Renée Cox: Artist Analysis

'If it is a mistake it is my mistake',Rihanna is a well know star from all over the world for about 12 years. Rihanna became a start because her unique singing. Although, this is not the only reason. She has made many songs that have became number 1 hits. She has the most like and followed pages. Also Rihanna knows what genre fits her voice type.In 2003 when Rihanna was 15 a teen one of her friends introduced her to a famous music producer. The music producers name was Evan Rogers.Evan noticed her talent and him and his partner Carl Sturken helped her record her first song.Her first son was sent to various companies. Jay z who is a famous rapper signed her to def jams. When Jay Z heard her sing, he was impressed. He noticed she had great potential he was extremely convinced she was a good singer.This is how she became extremely successful in the music industry. As of today Rihanna is still one of the most well known singers. She usually go by the name of RiRi or Caribbean Queen.She changed the world with her unique voice. Also she became well known for her signing and fashion.She donated money to charity and also helped the unprivileged.

In order to understand what motivated Liz Claiborne to become such a successful woman, it is helpful to go back her roots. Liz Claiborne was born in Brussels, Belgium on March 31st 1929, which was nine years after the Women’s Rights Movement ended in America. She had exposure to art in her childhood from her father who taught her to appreciate art and her mother who taught her to sew. Liz Claiborne spent her early years in Brussels and became a bilingual person who could speak French and English fluently. In 1939, she moved to New Orleans, Louisiana with her parents due to the threats from Nazis (Bernstein 1; “Liz Claiborne’ Biography”).

One of the most intriguing and influential images included in Citizen by Claudia Rankine is the image entitled Blue Black Boy. Blue Black Boy is a visual work of art created by Carrie Mae Weems in 1990’s; Weems is a very successful female African American artist. Through a close reading of the image, I was able to derive meaning out of the various aspects that work together to create such an eloquent work of art.

The Black Arts movement refers to a period of “furious flowering” of African American creativity beginning in the mid-1960’s and continuing through much of the 1970’s (Perceptions of Black). Linked both chronologically and ideologically with the Black Power Movement, The BAM recognized the idea of two cultural Americas: one black and one white. The BAM pressed for the creation of a distinctive Black Aesthetic in which black artists created for black audiences. The movement saw artistic production as the key to revising Black American’s perceptions of themselves, thus the Black Aesthetic was believed to be an integral component of the economic, political, and cultural empowerment of the Black

Lorraine O’Gradys’ unintentionally historic performances, seemingly elevate everyday life to the status of art. In her ‘exhibit’ at the Studio Museum, her work is represented through photographs, in ‘Art is…’. Thirty years ago, O’Grady presented ‘Art is’ in the form of a float in the African American Day Parade right here in Harlem. Performers pranced with empty frames, metaphorically capturing fleeting pictures of the people and places that surrounded the route of the parade. By doing so, the trappings of high art were brought out of the museum, into the street, which promotes a new way people might begin to recognize this new art form in the celebrations of every day life. The

Hank Willis Thomas’s work addresses the intersection of race, history, and visual culture. According to Thomas’ description of his own work, he states, “For me, photography was about being genuine in your approach to whoever you were trying to photograph and why. But also not being confined by notions of the truth because any time you’re dealing with photography you’re talking about the truth as something that’s subjective. Don’t limit your creativity just by what you are able to capture in the camera. Try to figure out innovative ways to work around that, if necessary” (Anonymous 112). Thomas’ innovation and creativity is apparent in Zero Hour. The artwork of the Contemporary Era is very symbolic and full of cultural importance. Through photography

Julie Becker was born in 1972, and passed away in 2016 at the age of 43[i]. Los Angeles was an integral part of her life as she grew up, created, and died in L.A; however she studied briefly at Hochschule der Kunste, Berlin in 1991 and completed a residency in Basel, Switzerland at Stiftlung Laurenz-Haus Foundation. Becker was the daughter of artists[ii], and subsequently grew up in constant travel from one apartment to the next while her parents worked odd jobs to survive. In lieu of finishing her senior year at Santa Monica High School, she became the youngest student ever to attend California Institute of the Arts in 1989 at the age of 16. From CalArts in Valencia, Becker received her BFA in 1993, and her MFA in 1995. Paul Schimmel, curator at the L.A Museum of Contemporary Art, selected Becker’s MFA thesis project, Researchers, Residents, A Place to Rest 1993-96, for the 23rd São Paulo Biennial, where she was the youngest participant.

Renee Cox, as an African American woman and artist, uses her body and identity to start a discussion on the Black experience in America. Besides representing a population of minority artists, the female and the non-white, her art has affected society with her brazen approach to her craft. Cox’s significance comes from her open display of race and sex. In many of her pieces, nudity and the celebration of the African American experience is the focus. In addition to this, her medium of choice, mixed media and photography, is opening an outlet of art that isn’t traditionally used. In essence, Renee Cox is an artist that can pave the way for future artists by diversifying through medium, race, and sex.

Society seems to change and advance so rapidly throughout the years but there has always seemed to be a history, present, and future when it comes to the struggles of the African Americans. The hatred of a skin tone has caused people to act in violent and horrifying ways including police brutality, riots, mass incarcerations, and many more. There are three movements the renaissance, civil rights, and the black lives matter movements that we have focused on. Our artist come from different eras but have at least one similarity which is the attention on black art.

Fred Wilson is an art activist for minority groups, especially the African American population, which in today`s generation, is looked upon as the unseen minority group (Grinberg 2012). Wilson creates innovative exhibitions to display art and artifacts found in museum collections with arrangements that represent minority contemporary artists. His ideas lead the audience to acknowledge that changes in the perceptive view transform the whole meaning of what is presented.

Everyone knows Whitney Houston, Right? Whitney Houston was a singer/actress. Whitney Houston, born August 9, 1963 to John and Emily “Cissy” Houston, was born into a musical family. Her mother, Cissy, was a background singer. She recorded songs for Aretha Franklin at Atlantic Records Studio in New York.

Florida’s rich history often spotlights two distinctive groups; the plentiful Hispanic population, or the conventional Caucasian syndicate. What most people tend to overlook are the copious amounts of esteem found in Black History; a chronicle furnished on centuries of symbiotic suffering and triumph. Thousands of individuals have contributed to this amorphous embodiment, but there is one woman in particular that has succeeded in evolving our world’s views on art at

Georgia collaborated with many other artists, journalists, and photographers to generate new ideas and inspire each other’s creations (“About Georgia O’Keeffe,” 2017). She

Whitney Houston was born on August 9, 1963 in Newark, New Jersey. Her parents are Cissy and John Houston. At an early age Whitney knew with the guiding hands of cousin Dionne Warwick and godmother Aretha Franklin she would become an amazing singer. Cissy Houston was the choir minister at New Hope Baptist Church, and that’s where she got her start. On her first interview with Diane Sawyer, Houston said “I think I knew then that [my singing ability] was an infectious thing that God had given me.”

Although Jan Van Eyck was one of the most influential artists during his time period, his work, Lucca Madonna is fairly unknown. Whilst researching Jan Van Eyck the work rarely appeared unless one research specifically the name.