This is Modern Art: Show Review by Sara Moss

Our community, though fairly accepting, still maintains bigotry under its surface, and art is not immune to this bigotry.

“This Is Modern Art,” produced by Blessed Unrest at Next Door @NYTW, is a true tale of a trio of graffiti writers, who tagged a low outside wall at the Art Institute of Chicago in 2010, with the intent to disrupt the preconceived labels bestowed to graffiti as street art and not museum worthy.

Our protagonists are all men of color (Seven, Dose and JC), with the addition of Seven’s girlfriend, Selena who is a white, each wanting to take their stand against unfair power structures and confront corruption, and all are labeled many things: from rebels, insurrectionists, insurgents, to artists.

Seven (Shakur Tolliver) sees the newly designed art museum, as an elitist space where unconventional artists are not welcomed and wants to show people that there are real artists in the city, alive today, and making an impact in the present.  Like many artists, they are all also seeking “Fame”, as it is through fame that art is able to transform life; however, it is this concept that is the cause for frequent debate over the motivations of political art and or graffiti. The debate is started by a neat provocation by challenging the concept of “Modern Art”, when they deface the museum giving a glimpse into the lives of anonymous graffiti artists and asks us to ponder the true purpose of art.

The well-performed, engaging, Off-Broadway production features a stage-filling original graffiti piece painted for the production by Keo Xmen, the unveiling of the piece was clever and a highlight of the show. The dialogue is at times ungainly, but still manages to awaken the audience to the differences of cultures within the art world. Ultimately, the play explores art and the process of creativity and how it can have the greatest impact on change and therefore society. Art remains a visual footprint for our struggles and our lasting souls.

Visit https://www.nytw.org/show/this-is-modern-art/.

Off Broadway, Interactive, Experimental/Perf. Art, Play

Running Time: 80 Minutes, no Intermission

Closing Date: June 23, 2018

Fourth Street Theater, 83 E. Fourth St.

Directed by Jessica Burr

Starring J.Stephen Brantley, Andrew Gonzalez, Ashley N. Hildreth, Nancy McArthur, Shakur Tolliver, and Landon G. Woodson