'America's Original Sin': Summer Art Exhibition Examines Racism & Stereotypes

'America's Original Sin': Summer Art Exhibition Examines Racism & Stereotypes

Mixed media American artist Willie Little is holding an assemblage art exhibition titled ‘America’s Orginal Sin’ this summer at the Rosa Parks Museum of the Troy Univerisity, Montgomery, Alabama, which critically explores the depiction of racial stereotypes and the representation of racism in America using art objects symbolizing the racist depictions of Black people from the civil rights movement and the Jim Crow era from the 1950s and beyond.

Through the art objects on display that combine organic material like cockleburs, which Little described as being used historically “as racial epithets to describe African hair,” with found objects such as teabags. He also incorporates historical Americana pieces, such as "mammy" dolls, which were at one time collectibles that used Blackface and stereotypes to caricature Black people.

"In much of my work, I reclaim things that are insulting and re-present them," Little said in an Oregon Public Broadcasting documentary this spring.

Madeline Burkhardt, Adult Education Coordinator of the Rosa Parks Museum, describes the expository exhibition as giving a “more visual side of the 1950s and beyond, so you can get a sense of what people were thinking back then, the narrative that was being perpetuated through statues and posters and illustrations, and that continues today.”

Expanding on the overall direction of the exhibitions on display at the museum this summer, Burkhardt stated; “Our main, permanent exhibition deals with the 382 days of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, and the children's wing talks about the emergence of Jim Crow laws and minstrel shows. [Little’s exhibition] plays on the stereotypical caricatures of the Jim Crow South.”

“Willie Little’s exhibit helps continue the conversation we have in our main spaces,” Burkhardt added. “By connecting past with present social justice issues, Little allows visitors to learn about history through a visual arts lens. The museum is excited to once again host a thought-provoking and challenging exhibition.”

Burkhardt further said her favorite piece in the ‘America’s Original Sin’ exhibition is a towering dress assembled from 1,000 teabags and adorned with antique Black face dolls, something some visitors may not realize were harmful, racist stereotypes until they tour the assemblage exhibition. 

“This is one of my favorite exhibitions that we've had here because it forces people to reckon with a darker side of history,” Burkhardt said. “That's a very important conversation to have, and it's important to go alongside the story of the civil rights movement. It wasn't just people coming together, and everything was fine after that. There was and is still a lot of racism in the country and the world.”

Little’s previous work examined his family history and a fading part of rural Southern life, in addition to social justice themes and political topics, including a 2010 exhibit on the Ku Klux Klan and Tea Party. His new exhibition also delves into the pervasive culture of gun violence in the United States.

His solo exhibitions include the Smithsonian Institution, the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University, the Froelick Gallery in Portland, the Noel Gallery in Charlotte, and the American Jazz Museum.

“Resistance, to me, means using my platform, my voice to speak out unapologetically to what I hear, see and experience — being a witness through the work,” he said. “I use examples and layers to call out injustices, past and present.”

'America's Original Sin' opened at 6 pm on July 1 and is open to physical visits from 9 am to 6 pm.

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