SMoCA March ’21.

March 6th, 2020 was a Friday. According to my Instagram archive, I was listening to Sir Sly on Spotify and wanted people to know. Otherwise, I don’t remember what I did that day. In the weeks that followed, the world began a slow-motion trainwreck into the COVID-19 public health crisis. I’m among the extremely privileged that had the luxury of staying home and continuing to do my job remotely, while the pandemic disproportionately affected women with children, people of color, service industry employees, and health care professionals. Because one trauma at scale was not enough, 2020 also delivered on horrific racial violence with the murders of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd.

A year later, on March 6th of 2021 – with the phrase “mask up” now central to any discussion about doing a thing in public – I spent an afternoon at the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art (SMoCA). Masked, obviously. Maybe because the pandemic has broken down so much of normal life, everything now seems somehow relevant to it, as if there is no other lens. Regardless, as I wandered around, so happy to be back in a space with art, three of the shows currently on view felt like varying reflections on the past year.

“BEYOND: Works by Nellie King Solomon and Barbara Stauffacher Solomon” presents a mother (Barbara) and daughter (Nellie) side-by-side. I gravitate toward large-format, textural, abstract art, so Nellie King Solomon’s work was an immediate draw. I love abstraction because it’s personal – whatever someone sees or feels is unique to them. When I looked at “Vitamin D” (pictured below) the first thing that came to mind was the Yellow Days song “Gap In The Clouds,” but a different viewer would have a different reaction. As you walk the room, you’ll notice that each piece is painted on thin, plastic-like material tacked to the wall rather than on canvas. When you get to the back, around the corner is a display explaining the artist’s unique process which is almost defiant, using challenging methods and materials. Walk it again – you’ll have a new appreciation for the work.

The focal point in the adjacent gallery housing Barbara Stauffacher Solomon’s work is a row of ping-pong tables down the middle, which visitors are encouraged to play, with corresponding green paintings hanging on the south wall. This was originally in the 1990 “Visionary San Francisco” exhibit at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, but the balls and paddles were removed. Cheers to less serious curators 31 years later. Two LOL supergraphics on opposing walls seem to be in on the joke.

There is a sense of humor, a little irreverence, and a fresh approach to defining ways of doing in the artistic practice of both women. In a moment when the way we interact in shared physical spaces is being rethought, when boundaries are shifted and family and work are suddenly tangled together, when bold creativity and levity are needed – “BEYOND” seems to speak indirectly to much of our current situation.

While the Solomon duo show is interpretive, “Division of Labor: Women Shifting A Transnational Gaze” is literally staring you in the face. Curated by Arizona artists M. Jenea Sanchez and Gabriela Muñoz, it includes almost 20 works featuring Latinas and exploring the theme of labor. It’s impossible to look at and not think about the danger many service industry workers have faced during the pandemic, trading safety to preserve their livelihoods. The photography of the DouglaPrieta Trabajan members is stunning. No matter where you are in the gallery, the eyes of the subjects seem fixed on you. It’s powerful, if a bit uncanny. It makes you want to know more about who they are – as all good portraiture does. I didn’t take any pictures that accurately convey the feeling you get standing in that room, so now you have two reasons to plan a visit to SMoCA.

And let me give you a third reason: LA-based Diedrick Brackens’ “ark of bulrushes” – consisting of handmade woven textiles and basket boat sculptures (pictured below). Centered on themes of exodus, navigation, and emancipation, it’s a brilliant combination of references to Black history, cultural symbols, biblical tales, constellations, and mythology. It’s storytelling through craft, and it feels intricate but not heavy. You can get up close to the pieces and walk around them, so while it’s not fully interactive like the ping-pong tables are, it is immersive. This show has a lot to tell you – about history, about the experiences of Black and queer people, about tradition.

I like art because it makes me think. These three shows gave my mind some work to do, and also reminded me how much I’ve been missing museums. You only have until April 18 to see “BEYOND,” which is a must. SMoCA is still doing timed entry tickets, and you can reserve (and better yet, become a member and support the institution) here.