the altar and the flesh
E. Jane

the altar and the flesh
E. Jane

Nov 18 — January 20, 2022


Opening Nov 18
6 - 8 pm

Saturdays and Sundays between 12
and 6 pm or by appointment

MS. COLMAN’S 7 TH GRADE CLASS
CULTURE OUTING #72

For our next outing, we will be going to visit an engaging, intriguing exhibition of sight and sound by the Brooklyn-based artist E. Jane. Using a wide range of media from the amateur (like appliqué rhinestones and vintage vinyl records) to photography and professional recording equipment, E. Jane probes the relationships between a young artist and their favorite pop idols including the one they created for themself. When you go to see E. Jane’s exhibition at OCDChinatowin the coming days, keep the following questions in your mind. We will be discussing the show in class and you will all be expected to participate, and there will also be essay questions about the show on your final exam. I know I don’t need to say USE COMPLETE SENTENCES EVERYWHERE so I will not.

• The show’s title uses a binary setup to wonderful effect.
Unlike the old, restrictive binary pairs we talked about in
class, what new and different binaries can you come up
with to talk about the show. (For example: verbs & nouns,
performance & object, transparency & opacity). What
aspects of the show don’t fit into a simple spectrum?

• Who is E. Jane? If we can all be described as being and
containing lots of different nouns and qualities, what are
some of E. Jane’s nouns? What are their histories? Their
joys? Their talents? Their passions? Their genders? Their
genres? What others?

• What does E. Jane do in the show? Use as many verbs as
you can, and list them in what you think is their
importance. Explain why.

• What does it mean to create or make? What does it mean
to appropriate or borrow? What is the difference?
Is there one?

• What does it mean to perform, to be on a pedestal? What
does it mean to adore someone, to put them on a pedestal?
What relationships are established in this setup?
How and  why does E. Jane’s art blur the boundaries between the
two?

• What is an alter ego? How does E. Jane use an alter ego?
Who is MHYSA? What would your alter ego be called and
what would they do.

• What is the difference between a memento (something
you have of someone or something you worship) and an
artwork that you made? Does your memento mean to you
what your artwork could mean to someone else?
Use examples.

• What is a diva? What is a divus? Is there a difference?
Why or why not?

• How would you describe the difference between the
music and the art that you experience in the world?
What is  the difference between MHYSA’s music and the art and
artifacts that E. Jane makes?  What are the strengths of each?

• What aspects of the show are the most memorable to you?
Why do you think that is?

• What do you think about the show’s title, “the altar and
the flesh”? Come up with another title for the show and
explain why you think it’s better.

Have Fun And Remember — We Make Art And Art
Makes Us!

E. Jane (b.1990, Bethesda, MD) is an artist and musician based in Brooklyn, New York. Inspired by Black liberation and Womanism their work incorporates digital images, video, text, performance, sculpture, installation, and sound design. Since 2015, E. Jane has been creating a performance persona, MHYSA, an underground popstar for the cyber resistance that exalts and examines the life of the Black diva in popular culture. In 2018, MHYSA followed her critically acclaimed debut album, fantasii, with a live tour in the EU and US. She released a second album, NEVAEH, with Hyperdub in 2020. In 2021 hey have been awarded a Harvard College Fellowship in New Media as a part of SCRAAATCH. E. Jane’s first institutional solo show will be held at The Kitchen in New York in Spring 2022. E. Jane has also: • performed at The Kitchen, MoCADA and MoMA PS1 as one-half of the sound-performanceduo SCRAAATCH; • exhibited their solo work in dozens of international institutions and galleries, from MoMA PS1 and Studio Museum 127 to MCA Chicago and IMT Gallery and Edel Assanti in London; • written the widely-circulated NOPE manifesto, recently featured in Legacy Russell’s Glitch Feminism; • won the 2016 Wynn Newhouse Award; • been a 2019-2020 artist-in-residence at the Studio Museum in Harlem.