Bermúdez-Silverman at CAAM

Sugar glass is the old-time Hollywood prop used for windows and bottles that have to smash convincingly in fight scenes. Shards of it stood in for meth on Breaking Bad. Sula Bermúdez-Silverman has repurposed sugar glass as an art material in a show at the California African American Museum. "Sula Bermúdez-Silverman: Neither Fish, Flesh, nor Fowl" surveys six years of work, ending with an installation of molded sugar replicas of a dollhouse the artist's grandmother made for her. 

Artists have long mined the uncanny effect of casts and reconstructions of architecture. Bermúdez-Silverman is not the first to use sugar as shorthand for slavery and colonialism. But as the title announces, Neither Fish, Flesh, nor Fowl isn't that into categories. Lighted from below, the houses are both hygge and creepy. In a city of Zillow envy, it reminds us of the Tuareg proverb: "a house is a coffin for the living."

Sula Bermúdez-Silverman, Neither Fish, Flesh, Nor Fowl, 2020

Sugar glass is unstable, drawing water from the air. CAAM has managed to keep the art fresh for over a year of lockdown. Curated by Mar Hollingsworth, "Neither Fish, Flesh, nor Fowl" has been extended through May 2, 2021. 

Also on view is a group show of artists inspired by Black churches ("Enunciated Life"), a round-up of recent CAAM acquisitions, and a Smithsonian traveler that's heavy on text panels ("Men of Change: Power. Triumph. Truth.") But don't miss Nina Chanel Abney's painted portrait of Andrew Young.

Advance reservations. required for the duration, are available on the CAAM website. 

Nina Chanel Abney, Andrew Young, 2018, in "Men of Change: Power. Triumph. Truth." (c) Nina Chanel Abney

April Bey, She's the Face of…, 2013, in "Sanctuary: Recent Acquisitions to the Permanent Collection"