Custer Demo 

Editor: So here we have Thomas Blackshear’s "Custer Demo," a figurative painting focusing on a bust portrait. The bright blue eyes against the warmer tones give him an almost piercing quality. What’s your take? Curator: The focus on Custer, even now, raises questions about whose stories we choose to immortalize and how. Blackshear painted this piece outside traditional Western art historical structures that typically upheld white patriarchal power. Custer's image is complicated: seen by some as a military hero, while he was instrumental in the oppression and genocide of Indigenous peoples. How does Blackshear grapple with this loaded imagery? Editor: It seems he’s presenting him almost… neutrally? Is that possible, considering the history? Curator: I see a layering. The bright eyes and slightly softened features almost humanize Custer, moving him away from a symbol of conquest, though the military collar is clearly present. But Blackshear himself being an African-American artist gives it all another dimension. What does it mean to portray someone historically aligned with systems of oppression, through the eyes of an artist from a community that suffered those oppressions? Editor: So, by simply choosing Custer as a subject, is Blackshear engaging in a dialogue about the complex relationship between representation, power, and history? Curator: Precisely! And how does that connect to our understanding of identity, race, and the narratives we construct around historical figures? Is this glorification, or a confrontation with uncomfortable histories? Whose perspective is centered here, and why does that matter? Editor: I initially just saw a portrait, but now I am grappling with so many layers of context and interpretation. Curator: Which speaks to the potency of art – that an image, seemingly straightforward, can become a battleground of cultural meaning, opening dialogues about representation and power.