Art Since 1945: Africa Visits The Afterlife

Although the !Kung San of southern Africa differ greatly from the people in the west African nation of Mali, both areas share similar problems. Both suffer from diseases, illnesses, malnutrition, and having to adapt to the ever changing and advancing cultures around them. What I found to be the most significant problem that is shared between both areas is that the people suffered from a lack of education. In the book Dancing Skeletons: Life and Death in West Africa by Katherine A. Dettwyler, there is a lack of education in proper nutritional practices, taking care of children and newborns, and basic medical knowledge and practices. The Dobe Ju/’hoansi have recently started putting in schools to help children receive an education to help

The United States is known for the “American Dream”, the material items, our breakthroughs in medicine, our employment opportunities, etc. These are just some of the things the United States has to offer, but the United States also has a downfall to all of the “good” things in life: we think our way of life is better than everyone else’s, and we often judge other countries, especially Africa, for their way of living. We often ask the questions, “What if we go to help them?” or “How can we help them?” when the real question is: “What can we learn from them”?

On October 9, 2015 I went to the Smithsonian, National Museum of African Art along with attending the Million Man March down in Washington D.C. The experiences were wonderful and I was very excited to be at both events. While at the museum I took two tours one at 10 am that was led by a woman named Nkechi Obi. She talked about docent African Arts. The next one was shortly after at11 am that was led by a teen ambassador named Nicholas Stewart, who was very intelligent. He talked about numerous pieces throughout the museum that had some significance to younger minds so I found that very helpful. After the tour I spent some time down at the mall in DC in which faced the Capitol. This was the Million Man March that was a very popular event that brought out many people. I would describe both events as lectures that were powerful and time put to good use.

Required Text: Theories and Documents of Contemporary Art: A Sourcebook of Artists’ Writings, eds. Kristine Stiles and Peter Selz, University of California Press, 1996.

To answer the questions in Primary source assignment 4, I will look at the Benin plaque, the oba with Europeans, and compare and contrast it to art encountered in primary source assignment 2. I will then consider what role isolationism played in relationships between Portugal and communities in the East and West African coasts. Finally, I will look to answer the question on who discovered whom, and conclude by looking at the long term effects of Portuguese contact with Africa.

The two works of art that I have chosen to analyze are 1) Jordan Casteel. Miles and JoJo. 2014. Oil on canvas, 54” x 72” and 2) Aaron Fowler. He Was. 2015. Mixed media, 134” x 165” x 108”. The themes that these works of art represent in regards to the exhibit are love, family, and pain. However, they also fall into other thematic categories. The main theme that seems to apply to both “Miles and JoJo” and “He Was” is Human Experience. Additionally, these arts differ in some ways.

The African exhibit at the Art Institute of Chicago is difficult to find. At the end of a shotgun wing consisting of Japanese, Korean, and other East Asian art, and beyond Native American art, sits the one-room gallery for African art. Here, most of the objects could be considered fashions, tools, or domestic objects. There is a bizarre absence of chronology, and the objects seem too similar to speak for Africa at large– as if everything on display arose from the same historical situation and from the same experimental sampling pool. Among this ad hoc assortment of characters, one would find a chest. Actually, a rather bulky jewelry box, which is immediately distinct from the precious, intimate jewelry boxes in many of the visitors’

Primary goals of art were to show the sacred in everyday life and to look for the really real, that what non-skilled individuals couldn’t see

This art work asked people the question, “if you could have a window in your cell, what place from your past would it look out to?” Different people gave different answer about that, the audiences’ free mind helped artist to make this art work completed even make it become more pregnant. Mark Strandquist in this art work has became a participant, he provides an idea to collect peoples’ minds, and then make them become on of art work. The art works become a excellent way to make these people connect with the communities they have and help them to think something

At the point when the Period of Dominion started in 1875, it affected Africa from multiple points of view. No place was the opposition for provinces more extraordinary than in Africa. Europeans followed North and South Africa part up the mainland. Egypt and Sudan were assumed control by England to acquire the Suez Trench. Colonialism added to Africa's economy and transformed it into a landmass of provinces.

People always criticize about my artwork and denominate it shit, well I am fine with that, I make art shit. However, if my work is in an art gallery, I’m pleased. The controversy produced by some of my artwork is what establishes me on top and make me one of the richest artists of all history. I see more revolution on people when they are limited to make decisions by themselves, so this exhibition is one more opportunity to allow audience about their opinion, more in a city than requires defending its reputation of metropolis, diversity and openness. I am more than satisfied receiving a response full of emotions by the audience. My work always challenges death and life because of the dualism it provokes. I was taught to confront things you

When tasked with reviewing an exhibition there was only one exhibition that came to my mind: Jason Ramey’s Transitio, held here at the University of Minnesota, Morris. Ramey is a new professor here at Morris, and I had him as an instructor for one of my classes, so I was instantly interested. When you first walk into the gallery you will notice the only figurative piece, Mantle, in the collection, which makes you wonder why it is the only one, if that is a path he is starting to go down now, or something a little older that he has abandoned. When you look at the dates of the pieces shown you notice that it was made somewhere in the middle of the chronology of the pieces here. The whole exhibition seems to raise more questions than at answers, but that is not always a bad thing, it gets you thinking. There is not even an artist statement that helps explain what is going on. All of the interpretation of the art is up to the viewer, which is a bold move as those who do not want to think will look around and leave, but others that are really interested in thinking will all leave with unique opinions of what the artist is trying

For every stroke of brush, for every combination of colors, for every words chosen to be written, and for every character depicted, all of them are done with tremendous importance by artists who wants to convey messages to people. Art, myth, and story are expressions of oneself. People often used them as a tool to express their ideas and emotions. There are times that it is an expression of personality kept deep within. The essential nature of art, myth, and story for human beings is that they are bounded with mysteries. Mysteries that people seek to completely unfold. Arts, myths, and stories’ ultimate function is to bring out lessons, values, and ethics that can be applied to achieve a fulfilling life. Throughout time, their purposes remain

Throughout history, artists have depicted the intimate and domestic scenes of maternal love in various styles that reflected upon the historical, political, religious and artistic progression of the time period.

Of course, there's nostalgia in my work. It upsets me if people look at it as though they were intellectual machines with no feelings. This exhibition tries to confront that.5