Kehinde Wiley

One the most distinguished artists of the twentieth century, Jacob Lawrence was born in Atlantic City and spnt part of his child hood in Pennsylvania. After his parents split up in 1924, he went with his mother and siblings to New York, settling in Harlem. "He trained as a painter at the Harlem Art Workshop, inside the New York Public Library's 113 5th Street branch. Younger than the artists and writers who took part in the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s, Lawrence was also at an angle to them: he was not interested in the kind of idealized, fake-primitive images of blacks - the Noble Negroes in Art Deco guise - that tended to be produced as an antidote to the toxic racist stereotypes with which white popular culture had flooded

“…the appropriation of hip-hop cultural forms suggest not that whites want a black identity: rather, they want characteristics of blackness.” (Perry 2002, 109). This is quote by Pamela Perry, a sociologist as University of California Santa Cruz, from her book Shades of White:White Kids and Racial Identities in High School. Pamela Perry is a sociologist from University of California, Santa Cruz, throughout her book she touches on the idea of white children developing a sort of identity crisis depending on their environment. This quote helps put the appropriation of African American culture in its simplest terms. In most cases people associate Hip Hop culture with African Americans. With that being said, many artist of different genres who attempt to have a more hip hop vibe, fall subject to appropriating African American Culture. Various artist have been appropriating culture in several different ways whether it’s through dance, sound, or even image.

The Harlem Renaissance was a period that started in the early 1920’s in which the concept of “the Negro” was intended to be changed (History.com). This period witnessed the thrive of African American art. White stereotypes had influenced not only the way African Americans were perceived in society but also their relationship between themselves and others. Participants like Gwendolyn Bennett, Langston Hughes, Paul Lawrence Dunbar and W.E.B. Du Bois were some of many authors of creative pieces that reflected their points of views. Like George Hutchinson writes in his article, The Harlem Renaissance brought many African Americans from South to North which helped the rise of literacy and the creation of organizations dedicated to promoting African American civil rights that resulted in the uplift of the race and the availability of socioeconomic opportunities (1). The distinctive expression through things like poetry and music during the Harlem Renaissance reflected the reality and experiences black people were going through. This essay is going to focus on the relationship between poetry, politics and representation while relying on the poem “We Wear the Mark” by Paul Lawrence Dunbar. At the same time, this paper will be supported with works from Langston Hughes, Alain Locke and W.E.B. Dubois.

Kehinde Wiley’s early works were of people he pulled off the streets of Harlem. His art blurs the boundaries between traditional and contemporary modes of representation and the critical portrayal of the masculinity of black and brown men. Generally, western art has and does not focus on the narratives of people

He is an artist who focuses mostly on portrait art. Most of his paintings are created from oil painting on canvas, and some of his other works are paintings that are on stained glass. Many of his paintings focus on the recreation of old historical paintings in between seventeenth through the nineteenth century art. However, instead of including the historical people in the paintings, he replaces people from history with people in the black community. He wants to break the stereotype of the identity of black people and show that he is not just a black American living in America, but something more than that. In many of his paintings, he decides to use many different types of textiles and patterns from different times to bring out his artistic technique. New York Times explains that his “subjects wear hip-hop fashion or designer gowns, and in addition to posing as kings and saints, they mimic aristocratic ladies in well-known paintings from the Louvre or masterworks of African sculpture.” (New York Times 1). He also uses the bold and colorful colors to bring the painting to life. In many of his paintings, he also brings out some of the hip-hop cultures in each of his paintings, using the different looks from the hip-hop era. One of his most famous paintings was the Napoléon Leading the Army Over the Alps, which he replaces Napoléon Bonaparte with a black

* Through the postmodern frame of reference, explain how artists have appropriated historical artworks. How has the artist incorporated parody and wit into the work? In what way has the artist questioned the values implied in the original artwork?

Meaningful appropriation remains a vital precept of creativity and innovation. In the last 20 years, many artists have constructed knowledge in forms of contemporary art from both social and cultural sources. Artists have continuously remixed contents from certain cultures for new expressive purposes. It is often deemed by members of the originating cultures, that appropriation in the arts is disrespectful, as cultural elements become distorted and lost in translation. Meaningful appropriation however is often misunderstood and is mainly viewed as borrowing that is in some way inappropriate, unauthorised or undesirable. Although, artists in remix culture have not necessarily attempted to destroy cultures, but instead offer a new perspective to individuals by bringing divergent cultures together through art. Artists such as Stella McCartney, a designer famously known for her creation ‘Chinatown Plaid, 2013’ in fashion, utilises dominant creative strategies such as remixing and collaging of fabrics in order to convey her artistic vision, which highly compliments both the ‘Refugee’ work culture and female individuals as strong and resilient. In a similar sense, digital artist Michael Guppy remixes artworks using programs such as Adobe Photoshop in order to remove central elements from famous artworks, a reoccurring theme in his work in which he explores both the social and cultural side of technology and how it transforms society. Whereas, graphic designer Thomas Robson

James Rosenquist and Kehinde Wiley There are two American artists whose works are unique and contemporary: James Rosenquist, one of the frontiers of American pop art movement, and Kehinde Wiley, the artist who combines art history and heroic with black politic. The images that come into your mind when you think about Rosenquist’s work are collages. With his method of using sweet color, dislocated images, and billboard painting style, James Rosenquist has created his distinct and striking works. Kehinde Wiley, a Los Angeles artist, also has a remarkable style of painting.

Secondly, “gender” is the key elements of cultural formation of hip-hop. When focusing on this aspect, there are obvious influences from African American hip-hop to Asian hip hop. The fashion of the black people, so-called street fashion presents the connotative bad image of black people, such as drag and violence. Therefore, it can be presumed that these fashion establishes the symbol of bad authority or “manliness” to Asian rapper. Therefore, in the most of the music video of Asian hip-hop, the rappers wear caps, oversize t-shirt, and gold accessories, like African American rappers do.

Throughout Storey’s book, he has made direct and indirect reference to some issues, which correspond in and around what is referred to as postmodernism. Certainly, discussions in chapter 9 deals with post-structuralism, which was previously the introduced in the early chapters, as well as debates about sexuality and queer theory, assume some knowledge of postmodern theories. As Storey makes clear, this area of cultural studies continues to be huge, partially because the issues are controversial and also because they are seen as exciting, compelling, disturbing and challenging. To me, hip-hop has always been a postmodern art form for how it challenges, if not rejects, traditional conceptions of art and morality. Hip-hop voices the experience

Neither artist ever tries to conceal the appropriation, instead they embrace it and give new meaning to the work. Both artists quote European paintings, where they remix classical art by placing a figure in, that challenges traditional portraiture. In the case of Morimura, he places his male body into feminine portraiture, which addresses the idea of sexuality within art. As well, Morimura confronts the idea of white-washing Asain art into European classics, flipping the entire notion of appropriation on it’s head. Wiley, not unlike Morimura, also challenges the western canon by placing African-American urban youth in classic portraiture.

These predetermined bodily forms destroy individualism and the construction of black music careers. The identification with normalized and heterosexual desires of black identities leaves out other form of groups. As a result, there is little representation to what all forms of black identities can be. CeeLo challenges to change the social norm of blacks characterized as “thuggish motion of black masculinity, with danger, brutal, and gangsters” (Heard). CeeLo’s showcasing of flamboyant, arrant and over boarding of the body challenges the racialized black body forms and the straight male body originally used to sell soulful records to straight women.

The post modern era is one in which things were twisted, changed and critiqued. Some people questioned the ways and ‘rules’ of society, rebelling against conformity and the usual ideas of what was ‘right’ or ‘allowed’. Artists were largely in this group. Marcel Duchamp and Yasumasa Morimura are examples of artists who appropriated other people, things and paintings in their work, to change their meanings, and either rebel against the norms of society, make a statement about issues affecting them and their culture, or to add humour to a once serious piece.

Carrie Mae Weems and Hank Willis Thomas are two contemporary artists who are defying contemporary social and political categories and taking art photo into an engage era. The essays by Annie E Coombes provide a critical analysis of how the contemporary scene is moving beyond categories of post modern, and post race. Both are efforts to rescue contemporary artists who are dealing with forms of oppression from being described as old fashion or out of date.

Identity is one of the most significant aspects in the discourses of contemporary art. An artist’s identity can reveal cultural and personal truths about them through the employment of specific subjects, techniques, and colors incorporated into their artwork. Cindy Sherman, the famous feminist artist, portrays a plethora of different identities in her photographic works in order to highlight societal issues such as stereotypes, perceptions, and biases. Although Sherman does not blatantly set out to become an activist for femininity, audiences inherently view her work as attempting to cross boundaries and bring forth political statements because of the myriad androgynous, feminine, and sexist facets integrated into her images. In order to display the importance of identity in culture, Cindy Sherman refrains from revealing her own identity in her art and because of these ambiguous images, she allows for the identities of her audience to be reflected back at them, bringing forth awareness of inequality, while quietly calling for the anticipated change of these enduring stigmas.