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The Mesa Press

The Mesa Press

The independent student news site of San Diego Mesa College.

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The Mesa Press

The Mesa Press

‘By(e) Default’ explores systematic and racial oppression

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Dennis Lopez

Galleries are the beating heart of the art world, and Mesa has one of its very own. “By(e) Default,” curated by Andrea Chung, aims to highlight contradictory thought on race and systematic oppression.

Through the works of five contemporary artists and three poets, they exhibited challenges that have occurred and continue to occur in American history as they engaged in both the revision and celebration of Black History. The exhibit features the works of Elizabeth Axtman, Suzanne Broughel, Cortney Charleston, Lissa Corona, JC Lenochan, Jason Patterson, Claudia Rankine, and Nicole Sealey.

The artists incited thought-provoking discussions on race, the idea being that “whiteness is the default, but it denies that it is privileged, all while fearing the loss of its position as the ‘default,’” according to the description about the exhibition. The artists challenged white history as being falsely interpreted as American history, aiming to expose the fact that America was founded upon contributions by people of color.

Some pieces didn’t serve to critique America but to look at how America has been viewed through a “lens of whiteness.” According to Jason Patterson and his piece on “Challenging the Whiteness Framing of the History and Legacy of Abraham Lincoln,” by viewing America through a single white perspective, all ideas on racial equality promoted by Lincoln have been overlooked and forgotten.

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The gallery is located in D101, across from the LRC building and will be on display until the 28th of February.

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About the Contributors
Pia Mayer, Staff Writer
Pia Mayer is a San Diego born-native with a love for writing. In the Summer of 2016, Pia took on an internship at Cosmopolitan Magazine in New York City, working under award-winning writers. Soon thereafter she continued writing for The Odyssey, an online platform where users can create their own content. Her goal is to graduate with her bachelors in Journalism and Art History.
Dennis Lopez, Staff Writer
Dennis Lopez is a second year Mesa student, and first year member of the Mesa Press. Originally he was a graphic design major but, was lured away by the fast paced excitement the journalism world had to offer. He is in the process of finishing up an ADT and hopes to transfer to SDSU or CSUSM in the fall. He ultimately hopes to get a BA in Communications with an emphasis in advertisement. In his free time he likes to try new activities(thank you Groupon), traveling to random places, and trying to get that ever elusive "beach bod".
Donate to The Mesa Press
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