She is falling. Her body tilted at an angle, both arms stretched open. Gravity is pulling her. In the photograph we can see the creases on the lower part of her dress, the right leg lifted as in the middle of an attempted forward motion. We see her from behind, we don’t know who she is. Clouds smudge the horizon of an otherwise clear mid-western sky. The soil under her feet has been plowed, the fields devoid of any crops. Soft afternoon light hits half of her body, a large shadow cast to the side where she is falling. The day will soon end. Is she running away? Or is she dancing? Perhaps she is not falling at all. The viewer is left to wonder.
The print, called The Last Place They Thought Of, by Katherine Simóne Reynolds is one of the art pieces on display at the Stanley Museum of Art’s new exhibition “it’s a fine thing” (Feb. 13-July 20). Curated by Reynolds and supported by a five-person curatorial cohort of advisors, “it’s a fine thing” explores the rich and often overlooked landscape of the Black Midwest, including the Rust Belt.
“it’s a fine thing” is meant to challenge conventional narratives and celebrate the resilience and creativity of Black Midwestern artists. It explores themes of erasure, community, and the complex relationship between Black Midwesterners and the land through a range of works, including painting, sculpture, photography, video, and performance.
The art pieces in the room with The Last Place They Thought Of have been arranged with a particular intention: triggering subtle associations in the viewer’s mind. On display next to it is Kara Walker’s Vanishing Act, a drawing where one doll eats the head of another doll, both wearing similar dresses to the one worn by the woman on Reynolds’ print.
Viewers will be astounded by a large screen showing a recurring short clip from Deafman Glance, a five-hour silent opera written by Robert Wilson and first performed on Dec. 15, 1970 at the Center for New Performing Arts in Iowa City.
“Wilson had an adopted child who was hearing impaired,” said Lauren Lessing, director of the Stanley Museum of Art. “That was where part of the inspiration came.” At a certain moment the clip shows a woman standing next to a sleeping child, then the camera zooms in on the long knife that the woman is holding. The viewer feels a shiver running down their spine. “Haunting is one of the themes of this exhibition,” said Lessing. “Haunting and absence and erasure.”
In terms of erasure, the story of Buxton, Iowa (founded 1900), is also brought in to the exhibition. Now a ghost town, Buxton was a thriving coal mining town where Black residents held positions of power. They defied racial norms of the era.
The constellation of art pieces aim to contextualize words like fugitivity (the strategies used to resist oppression) applied to the preservation of Black history, as well as keloidal, a medical term describing a raised scar left behind after a wound heals, adopted by Reynolds to describe the concept of healing and the persistence of trauma.
In conjunction with this exhibition, the museum is also organizing a community-wide reading of Toni Morrison’s Beloved. Stanley Museum’s curator DK Nunro will be leading four book club conversations through May, and the self-guided tour leaflet includes prompts from the book. They are meant to further expand the meanings and multiple associations triggered by the exhibition.
Curator of Special Projects, Derek (DK) Nnuro speaks at the it’s a fine thing opening reception. — Photo by Adrian Carmenate courtesy of the Stanley Museum of Art 
Lauren Lessing speaks at the it’s a fine thing opening reception. — Photo by Adrian Carmenate courtesy of the Stanley Museum of Art 
Visitors stand before a loop of Deafman Glance at the it’s a fine thing opening reception. — Photo by Adrian Carmenate courtesy of the Stanley Museum of Art
The multifaceted group of advisors for the exhibition included Kemi Adeyemi, associate professor of Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies at the University of Washington and Founder and Director of The Black Embodiments Studio; Angel Bat Dawid, composer, clarinetist, pianist, DJ and dducator; Ashley Howard, assistant professor of History and African American Studies at the University of Iowa; Mpho Matsipa, associate professor and co-director of Spatial Justice, Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London; Terrion L. Williamson, associate professor of Black Studies and Gender and Women’s Studies and director of Black Midwest Initiative, University of Illinois Chicago.
