Wrong Is Not My Name
Notes on (Black) Art
- Forging new ground in art criticism: There is a dearth and silencing of Black and queer women art critics, with little to no representation of and models for Black lesbian critics, creating a landscape that implies such voices are “not allowed” to comment on visual culture. Wrong Is Not My Name extensively highlights Black women artists while also expanding the field of art criticism through representation, as well as politicizes the field further through form via a queer, nonlinear narrative.
Grounded in rigorous research:A Black feminist praxis of citation underlies this book. Cardwell has done extensive research to ground her scholarship, making sure that her contributions both solidify her as an important new voice in contemporary art writing, as well as be in conversation with like-minded thinkers.
A multifaceted consideration of grief:Authentic writing on loss and grief is always relevant, but especially at a time of global pandemic and societal division. Cardwell’s experience of personal loss, and her yearning to feel closer to her deceased mother, is where Wrong Is Not My Name begins—expanding into a careful consideration of dysmorphia, intergenerational trauma, and Black female identity through the lens of culture.
Erica N. Cardwell
is a writer, critic, and educator based in Brooklyn and Toronto. Cardwell’s teaching and writing consider the consciousness and imaginations of people of color as a tool for social, spiritual, and collective movement. She centers Black feminist theory as her primary critical approach, and often writes about print and paper-making practices, archival media, and interdisciplinary performance. Her writing has appeared in ARTS. BLACK, Artsy, Frieze, BOMB, The Believer, The Brooklyn Rail, CULTURED, Hyperallergic, C Mag, Art in AmericaShe received her MFA in Writing from Sarah Lawrence College and has taught for various institutions, such as Parsons School of Design at The New School, Barnard College, City University of New York, and the Ox-Bow School of Art and Artists’ Residency.
