The Maryland Historical Society seeks an enthusiastic Visitor Services Associate to perform all functions of the Visitor Services Department in order to provide a high level of customer service to members, visitors, volunteers, and staff. This position also has key responsibilities for security functions and monitoring the safety and security of MdHS facilities.

Responsibilities

Alex O’Connor, better known as Rex Orange County, has been traveling the world on his Pony tour and recently stopped at Washington D.C. ‘s The Anthem to celebrate his third album, released in October of 2019. Bringing bedroom pop into the light, the musician’s creations have received wide fame, claiming the attention of die-hard indie listeners as well as modern pop-lovers, developing a name recognizable to many. 

To begin with, Rex is an extremely respectable and impressive musician. At just the young age of 21, he has won the loyalty of over eight million monthly listeners on Spotify, headlined in numerous shows around the world, collaborated with Grammy-winning artists such as Tyler the Creator and was even featured on TV shows such as “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.”

The diversity and fluidity of his musical style show prowess and the lengths of his passion, representing the exploratory fashion of the artist. Rex’s talent lies not only in his instrumentation but also in his role as a lyricist, sharing his darkest, most depressing thoughts with blunt honesty and voluntarily showing vulnerability. 

Selling out all 6,000 tickets at the venue, roaring fans welcomed Rex to The Anthem’s stage. Comfortably underdressed in a gray sweatshirt and jeans, he immediately looks like a relatable figure. He stands on an almost cartoon-like set, decorated with cutout clouds, oversized flowers and rounded mountains. This backdrop permeated a lightheartedness and playful flair behind Rex’s pained lyrics.

However, Rex is a solo artist, and this has its cons when it comes to live performances. Throughout the show, it becomes evident that the extravagance of the stage is an effort to make up for the artist’s lack of overdramatized energy as well as the immense empty space accompanying him on either side. Complete with glimmering disco balls, bright lights patterned to emphasize the rhythm of each song, a giant rainbow pony and an explosion of confetti, the stage strayed from the message of the songs. The stage swallowed the artist so he became lost among all the eye-catching components. 

Rex’s music is strong enough to stand alone, without the frills of a confetti cannon. The best portion of the performance overall was when a color-shifting curtain fell between Rex and the tail end of the stage, isolating the artist with his guitar. In this moment, he seems to be the most comfortable. The audience gets to see some of the spontaneity of Rex’s creativity as he tweaks a few elements of his songs, touched with extended riffs as he plays with unbelievably low notes. His musical ability fills the room with bright spirits and awestruck gazes.

All in all, Rex Orange County is a talented, innovative artist who makes inspired music, testing the limits of what is currently known and relevant in the music industry. But unfortunately, his extraordinary craftsmanship was swallowed by the stage on his Pony tour. Rex’s skill lies in the production of music rather than the performance of it.

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UMBC’s Albin O. Kuhn Library Gallery presents the work of Baltimore artist Antonio McAfee in the exhibition Antonio McAfee: Through the Layers, Pt. 2, now through March 13.

Since 2011, Antonio McAfee has been making work influenced by historical portraiture of African Americans in the The Exhibition of American Negroes. Organized for the 1900 Paris World Exposition by W.E.B. Du Bois, the display functioned as a legislative, economic, and photographic survey of middle-class African Americans living in Georgia from 1850–1899. This ‘counter archive’ challenged racist assumptions steeped in pseudo-science, presenting proof of the vitality and upward social mobility of southern blacks. 

Beth Saunders, curator and head of UMBC’s Special Collection and Gallery, noted that “McAfee’s persistent archival impulse led us to invite him to work with historical photographs in Special Collections.” Once on-site, McAfee engaged primarily with the Rooks Collection of African and African American Photographs, named for Ronald Rooks, a Baltimore art dealer who donated the earliest accessions.

In an interview with curator Emily Hauver for the exhibition catalog, McAfee, a photographer raised and based in Baltimore, said that working with the Rooks Collection expanded the context of understanding the period of 1850-1900: “The assortment of vernacular photography made during and after the Civil War in the Rooks Collection is a resource for accessing the intimate and public lives of African Americans of the Civil War period.” He also relayed that the variety of processes represented in the collection including daguerreotypes, hand-painted tintypes, albumen silver prints, cabinet cards, and gelatin silver prints also triggered more experimentation in his own work with the images. “(Seeing) the markings and strokes on some of the prints in this collection, I have been inspired to incorporate more mark making in my new work.”

Antonio McAfee, The Magician, 2019. Pigment print, 3D image with 3D glasses. © Antonio McAfee, Courtesy of the Artist

Antonio McAfee, Robert Smalls, 2019. Pigment print, 3D image with 3D glasses. © Antonio McAfee, Courtesy of the Artist 

Antonio McAfee, The Gem, 2019. Pigment print, 3D image with 3D glasses.  © Antonio McAfee, Courtesy of the Artist

Antonio McAfee, Third (3), 2019. Pigment print, 3D image with 3D glasses. © Antonio McAfee, Courtesy of the Artist 

Antonio McAfee, Young Man and Dog, 2019. Pigment print, 3D image with 3D glasses.  © Antonio McAfee, Courtesy of the Artist

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A public program with reception to follow is free and open to the public on Thursday, February 27, at 5 p.m.: Art, Race, and the Archive: Antonio McAfee in Conversation with Shawn Michelle Smith

Header Image: Installation view of Antonio McAfee: Through the Layers, Pt. 2. Exhibition, photo by Marlayna Demond ‘11 for UMBC