Yesterdays visit to the Brooklyn Museum was a bit like visiting two separate worlds. Downstairs (on the ground floor) was Killer Heels, the current exhibition on the design and social history of high heeled footwear. The galleries were crowded, filled with flashy video displays, and the stylish products of Prada, Salvatore Ferragamo, Vivienne Westwood, Chanel and Alexander McQueen. But upstairs, much quieter and less visited, is an exhibition of the work of Judith Scott. Born in Columbus, Ohio in 1943 with Down syndrome, largely unable to speak and deaf, Scotts life changed in her 40s when, under the guardianship of her twin sister, she was relocated to Oakland and began to participate in an art center for those with physical and developmental disabilities. Though there are some drawings, most of the work is sculptural— found objects wrapped in layers of yarn or tied fabrics— the shapes built layer upon layer until the everyday objects inside are transformed— in a sort of reverse butterfly process— into colorful, soft cocoons. Given Judith Scotts situation, there is limitation and uncertainty in what she was trying to communicate and to construct, there is no language for us to frame our understanding. But what begins to emerge is the sense of how these limitations are ours, not Scotts. The creative impulse has a vocabulary all its own. Judith Scott: Bound and Unbound is on view in The Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art until 29th March.
Posted on: Mon, 05 Jan 2015 15:50:26 +0000
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