{gallery}07-2008/christenberry{/gallery}
OXFORD, Miss. – For several reasons, “Site/Possession” by William
Christenberry has to be one of the most notable art exhibits to be
displayed at the University of Mississippi Museum.
The show, which comprises 65 works of art, runs through Sept. 20 in the
lower level Skipwith Gallery and the Lawrence and the Fortune
galleries. Many of the drawings, paintings and photographs focus on the
Tuscaloosa, Ala., native’s renderings of Southern trees, buildings and
memory forms.
Then there’s the Klan Room Tableau.
A printed advisory posted at its entrance cautions parents that the
subject matter may be too disturbing for young children. Heavy,
floor-length scarlet curtains veil the room’s entrance, and two
security guards limit admission to no more than eight people at any
given time.
Inside, viewers first notice the room’s darkness – figuratively and literally. A fluorescent cross on the back wall illuminates much of the area. Around the walls are drawings and photographs of robed Klansmen, depicting their “dark” side. On platforms are miniature structures, many containing dolls robed in Klan outfits behind bars. The exhibit also includes miniature depictions of lynchings and miniature coffins with bodies inside, but the victims are Klansmen instead of minorities. Framed and mounted are handbills recruiting new Klan members.
The exhibition also includes a 14-foot-tall-church-like sculpture and a 12-foot-long painting of Klan emblems and symbols.
Given the volatile nature of Christenberry’s subject matter, the artist vehemently asserts he is neither an advocate of the Klan nor a collector of Klan material. Rather, the tableau is his very public “exorcism” of demons that have haunted him ever since he, out of curiosity, attempted to enter a Klan meeting more than 40 years ago.
“I’ve been criticized for even undertaking this tableau,” said Christenberry in a Studio 360 interview last December. “But my feeling and my argument is, ‘How can I turn a blind eye to racial prejudice and injustice?’ It’s a tough piece. It’s meant to be. You’re not meant to be comfortable in there.”
Bringing Christenberry’s work to the University Museum was not a quick or easy decision. UM alumni John and Renee Grisham were involved with the artist’s exhibition at the University of Virginia Art Museum. The couple suggested to Chancellor Robert Khayat that the collection be considered for viewing at Ole Miss.
In turn, Khayat asked University Museum director Albert Sperath to view the display and consider scheduling it. Following meetings with the provost and director of the William Winter Institute for Racial Reconciliation, UM officials decided to exhibit Christenberry’s work. The Grishams agreed to underwrite the exhibition.
“We’re certainly not celebrating the Klan,” Sperath said. “We’re sharing with the public a history that cannot be ignored. To ignore it would be to act as if it didn’t happen.”
Christenberry’s imagery focuses on Hale County, Ala., and its relationship to the Klan, which is historically and personally significant to him, curator Andrea Douglas said.
“By the second rising of the Klan in the 1920s, the state of Alabama was considered to be the most Klan-controlled state in the Union,” Douglas said. “The organization’s influence there continued well into the 1970s and certainly was pervasive when he (Christenberry) attempted to enter a meeting.”
The feelings of terror and bewilderment resulting from that encounter have fueled a prolific artistic production on the subject.
“In the tableau, he (Christenberry) viscerally forces the viewer to deal with humanity’s moments of evil and violence,” Douglas said.
Both Christenberry and Douglas are to appear at a public reception at 2 p.m. Sept. 7 at the museum.
University of Mississippi Museum and Historic Houses, Fifth Street and University Avenue, is open 9:30 a.m.-4:40 p.m.Tuesdays through Saturdays and 1-4:30 p.m. Sundays. For more information, call 662-915-7073 or visit http://www.olemiss.edu/museum