Columbus Suite: a review

Carl Beam’s solo exhibition at the AGO, The Columbus Suite houses twelve works made in the wake Christopher Columbus’ quincentenary discovery of America. This body of work responds to colonial knowledge and challenges such through contrasted and repeated images. Situated within the gallery’s European wing, the works are hung in an octagonal room, painted a deep royal blue; walking into the space you find yourself surrounded by the series. The path of entry leads you to the middle where you can locate wall text on the left and right of the entrance frame. Wall text introduces the context of the time in which Columbus Suite was made; travelling clockwise through the space, the visuals aid the intended narrative– each work in their arrangement affirms such. The strategic (or that I can assume) situation of the exhibition within the European wing was a powerful and reflective choice that decolonizes the museum. I find this placement supports the content of The Columbus Suite and disrupts the European narrative that streams through this wing. The wall colour is regal, symbolizing government and power- suggesting the political component of the exhibition. Curatorial critique aside, the works themselves are bold, punching and logical. Layered reproduced imagery discusses truth through comparative yet contrasted subjects and people. Seeing similar images duplicated among various works visually strings together the threads of intended narrative.  

Specifically New World 1990 stands out to me. This work resides near the entrance of the exhibition, being the first work, one would see upon entry- it sets the tone for the entirety of the exhibition. Its face is roughly grazed with ink, scribbled and dripping lines brings a kind of brutality or violence to the work, in juxtaposition to the element of nature, a turtle. “New World 89” is stamped across the lower portion of the paper, resembling a document, small writing on the left side addresses “Dear Columbia…”. I interpret the turtle as land: turtle island, and associate “new world” with Columbus’s discovery. The turtle is present, living and aged- nothing new about this world, yet stamped across its field exclaims colonial truth as “new world”, self-proclaimed discovery and defined newness. Again, being the first work, one would see in sequence, New World 1990 defines the context of the exhibition. With use of collage photography in painterly style, Beam visually mends moments, generating remarkably political commentary within both the artwork and the entirety of the exhibition.   

I personally find this exhibition powerful, between the works themselves, their context and the curatorial efforts that brought these ideas into the space.