S P R A W L I N G March 5 - April 6, 2021
By David Alpert March 22, 2021
I met up with artist Julia Monté and her dog—Bagel—at a refurbished shipping container in KCK (Kansas City, Kansas) to see her new sculptures in Sprawling—a small show curated by local outfit Curiouser & Curiouser. Per pandemic standards, I arranged to meet with her by myself—masks on.
The space felt like a large storefront window except without any store behind it. On the inside, we were on display—like Monté’s sculptures—to passersby. Bagel followed me around the tiny space begging for pets.
The work in Sprawling reimagines the commuter’s observations. The commuter being someone on a circular journey—leaving in the morning and returning at night—waiting at stops and looking out windows. Commuters can be repetitive visual tourists—passing through neighborhoods that they never experience outside of the vehicle—the window separating them like a seasonally changing television screen. Monté focuses on this perspective—looking out.
Monté lived in Dallas before moving to Kansas City. Both places are over 300 square miles—making them two of the top fifteen sprawling cities in the U.S. (with populations over 100,000) (1). Freeways facilitated this unsustainable urban expansion starting in 1956 with the Federal Aid Highway Act— providing federal funds for a U.S. interstate highway system (2). The construction of these interstates demolished predominantly Black owned neighborhoods in cities across the United States (3). According to a Kansas City propaganda booklet from 1953, 71 Highway was presented as a solution to “congestion”, “delays”, and “bad tempers” (4). Freeways were supposed to be “faster” and “safer” (5). Today, 71 Highway—formerly the home to over 10,000 residents—contains three of the most dangerous intersections in the city (6). Monté does not reference this history but rather looks to a seemingly inevitable future—crumbling infrastructure collapsing into and onto itself.
Monté’s work also copes with the weight of these devastating infrastructural developments. This coping is not voluntary.
In a simple way, Monté—like many of us—has to traverse these depressing memorials of destructive city planning to get to work—to meet her basic needs. She keenly observes and alters the composition of the commuter landscape—shrinking, painting, and joining. Her sculptures display a formal, comforting savvy. She repeats geometric patterns in combination with an intentional juxtaposition of materials and finishes—shiny and matte, soft and hard, light and heavy. Bold pinks and oranges contrast against greys and blacks. As abstractions, I enjoy their visual quality, but the work is too referential to be relegated to an aesthetic exercise. Monté subtly encourages deeper considerations of our daily rides and drives.
Physically, Monté’s sculptures model and amalgamate urban infrastructures. Scaffolding, train tracks, roller coasters,
and building remnants combine into precarious and visually appealing hybrids. Like toys or architectural models, Monté provides a level of control and interaction unavailable to commuters. Through color and material, she unifies these usually distinctive parts into a cohesive aesthetic style. There is an uneasiness to these models though. They teeter. I sometimes think I see a work about to fall in my peripheral. One sculpture expels graphite dust if bumped. I wonder if this state of anticipation—of unknowing—is comfortable for Monté. She experiments with many processes and materials—from hot gluing clothes hangers to casting aluminum. Constantly trying new things could lead to an acceptance of unexpected results.
Another option may be that being a passenger or commuter is precarious. Monté could be authentically representing or supporting this experience of going along for the ride. She used to commute by bus from 39th to JCCC (Johnson County Community College)—an inconvenient trip at best. Taking the bus requires us to depend on others—to share a constantly shifting space. We implement boundaries where we can—such as wearing headphones. Monté creates a similar phenomenon. The work synthesizes her moving observations while maintaining part of the intensity of being surrounded by enormous weaving infrastructure. I might feel more comfortable with a window between me and the work.
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1 2010 U.S. Census
2 Elfenbein, Jessica I, Thomas L Hollowak, Elizabeth M Nix, and Inc Ebrary. 2011. Baltimore ’68: Riots and Rebirth in an American City. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
3 Ibid.
4 City of Kansas City, Missouri. 1953. “Expressways”
5 Ibid
6 Hogan, Suzanne. “Highway 71 and the Road to Compromise.” 2014. KCUR 89.3 - NPR in Kansas City. Local News, Entertainment and Podcasts. June 3, 2014. https://www.kcur.org/community/2014-06-03/highway-71-and-the road-to-compromise.
