Ellen C. Caldwell | ECLAIRE.me

When discussing such works, he said, “I don’t want to hit people so hard that they don’t respond.” So he doles out kernels of truth, wild imaginings, and pieces of fact and fiction laced with humor, expletives, and explosives, all in order to pull people in to look closer, to do their own research, to grapple with history’s gaping holes, and to make them laugh.

In Umar Rashid’s world, the past intermingles with the present, constantly reminding viewers of the history and many stories that have brought us to where we stand today.

Cosmic Traffic Jam is a show for all ages that asks viewers to think, act, and do while appreciating the art. It is on view through August 25, 2018, at Zevitas Marcus.

In bringing the uncertainty of the past, present, and future together within one portrait, he simultaneously questions and asserts agency over the validity of the historical narrative. For the individual viewer, this might personally challenge viewers to question how their stories will be told and recalled. More largely and philosophically, his work might encourage us to do as Alcocer suggests in altering the history and ideology of both the present and future.

In his examination of self, Rashid presents a rich body of work and an enticing series of questions about the same topics that haunt the Frenglish Empire – the role of influential and pejorative stereotypes, racism, capitalism, and imperialism. Here, we see Two Feathers as Rashid and the reverse – something Rashid described as a “trompe-l’œil effect of Two Feathers without the long extensive narrative story.” In that sense, Rashid replaces the epic historical narrative with a more personal, contemporary American narrative – though I would argue that the Frenglish and American worlds and messages are far more similar than they are different.

Los Angeles-based artist Frohawk Two Feathers is known for inventive and complex narratives that re-imagine 18th century history. Since 2006 he has chronicled the mythic global struggles between two imaginary superpowers—the kingdom of Holland and Zeeland and the empire of Frengland, (a combined France, the United Kingdom and Ireland). This installment of the story takes place between 1787 and 1789 in the area that today is New York and New Jersey. Based on extensive research into the actual history and geography of the region, the artist has created intricate ink and acrylic portraits of the main protagonists, narrative scenes and maps, flags of the warring nations, drums and additional artifacts. A mashup of real and invented history, his vivid retelling is both playful and provocative.

In an age of grayish truth, I welcome the friction Frohawk’s work creates. It reflects and refracts my murky worldview in many ways, all while illuminating mistruths, mishaps, and mistake of our American mythologies.