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Cut & Paste: Fight over Kelley Walker exhibit simmers in St. Louis and in couple's relationship

Jason Wilson, CAM board member, and Shanti Parikh, anthropology and African Studies assistant professor
Kelly Moffit | St. Louis Public Radio
Jason Wilson, CAM board member, and Shanti Parikh, anthropology and African Studies assistant professor

An exhibition that opened at the Contemporary Art Museum Sept. 16 continues to draw fire for images that some say are demeaning to African-Americans. The issue has hit home with many St. Louisans including Shanti Parikh, an anthropology and African Studies associate professor, and her husband Jason Wilson, who’s on the board at CAM.

Visitors to the Contemporary Art Museum are now (Sept. 30, 2016) greeted by warning signs and a wall that went up in front of Kelley Walker's Direct Drive exhibit following criticism and outrage of the work.
Credit Carolina Hidalgo | St. Louis Public Radio
Visitors to the Contemporary Art Museum are now greeted by warning signs and a wall that went up in front of Kelley Walker's Direct Drive exhibit following criticism and outrage of the work.

Both attended a tense discussion last week in which a panel strongly critiqued the museum's decision to display the Kelley Walker exhibition “Direct Drive.”

They panelists decried the white artist's work which includes smeared images of black people. Many in St. Louis consider the artist's treatment of black bodies deplorable.

Wilson and Parikh have at times been on opposite sides of an argument about whether the museum should remove the exhibition. In our latest Cut & Paste podcast, we get in the trenches with them about their differences, the concept of artistic freedom — and the implications of the controversy.

Cut & Paste

Look for new Cut & Paste (#cutpastestl) podcastsevery few weeks on our website. You can also view all previous podcasts focusing on a diverse collection of visual and performing artists, and subscribe to Cut & Paste through this link.

Editors note: Shanti Parikh serves on the board the Friends of St. Louis Public Radio.

Follow Willis and Nancy on Twitter: @WillisRArnoldand @NancyFowlerSTL

Please help St. Louis Public Radio find artists to feature on Cut & Paste. Tell us which artists and cultural themes deserve a closer look.

Nancy is a veteran journalist whose career spans television, radio, print and online media. Her passions include the arts and social justice, and she particularly delights in the stories of people living and working in that intersection.