Failure Drawing #664 At The Fair

A palimpsest of words, images and vibrant color, William Pope.L’s Untitled is a multi-layered feast for the eyes.  As the viewer excavates the composition, words and sentences appear through soft veils of white.  The underlying support eventually reveals itself as a poster for the Annual Feast of the Giglio di Sant’Antonio in East Harlem, wherein hundreds of Italian Catholics parade a four-ton statue adorned with saints and flowers.  The composition underscores Pope.L’s interest in mining the meaning of language and the preconceived notions that accompany words and images. For example, East Harlem conjures a reference to African-American inhabitants of that area, when in fact the celebration is primarily attended by white Italian Catholics. In addition, his “white-washing” of the sheet, obscuring the words below, is likely a deliberate act – a direct reference to the white population that joins the festival.  Since the 1970s, Pope.L’s work has been a vitally important spark for conversations relating to political activism and race inequality in our society.  The artist is perhaps best known for his “crawls,” street performances where the artist crawls on the city streets to underscore the vulnerability of the homeless population of which his family was once a part. Pope.L’s wide ranging oeuvre, including drawing, painting, video, text and performance, demands that we examine important and undeniable issues surrounding racial identity in America.