Cape artists pair paintings in exhibit that calls attention to 'fires ignited by racism'

Barbara Clark
·6 min read

The surprise of contrasts and connections lies at the heart of a new exhibition at Cape Cod Museum of Art, where two Barnstable artists have come together for an unusual pairing in the aptly titled show “Fragile.”

Paintings by Frank Anigbo and Richard Neal will share the walls of two galleries at the Dennis museum, which will display close to 25 of their works from Oct. 6 to Dec. 31.

Museum officials have described the show as “a commentary on the literal and figurative fires ignited by racism.” The artists, who worked independently, realized that in pairing their work in one show there was “a combined power greater than the sum of the parts,” according to museum information.

"Burn It Down" is one of Richard Neal's fiery images that is part of the "Fragile" exhibit at the Cape Cod Museum of Art in Dennis.
"Burn It Down" is one of Richard Neal's fiery images that is part of the "Fragile" exhibit at the Cape Cod Museum of Art in Dennis.

A look at the paintings side by side evokes a powerful visceral response. The eye is initially startled by what seem to be discordant, mismatched works, as Neal’s images of leaping orange and red flames contrast with Anigbo’s muted, pale-hued images of small children in their safe space of domesticity. First reactions gradually morph into a quite different recognition: of vulnerability, life’s fragile nature and the realization that innocence is often in jeopardy.

Enter author/poet Lauren Wolk, the show’s curator, who has developed the exhibition to capture the way themes of innocence connect with those that startle or threaten. Wolk, former associate director at the Cultural Center of Cape Cod, is also contributing a poem to accompany the art on view, and notes that the artists’ work is full of narratives.

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“It took my breath away,” she says. “It’s an exhibit of layers, stories and powerful emotions.”

The artists, she says, “are reacting to the forces in our lives. ... We’re at the mercy of so many things.”

Artist Frank Anigbo's "Killing Emmett Till Again" is considered the centerpiece of a Cape Cod Museum of Art exhibit that pairs the work of two very different artists.
Artist Frank Anigbo's "Killing Emmett Till Again" is considered the centerpiece of a Cape Cod Museum of Art exhibit that pairs the work of two very different artists.

'This is the way it is'

According to Wolk, one painting by Anigbo, “Killing Emmett Till Again,” may be “the centerpiece” of the exhibition, “a statement that pulls the two artists together.” Its disquieting, almost static sense of calm serves as a counterpoint to the horror depicted on the canvas, where a police officer sits on horseback just below the dangling feet of a lynched Black man.

This ‘fixed’ quality, says Anigbo, makes for a disturbing, almost casual statement about racism, as if “This is the way it is.”

Anigbo, who came to the U.S. from Nigeria in 1984, says, “I needed to declare how I felt” about the overriding issue of racism. “How do I explain to my child that there is something wrong” — that life poses real uncertainties and dangers. Can he handle it?” Anigbo asks.

Much of Frank Anigbo's art revolves around the fragility of the domestic world that holds his children safe.
Much of Frank Anigbo's art revolves around the fragility of the domestic world that holds his children safe.

Much of his art revolves around the fragility of the domestic world that holds his children safe — contrasted in the gallery with Neal’s incendiary images, whose power can rage and threaten that quiet security.

The convergence of light and dark depicted in the exhibit is reflected in the different approaches and styles of the two artists. Neal says of his work, “I’m not embedded in what I want to say. ... I allow a painting to change” as the work develops.”

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Of the buildings he painted, many were Civil War-era shanties, remnants of slavery that had become the homes of poor Black families, who lived there when he was a youngster growing up in Maryland. He drew many of the structures from memory, and later experimented with building a wooden model of a similar structure and setting it alight, the beginning of his inspiration for the series of paintings in the exhibit.

Neal’s creations are multi-dimensional, says Wolk. “They infer the beyond,” like opening a book and seeing into, and then through, the lines of text into a different world. “There aren’t many shows that have as many layers as this one.”

Some of Richard Neal's paintings are of buildings on fire, including War-era shanties, remnants of slavery that had become the homes of poor Black families when he was growing up in Maryland.
Some of Richard Neal's paintings are of buildings on fire, including War-era shanties, remnants of slavery that had become the homes of poor Black families when he was growing up in Maryland.

Neal often emphasizes this through collage, layering cloth and other materials on canvas, then painting on that surface.

Understanding and mystery

For Anigbo, the body of work he developed for this exhibit is “about family” and about his “capacity to shield (his) children from the profanities of the world. ... I know what I’m trying to say before I begin.” Most parents, he says, “will just get it.” We need, he says, “to create in such a way that anyone who walks into the room will understand.”

Neal adds that, at the same time, “We need to leave a space for the mystery of it,” an understanding that there’s “additional meaning after the fact. ... I want people to react to it.”

The two artists met more than a dozen years ago, and were briefly art “neighbors” when Anigbo had an artist space in the Schoolhouse Studios in Barnstable Village, where Neal paints. Anigbo now works from a studio just down the street. Ideas for the exhibit developed, Neal says, as “I kept imagining what it would look like if we did a show together.”

Most of Frank Anigbo's paintings in the "Fragile" exhibit are about family, like this "Sleep."
Most of Frank Anigbo's paintings in the "Fragile" exhibit are about family, like this "Sleep."

As soon as he saw the explosive images in Neal’s fire paintings, Anigbo says, “it was clear” that a combined show would engage visitors’ attention: “I feel the heat when I look at Neal’s paintings.”

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Commenting on Wolk’s work developing the exhibition, Anigbo says he felt she “completely understood what the show is about (and offered) a great foundation to articulate the work as a whole.”

To see and experience ‘Fragile’

When: On exhibit Oct. 6 through Dec. 31, open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays and noon to 4 p.m. Sundays

Where: Cape Cod Museum of Art, 60 Hope Lane, Dennis

Admission: $10 adults, $8 seniors, $7 for students and ages 13-18, free to age 12 and under

Information: 508-385-4477; ccmoa.org

Artists Richard Neal, left, and Frank Anigbo will talk about pairing their visions for the "Fragile" exhibit at various public programs at the Cape Cod Museum of Art.
Artists Richard Neal, left, and Frank Anigbo will talk about pairing their visions for the "Fragile" exhibit at various public programs at the Cape Cod Museum of Art.

Special events

► Thursday, Oct. 6: Gallery talk, 4 to 5 p.m., with artists and curator; opening reception, 5 to 7 p.m. Free and open to the public. RSVP suggested: https://www.ccmoa.org/events/opening-reception-fragile or www.ccmoa.org/fragile

► Thursday, Nov. 3: Live panel discussion and Q&A, 4 to 5 p.m. with artists and curator, moderated by Mindy Todd, host of WCAI’s “The Point.” Tickets: $12, $10 non-members; https://www.ccmoa.org/events/fragile-a-panel-discussion-richard-neal-frank-anigbo or www.ccmoa.org/fragile.

►"A Tribute to Billie Holiday with Mozelle Andrulot," 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 13; $20, $17 for members; www.ccmoa.org/fragile. The concert is designed to give voice to the message of fragility through Holiday's songs.

This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Cape Cod artists pair paintings in exhibit spotlighting racism, fires