Saint Louis Art Museum curators discuss new exhibition, ‘The Culture: Hip Hop and Contemporary Art in the 21st Century’

As the seasons changed, Ladue News visited Saint Louis Art Museum’s new exhibition, “The Culture: Hip Hop and Contemporary Art in the 21st Century,” which explores the impact of hip-hop on past, present and future communities in St. Louis and around the world. Jay-Z’s music reverberated across overhead speakers; lyrics from Kendrick Lamar’s emotional “Sing About Me, I’m Dying of Thirst” found their way into a piece; and Lil’ Kim’s famous pastel-dyed Chanel wigs even made an appearance. At its core, “The Culture” serves as a celebration of Black art and a reminder, according to curators Hannah Klemm and Andréa Purnell, that “Hip-hop has been, and will always be, both intrinsically local and uniquely global.”

The origins of hip-hop and its impact are multifaceted, so I can see why you chose to include all sorts of mediums in this exhibition. As you were setting this up, were there any pieces or presentations that specifically caught your attention?

“It was always important to us to represent the multifaceted nature of hip-hop and its influence on contemporary art and visual culture, and that necessitated a multiple-media approach. From the start, we looked at video, sculpture, painting, fashion and photography. We also spoke to all the living artists in the show about their practice and what hip-hop meant to them.

“There were some works that immediately stood out; Roberto Lugo’s ‘Street Shrine 1: A Notorious Story’ was one of those works. It’s so striking and powerful, merging the history of decorative and applied arts with both contemporary popular culture and sculptural form.

“Video work was also an important medium, as it bridged music videos and art-making. Much of the large-scale video is installed outside of the ticketed exhibition space, which makes it accessible at any point during museum hours to the general public and allows visitors time and space to experience the work. Stan Douglas’ ‘ISDN (2022)’ and Kahlil Joseph’s ‘m.A.A.d. (2014)’ immediately captured much of what we were trying to do with the exhibition. [We wanted to] show the truly global impact of hip-hop – found in Douglas’ work – and [hip-hop’s sense of] influence and collaboration – found in Joseph’s work, as he brought Kendrick Lamar’s poetry to life.”

From your perspective, why is hip-hop important to the community in St. Louis and vice-versa?

“Hip-hop has been, and will always be, both intrinsically local and uniquely global. ‘The Culture’ recognizes that hip-hop and St. Louis have been intertwined since 1979, when legendary local DJ Gentleman Jim Gates became the first radio DJ in the county to play ‘Rapper’s Delight’ by The Sugarhill Gang over the airways. ‘The Culture’ was conceived with the importance of both local and global ties in mind. It was developed as a collaborative effort that engaged the museum’s curatorial, education and audience development departments and emphasized community access and engagement.”

There’s a section in the exhibition that highlights hip-hop and branding and prompts the question of whether the artist is a producer or a product. Can you elaborate on that?

“The thematic section on Brand highlights how artists examine both the icons born from hip-hop and the seduction of success. In early years, many hip-hop artists became unofficial promoters of major brands that aligned with their style and bolstered their public persona. Today, artists partner directly with companies and create their own independent brands, and in the process often become brands themselves.

“Works in this section showcase many ideas of brands and branding, from a work by Jayson Musson that might, from a distance, look like a gestural abstract painting. When you get closer, you see that it is actually made from fragments of Coogi brand sweaters. The Australian company’s colorful and vibrant knitwear was popularized in the 1980s and 1990s, in part by hip-hop icons such as The Notorious B.I.G., also known as Biggie.

“You can also see this relationship in a portrait of Cardi B by Moroccan photographer Hassan Hajjaj – which showcases the nature of celebrity images as brands – and in an abstract object titled ‘Money (Cardi B)’ by Tariku Shiferaw. Shiferaw painted a large ‘X’ alongside various gestural marks with spray paint on a box-like sculpture. The open wood slats suggest a shipping pallet, used to move goods and commodities, as well as the straightforward construction of minimalist sculpture. In his titles, Shiferaw references artists known for creating music that originates in Black communities – like hip-hop, R&B, reggae, Afrobeats, blues and jazz. These genres have historically been instruments of resistance against societies that have repeatedly attempted to erase and profit from Black labor. Here, by invoking one of the most bankable names in hip-hop, Cardi B, within the context of the shipping crate, Shiferaw questions when a personal brand becomes a product – like Hajjaj does, but formally different through abstract sculpture.”

How did you go about finding artists from St. Louis and Baltimore (the two cities whose respective art museums organized this exhibition)?

“It was very important to the curatorial team that we have a strong representation of local artists from both St. Louis and Baltimore. We worked closely as a team to meet with artists and have conversations about their practices and how they were influenced or aligned with hip-hop. We are so pleased that almost 30 percent of the exhibition is work by St. Louis and Baltimore artists.”

What do you hope visitors to this exhibition will take away?

“We hope that people leave with an understanding of how vital and important hip-hop has been as a cultural phenomenon. With the exhibition, we really wanted to illustrate through objects how, over the last 50 years, hip-hop has become ensconced in society as one of the most vital cultural movements to emerge from the 20th century. Even if you aren’t an avid hip-hop aficionado, your world has been impacted by hip-hop culture through movies, advertisements, television and contemporary art. Hip-hop culture will continue to grow, be seen and impact the world. We hope that people will come out of this show with a new understanding of not only how hip-hop impacts society, but also of how contemporary art is shaped and changed by culture writ large.”

Tell us about Harris-Stowe State University students’ involvement in this exhibition. How did this come about? How are the students liking it so far?

“We are thrilled to celebrate this artistic milestone through community engagement and have partnered with Harris-Stowe State University to employ students as engagement guides for ‘The Culture.’ The students have been trained on exhibition content and visitor engagement and mentored by museum docents, and are loving their experiences so far. In fact, docents have described how much they have learned from the students.”

Saint Louis Art Museum, 1 Fine Arts Drive, St. Louis, 314-721-0072, slam.org