Pump Up the Volume! Artists' Lecture

Pump Up the Volume! is an exhibition in the Robert Else Gallery at Sacramento State that showcases the artwork of New York artists Jane Dickson and Joe Lewis.  The show began on January 27, 2016 and runs until February 26, 2016.  The artists gave their lecture on the opening day, from around 7:30 - 8:30pm.  Pump Up the Volume! centers upon various themes that are united by the international culture of hip hop.  Dickson and Lewis were coming up in the art world during the late 1970s, which was a difficult time for the whole city, especially the Bronx, where Dickson and Lewis were based out of and lived during this time.  During the 1960s and 1970s, New York was plagued by many crises, including social and racial tensions, economic decline, political corruption, and deterioration of the city as a whole.  The presentation given by Dickson and Lewis not only centered upon their artwork but also the art scene and art world of 1970s New York.

Many artists during the 1970s had to support and rely on one another for showcasing their artwork.  Dickson referred to the dominance of the "white cube," which describes how formal museum and gallery spaces included a disproportionate number of white, middle- to upper-class artists.  Dickson and Lewis addressed this reality by taking part in a special space they and fellow artists created called Fashion Moda.  Fashion Moda was open for practically any artist who wanted to show his or her work but could not gain the support of formal institutions.  Fashion Moda was an inclusive space, as suggested by the building's facade with its name in four languages, English, Spanish, Chinese, and Russian.  Most of the artists were part of this underground, hip hop, youth culture.  Perhaps Dickson's City Maze of 1980 best represents the hip hop youth culture of Fashion Moda.   

City Maze was a public project within the Fashion Moda building that catered to the youth of the Bronx.  Its goal was to get youth off of the streets and out of trouble by allowing them to draw, paint, and make art and graffiti on cardboard walls that Dickson had set up.  Graffiti was another important part of Fashion Moda (as also evidenced by the building's facade).  One of Fashion Moda's accomplishments was that it brought graffiti into the realm of "high art."

Aside from the actual space of Fashion Moda, Dickson and Lewis also described their own work and the work of their fellow artists.  Dickson described how she liked to use unconventional materials in her art.  She elaborated on how the basis for the content within her work is fear, things that she fears.  What I also found interesting within the lecture was how much these artists had to rely on one another for financial, emotional, social, etc. support.  Dickson and Lewis described how one of their group shows included many artists who did not even know each other but still participated because there was no other way for their artwork to be shown.  It was very interesting to not only learn about Dickson's and Lewis's own work and backgrounds but also about how all of these different artists came together in this alternative space in order to have their voices heard in the art world, which is a dynamic that exists to this day for artists.

 

 Joe Lewis and Jane Dickson during the beginning of their lecture.

 

Jane Dickson explains one of her art installations in New York, which used a bathroom as the space (left slide).  Potted plants were placed on the floor, while an image of the World Trade Center towers (shown in closer view on the right slide) covered one of the walls.

 

The facade of Fashion Moda.

A video created by Jane Dickson that shows her City Maze.