Everything and everyone are immediately judged the moment they are seen. If it’s anyway unusual or different, from yourself, it has a reaction and it is questioned. As human beings we always need to know why; why is that there, why did they use those objects, why does it look like that, and we always need to know the story behind it. As there is nothing wrong with this, artists careers are based on telling stories and a lot of the time without a written description for us. We, as the viewers, have to come up with our own stories, and answer our own “why’s”. A lot of the time the artist wants us to create our own story, it has no guidelines and every interpretation is right. This exhibition is Body Politics and each piece of art already has its own story and answered questions. Throughout this virtual short lesson, you will discover different cultures and lifestyles mixed with realism, modernism, and naturalism with sexism and racial issues in between. The world started out and grew with these issues, and to this day, even though not as severe, we still deal with them. We’ve come a long way with these issues and the best way to overcome them is to make them known, to everyone. Artists can show a different side to these issues in great detail without even saying a word. With the short description I gave of these art pieces, I would strongly suggest looking at each art piece and creating your own depiction before reading the description provided, to see how close you are to the artists meaning. Issues like these create such controversial conversations it’s sometimes easier to put into art, and the selection chosen explains these issues greatly. We’re going to start with earlier work and move in time.
Series of Eight Figures
Date:1641 Origin: Brazil Materials:Oil on Canvas Dimensions:165 X 290cm Artists: Albert Eckhout
This series sits in The National Museum of Denmark. The artist who painted these was commissioned on a trip, with another artist, to Brazil to paint the lifestyle of these people, their landscapes and vegetation. Eckhout's job was to focus on the people themselves. He specialized on the characteristics of people, he painted each individual just exactly as they look. He focuses on specifically the skins color, expressions and characteristic of each. As Eckhout painted these individuals just how he saw them, they were looked at as uncivilized. The lack of clothing they wore was erotic and cannibalism was tied in as well due to the limbs that the women is carrying in the first canvas. The people of Brazil were looked at so differently from the audience that all they could see was savage, untrained animals, not humans at all. With most of the paintings though, they said that they were "tamed" since they have more clothing on, and the women without tops is only due to her nurturing role in motherhood, giving it a pass. The weapons that the men have are for hunting animals and not humans, like in the second canvas. A difference with each is that you can see that they are in a different part of Brazil; whether it be that they were born there or shipped over from another country, and that they have different lifestyles. Each women is holding a different type of item, flowers, fruits, and different greenery. The men, as well, have different weaponry, they are all at different advancements and need to make specific hunting tools based on what and where they are hunting. The background in each amplifies the racial background as well. Eckhout makes all of this obvious to show that they are all different, but mainly that they are beneath the Europeans. These paintings were an investment in the long run, people saw this and it gave it more reason to keep Africans enslaved. As I find this paintings beautiful and a great depiction of lifestyles in the seventeenth century, these were nothing more than racist artworks, enhancing Europeans.
From Spaniard and Black: Mulatto
Origin: Mexico Date: 1763 Dimensions: 51 x 41-inches Materials: Oil on Canvas Artist: Miguel Cabrera This canvas is one in a series of sixteen showing in the LACMA Art Museum, but two are still missing. During colonial times different types of races populated Mexico. With this said they eventually had interracial relationships, making mixed children. This image shows a mixed family with a Spanish father, an African mother and their mixed child. These racial mixes were called castas, and that is where we see the name Casta Paintings. These mixed races were growing tremendously and this concerned the Europeans, who thought of mixed blood as impure. If you notice the way that they are dressed you can tell that the male is nicely dressed very likely being a part of a Spanish elite. Looking at the African women she's dressed like a lower class some would, she's doing domestic work as you can tell with her holding the basket of fruit. If you were born in a lower class you stayed in that lower class there was no such thing as marrying a higher class person and coming into a higher class which was another big issue with Europeans and the Spanish. These paintings were made in a way to help adapt to this enormous change in society. We know today that interracial marriages and children are a normal way of life but back in this century it was completely new and very rare, which of course scared people. This art piece is a great introduction into the later pieces you will be seeing with racial and sexist issues at hand.
Anishinaabe Outfit
Origin: United States Date: 1790 Materials: Cotton, linen, wool, feathers, silk, silver brooches, porcupine quills, horsehair, hide, and sinew. Artist: Anishinaabe Tribe
This outfit is standing in the National Museum of the American Indian. During this time America has already claimed Independence from Britain resulting in high tension between the two and what the borders between America and Britain (Canada) will be and Britain is trying to protect their goods in the mean time. The Natives are Britains allies during this time because they had trade between each other. This outfit was a gift to Andrew Foster, a British lieutenant, in a way to show respect with the British. The pieces to this outfit are all remarkable and well made. Natives creating something with their own goods and made so well is a great gift and shows much appreciation. The necklace coming down the middle of the chest is made from glass beads as an imitation of shell beads, resembling beads in North America. There are also ringlets added to the shirt, head dress and cuffs and they are meant for trade. The pouch hanging off the side and the moccasins are made from deer hide dyed with walnuts and decorated with porcupine quills; which are hand made making it more highly appreciated. The headless has the eagle feathers being supported by feather sticks which natives take great pride in their homeland traditions and goods. Not only the acceptance of the gift but actually wearing it shows a cemented relationship between both sides. Creating this relationship was very important here especially when they were both in the white mans territory, both being defeated by him.
The Stone Breakers
Date:1849 Materials: Oil on canvas Dimension:165 X 257 Artist: Gustave Courbet
This painting is showingstrong realism due to naturalism. You can see the intense manual labor being used by the man and the young boy due to the tattered clothing they are both wearing, the dull colors are giving you the emotion of tiredness and sadness due to this hard work of moving and breaking these stones. You can feel how painful this work is by looking at the boy thrusting up that stone and bending his back backwards in the process. The lack of sun, which usually makes photos and painting happy, and how you can tell they are outside getting down and dirty gives you how realistic and natural this painting really is as opposed to most paintings being idealized, not showing how intense some situation really are. Courbet is also painting a scene not many other artists paint either; he's focusing on everyday, regular people that aren't given any credit, and looked down upon usually. This artist wants you to deal with the real not the fairytales.Artist usually paint for commission for the rich, no one would ever want a painting of some everyday people in their home so this is why this photo has intense feeling and meaning. Courbet did this for the emotion, and not the money.
A Loge at the Theatre des Italians
Date:1879 Materials: Oil on Canvas Dimensions:98 X 103 CM Artist: Eva Gonzales
Before we dive into the story of this painting, the most interesting thing about this art piece is that it is painted by a women. Women were originally not allowed to be artists, and unless your family had money, women couldn't learn to be artists otherwise; another sexist issue in society. Luckily, her father was a friend of Manet who gladly took her under to be his one and only student. We must know a little background on this time period before fully understanding this artwork. Women in this time were never allowed to go out unless they were being chaperoned, whether it be their husband, friend or family member they had to be with someone trusted. Now, let's dive in, this is a women and a man sitting in a theater box there to see the opera. As you notice though the women is said to be watching the opera where the man has occupied himself with something else. From other perspectives it's said that the man is watching the opera and the women is people watching the audience that has attended the opera, or is she looking at us, the viewers? No matter what take you grab on this painting you can notice a distance between these two. The chair next to her is empty, where you think the man would be sitting, is this a sign of her availability? And maybe too that is why he is so preoccupied with something other than the opera, he's not there because he wants to be, only to chaperone the lady. No matter the outcome and true story of this piece it ultimately comes down to the aspect of watching and looking.
Cut Piece
Date: 1965 Materials: 16mm film, transferred to video Artist:Yoko Ono Origin: New York
Yoko Ono was a conceptual artists. Her ultimate focus was on personal interaction, and the trust and boundaries with others. What's different with her Cut Piece work is that it's a physical interaction, not a painting or photograph. Even though this was video taped that's not the objective. The objective is the idea of it all. The audience was instructed with a piece of paper telling them that they are allowed to cut any piece of clothing, any size off of her. Ono herself sat on a stage, nicely dressed, quiet and let the audience, individually cut her clothing off. In the actual video you can see that the women are more hesitant and cut off small, simple pieces of clothing around her arms. The men on the other hand are cutting bigger pieces around her legs and chest area. Ono was allowed to end the session whenever she felt necessary. As you can see in the photo her bra is completely cut, not being able to cover her unless she holds it herself, not too soon after this she call an end to this Cut Piece. This is a terrifying task for someone to come up with themselves and agree to do. This audience members are completely strangers to her and she's allowing them to use scissors, practically touching her body to cut her very own clothing off of her. This is the art of it all. No matter how terrifying this is, she is making art by creating relationships with others is a very intimate way. The video also shows a very sexist take on what women and men will do differently. Women see this as doing what they would want others to do if Ono was them; and the men want to see a naked women on stage, not caring about the feelings of others. This has many, different aspects to it creating such a wonderful piece of artwork.
Napoleon Leading the Army Over the Alps
Date: 2005 Origin: New York Materials: Paint on Canvas Dimension: 108 X 108in Artist: Kehinde Wiley
Let's start off with the background of the artist and his paintings. Wiley is an African American artist, which says a lot all by itself. Blacks were the last of the last to be able to do anything, like art, in this world, they came after the poor and they came after women. Wiley was the same man that painted Obama's official portrait as well, this isn't the interesting part though. He takes regular people off the street, approaches them in coffee shops, and asks them if they would like to be in a portrait. He photographs them from all angles so that he can paint them later. He then asks them what painting they want to be portrayed in. He lastly asks what type of clothing would you like to wear. After gathering this information he creates a phenomenal piece of art. To add on to this quirky, unique way of art, there is so much meaning behind it. Wiley specifically pin points people of color as his subjects. The original Napoleon Leading the Army Over the Alps is a white man in a position of power. Wiley is confronting appropriation and the pop culture genre, as well as the race and gender issues. Looking at this painting you can tell instantly that this is very similar to the original but Wiley makes important alterations to show the major issues we not only had back then but still in today's society. A major aspect of this is what the man is wearing, he has on a contemporary, camouflage outfit with Timberland boots. This is not only symbolizing today's culture but reflecting on the fight for equality and violence black people in America have to fight for, everyday. Gold is the color of royalty and importance that he is wrapped in, showing just how important this issue is. Wiley also is showing gender issues in this painting. The horse is a symbol of male power and control, he ties in, very small in the backdrop, tiny sperms floating in the red. Gender norms are still a major issue today, and Wiley is poking fun with this; stating how much of an issue from even back in the seventeenth century, that we still are having in the twenty-first century.
Preying Mantra
Date: 2006 Dimensions: 73.25 X 54.25in Materials: Mixed Media on Mylar Artist: Wangechi Mutu
African women have always been a hyper-sexualized people and that is exactly what this art piece is telling us. As you notice the title is the Preying Mantra, but we need to understand a little more about preying mantis' to completely understand the artwork. The best way for a preying mantis to stay alive is by blending into their environment, just as Mutu did with the women. She also made her look like a preying mantis, with her bent legs, which is how what they catch their prey with, a very sexualized detail in Mutu's work. Another important aspect of these insects is that the female becomes a cannibal after having sex with her mate, telling us that African women are depicted as dangerous. The title has a separate meaning though, it's telling us that the women is the prey and mantra, meaning man, of the western world. The white man is preying on the African woman. Mutu is also showing us the physical features that are often seen on black people; the big lips, nose and butt. She's also positioning her in nature telling us how black women are animalistic, like the preying mantis. Looking closing you can see that she has a green serpent wrapped up in her left arm, a sign of fertility which African women are known for. Lastly, she is laying on a blanket with African prints on it, tying into her ethnic background. Wrapping this all together we get the sense of how the western culture sees the African female body, in a stereotypical way. This collage was created only thirteen years ago, telling us the sexist and racial issues are still so relevant today. Art is such a great way to educate and fight the problems that we have in this world today, and we can tell from starting at the top of this exhibit during the sixteenth century all the way to the current twenty-first century how we have always had these major issues and continually fighting for equal rights, for us all.
Work Cited "Albert Eckhout, Series of Eight Figures." Khan Academy. Accessed April 28, 2019. https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/art-americas/new-spain/colonial-brazil/a/albert-eckhout-series-of-eight-figures. "Casta Paintings: Constructing Identity in Spanish Colonial America." Khan Academy. Accessed April 24, 2019. https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/art-americas/new-spain/viceroyalty-new-spain/v/clapera-casta-paintings. "Courbet, The Stonebreakers." Khan Academy. Accessed April 24, 2019. https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ap-art-history/later-europe-and-americas/modernity-ap/a/courbet-the-stonebreakers. "Eva Gonzalès, A Loge at the Théâtre Des Italiens." Khan Academy. Accessed April 26, 2019. https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/becoming-modern/avant-garde-france/realism/a/eva-gonzles-a-loge-at-the-thtre-des-italiens. "Fashioning Diplomacy: The Anishinaabe, Britain, and 18th-century America." Khan Academy. Accessed April 24, 2019. https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/art-americas/native-north-america/native-american-east/v/anishinaabe-outfit. "Kehinde Wiley, Napoleon Leading the Army over the Alps." Khan Academy. Accessed April 28, 2019. https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/global-culture/global-art-architecture/a/kehinde-wiley-napoleon-leading-the-army-over-the-alps. "MoMA Learning." MoMA. Accessed April 28, 2019. https://www.moma.org/learn/moma_learning/yoko-ono-cut-piece-1964/. "Wangechi Mutu, Preying Mantra." Khan Academy. Accessed April 28, 2019. https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ap-art-history/global-contemporary/a/wangechi-mutu-preying-mantra. "Why an Albino? Some Notes On Our New Casta Painting by Miguel Cabrera." Unframed. Accessed April 24, 2019. https://unframed.lacma.org/2015/04/22/why-albino-some-notes-our-new-casta-painting-miguel-cabrera.