Even Righteous Minds Go Through This (Primary Title)
Jayson Musson, American, born 1977 (Artist)
This, in effect, operates as a form of colonization over another corner of Black memory, and any reverence these garments received, at least in my opinion, is highly undeserved. . . . I consider the sweaters ‘cultural detritus’—just another commodity on a long list of objects many people are manipulated into coveting or consuming . . . ultimately, this work is about a form of existential disconnection.
—Jayson Musson
Musson is a multifaceted artist, working in performance, painting, sculpture, and with works on paper. He engages humor as a means to look critically into our contemporary culture as well as the contemporary art world.
This work comprised of material sourced from Coogi sweaters sourced online, speaks to a period of time in the black community when these objects denoted class and status. Here Musson uses the Coogi sweater to explore the in-between spaces of high-art versus craft, intentional versus found abstraction, and, most significantly, the notion of ownership of African American popular culture.
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