Exhibition Review: Closed Up Like A Fist
Frida Orupabo, Somewhere in Between, 2022, collage with paper and pins, signed on verso, 67 1/2 x 71 1/2 x 2 1/2 in, 171.4 x 181.6 x 6.3 cm, ©Frida Orupabo. Courtesy of the artist and Nicola Vassell Gallery, Photography Credit: Adam Reich Photography
Written by: Federica Barrios Carbonell
Norwegian artist Frida Orupabo’s eerie surrealist collages, at first glance, boggle the eye of the viewer. Her black and white creations of nameless Black women explore themes of race, gender, colonialism, and sexuality violence. In Closed Up Like A Fist, the large, nearly youthful compositions represent these women in different moments of situational despair and simplify feelings of anger or dualism felt by women of color due to a history of discrimination.
Frida Orupabo, Waiting, 2022, collage with paper and pins signed on verso, 61 1/2 x 71 1/2 x 2 1/2 in, 156.2 x 181.6 x 6.3 cm, ©Frida Orupabo. Courtesy of the artist and Nicola Vassell Gallery, Photography Credit: Adam Reich Photography
“Waiting” (2022), depicts a woman kneeling, shown from behind. Her body is taken over by a large yet proportionate pair of bat wings that sit extended but motionless. Using the idea of body horror as the theme for this piece, Orupabo exposes how societal perceptions of race may cause Black women to form insecurities about, or be distinguished by, physical attributes and stereotypes that are constructed by others. Body horror is a tool used to delineate horror through the deformation or transformation of the human body.
Frida Orupabo, The Angry One, 2022, collage with paper and pins, signed on verso, 86 1/2 x 61 1/2 x 2 1/2 in, 219.7 x 156.2 x 6.3 cm, ©Frida Orupabo. Courtesy of the artist and Nicola Vassell Gallery, Photography Credit: Adam Reich Photography
Imagery and the use of symbolic elements create a narrative of resentment in “The Angry One” (2022). The head of a young woman connects to the torso of a traditional schoolgirl: a long sleeve blouse is juxtaposed over a pair of shapely legs with red underwear. The figure angrily stomps on a two-headed doll, one head being of a Black doll and the other of a white doll. The schoolgirl is an important symbol in Black history, from the segregation of black students to civil rights icon Ruby Bridges, known for the famous picture of her being escorted from a “white school” by three security guards. Through this powerful collage, Orupabo manifests the feelings of distress felt by generations past, and which are still felt today due to new forms of marginalization.
Frida Orupabo, The Judge, 2022, collage with paper and pins, signed on verso, 86 1/2 x 49 1/2 x 2 1/2 in, 219.7 x 125.7 x 6.3 cm, ©Frida Orupabo. Courtesy of the artist and Nicola Vassell Gallery, Photography Credit: Adam Reich Photography
As we very well know, social disparities in the justice system take place daily. Systemic injustices cause Black communities immense harm, including higher rates of arrest and incarceration and non-reprimanded abuse by authorities. “The Judge” (2022), presents a woman in a sitting position with a black judge’s robe, white hands holding a scroll emerge from the sleeves, and an all-encompassing pair of white legs grounding her to a non-existent chair. Implementing the judge as a symbol of both the law and the systemic oppression of race created by centuries of racism and colonial principles, Orupabo creates a call to action through the melancholic gaze of the woman in the robe.
These are only a few selections of the many works by Frida Orupabo worthy of a gaping starem all of which are exhibited at Closed Up Like A Fist, at the Nicola Vassell Gallery. Orupabo’s work welcomes many interpretations; keeping in mind the fundamental principles behind the inspirations of the collages, the audience can gain a unique perspective on the troubling ways history has shaped prejudice on race and gender.
The Nicola Vassel Gallery will be showing Closed Up Like A Fist, by Frida Orupabo until Saturday, April 30th in an in-person exhibition in their spacious gallery at 138 Tenth Avenue in New York City.
