10 DAILY CHALLENGE FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2017

INSIDE NEW YORK’s ‘Best Picks’By Joan H. Allen, Editor

It has taken 50 yearsand it’s now complete.Barbara Chase-Riboud—Malcolm X: Complete, anexhibition celebratingher series of monumen-tal bronze and fibersculptures that the artisthas created over the lasthalf-century in honor ofthe slain human rightsleader has opened at theMichael RosenfeldGallery. The exhibitionis her second large-scalesolo show at the gallery. “It’s epic because it

stretches from the firstMalcolm X steles which Idid in 1969 to the lastfive and the whole suiteis 20,” Barbara Chase-Riboud told INSIDENEW YORK. For overfive decades, Chase-Riboud has createdabstract art with a deepand nuanced under-standing of history, iden-tity, and a sense of place.Her celebrated workoperates on severaldichotomies that havebecome central to herpractice: hard/soft,male/female, flat/three-d i m e n s i o n a l ,Western/non-Western,s t a b l e / f l u i d ,figurative/abstract, pow-e r f u l / d e l i c a t e ,brutal/beautiful, vio-lence/harmony. In 1958,she developed her ownparticular innovation onthe historical direct lost-wax method of castingbronze sculpture. Creating thin sheets

of wax that she couldbend, fold, meld, orsever, she developed sin-gular models that shewould then bring to alocal foundry for casting.This new approach to acenturies-old processenabled her to producelarge-scale sculpturescomprised of ribbons ofbronze and aluminum.In 1967, she added fiberto these metal elements,devising the seeminglyparadoxical works forwhich she is mostrenowned — sculpturesof cast metal resting onsupports hidden by cas-cading skeins of silk orwool so that the fibersappear to support themetal. In 1969, Chase-

Riboud created Monu-ment to Malcolm for the7 Américains de Parisshow held at the GalerieAir France in Manhat-tan. This work, as arthistorian PellomMcDaniels writes:“marked the arrival ofher signature style. Itappeared to represent afallen robe or garmenton a surface [reminis-cent of] marble...Thecomposition and presen-tation reached back toChase-Riboud’s observa-tions of the recliningstone Buddhas…inChina that she describedas ‘beautifully calculatedpattern of flat overlap-ping folds that areincised as drawingrather than carved as

sculpture.’”The idea to develop a

series of steles in tributeto Malcolm X—who wasassassinated in NewYork City on February21, 1965—was sparkedin response to the energyand political/cultural dis-course Chase-Riboudexperienced in the sum-mer of 1969 at the Pan-African Cultural Festi-val. Barbara Chase-

Riboud—Malcolm X:Complete will be the firsttime that 14 of the 20 ste-les are shown together.Chase-Riboud’s frequentreturn to Malcolm X as asubject over the past 50years is an indication ofhis continued relevancefor our contemporary

world. Although theseries of steles may becomplete, the workundertaken by MalcolmX and other leaders inthe global struggle forhuman and civil rights isfar from being so. Thisexhibition is not only acontribution to thepreservation of the mem-ory of Malcolm X butalso an acknowledge-ment of the push forglobal justice that hecontinues to inspire. INSIDE NEW YORK

will broadcast a portion

of our exclusive inter-view with BarbaraChase-Riboud, next Sat-urday, October 7th at8:30 p.m. and Monday at11:30 a.m. on MNN5 onTWC 1993 and MNN2(TWC 56, RCN 83, FiOS34) on MNN.org andLivestream. Barbara Chase-Riboud

- Malcolm X: Completewill be on exhibitthrough November 4that Michael RosenfeldGallery, 100 11thAvenue (at 19th Street)New York.

Barbara Chase-Riboud - Malcolm X: Complete, A Major Art Exhibit!

Barbara Chase-Riboud with Malcolm #15, #16and #17

Photo credit: Grant Delin; Courtesy of Michael RosenfeldGallery LLC, New York

Joan H. Allen, Challenge Editor and INSIDENEW YORK host and Barbara Chase-Riboud

Photo credit: Donald Holifield

Barbara Chase-Riboud at her home/studio “LaChenillère” in Pontlevoy, France, 1969

Photo credit: © Marc Riboud and © Barbara Chase-Riboud;Courtesy of Barbara Chase-Riboud papers, Stuart A. Rose

Manuscript, Archives and Rare Book Library, Emory University

Malcolm X #17, 2016, polished bronze and silk,92” x 41” x 36” / 233.7 x 104.1 x 91.4 cm

Photo credit: Joshua Nefsky; Courtesy of Michael RosenfeldGallery LLC, New York

Joan H. Allen and Barbara Chase-Riboud looking at one of her sculp-tures in the exhibit, Barbara Chase-Riboud - Malcolm X: Complete atthe Michael Rosenfeld Gallery.

Photo credit: Donald Holifield