Christiane Dolores—The Book of White People

 

Christiane Dolores—The Book of White People

 

 

Christiane Dolores, 2019

 

At the heart of my work is a humanistic empathy that questions our inability to coexist.[2]

Christiane Dolores, 2019

 

Brené Brown, Daring Greatly, 2012

 

 

Christian Dolores—The Book of White People is the first show in the About Vulnerability exhibition series. The Book of White People confronts viewers with a rumination on whiteness and how it affects people of color. Dolores’ paintings, assemblages and installation unpack this sensitive topic with directness, humor and an invitation for viewer participation. For many of us in the Cambridge School of Weston community and beyond, the topic of whiteness might feel challenging, or it might trigger feelings of uncertainty that risk emotional exposure. We embrace these feelings of discomfort and uncertainty to do work that fosters a more equitable and supportive community.

Today, the cultural conversation about whiteness is reaching a crucial apogee and is no longer confined to Native American, African American, Asian American, Latinx and other historically oppressed group conversations. It has become imperative to address white privilege, which up until recently has largely been ignorant of itself. For the privileged, systemic cultural racism often remains misidentified or unnoticed. Learning to see the systems that foster racism and oppression requires privileged individuals to remove their blinders. One challenge for America’s white population has been empathizing with America’s black experience. The Book of White People is a collection of revelations that bears witness to this uniquely American situation. About her work, Dolores states, “I think of what I do as social-cultural anthropology, employing the ethnographic technique by culling audio, text and images to create a record of our struggle to be human,” Dolores notes. “My textual, visual, musical work responds to burgeoning questions about human behavior and inhuman cruelty.”[4]

The individual work in The Book of White People can be best understood as distilled subjects and iconic portrayals. For example, Dolores uses “low-brow materials to engage in high-brow concepts that reflect the commodification of black culture through white culture.”[7] Dolores’ concept, as she points out, exposes “Colonial America’swant of African slaves because they were strong, while simultaneously promoting that they are ‘inferior and lazy’…eventually using this imagery on countless products.”[8]

 

In addition to the exhibition in the Thompson Gallery, Dolores will create an exhibition in the school’s “Installation Space” gallery during her artist’s residency in late October. Her installation, also called “The Book of White People,” will invite the community to reflect on “Whiteness” and add to “The Book,” which will be set atop a pedestal surrounded by eggshells. “To participate, contributors will have to literally walk on eggshells to get to the book,”[9] Dolores says. Dolores’ work is about engaging in frank conversations, but she also says, “I think it is important to call out things; it’s equally important to call in things. I need you to have a one-on-one human conversation with me. People make mistakes and people need room to grow. We are a human family. I think it is important to recognize the human family and celebrate it.”[10]

 

 

 

This is not an exhibition; this is necessary cultural work.

 

Todd Bartel, Gallery Director

Thompson Gallery