Lienzo Negro (Black Canvas), Sonja Sekula

Exhibition Label: "Forms of Thought," Oct-2014, Kris Ercums It is difficult not to see the tragic life and career of Sonja Sekula through the lens of gender. During her brief career as an artist in post-WWII New York City, Sekula was a persecuted lesbian, suffered from frequent mental breakdowns, and was an unacknowledged female artist among the “big boys” of abstract-expressionism (Newman, Pollock, Reinhardt, Rothko, and Still to name a few). John Cage-a pioneer of experimental music-who lived across the hall from her, was a close friend. After Sekula committed suicide, Cage observed: “She was a very intense person full of humor…frequently laughing. The notion of dying was ever with her; if she couldn’t paint it was the equivalent of dying. When she was about to have a breakdown she would begin to speak in religious terms. She had deep insights of truth… It is a marvelous criticism of our society that when a person [Sekula] becomes that close to Truth about life in general it is a sign that they should be put away.