We were invited to attend the Whip It Good talk and reception, and to view the exhibition. As part of the audience, we stand in a large room surrounded by seven foot canvases covered in black slashed marks. These marks have been made through live action paintings that bring colonialism and slavery back to life.
After a brief talk from Jeannette Ehlers, the artist, and the exhibition curator, Karen Alexander, the audience are invited to ask questions. After a few questions pass, some personal, some artistic, a woman steps forward and says, “Thank you Jeannette.” She explains that she participated in one of the seven evenings of performance and that the day after she attended, she left her bathroom in floods of tears: “I didn’t even know I held on to that emotion, it was such a therapeutic experience for me.”
From that point on I was intrigued with Jeannette, with the exhibition, and with the seven evenings of powerful performances that took place beforehand. During each performance, dark charcoal is rubbed into a whip which is then directed at one of the large canvases that surrounded us in that room. Afterwards, Jeannette’s ritual concludes by offering members of the audience the opportunity to help her finish the painting. Men, woman and children of all races take the whip and are given creative freedom.
Using one of the most brutal forms of punishment against black bodies during slavery, the Danish-Trinidadian artist highlights themes of memory, race and colonialism throughout her exhibition. Whip it Good challenges these racist systems and allows for an emotional and confrontational experience.