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Wangari Methenge’s Aura of Quiet
at Roberts Projects (through November 16)
Reviewed by Eve Wood
How do artists convey silence within two-dimensional space? I would argue that it is difficult to create an authentic connection between the subject and the viewer, and it is even more difficult to create a space of quietude and self-reflection even as the artist is in the active process of divining another person’s inner life. Yet all great portraiture is as much about the artist as it is the subject. There are many great examples of artists who have successfully explored their own personal connections to their subjects and, by extension, their viewers. Alice Neel, for example, whose portraits of friends and family are extraordinary in that they encapsulate not only a specific character but the breadth and tempo of the artist’s relationship with that specific person.
Wangari Methenge’s luminous exhibition in the project space at Roberts Projects — simply and aptly titled Aura of Quiet — mines similar territories as Neel and other contemporary artists showing today, including Tala Madani and Kim Dingle, though both Madani’s and Dingle’s singular “brand of silence” tends more in the direction of the silent scream than the contemplative, moment-moving howl.
Methenge privileges introspection and a visceral cohabitation with her subjects. The exhibition…
