Blue and yellow are the first things. Then the sound starts. It surrounds you, wrapping you into being a part of the exhibit itself. 

“VIEWFINDER,” a contemporary art exhibit by artist Crystal Z Campbell, is on display in the bottom floor of the Richardson Family Art Museum, and will remain there until Dec. 8. 

Curated for the museum by Rebecca Forestater, assistant professor of studio art,“VIEWFINDER” is available for the Wofford campus and the Spartanburg community at large. 

“For us in the studio art department it’s really important for us to bring in artists from all different areas, so we bring in regional artists, but we also bring in national and international artists so that not only our students, but the Spartanburg Community can have that as a resource and a space right to engage with contemporary art,” Forestater said. “All of the events and programming are open to the public.”

“VIEWFINDER” is inspired by Campbell’s experience in the small town of Varberg, Sweden. The town is home to “The Woman With the Handbag,” a statue of a woman swatting a neo-nazi at a parade in 1985. The image inspired artist Susanna Arwin to commemorate the moment within the statue, which remains on display in Swedish entrepreneur Lasse Diding’s villa. 

“There are questions that (Campbell) is asking the viewer to have in this specific space because it’s taking place in a sort of speculative narrative of the video work,” Forestater said. “‘VIEWFINDER’ is taking place in a town in Sweden, and it’s circulating around this imagery and narrative of this statue of a woman throwing her handbag.

The voiceover, which is written and narrated by Crystal, sort of breaks down the meaning of the statue and its existence in that space and the history of that space. And then the opposing videos in the room create this speculative, imaginative narrative of, of bodies in the spaces of Sweden.” 

Campbell has been the recipient of both a Guggenhime fellowship and a Harvard Radcliffe fellowship, as well as many other honors. Campbell’s work in painting, sculpture, performance, film, writing and site-specific installations considers historical gaps within specific spaces in time and history. 

The Richardson Family Art Museum is used in the Wofford curriculum to teach students about the importance and impact that contemporary art can have on the world. “VIEWFINDER” is no exception, as this exhibition is  used to teach students not only about the art itself but the history behind it. 

“Contemporary art is in conversation with art that’s happened. I think it’s a layered approach within thinking about history and then contemporary art, too,” Forestater said. “Particularly for our students, it’s important for them to see what professional artists are doing, the students who we have right in our studios, making work and exhibiting work, to see that.”

Being used as a teaching tool for students and a resource for the community, Campbell’s work has made and continues to make an impact on Spartanburg as a whole. 

“Art is about asking challenging conversations in the present moment, specifically contemporary art,” Forestater said. “To have those questions be brought [to Wofford] and to have those conversations be brought here is something that’s valuable for our whole community.”