The Circus comes to Gatov Gallery

The interior of the Max L. Gatov Gallery at Cal State University Long Beach has become a silkscreen-printed big top.

Kenita Hale is a senior fine arts major from Simi Valley; her piece, The After Party, is an art exhibit that combines a sculpture installation and performance art.

Inside a dim circus tent, 11 altars pay homage to 12 different real people. Unfortunately, during the time that they lived, they were not treated as people, but as freaks and cash cows, Hale said.

Each alter is a sculpture of a different face. Subjects include many familiar characters; Annie Jones, the bearded lady; Joseph Carey Merrick, the elephant man; and Fedor Jeftichew, the dog-faced boy.

“When people look at them initially, it’s like ‘Ah scary,’ and that was the reaction when they put them on stage,” Hale said. “But when you read about them and the medical conditions that they had, they’re just people.”

Each face was hand-sculpted in clay and cast in bronze. Hale said that through research of iconography, she found that bronze is often used to memorialize. Descriptions from the medical records provided Hale the information to bring these people to life.

Though she researched many individuals, she said the ones in the exhibit are those whose stories pulled her heart strings most. The stories of each individual, which Hale printed on custom tarot cards, are key in establishing the humanity behind the deformity.

Each individual performed in traveling sideshow at some point. “It was a way for that family to earn income, and these people couldn’t really have jobs … it was the only option,” Hale said.

The exhibit’s inspiration came from her favorite band “Gogol Bordello” whose music she described as “gypsy-punk.” She said she has been to over 30 shows and “goes everywhere for them.” It was this gypsy lifestyle that got her researching the turn-of-the-century circuses and freak shows.

“[Although] there’s not much in the show about [Gogol Bordello], that energy that they brought kept me in this realm of working diligently,” Hale said.

The altars are surrounded by hundreds of battery-operated candles. Hale veneered the altars with burl wood, giving them a marble appearance in the dark room. She said her decision to use burl wood was intentional.

“[It’s] like a disease [on trees], which fit nicely, because a lot of the people that I’m honoring had these medical conditions that caused their skin to look deformed,” Hale said.

Hale said the first person she sculpted was Julia Pastrana, whose story she described as incredible but tragic.

According to Hales’ research, Pastrana was born with genetic disorders that caused her eyes and lips to protrude, which led to her stage name, “The Baboon or Bear Lady.”

Though she was married, the union was purely financial and after her death her husband had her body embalmed so he could continue to profit. After he remarried, her husband sold her body, and it continued to be exhibited periodically for over 100 years after her death. It was not until 2013 that she finally received a proper burial.

Hale said she estimates she’s been working on the exhibit for two years, including the time it took to research individuals. Each face took about two weeks to create, and that is if she’s “on it.” Hale even silkscreen printed the entire circus tent with a friend. She estimates they did over 5,000 pulls of the printer to cover it. Hale’s craftsmanship and creative signature are evident in every thoughtful detail of her work.

The performance aspect of the exhibit took place on Oct. 5 and will occur again on Wednesday, Oct. 8, from 12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. Hale designed costumes for herself and two identical twins, David and Joseph Lee. She did their makeup to look like they “were crying and mourning for the people” as they stood in silence for two hours, watching viewers.

“It was nice being in there performing because I actually got to watch … we were just literally standing still, arms raised for 2 hours,” Hale said.

After the exhibit leaves CSULB, Hale said she would like to show it in another gallery or sell it.

The After Party will run through Oct. 9 in the Max L. Gatov Gallery East, in the Fine Arts building.