I met Erika Ranee last summer when I took students to see a pop-up exhibition she curated in a Brooklyn studio, arranged around the theme of imagery of the eye. I was struck by how Ranee succinctly and clearly discussed the work, even as she addressed everything from its politics and subject matter to the studio processes of the artists in the show and her personal relationships with them. The exhibition included several artists of color, a variety of media, and both high profile and emerging artists. Ranee’s tour — and the conversation we had recently in her Bushwick studio — pointed to the fact that hers was an alternative canon of contemporary art and art history. Read More