The NCSML is finally open to the public! After a slower members-only week, the galleries began to fill up with regular summer crowds on Monday. It has been exciting to see the actual works of art my blog posts have covered, and it is equally as interesting to see the way visitors react to various pieces in the exhibit.
The next artist whose life I researched is jc lenochan. lenochan’s work focuses on racial injustice, a very topical theme for 2020. lenochan is the only artist featured in Artists as Activists who was born and raised in the US, and whose work focuses on issues in the US. Guests tend to have more questions and comments for me about lenochan’s work than any other artist featured in the exhibit.
lenochan’s art career transcends mediums and muses as it has developed into a mission to educate young people on topics of race, justice, psychology, and the art of listening through special workshops. raising a Riot was a project with New Jersey high schoolers in which students prepared performance pieces to critique their education system. lenochan’s work as a teacher-artist-activist was presented as part of Juvenile Justice Awareness Month in October 2015.
Beyond working with the community, lenochan has an extensive solo portfolio of mixed-media art. Street Players in the Killing Zone of White Mischief, a sculpture made of discarded books held together in concrete, is named for the books included. lenochan says this work symbolizes rewriting narratives; the concrete’s transformation from soft to hard shows how meanings of stories can change and become more relevant over time.
De-structuralism, an attempt of de-racing a society is a charcoal drawing of a water plant reimagined into machine that literally de-structures and de-races society. lenochan diagrams how people would enter the machine and, through a series of escalators, slides, and chambers, have their racism replaced with cultural awareness. The use of charcoal gives the feel of a blueprint, but also makes the idea look very experimental, showing that lenochan’s dream’s may be far-fetched or impossible.
Definition of post whiteness per request is a collage made of discarded books, strategically covered in concrete to make words. lenochan uses the term ‘post whiteness’ to describe a society without white privilege and racial discrimination. The books set in concrete, but not entirely covered, symbolizes the past being set in stone while still visible enough to encourage dialogue on important issues such as race and justice.
lenochan questions everything from societal structure to traditional art technique. He aims to change the way the world is viewed by challenging perspectives with his unorthodox artistic methods, mediums, and subjects.
Nights at the Museum 