CHARLES GAINES

It has been a struggle to write about artist Charles Gaines. What else can I say about this living giant who continues to speak truth to power? There already have been countless writings about him, his artwork, and his tireless efforts to question our society and our relationship within it. 

In 2023, Gaines visited NJCU, where he received his BA in 1966, and BFA students at their final exhibition in May. We are so grateful for his incredible generosity in visiting Jersey City while he was in NYC for his monumental installation, Moving Chains, on Governors Island.

The work description from the island's website is included below:

A 110-foot long kinet­ic sculp­ture built from steel and sus­tain­ably har­vest­ed Sapele, com­mon­ly referred to as African Mahogany, a tree native to West Africa... con­tains nine cus­tom made chains weigh­ing over 1,600 pounds each run­ning its length over­head. Eight of the chains are rep­re­sen­ta­tive of the pace of the cur­rents in New York Har­bor, while a ninth cen­tral chain moves more quick­ly, recall­ing the pace of ship and barge traf­fic that has trav­eled the city’s water­ways for cen­turies. The over­all effect of the weight and motion of the chains pro­duces a rhyth­mic, undu­lat­ing loop, evoca­tive of the sounds of New York Har­bor at the entrance to the Hud­son Riv­er, known to the area’s Indige­nous res­i­dents the Lenape as Mahi­can­tuck, the riv­er that runs two ways. Start­ing dur­ing the Dutch and British occu­pa­tions, this water­way near present-day low­er Man­hat­tan would become an eco­nom­ic pil­lar of the transat­lantic slave trade and seed the sys­tem of racial cap­i­tal­ism foun­da­tion­al to the Unit­ed States. Fac­ing the Stat­ue of Lib­er­ty — an inter­na­tion­al sym­bol of benev­o­lence and human rights, dis­tin­guished by the abo­li­tion­ist iconog­ra­phy of a bro­ken shack­le and chain at her right foot—Mov­ing Chains calls atten­tion to the nation’s eco­nom­ic, judi­cial, and polit­i­cal frame­works that con­tin­ue the lega­cy of slav­ery today.

https://www.govisland.com/things-to-do/public-art/the-american-manifest-moving-chains 

It made a big impression on the students who spoke with the artist about their work. It provided another opportunity to see the possibility of pursuing a career in a field that often lacked a clear path, especially for students of color. 

As we continue to look for inspiration as activists and artists, we can not stop thinking about his use of art to understand our world. In a 1993 exhibition, “Theater of Refusal: Black Art and Mainstream Criticism” at the University of California, Irvine, organized by Gaines and the artist and writer Catherine Lord, they ask the audience to question the status quo in the art world structures where artists of color are pushed to the margins limiting not only their exposure but also how their work gets written about in art criticism.

As the financial stress pushes the school to ponder over the sale of its Visual Art building built to house its art department among other things, it begs the question of value. What is the value of art and the people who make them? What is their purpose? Why do we need them?

Why do we choose or not choose art when faced with difficulties?