Tyler Rapp

LBST 1105-H72 (Visual Arts)

Julie Hicks
October 2, 2015
UNC Charlotte Uptown Gallery
Amalgamation: the sheer act of unification between various
items. This title speaks deeply to the art of Albert Chong, a man with
amazing and unique artwork from such a diverse background. At the
Perspective Art Gallery in Uptown Charlotte, Albert Chongs work is
featuredwhich displays many personal aspects of culture, race, and
more. The word amalgamation is such a great title for a gallery of art
that is comprised of such individualistic features of society.
To elaborate, Albert Chong has such a neat story. Ethnically,
Chong is of African and Chinese descent. He grew up Catholic
religiously, which gradually shifted to Rastafarian as he grew up and
individually explored his own beliefs. Chong was born in Jamaica,
where a lot of his religious identify was rooted, and where a lot of his
culture is derived from. Around the age of twenty, Chong moved to the
United States to begin his art career in New York. Nonetheless, much of
Chongs art consists of Jamaican heritage that symbolizes changes
throughout his lifetimemostly that of religion, spirituality, and power,
which are some of his consistent motifs in his art. For example, much
of his work contains coconuts, eggs, and shellswhich are all Jamaican

objects that are interestingly demonstrated to convey cultural themes.

In addition, Chong tends to predominately use photography as his
medium for art, but also does other things such as large sculptures.
All of this described information flooded my mind as I entered the
Albert Chong section of the art gallery. However, I also had a
perception of the gallery as a whole before even seeing Chongs
exhibit. As I initially walked into the buildinga little bit late by the
frustrating mass of traffic that dominates CharlotteI was taken aback
by the mere structural makeup of the building. The outside appeared
like stacked books, making it distinct from almost every single building
surrounding it. Also, the simplicity of the professional dress by my
peers combined with the addition of a guide to lead us through the
exhibit made our first experience as a class in Uptown Charlotte
serious and fun at the same time. Then, right as we all walked through
the entrance, Albert Chongs art jumped out at me. Stopping at his first
pieces near the front doors was so cool, as the photographs he took
were so pristine and full of life. Moving along, the interior of the
building as a whole was so fresh feeling: the open, modernized space
of the inside was so perfect for an art gallery.
Furthermore, the guides filled us in with all of Albert Chongs
background stories (that I previously mentioned) when we made it into
Chongs main exhibit area. This section that was blocked off
specifically for his work was powerful: the entire room was neatly filled

with so much art that shouted with meaning. I loved the juxtaposition
of black and white photos with colored ones; simple two-dimensional
pieces with larger third-dimensional structures; and natural objects
with artificial ones. But, what stuck out the most, was the giant throne
in the middle of the room It immediately caught my attention and
drew me in. I yearned to sit in it, but was too anxious to be the first one
or to do it at all! Also, the picture of a little girl (dubbed Cousin
Shirley) caught my eye because of its contrasting intertwining of color
with all of the black and white pictures that surrounded it. With that
being said, these are the two pieces I plan to explore even deeper
through aesthetics, personal connections, and cultural components.
First, the throne (called Throne for the Third Millennium,
completed in 2003) contained so many intricate and amazing aesthetic
elements that brought the piece together so well. The shape and form
of the piece overall made it so realistic to what I would think a kings
throne would be. With shape, the star on the groundsmoothly
created with feathersgave the piece such an awesome dynamic that
would have been totally lost without it. Not only do stars typically
symbolize power, but the texture of the star with soft feathers (as well
as the immense size of the star) made the powerful connotation so
delicately mild. It was as if Albert Chong was trying to emphasize the
emotion of strength, but not to where it was obnoxious and
overbearing. Next, the contrast in the colors, as well as the colors

themselves, is nicely done. The gold and black of the chair itself
provokesand reiteratesthe feeling of power, as well as a sense of
elegance. The gold is almost dull-like too, which again echoes a sense
of reserve by Chong to where he does not want to come across too
bold and superior. Last, the use of organic material within the piece
adds another layer of texture and a tie to nature. The feathers, twigs
near the top, shells slyly located in the headrest, and the use of wings
all evoke this naturalistic feeling that unifies the piece to something
many other art pieces do not contain. It is not typical to see a throne
with so many things that are derived from nature (or any natural
products whatsoever), which is just another aspect that makes the
aesthetics of Throne for the Third Millennium so great.
Personally, I initially had difficulty figuring out a way to connect
to this piece. How does a throne composed of naturalistic items relate
to me whatsoever? But, after considering Albert Chongs message with
a lot of his works, I understood that this piece was more relatable than
I thought. With this piece, I believe Chong is stating that this throne
(and its open seat) is for anyone to sit in and feel empowered. This
throne is not merely for a king or someone of a higher status, but for
an ordinary person. With this, I realized I apply this principle to the
ways I am a leader. In high school, I was the drumline captain, swim
team captain, and the president of several clubs. With these roles, I
could not simply be a dictator and rule endlessly. Rather, I had to give

each and everyone in the designated team/group the chance to sit in

the throne and be a leader as well. For example, with the drumline, I
could not just tell everyone what to do and expect everyone to listen.
Instead, I had to give everyone a chance to show their strengths and
feel like we were one cohesive unit, rather than a group with one sole
leader. With this art piece, I feel Chong is conveying a similar message
with saying everyone can sit in the throne at times; which is why it is
almost always empty as people cycle through it, feeling the ways that
they can shine.
Moreover, on a cultural level, I interpreted the meaning in a
similar way. In society, many people feel inferior to others: in the
government versus society, some teachers versus students, peers to
peers, etc. Many people are never given a chance to prosper and be
the king for a day. Basically, the ordinary man is simply that to

himself: an ordinary man with no chance to grow and be something

bigger. This can be directly tied to the hierarchy of the Middle Ages in
Europe, for example. Roughly, there were kings (who ruled directly),
then knights, and then the lowly peasants. This system led to the
king sitting in the throne all the time, the knights with a smaller throne,
and the peasants with no throne at all. This appears to be analogous to
our world today. There is the president and large business owners on
top, all the way down to minimum wage workers and the unemployed.
Similarly, the president and CEOs will reign forever and never take a
step off the throne in comparison to the unemployed who will likely
never/rarely get the chance to sit in the throne and feel the power.
Moving on, Cousin Shirley was the second piece that caught my
attention in the gallery. With this piece, as mentioned earlier, the first
thing that attracted me to it was the color (in regards to the contrast
and value) in relation to itself and the works around it. A lot of Chongs
pieces are black and white; and, as it so happened, many of these
pieces surrounded Cousin Shirley in the art gallery. This itself created
contrast with the other pieces; however, contrast and value also exists
in the piece itself with the black and white parts immersed with bright,
colorful flowers. Additionally, the movement of the photo created by
the flowers is pretty unique. The colorful flowers are floating around
the photo in a way that creates depth and movement. The flowers
appear almost surfaced at the top of the photo that makes the girl,

Shirley, seem in the background. This is also neat because the

emphasis of the photograph is taken slightly away from Shirley and
placed on the flowers.

On a personal account, the first person I think of in regards to

this picture is my sister, Brittany. Brittany is a special needs child who
is only about a year and a half years younger than me, but has the
mind of a girl a little older than Shirley. The part of the photo that really
evokes an emotional response on a personal level is the flowers and
their color. Like in the work where the colors bring life to the photo,
Brittany is like this in my life. She has an affect on me to rejuvenate my
life and bring it back to color, just like the beautiful flowers in the

picture. Although Brittany will remain this way forever, she is definitely
like a flower that always blooms. She works harder than anyone I know
at everything she does and never seems to lose color. Although my life
may be black and white at times, I know I always have Brittany around
to help me out.
Culturally, I believe Albert Chong had a deep message with this
art piece. While he was growing upand still prevalent very much so
todayracism was rampant throughout the United States and much of
the world. In this picture, Shirley is in black and white, while the
flowers are colored and are the main focus. What I derive from this
interpretation is that while a sweet, innocent girl exists in the picture,
the flowers are more important and more lively than the small
human being in the background. Unfortunately, there are still people in
this world who have similar viewpoints about those of other races.
Albert Chong regards racism in much of his piecesusually more
directly than I believe Cousin Shirley doesbut I believe this work does
so in such a unique, powerful way that integrates that of youth and
purity. Sadly enough, the life of many Africans in society was/is
regarded poorly. Luckily, artists like Albert Chong are able to bring light
to this situation throughout artwork.
Overall, the Albert Chong exhibit was so compelling and mighty.
Each and every piece revealed something deep that encompassed so
much meaning. Coming from a very small town of little to no diversity,

I revel in moments like these and embrace everything I can. I cannot

wait to further explore more art at the Harvey B. Gantt Center soon!