Us Is Them @ Hyperallergic
COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Pizzuti Collection — a nonprofit museum that opened in Columbus, Ohio just three years ago for the express purpose of publicly showcasing selections from the Pizzuti family’s private art holdings — is currently showcasing Us Is Them, an exhibit that considers a wide-ranging group of international artists as social critics. Spanning several media, much of the work here makes social commentary from the perspective of underrepresented populations. Notably, the show features some of the biggest names in contemporary African-American art, bringing the focus on the fraught nature of black existence in the US.
According to Pizzuti Collection Director and Curator Rebecca Ibel, the concept for the show arose organically from the existing and recent acquisitions by the Pizzuti family — a truly international menagerie of sculpture, photography, fiber, video, painting, and mixed media works. Unfolding across three floors of the museum, these objects are aesthetically appealing, but carry heavy concepts of justice and personal expression.