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<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nThe sculptures \u2013 four sedentary African women, individually titled The Seated I<\/em>, II<\/em>, III<\/em> and IV<\/em> \u2013 are inspired by the marble caryatids that operate as architectural load-bearers in ancient structures in Greece and West Africa. Mutu liberates the women from their historically limiting supportive roles by re-imagining them as powerful pillars capable of more than just providing support. Each sculpture has distinct facial features and is elaborately decorated with vertical coils that act as both garment and armour. The significance of these sculptures being placed on a neoclassical building is unmistakable. As curator Kelly Baum points out: \u2018Had the niches been filled in 1902,\u2019 when the Richard Morris Hunt building was completed, \u2018the artist would certainly have been male and white.\u2019 The series title alone implies an acknowledgment that these works are pioneering. Their presence decentres whiteness and patriarchy by giving authority and autonomy to \u2018othered\u2019 figures. If the challenge was to derail the historical Western-dominant narrative of the Met before even entering its buildings, Mutu\u2019s bronze sculptures achieve just that. This article is important as it highlights a cultural change in what is perceived as important. When the building was originally constructed, the thought of having a black woman creating the outside sculptures would have been inconceivable Now, however, with the current cultural emphasis on equality and representation, the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art felt it was time to fill the empty spot with strong symbols of black women empowerment, a group of people who have been substantially marginalized in the past. Representation is important and outdoor recreation tends to not nessesaraly show it. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by: Kadish Morris The four niches in the fa\u00e7ade of New York\u2019s Metropolitan Museum of Art \u2013 originally designed to house freestanding sculptures \u2013 have lain empty for 117 years. Now, however, for the first time in the institution\u2019s history, artworks are finally being exhibited on the museum\u2019s exterior. \u2018The NewOnes, will free Us\u2019 (2019) […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":1321,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1317","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts","8":"category-uncategorized"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1317","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1317"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1317\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1428,"href":"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1317\/revisions\/1428"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1321"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1317"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1317"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1317"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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