Something about the way the director Jane Campion went overboard on Sunday to identify with, then insult, Venus and Serena Williams at an awards show brought to mind a night of botched fanciness that happened to me. A couple Fridays ago, I went to see some art: a Faith Ringgold retrospective at the New Museum in the afternoon, with friends; Norm Lewis singing at Carnegie Hall in the evening. (That was a solo trip.) For both, I wore a suit.

The Ringgold show requires three floors and includes her 1967 masterpiece тАЬAmerican People Series #20: Die,тАЭ a blunt, bloody racial-rampage frieze that would be pure physical comedy about the eraтАЩs racial cataclysms were it not for the helpless terror in the faces sheтАЩs painted (Black men, women and children; white men, women and children). The scale of the canvas helps. ItтАЩs huge. Ringgold has always painted Black women in a range of moods, feelings, conditions, beauty. She gives them faces that feature both personal serenity and indicting alarm.

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I planted myself in a tight corridor that featured three works at the alarm end of things тАФ the тАЬSlave RapeтАЭ trio, from 1972. Each is a warm, sizable canvas of a woman nude and agape, framed by patchwork quilting, a signature of Ringgold. I was taking my time with one called тАЬSlave Rape #2: Run You Might Get AwayтАЭ тАФ the woman is mid-flight, loosely shrouded by leaves, a big gold ring in each ear тАФ when two strangers (women, white) parked themselves between me and the piece and continued a conversation I had heard them having in an adjacent gallery. They noticed neither me nor the depicted distress nor my engagement with it. I waited more than a minute before waving my hand, a gesture that seemed to irritate them.

тАЬIs something wrong?,тАЭ one stranger asked.

тАЬYouтАЩre in my way,тАЭ I told her.

тАЬPlease accept our deepest apologies,тАЭ said her friend. If a middle ground exists between sincerity and sarcasm, these two had just planted a flag. But they did move, though not immediately, lest I relish some kind of relocation victory, and kept their talk of real estate and art ownership within earshot.

After a drink with my friends I left for Carnegie Hall. A cab made sense. One pulled up, and the driver (male, brown) took a look at me, then noticed a white woman hailing a taxi up ahead and drifted her way, instead. When I jogged over to ask him what just happened тАФ Is something wrong? тАФ I was given no acknowledgment in the way only a guilty cabby can achieve. I chased the car half a block to photograph a plate number that youтАЩd have to be Weegee to get just right. IтАЩm not Weegee.


IтАЩd never been to Carnegie Hall. And I liked the idea that Norm Lewis was going to break me in. He played Olivia PopeтАЩs senator ex on тАЬScandalтАЭ and one of the vets in Spike LeeтАЩs тАЬDa 5 Bloods.тАЭ HeтАЩs got a luscious, flexible baritone that IтАЩd only ever encountered in recorded concerts on PBS. That night, backed by the New York Pops, he gave Stephen Sondheim, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Marvin Gaye the polished jewel treatment and pumped тАЬYa Got TroubleтАЭ with enough breathless gusto to make you wonder, with all due respect to Hugh Jackman, why the current тАЬMusic ManтАЭ revival isnтАЩt starring him.

As a solo performer, this was LewisтАЩs first show at Carnegie Hall, too. And people were anxious to see him and their beloved Pops. In a queue in the lobby before the show, one such person (woman, white) was making a point to push past me when I turned to ask if she was all right.

тАЬWeтАЩre going to will-call,тАЭ she said of herself and the gentleman she was with.

тАЬMaтАЩam, I think we all are,тАЭ I said.

тАЬWeтАЩre members. Are you?тАЭ she asked.

I lied, hoping a yes would stanch her aggression.

тАЬOf the Pops?тАЭ

She had me.

тАЬI like Norm Lewis,тАЭ I told her.

тАЬWe love the Pops.тАЭ

I was thinking about my night out a week later when one of the worldтАЩs great filmmakers saluted two of the worldтАЩs greatest athletes in an acceptance speech at the Critics Choice Awards. Jane Campion had been given the directing prize for a sneaky-deep ranch drama called тАЬThe Power of the Dog.тАЭ From the stage, Campion (woman, white) saluted Venus and Serena Williams and announced that she had taken up tennis but her body had told her to stop. In her nervous excitement, Campion was charming. She then took curious note of her plight as a woman in the film industry by informing the Williamses that theyтАЩve got nothing on her. тАЬYou are such marvels,тАЭ she said, through a grin. тАЬHowever, you do not play against the guys like I have to.тАЭ

The Williams sisters were in the room that evening because a smart, tangy movie about their family, тАЬKing Richard,тАЭ was in the nominations mix, alongside CampionтАЩs. тАЬKing RichardтАЭ is not about the time in 2001 when a California crowd booed and slurred Venus and Serena and their father, Richard, at a top tennis tournament. ItтАЩs not about the many mischaracterizations of their bodies, skills and intent in the press and by their peers. ItтАЩs not about the insidiously everlasting confusion of one sister for the other, the sort of thing that, just a few weeks ago, took place on a page of this newspaper. ItтАЩs not even about their fight, VenusтАЩs particularly, to bring womenтАЩs prize money even with menтАЩs. тАЬKing RichardтАЭ is about how the sistersтАЩ parents molded and loved and coached them into the sort of people who can handle sharp backhands and backhanded compliments with the same power and poise.

Even though CampionтАЩs errant backhand had flown wide, the room lurched into cheers. Some of the applause came from Serena Williams, who has watched many a shot sail long. I had to desist further thought about the meaning of CampionтАЩs aside. It was too confused. Was this a wish for the establishment of gendered guardrails for directors at award shows or the elimination of such distinctions in sports? Are there no men to be contended with in tennis? The line separating argument from accusation and accusation from self-aggrandizement was murky. I thought instead about the costs of the murk.

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Sunday afternoon, the Williamses got dressed up to celebrate some art. And somebody stood before them and challenged the validity of their membership, here in CampionтАЩs restricted vision of sisterhood. The next day, Campion gushed an apology. These slips and slights and presumptions have a way of lingering, though. Their underlying truth renders them contrition-proof. I had every intention of keeping my date with Faith and Norm to myself. These incidents arenтАЩt rare in fancyland, and therefore donтАЩt warrant a constant spotlight because standing in its glare is exhausting. But Venus. Her face does something as Campion speaks. A knowing cringe. She and her family came out to soak up more of the praise being lavished on art about their life. They were invitees turned, suddenly, into interlopers, presenting one minute, plunged through a trap door the next. Faith Ringgold would recognize the discomfort. She painted it over and over. Run you might get away. But you probably wonтАЩt.

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