A first glimpse of vibrant textile elements that comprise Valkyrie Mumbet, a colossal sculpture suspended from a 37-foot tall ceiling, is humbling and stupendous. The magnificent installation elegantly showcases an array of cotton cloths highlighting lively prints borrowing from African patterns and geometric designs in contrasting colors which invite the eye on a mesmerizing journey. Portuguese handicrafts, such as Pico lace, lavish silks, velvets, linen, lustrous beads, crocheted and knitted materials, pompoms, fringe, and petite LED lights, engage and direct our gaze. Dangling ornamental elements the artist acquired in India protrude from the fringe in the center of the installation.
Walking upstairs to the second floor of the Stephen D. Paine Gallery at MassArt Art Museum (MAAM), we encounter a close-up view of Libson, Portugal-based artist Joana Vasconcelos’ tribute to Elizabeth “Mumbet” Freeman, an enslaved African-American woman who was the first person to win a freedom lawsuit based on the newly adopted Massachusetts Constitution. Take time with this colossal installation, and carefully examine each element from various perspectives, pausing to survey its intricacy from the 20-foot-tall-by-40-foot-wide balcony which reveals the entire work.
The spectacular installation wows viewers as soon as the first elements capture their attention, guiding them on a breathtaking experience of scrutinizing every detail. Its immensity underscores the impact of Boston’s newest contemporary art museum and the only free one one in the city.
Ackbnowledging her country’s role in the transatlantic slave trade, Vasconcelos chose capulana, a traditional fabric from Mozambique, as the primary textile to convey Freeman’s groundbreaking narrative. Vasconcelos was compelled to tell Freeman’s life story after researching notable women in Massachusetts history for her first solo exhibition in the United States.
A compound eye is required to fully appreciate the scope and size of Vasconcelos’ latest work in her Valkyrie series begun in 2004. Derived from the Old Norse word “valkyrja,” meaning “chooser of the slain,” the term is used in Norse mythology to describe any of a group of maidens who served the god Odin and were sent by him to the battlefields to identify the slain who were worthy of acceptance to Valhalla. Placing Freeman in this context elevates her rightful place in U.S. history. Inclusion of silks, velvets, and linen, as well as the beads referencing Freeman’s ubiquitous golden choker necklace, position her in the artwork, amplifying her heroic story and preserving her legacy. Such works are essential to provoke and invite a larger dialogue about slavery, Colonialism, the African-American experience, and the role of women in history.
Installing Valkyrie Mumbet involved a painstaking team effort, rivaled only by the process of assembling the elements on site. I marveled at the zippers used to insert and remove the enormous inflatables that breathe life into Valkyrie Mumbet, its creative complexity and largess reminding us of our place in the universe.
“She has a 50 person studio, from engineers to architects. When we were getting ready to do this, we had to give them architectural plans, so that her engineers could plot out exactly where things go,” explained MAAM Executive Director Lisa Tung, during an intimate tour of the galleries. “She sketches profusely and then she has a team that is in charge of making the various elements, all of these little protrusions. All of the crocheting and the beading is done by various people. When we were ready to install, it came in seven crates the size of a twin bed, with all these things rolled up. The sound that you hear is the inflatables, it's just a balloon inside.”
MAAM plays Portuguese Lusophone music to minimize the sound during the opening and other public viewings, but I enjoyed the subtle hum of the inflatables as it helps me connect to the artwork. Any massive artwork generates some sound, and being in its presence and listening to it helps to draw us in and to inform our gaze. Moreover, acknowledging the reverberation enhances the play of color as we weave our way through the space, observing how neons pop from a distance and how earthy tones are juxtaposed with bold patterns. Circular configurations on the bulbous, biomorphic shapes often act as extra eyes, augmenting our visual voyage.
Vasconcelos exalts craft techniques that have been undermined throughout art history because of their association with women artists. She’s part of a larger feminist effort to recognize such work as socially relevant fine art and to rewrite art history. Vasconcelos rose to international prominence at the 2005 Venice Biennale with A Noiva (The Bride), a chandelier crafted from 25,000 tampons.
Promoting Freeman’s legacy mirrors the need to recognize and respect centuries of influential crafts by women as art. Born as a slave named Mum Bett in Claverack, Columbia County, New York, around 1744, she became the first African-American woman to successfully sue for freedom in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Her landmark case ushered in an era of “freedom suits” that ultimately led the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court to outlaw slavery.
MAAM welcomed a crowd lining the block when it opened to the public on February 22, 2020, but was forced to shut down 13 days later amid the raging COVID-19 pandemic. A kunsthalle, or non-collecting museum, MAAM celebrates trailblazing artists from around the world and seeks to empower and educate in its capacity as Massachusetts College of Art and Design’s teaching museum. The space was transformed in a renovation made possible by the largest private fundraising effort in the college’s history. Founded in 1873 as the Massachusetts Normal Art School in response to a progressive 1870 mandate requiring all cities in the Commonwealth of more than 10,000 residents to include drawing in their public school curricula, MassArt became the first publicly supported freestanding visual arts college in the United States.
With a pioneering curatorial vision abounding in expansive galleries, MAAM is a destination in itself and a vital part of the broader Boston museum community. Imposing 36-foot ceilings expose the original 1906 terracotta vaulting and steel trusses, making it ideal for large-scale, site-specific installations such as Valkyrie Mumbet. During warmer seasons, the Arne Glimcher Plaza, a new outdoor space facilitates more participation to engage the museum-goers and passersby. An education studio on the first floor offers Saturday activities to stimulate interactive creativity.
“We have bigger plans, because I want to show that there's lots of things you can do in the museum,” said Tung, whose innovation guides the museum.
Currently on view in the first floor galleries is Game Changers: Video Games & Contemporary Art, a dynamic and diverse group exhibition featuring artists exploring the evolving intersection of contemporary art and video games. Game-related art is a growing discipline that allows artists to investigate important personal, social, and cultural themes while working in cutting-edge technology, and creating imagined alternative realities.
