Diamond Stingily

The artwork Entryways by Diamond Stingily was part of the exhibition Tell me about ~~yesterday~~ tomorrow (Nov. 28, 2019 until Oct. 18, 2020).

About the artist

The works of artist Diamond Stingily (born in Chicago in 1990) deal with aspects of social identity and issues relating to social class, racism, and origin. She often utilizes everyday materials in her artistic practice, which includes video, sculpture, and writing. Based on her own experiences and family history, Stingily deals with cultural representation and collective memory in the context of the United States. Using personal items and family memories, she traces the mechanisms of systematic violence and reveals the social inequalities inscribed in the culture.

Door with bat, hardware, 207.01 x 71.12 x 121.92 cm

Entryways consists of a worn wooden door with a baseball bat leaning against it. In this context, the bat no longer seems like a piece of equipment for a team sport, but an object used for defense. Diamond Stingily arranges objects and materials from her childhood memories that chronicle social and economic living conditions. Having grown up in Chicago, she addresses the violent circumstances and racist structures that shape American society. Stingily remembers a baseball bat leaning against the door at her grandmother’s house, one behind the front door and one behind the back door. In this way, she hoped to protect her grandchildren in an environment where violence and danger were a part of everyday life. To the artist, however, this image also has a positive connotation in that the bats designate a protected area. She thus creates a counter-narrative, a feeling of matriarchal security as well as cohesion and empathy within groups who are exposed to external violence.

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