Glenn Kaino: With Drawn Arms

With Drawn Arms: Glenn Kaino and Tommie Smith revisits the now-iconic moment in sports history when Tommie Smith, a young athlete from San José State College (now San José State University), stood on the center podium at the 1968 Olympic awards ceremony with one gloved hand raised. Smith had just won the gold medal for the 200-meter dash. Leveraging a rapt, global audience, his gesture issued an unsubtle yet silent call to action against international human rights abuses and expressed solidarity with the civil rights movement in the US. Over 50 years later, Smith shares his story and its ongoing contemporary relevance through an unlikely partnership with Los Angeles-based artist Glenn Kaino in With Drawn Arms: Glenn Kaino and Tommie Smith.

The exhibition traces the echoes of Smith’s gesture through the medium of the message: the photographic news image proliferated endlessly through press, and today through infinitely expanding digital media. The exhibition includes sculpture, prints, and drawings by Kaino, as well as memorabilia from Smith’s personal collection. A new documentary film by the same name and directed by Kaino and Afshin Shahidi screens on February, 25, 2020 at the Hammer Theater Center. The film explores Smith’s history and the impact of his protest, featuring a range of key contemporary figures including former President of the United States Barack Obama, Congressman John Lewis, and former NFL player and political activist Colin Kaepernick. 

The centerpeice of the exhibition is Bridge (2013), a 100-foot-long monumental installation composed of casts of Smith’s arm raised in salute on the Olympic podium. Bridge mirrors the road of the civil rights movement and subsequent struggles for justice, a path not easy or straight, but rising in victory and descending in defeat along the journey. It serves as a metaphoric bridge connecting activists of the past like Smith with others present and future. Thus, Smith and Kaino liken their collaboration to a metaphorical “passing of the baton”— a call to younger generations that personal gestures of activism can be vigorous tools in catalyzing action. Part of their collaboration coalesced around a series of drawing workshops—or drawing rallies—with high schools. A selection of these works are featured alongside Kaino’s own representations of the race and medal ceremony.

Extending the “passing the baton” metaphor, SJMA presents a series of workshop-based public programs, which offer specific tools, resources, and actions individuals may take to effect change across a range of relevant issues, from immigrant advocacy to cyber activism.

With Drawn Arms is also complemented by Speed City: From Civil Rights to Black Power, an archival exhibition organized by History San José.

Glenn Kaino (b. 1972, Los Angeles) received his BFA from the University of California, Irvine, in 1993, and his MFA from the University of California, San Diego, in 1996. Kaino draws on his undergraduate education in computer science and formal training as a sculptor to make work that spans a wide range of media and creative activity. He engineers large-scale installations and site- or situation-specific sculptural works that are infused with sociopolitical commentary. In 2012, he was selected by the U.S. Department of State to represent America in the 13th International Cairo Biennale, and was included in the 2004 Whitney Biennial at the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; the 12th Lyon Biennial in Lyon, France; and Prospect 3 in New Orleans.

Tommie Smith (b. 1944, Clarksville, Texas) is a sprinter, civil rights activist, author, speaker, and scholar. While attending SJSU on an athletic scholarship, Smith excelled on one of the most competitive teams in collegiate sprinting history and became an icon of the civil rights movement at the 1968 Olympics. Since retiring from sprinting, Smith has taught sociology at Oberlin College and has been an active public speaker. He now lives in Stone Mountain, Georgia.

The exhibition is organized by Lauren Schell Dickens, senior curator.

Program:

Speed City: From Civil Rights to Black Power
November 1, 2019–June 1, 2020
Organized by History San Jose and presented in partnership with SJMA

Opening
November 1, 5–9pm
Celebrate the opening of With Drawn Arms and Woody De Othello: Breathing Room.

Black Athletes + Speed City Era @SJSU
November 6, 12–1pm
Former SJSU sprinters Ray Norton + Bob Poynter in conversation with Urla Hill.

Immigrant Advocacy: Rapid Response Training
November 9, 11am–1pm
These workshops offer ways to stand in solidarity with undocumented members of our community.

Lunchtime lecture: Elizabeth Gonzalez
December 4, 12–1pm
Elizabeth Gonzalez on using multimedia storytelling to shape the political, cultural, and social landscapes.

Gallery talk
January 23, 12:30–1:30pm
Tour the exhibition with Lauren Schell Dickens, senior curator

LGBTQ + Ally-ship Advocacy
February 5, 12–1pm
Join Gabrielle Antolovich, Board President for the Billy DeFrank LGBTQ+ Community Center in San José to learn how to be an advocate and ally to your LGBTQ+ community.

Creative Minds: Tommie Smith and Glenn Kaino
February 25, 7pm
Bay Area debut of documentary about Smith’s legacy and talk w/ Kaino + Smith.
Hammer Theatre Center: 101 Paseo De San Antonio, San Jose, CA 95113

Female Athlete Global Game-changers
March 4, 12–1pm
Celebrate Women’s History Month w/ a lecture led by leader + advocate Marlene Bjornsrud.

Protest Signs and Printmaking with Kathy Aoki
March 7, 12–4pm
Artist Kathy Aoki hosts a printmaking workshop surrounding the theme of personal activism.