A view of the entry gallery in Black Melancholia. Regarding its curtained walls, associate professor and exhibition curator Nana Adusei-Poku states in the introduction of the audio guide:⁠ ⁠ This curtain is a reference to the first Documenta Exhibition in 1955 in Kassel, Germany. The reason for this reference is rather simple: the first Documenta exhibition signaled a new beginning for the German art scene. The art historian Charlotte Klonk summarizes this aspect as follows:⁠ ⁠ “A Symbolic Rebirth the staging of the first Documenta clearly signaled to its visitors (by far the majority of whom were German) that the country had risen from the ashes of the past. The works hung and hovered in front of the material of the old building as if they had no roots there. The floating folds and slender metal frames, the provisional structures and milky curtains, allowed the work on display to shine forth unencumbered by past memories. In this way the Documenta conveyed an energized sense of freedom after the constrictions and gloom of wartime. The message, however, was not confined to the installations designed by Arnold Bode, the exhibition's founding spirit. Instead of the figurative neo-classical painting and sculpture sanctioned by the Nazis, the Documenta provided Germans with their first opportunity to re-connect with the avant-garde experiments of the 1920s and the abstract work that had developed in its wake.” ⁠ ⁠ Black artists were not exhibited in this Documenta even though Black painters like Norman Lewis would be part of the American Pavilion in Venice in 1956. The entry gallery of Black Melancholia does both: it introduces the expanded postures of Melancholy through the works on display and the curtain makes a statement about Modern Art- a new beginning that aims to expand on the existing discourse in art history.⁠ ⁠ Black Melancholia is on view through October 16th. To learn more, please visit the link in our bio.⁠ ⁠ Also on view - Dara Birnbaum: Reaction and Martine Syms: Grio College.⁠ ⁠ Museum Hours:⁠ Wednesday - Mon, 12pm-6pm⁠ ⁠ Photo: Olympia Shannon⁠ ⁠ #blackmelancholia #nanaaduseipoku #ccsbard #hesselmuseumofart ⁠ ⁠