Black Artists You Should Know

In an ideal world these artists would be considered stellar; the label Black would then not be necessary. Their sheer talent, bold representations of powerful and subtle themes, that uplift, empower, and inspire us.

Their quiet rise in a very white visual art world sadly, and by in large has not been supported by their own communities.

Jean-Michel Basquiat, American artist of Puerto Rican and Haitian heritage, took graffiti off NYC streets and brought credibility and a new uncanny beauty to fine art. His early death like so many artists meant the gavel swung down on one of his paintings (Untitled, 1982) for $110 million at auction in 2017. Giving him the notoriety of the highest price ever paid for a Black artist living or dead.

His family may not have fully appreciated or supported his art or lifestyle – from homelessness, drug addiction and a few moneyed years of fame; now are the very wealthy benefactors of his estate. The films, books, catalogues, and hunger, for this prolific artist whose pseudonym was SAMO has not died down.

Jean-Michel Basquiat, Untitled, 1984 acrylic and mixed media on canvas

Black visual artists are creative storytellers no matter what medium and subject they choose. From abstraction to realism, from collage to canvas; contemporary black artists are breaking out of the marginal mold that is the white box of fine arts.

Their work is a powerful and often positive reminder that the representation of our lives matter.  We who stress the importance of seeing ourselves and hearing our stories would be wise to remember, everything begins with art.

Who designed the home you live in, the clothes you wear? That hairstyle that took 3 hours to weave and yet we forget that creativity is embedded in so many of us. It’s telling in our consumerist, materialistic, drive thru society that forgetting the effort, imagination, and skill that are often required in art, means we dismiss our own ability to create.

It’s time we took the strength of the cheering section from the basketball courts, the enthusiasm and fandom, we bring to music and begin to support the visual arts…..and the art that surrounds our everyday lives. It’s time we ourselves create and enrich our lives with the imagination that we all have.

COVID 19 made so many of us pick up our dusty hobbies, crafts and refine them enough to showcase them on social media. It’s time we refine and reward the work of those who do visual art as their full-time job.

Presented here are two contemporary artists one emerging and one at the pinnacle of his career. The rest deserve your time, just research one a week – it will be as exciting and more rewarding than Netflix and chill, and way cheaper than Amazon!

Kerry James Marshall – b 1955 – Birmingham Alabama USA

Bold colours, animated, yet subtle themes, figures that emphasize that coal black is indeed beautiful!

Marshall elevates the everyday lives of black people, suggesting that how we live is as important as who we are.

Next time you visit Sean Combs see one of his works in person. Combs paid $21 million dollars at auction; the most ever paid for a living African American artist. To learn more about this artist check out link below.

https://art21.org/watch/artist-to-artist/kerry-james-marshall-at-prospect-3/

Kerry James Marshall, Past Times, 1997, acrylic on canvas

 

Sethembile Msezane – b 1991, Kwazulu Natal, South Africa

Sethembile Msezane, The Day Rhodes Came Down, 2015 multi media performance

Msezane is an interdisciplinary artist, who is comfortable in any medium she chooses. An articulate performer who weaves aesthetics, with African history, traditions, juxtaposes them against the politics of the here and now.

To see her performance art is to witness the strength of Miriam Makeba, the power of Angela Davis and the spirituality of Sojourner Truth, however she brings her own sense of self to her artistic practice.

Msezane creates unique and timely works that empower black women to be more than beautiful, but to be their best selves. To learn more about this artist – check out her website.

http://www.sethembile-msezane.com/

Kara Walker – American – Walker’s large scale black silhouette cutouts beat the sxf!* out of the Antebellum American South. Her scissors create a deep satire that cuts through the history of African American slavery.

Walker is not a one hit wonder. She fashions Black history into every month of the year. There’s always something fantastic to experience and learn from her work. Moving beyond the cutouts into multiple mediums she crafts history into fantasy making representations that are both mythic and painfully real.

 

Wangechi Mutu – Kenyan – Mutu creates ephemeral drawings where ink and collage collide, bringing forward the history of earlier black artists like Jacob Lawrence and Romare Bearden.

Then you witness her sculptural work and you begin to gain an understanding of the meaning of presence and volume in design.

 

Stan Douglas – Canadian – Douglas’ filmic work is epic in nature, and dense, with unanswerable plots. His trajectory covers Canadian stories of the west, jazz, and the impact of urbanism.

His work reminds us that art films are aesthetic, complicated, and way ahead of their time. Like Steve McQueen whose direction of 12 Years A Slave, foregrounded bold cinematography, Douglas uses the camera as a visual tool first, your viewing brings the narrative to life, through the power of your observation.

 

Laylah Ali – American – Ali’s skinny animated figures traverse her monochromatic canvases. Her representations seem like pages ripped out of comic books with the word bubbles left for you to write – you almost miss the often heavy socio-political themes this thoughtful artist paints.

Nick Cave – (not the musician) – You don’t need to know what he looks like! Cave is the Daft punk of fine art. His sense of colour and playfulness comes alive in his textile/performance/sculpture…. you’ll easily forget the other Nick Cave.

Cave could put every major Parisian fashion house out of business. Each unique piece is worn by him, never revealing his Blackness, he showcases his extreme ability to craft fun, and deliver an original work of art.

 

Curtis Talwst Santiago (not the musician, that’s right search with middle name) – Canadian – Santiago has a CV that is almost encyclopedic. This Edmonton born artist now resides in Lisbon, Portugal. Known for magical and exquisite dioramas, created inside very small boxes.  Remember how long it took you to colour in that page in your adult colouring book…. Santiago makes exhibits his big and small scale artworks all over the globe.

Kehinde Wiley – All on his own Wiley brought back the baroque style of painting, and yet his portrait of Obama is anything but Rococo. He gives his Black figures a heroic presence, centering them mid-canvas with a lush, decorative backdrop. His sculptures are worthy of discussion given our present cancel culture moment with heroic figures.

Demond Melancon– American – Melancon’s painstaking and patient art making is all about Mardi Gras, and yet it’s all about materials, Native and African American history. Marie Antoinette would readily lose her head for this artist of beads, textiles, feathers and finesse for fine craftsmanship.

Cyrus Kabiru – Kenyan – Kabiru recycles found metal into otherworldly eyewear. Each piece becomes more outrageous than the last. The cost of his materials would put our spending on the new to shame. It is a true artist who can take the old and make it uniquely new.

Zanele Muholi – South African – Muholi’s searingly provocative black and white portrait and self portrait photography is arresting and profound. What she conveys in a portrait might be interpreted not as the struggle for further female liberation, but a statement of female rights, and right in your face!

•Sean George – Black Art and Aesthetics Coordinator

Are you a local (Simcoe/Muskoka) Black artist or do you know one that should be featured? Email us at blackart@upliftblack.org. 

Misogyny

Misogyny is often simply thought of as the hatred of womxn; however, there is a bit more nuance to the definition of this word. Misogyny is actually the ingrained systems that rewards womxn who do not challenge the dominance of men, and punishes those who do. 

Let’s see how misogyny may play out in the workplace. The traits of men are more highly valued than those of womxn. Not having to be the parent that stays home so you miss out on job opportunities, for example, is a systemic privilege that men are often afforded because of cultural norms: really consider the last time you heard of someone taking paternity leave – why is that? Misogyny in the workplace. This misogyny can lead to womxn telling other womxn to just “lean in ” and you will get the job and status you desire (thank you Sheryl Sandberg, we never thought of that). While this is a solution that may work in the current system we have to work within, however this inherently tells womxn that it is good to be a man or act like a man, and shows that the traits of womxn are not valued.

Misogynoir

Back in 1989, philosopher and scholar, Kimberlé Crenshaw, first coined the term intersectionality to describe the unique intersections of race and gender that Black womxn have to go through, above and beyond the experience of white womxn. From this, a term that helps to define the systems that oppress Black womxn uniquely was birthed, called misogynoir. Because of misogynoir, Black womxn are more likely than white womxn to be sexualized and violently harmed because of their identity. As an example, because of the ‘strong Black womxn’ stereotype, Black womxn suffer a higher mortality rate during childbirth.

Transmisogyny 

Just as Black womxn suffer unique forms of misogyny, transwomxn also exist at a unique intersection that makes them especially affected by misogyny, known as transmisogyny. Transwomxn are not only more likely to be the victim of violence especially with firearms, 80% of the murders of trans persons are under the age of 35. This statistic is unique to transwomxn and results in a significantly lower lifespan for transwomxn, especially transwomxn of colour. For more information continue here. 

Adultification

Adultification is the process by which our minds artificially age a person above their actual age and into adulthood. A major example of adultification is in the case of the Central Park 5. All of the CHILDREN the cops framed as the culprits were under 18 years old. The media and society often frame young Black children as older than they are, which helps to justify why these people are the “bad guys”.

In the case of Black girls, the ‘strong Black womxn’ stereotype leads teachers to assume they are fine and can handle their own selves, when they are often relegated to struggle silently. This is actually one of the contributing factors to the school-to-prison pipeline for young Black girls: they do not get the attention they need in school, act out, and are more severely punished and punished more often than their white counterparts. Leading to suspensions and more severe consequences. Check out “Pushout” by Monique W. Morris for more information about this phenomenon.

Sheffield Park Black History and Cultural Museum

Have you heard about Sheffield Park Black History and Cultural Museum? If you haven’t here is your chance to learn about it. Sheffield Park Black History and Cultural Museum is located in Clarksburg, ON serving Grey County and Simcoe County.

At the museum you will learn about Black communities of Oro, Collingwood/Owen Sound, Artemesia (Priceville Black Cemetery) and surrounding settlements, plus so much more. The museum is currently closed but don’t let this stop you from learning more. Check out their Facebook page Sheffield Park Black History Museum to stay up-to-date. Information can also be found on their website here.

Children

• Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History – Vashti Harrison
• A is for Activist – Innosanto Nagara
• The Colors of Us – Karen Katz

Youth

• This Book is Anti-Racist – Tiffany Jewell
• Children of Blood and Bone – Tomi Adeyemi
• The Undefeated – Kwame Alexander

Adults

• Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together In the Cafeteria? – Beverly Danial Tatum
• We Want to More Than Survive – Bettina L. Love
• Pushout – Monique W. Morris 

Gender Reveal Parties are Damaging

You walk up to the receptionist at a new dentist you have found. They give you a form to fill out, and it asks your gender, as follows:

Gender (please check one):

Ο Male

Ο Female

If you are versed in gender lingo, you know that none of the options are correct, because male and female are not actually genders – they are sexes. And they are not the only two sexes.

So, gender and sex are not the same thing. So what is the difference, and why does it matter? 

Sex is made up of your chromosomes, your genitals, reproductive parts and the sex hormones. Traditionally we think of XX and XY as the two options for determining our sex, but there is a lot of variety in between and outside of those combinations. Firstly, you could have XXX or XXY, or perhaps even an XY where the Y is so small it is not expressed fully. You could have a chromosomal set of XX and a hormone balance that more highly favours testosterone and not estrogen. You could be born with part of a uterus as well as a penis.

As we can see, sex is a bit more complicated than just two options. Male and female are part of the spectrum of human sexual biology, but there is also another option: intersex. Did you know that redheads make up the same percentage of the human population as intersex people?

So what is gender if it has nothing to do with your parts? In simple terms, gender is the way you identify your role in society as well as the way you express your identity to the world. Gender is a performance. In a society, we collectively decide what roles, attributes, clothing, behaviours, and opportunities are appropriate for which people. Your gender is based on what roles, attributes, clothing, and behaviours you would like to participate in, which you identify with, and how you express this. See how genitals aren’t mentioned at all?

So then what’s up with gender reveal parties? By now, you probably see that gender is the social stuff that has nothing to do with genitals and everything to do with how the individual identifies. Perhaps you could have a sex reveal party, but I am unsure of what you are celebrating here. Are you excited when it is one or the other? Disappointed? Am I, as the guest, supposed to feel something with regard to the biological parts of this unborn child? Why are we so worried about it?

Not only are gender reveals problematic because of the social impact they have on unborn children, but because of one in California and another in Arizona, gender reveal parties have now caused more damage than all #BlackLivesMatter protests combined (not that they were really causing much damage, but there is a point to this contrast – think critically, which of these is actually destructive?). 

A pyrotechnic device used at a gender reveal party in El Dorado, California this past Saturday started a wildfire that has consumed more than 10 000 acres of land. In 2017, a fire was started in a similar manner at a gender reveal party in Arizona that destroyed 47,000 acres and the person responsible was ordered to pay $8 million in damages. For more information click here. How important is it that you tell your friends what kinds of reproductive organs your kid has before they even get a chance to tell their own story? Is it important enough to burn down a forest? Is it important enough to pay $8 million? 

Although these stories are extreme, consider the actual impact of so-called gender reveal parties. These parties are harmful to the environment and to unborn children. What does the popularity of these parties say about what we value in society? And how do they influence our cultural understanding about gender? 

For a very interesting listen, consider checking out the Podcast “Decoder Ring”, episode “Gender Reveal Party” from November of 2019. 

Keep love in your minds and logic in your hearts!

•Christopher Fee (he/they) – 2SLGBTQ+ Coordinator @mixter.fee