On “Thirty-nine (39) Questions for WHITE PEOPLE.”
“Displayed on the white wall, printed on simple printer paper, are 39 questions for white people. They include, “When did you choose to be white?” and “Do you have to be white to be loved?” The questions are provocative, yet the presentation is plain and simple. These questions turn dominant ideologies on their heads, encouraging the viewer to question their own identity and their own privileges.
This piece of art, by Naima Lowe, is one of 26 works in the Wing Luke Museum’s new exhibit “Under My Skin: Artists Explore Race in the 21st Century.” Lowe’s contribution to the show, like the entirety of the show itself, is effective at causing a certain amount of introspection. These works of art don’t just sit there and look pretty, they present difficult questions and harsh realities.”
-Danielle Palmer-Friedman, UW Daily
“Naima Lowe is a queer black artist based in Washington state whose most recent project is causing quite a stir. She’s created a book called “39 Questions for White People,” a collection of simple questions that are meant to generate a discussion around white privilege.”
-Colorlines covers “the stir,” that Naima Lowe’s book is creating.
“What was most remarkable to me about Thirty-nine [39] Questions for White People as we experienced it in performance this morning in the Art Lecture Series at Evergreen was that it was an experiment actually conducted (for the most part, if not exclusively) by and with the essay’s subject matter: white people”
–Eirik Steinhoff reviews the Author’s book and accompanying lecture.
“Naima Lowe is a queer, black (and prolific) artist and a professor at Evergreen State College. She works in many mediums — primarily film and performance — and has won more awards than any normal person should be allotted in their time here on earth. But Lowe is not normal. She is pushing boundaries, physically, artistically, intellectually, in relation to sex, love, body image, identity and race. Most recently, as Colorlines reported, Lowe released a limited edition print of her book “39 Questions for White People.” The book, a collection of simple questions intended to generate discussion about white privilege, is on display at the Wing Luke Museum as a part of their “Under My Skin: Artists Explore Race in the 21st Century” exhibit, but only through the end of the weekend. Don’t miss it.”
-B.A, Crosscut Northwest