The timely exhibition In Conversation: Will Wilson at the Mennello Museum of American Art is a compelling and forward-facing exploration of contemporary portraiture. Photographer Will Wilson, Diné (Navajo), has created a body of work that gives the public a deeper understanding of authentic indigenous culture, and the show provides viewers a point of departure to reflect on the challenges that continue to face the indigenous peoples of America. Hundreds of tribes and communities lived here in Florida for thousands of years, prior to Europeans. What is the photographer’s responsibility to the people they depict, and what is accuracy and truth in contemporary photography?
Indigenous culture has been romanticized and inaccurately depicted throughout American history. By contrast, the people in Will Wilson’s portraits had an active role in the photo-making, and provided cooperation and consent regarding how they were ultimately represented. Those photographed also chose any items they held, and had agency in how those objects were depicted, bringing to mind the concept of counter-narrative, the ethics of representation, and the forms of labor it takes for artists (and museum workers) to confront bias.
In the portrait of Nakotah LaRance, for example, who is a citizen of the Hopi Nation, LaRance squats rather than sits. He chose headphones; a manga novel and a hoop rest on his lap. The wall texts tell us he has six World Champion Hoop Dancing titles.
Wilson’s photographs are juxtaposed against early 20th-century photographer Edward S. Curtis’ images from The North American Indian (1907-1930). In this way, the exhibition becomes a curatorial investigation into identity and assumptions, not only about human beings but also about the land itself.
Wall text reveals that Wilson traveled through Oklahoma in 2016. During this time he photographed many Pawnee people — outdoors, rather than indoors. In a portrait of William “Bill” H. Howell, the result is dappled sunlight, perhaps the shapes cast by trees, and the handle of a bicycle. The viewer may reflect on the relationship our culture has not only to indigenous people, but to land in its natural state.
In Conversation is eloquent and sincere in its representation of an active rather than passive relationship between artist, curator and historical documents. This traveling exhibition from Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Arkansas may be the best example of a show that fulfills the curator’s responsibility to the present, past and future simultaneously that I have seen in recent years. Bringing it to Orlando shows foresight and vision on the part of the Mennello, an institution that deeply benefits the citizens of Central Florida it serves.
In Conversation: Will Wilson closes Sunday, Feb. 12.
This article appears in Feb 8-14, 2023.