fabricdye, and layersoffound advertising posters and
other local signage. Bradford's paintings have become increasingly scaled to
the architectural environment; movingaway from paintingas an object, his
current work more closelyoccupies the realm of mural. Issues ofcommerce,
advertising, and material specificityare increasingly present in the mural, as
Bradford more explicitlyaddresses his external environment.
Signage in particular plays a more prominent role in the painting's
layered construction. While sustained viewing reveals the presence ofsuch
collage elements in his earlierwork, here they take on a more active compo-
sitional presence. The painting is built up in visible layers, each remaining in
traces ofcolororthe physical thickness ofthe panel edges as the new layeris
applied.Theeffectofthis layeringrecallstheaccumulationofposters andads
one often encounters on city streets, where a poster fora new rap artist lies
beneath a beauty product ad, which in turn is covered by a sales announce-
ment for the nearby liquor store. This process functions both as a formal
device to achieve visual depth in the work, and also references Bradford's
commitmenttoatrulyhybrid notionofexistence, thatessentialdefinitions
particularly racial orethnic
—
definitions are no longer
useful or accurate, if they
ever were. The artwork
encourages a rearticulated
understandingbetweenone-
selfand others, not a happy
fusion of difference, but
rather an insistence on the
inextricable intersection of
allaspects ofidentity.
The palette of the
work's most visible layers
movesawayfromthe silvery
blues, pinks,andyellowsthat
characterized the shimmering surfaces ofBradford's earlier works, though TheDevilIsBeatingHis
like the posters peeking through, the blues and greens ofthe earlier layers Wife.2003(installation
view).Permanentwave
(drawn from the palette of Monet's Water Lilies series) make appearances endpapers,billboard
throughout. On the final layer, the translucent blacks and neon yellow remnants,andstencils.
aredrawn from the familiarmaterials ofpolicebarriersandconstruction sites 11x20ft.(3.4x6.1m).
Collectionoftheartist;
one often sees in a cityscape. The title refers to a black folk saying that courtesyLombard-Freid
describes the simultaneous occurrence ofrain and sunshine. Buildingon the FineArts.NewYork
multivalence ofmaterial associations he is drawn to throughout his work.
Bradford invokes the idea that media assume different meanings based on
theircontext. "Thesignage in the hood isabout somethingthat isabandoned."
Bradford explains.
The barricades thatgo up around burnt-out buildings, some ofwhich are
still not rebuiltfrom the 1992 riots. You learn quickly walking by these
urban abstractions that within the walls ofthose abandoned buildings lie
5
accumulatedstories, half-forgottenbutretaininganenergy-in-waiting. White,
upperclass, n—eighborhoods, ontheotherhand, usuallyputupbarricadesaround
potentiality renovation, new construction, that kind ofthing. Money is
comingin; thosesame barricadesinsome black neighborhoods are all about
moneydonegone.3
The painting's layers function as a kind ofurban archaeology, each
stratumevokingamomentinthehistoryofthelocalcommunitywhilesimul-
taneouslyaddressingtherealityofamoreglobalhistorybuiltuponthe layers
ofitspast,evenwhenapparentlycloakingorobliteratingthem. Describingthe
"ongoing erasure and rewriting of ownership that flows in the 'hood,"
Bradfordreenactsthe "constantcollisionofsigns" thatcharacterizesthefluid
economies among culturally hybrid communities in relationship to larger
trade models ofacapitalistsystem.
Questioning commerce, a displaywall ofshelves lined with blue and
clear water bottles glow and sparkle seductively, their curved contours
unmarredbylabels andtheirsuggestivelyanthropomorphic forms enhanced
with glimmering silver necklaces, champagne tags specially inscribed
"Welcome." EntitledWaterLilies (2003), theworkelaborates on the conflation
ofdesire and commerce, its structure derived from the perfectly arranged
shelves ofa drugstore orcosmetics shop. The product saturationcharacteris-
tic ofcapitalism is designed to entice the customer, not with the material
—
object,butratherwithitsconceptualpromise thepossibilityofachievingthe
always-elusive perfection ofyouth and beauty. Again, Bradford engages the
viewerintheactualityofourworld, buttroubles the neatconsumerencapsu-
lation that commodity transactions equal beauty and satisfaction. The late-
twentieth-centurycrazeforbottledwatermightinfactbeseenasourupdated
version ofbeliefin water's transformative properties: recalling everything
fromthe physicalbenefits ofthe FountainofYouth andthe Baths ofVichyto
culturally diverse examples ofthe spiritual healing power ofsacred springs
andwells rangingfrom ancient Greek orHindu rituals and NativeAmerican
rites to Christianbaptism. Usingthe actualwaterbottles one canbuyatany
deli or drugstore, Bradford has transformed the products lining the shelves
intoajewellikecompositionofblue-shadedtransparencies, humorouslytitled
afterMonet'sfamous seriesdepicting theGivernygardens(itselfanartificially
transformed natural landscape).As partofBradford's largerendeavorinVery
Powerful Lords, WaterLilies plays with the boundaries ofnature and culture,
a waterfall ofinexpensive plastic products promising access to purity and
beauty, butofferingonlybanality.
The shiny black linoleum covering the gallery floor is punctuated
with checkered, hemispherical salon mats, reinforcingthe constructionas a
stylized, artificial landscape. Streaks ofneonyellowfromthe paintingreflect
in its surface as ifon a body ofwater, while the mats double as floating lily
pads. Bradfordcreatesatotalenvironmentfortheviewertoenter,butonethat
moves fluidly between inside and outside, reality and artifice, universal
spirituality and local materiality. The central three-dimensional form, Two
Faced (2003), is a structurallygeometricwoodenframe onwhich Bradford has
mountedaslick, sharptowerofidenticalmirroredlightboxes, eachdepicting
the same idyllic natural landscape. Formally, the work recalls elements of
Minimalist sculpture with its clean, mute form that theatricallyengages the
viewerwith its physicalpresence in space. TwoFaced's serialconstructionand
6
repetitionofforms also recalls minimalist strategies, particularly in Bradford's
use ofindustrially produced objects. However, the light boxes are preexisting
found objects, an updated Duchampian gesture thai questions ideas of< Kiss
andaesthetics.These kitschy, decorative objects might be found, forexample,
in inexpensive Asian restaurants, and tend to be associated with popular.
ratherthan refined, taste.Thetransformationengenderedbytheirplacement WaterLilies,2003
in the gallery rests on their function as a kind ofart form, questioning the (installationview).
Water,plasticwater
relationship of class (as a complicated weave of ethnicity, education, and bottles,champagne
economics) and concurrentexpectations oftaste. tags,andplastic
The image of a perfectly imagined waterfall, rocks, trees, and blue shelving,dimensions
variable.Collection
skyis backlit and motorized to suggest endless cascading, accompanied by its oftheartist;courtesy
"natural" soundtrack of moving water and chirping birds. Its attempts to Lombard-FreidFine
Arts.NewYork
re-createthenaturalworldactuallydistances it from reality.The manufactured
artificialityofeach light box functionstosignifythe ideaofnature, ratherthan
depict it in actuality. The dissonance between reality and artifice is not an
opposition perse, but rathera vacillatingcoexistence in which one may take
prominence at different moments. This dissonance is echoed in the boxes*
sound. Bradford has manipulated the mechanism within the boxes so that
each misses a beat now and then, creating syncopated music. This slightly
disjunctive soundtrack and the blurring ofsound clarity resulting from the
cacophonous layering ofmultiple light boxes short-circuits the notion ofan
equivalence between their pictorial surfaces and the true existence ofthe
Utopian world theydepict.
Though the light box images are Utopian oases in which all human
presence has been carefully excluded. Bradford's structure emphasizes the
7
inevitableegotisminherentintheseconceptionsofnature. Becausetheimages
inthese lightboxes are framedbymirrored surfaces, one cannotengage the
piecewithoutone's reflectionliterallyframingthis artificialscene.Whilethe
mirror is clearly the locus of superficial obsessions with self-image as it
pertains tobeautyandyouth incontemporaryculture, italso recallswateras
the first reflective surface, the first means of understanding oneself as a
discrete physical identity in the world, yet always one troubled by ideas of
—
separation from self. The Greek myth of Narcissus, in fact in which the
protagonistwas socaptivatedbythebeautyofhisownreflection(perceivedas
—
anotherperson) thathewastedawayatwater's edge is the original mirror-
stage as defined by philosopher Jacques Lacan. The reflection provides an
external image thatgives rise to the mental representation ofan individual
self,butalsoestablishes this entityasfundamentallydependentuponexternal
objects. Isolating subjectivity in relationship to one's own recognition of
perception "from the outside" establishes an interesting metaphor for the
inside/outside simultaneityofBradford's sculpture,whichpersists throughout
—
the installation the salonflooras a reflectingpool, the glitteringbottles as
waterfall, andthe streetposterashighart.
—
The idealized landscape portrayed inthese lightboxes untouchedby
—
culture orbyhuman hands onlyunderscores the artificialityofdesire fora
perfect, spirituallypurenaturalworld. LiketheFountainofYouth, thisnotion
ofnatureexists onlyas aculturalconstruction.Yet,thecinematicprogression
ofrepeated imagery in the stacked boxes builds an aesthetically evocative
atmosphere, while the glowingblue light haloingthe structure and its strik-
ingphysical presence maintain the seductive possibilities ofthis mythicfont
ofpurity, transformation, and peace that persist in contemporary society.
Despitetheinconsistenciesinthisoppositionbetweennatureandculture,the
desire to engage with a "purer" mode ofexistence manifests itselftoday in
paradoxes such as the environment-destroyingSUV, advertised to challenge
raw roads and worlds it will never take on. As a sibling of the historical
impulse forexploration and conquest, contemporaryrepresentations ofthe
—
desire to reintegrate with nature gear-laden retreats to the woods, the
popularity of extreme traveling as a search for self, country houses in
—
unspoiled villages and rustic summer escapes are usually indicative ofa
system of power that privileges one culture or community over another.
Bradford's work also evokes the notion ofNature associated with the exoti-
—
cized Other an elevation ofand condescension to ethnic cultures regarded
as direct or primal, from the pure pastoral ofthe noble savage, to the Zen
garden ofthe spiritual Oriental.
Onanotherlevel, TwoFaced'swhimsicalevocationofanactualfountain
relatestothe notionofmaterialdesire permeatingthe installation. Fountains
can connote a kind of folly, a superstitious ritual of hopes turned into a
—
monetary exchange one throws a penny into the wateras a symbol ofthe
abstractwish, aless expensiveversionofofferingmaterial supplicationtothe
gods to ensure the fulfillmentofone's prayers. Above the sculpture, ropes of
pennies twist into the lighting track, drooping downjust into one's line of
vision, wishes thrown and frozen in their trajectory. Ambiguously present,
theyrecallthephrase "penniesfromheaven," immortalizedbyBingCrosbyin
asongdescribingthe necessarycoexistenceofgoodwithbad. Infact,thelyrics
explicitlyacknowledgeadependenceonexchangetoreturnthepositivefrom
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