I Am Enough. I Am Sovereign., 2021
“(Leena) Joshi’s small but potent sign is paired with another work of public signage by Edgar Fabián Frías. The artist designed a self-portrait for a highway billboard project, initially titled Nuestrxs Antepasadxs Nos Hablan Directamente (Our Ancestors Speak Directly With Us), which was installed in Tulsa, Oklahoma in late 2019. The design is psychedelically decked with maize, kauyumari (deer), and hikuri (peyote), which are sacred beings of the Wixárika indigenous people that Fabián Frías is descended from. The artist is the creator of physical objects, images, and installations, as well as a practitioner of decolonial magic. Part of their mission as an artist is to “alter states of awareness through the creation of temporary sanctuaries,” including developing their own intergenerational consciousness.
Within a few weeks of installing the billboard, in November 2019, the artist was horrified to discover that it had been vandalized. Black spray paint snaked across the center of the face and the words “NOT SO MUCH…” were written across the forehead. The vandalizer brazenly asserted themself as an arbiter of the artist’s worth, signing in the lower right “—MAMA.”. Uncannily, in a work explicitly designed as an homage and practice of communing with indigenous ancestors, the signature nonconsensual assumes the position of mother figure. The phrasing “not so much” was popularized in the 1990’s and 2000’s as an ironic way to strongly dismiss what was mentioned prior. Typically used as a response, here it is just a negation, without an object—not so much what?
After this act of aggression took place, the billboard was taken down, and Fabián Frías was reticent to share the news with anyone. The Tulsa Artist Fellowship, which had commissioned the work, is the subject of a December 2020 Art Newspaper article and an anonymous Instagram testimonial account, revealing that artists fellows are pressured to reflect positively on the institution and the city’s character, and often face retaliation if they do not comply. Tulsa is still battling ghosts from the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, and Oklahoma is also infamous as the final destination of the Trail of Tears. At least five tribes are considered indigenous to Oklahoma: the Osage, Caddo, Kiowa, Comanche, and Wichita, but thirty-nine confederated tribes are now based in Oklahoma due to forced displacement from their ancestral lands. The celebration of native culture as depicted in Fabián Frías’ image is “so much” in the context of relentless forces seeking to erase it. The artist has retitled the work, I am enough. I am sovereign.”
MONOLITH Catalog. Catalog design by stevie rose, with catalog essay by Vanessa Thill and with contributions from the artists.
The words above are an excerpt from Vanessa Thill’s essay MONOLITH REEF: Form-Making and Making Form, From Object to Practice and Back. This essay was included in the catalog produced for MONOLITH, curated by Ricki Dwyer.
MONOLITH took place at Southern Exposure from September 18 - October 15, 2021. Featuring work from Liz Roberts, Leena Joshi, Jess Robbins, Charmaine Bee, and Edgar Fabián Frías. As a part of this project, Frías also performed Ancestral Offering on September 18, 2021 at Southern Exposure while Jess Robbins performed Are You My Mother? Please click here for more information about these performances. Click below to see video documentation from this performance event.
All documentation by Southern Exposure and Minoosh Zomorodinia. Original documentation of Nuestrxs Antepasadxs Nos Hablan Directamente (Our Ancestors Speak Directly With Us) by Julianne Clarke.
