Found this old (1995) review of two African art exhibitions at the Museum for African Art in Soho. Interesting. I looked it up because one of the artists for the first exhibition, an Ivorian painter named Gerard Santoni, passed away recently. Some of you know I assist with visual literacy workshops at my current place of academic residence, and I do diaspora. All told, I am pushing myself to learn more and more about African (diaspora) art. It is just too bad--and my own fault--that I often happen upon things as people make their way towards the ancestors.
Anyway, ramble ramble, here is the article I came across. And a piece of Santoni's obituary written for H-AfrArts by Jerome Vogel:
Susan Vogel, his wife, curated the exhibits at the Museum for African Arts and apparently founded the space. All fascinating stuff.Gerard, child of an Ivorian mother and French father, was born in
Divo, Cote d’Ivoire in 1943. He was educated through high school in
Cote d”Ivoire, but went to art school in Paris and Nice. His painting,
which is inspired by Baule textiles, is clearly influenced by his
maternal heritage. Like many Ivorian artists of his generation, he was
absorbed in finding a way to present his African culture in a modern
style. He painted exclusively in oils, using an elegant European
method of applying paint to canvas. His subject matterforms, however,
derived from was Baule textiles, blue indigo in color and with the
woven bands, decorated with gold-weight motifs, twisting and turning
in space. He also wove tapestries in the Gobelin technique, using
material he made himself out of tie- dyed barkcloth laboriously cut
and twisted into thread. Late in his career, he often painted on local
hand-woven cloth made of home-spun cotton thread. While determinedly
African, he felt strongly that he should be judged as part of world.
And to provoke comments, I proclaim this Lurker Monday Re-dux (because I missed yesterday).
Anyway, I'm back to work, mujeres. Peace & Safe travels over the holiday. Like you won't be in the Common Room or something now that you're not in the office(s).....
1 comment:
So I finally had the opportunity to read the article that you posted and it was a good read.. I was on board once I read the text below...
I think this article reiterates the fact that so much of Africa (the people, the culture, the language, the art.. ect) has been "undiscovered". Disclaimer... yeah I have issues with the word "undiscovered" but I hope that that horrible word illustrates my current sentiments toward historical texts recounting the story of "the continent".
The complexity of addressing/reviewing Art within Africa is just one of the many segments of the assumptions that are made about the Diaspora and the people of the Diaspora. Many of you have heard my stories of fellow coworkers still puzzled as to why the "streetwear" brands are no longer working. Or what the Black and Latino Men are wearing if they arent wearing baggy jeans...
My favorite line... "African art is not static" .... Nor are people who ancesters are from Africa....
"In its
manifestation at the museum, the exhibition
was intended to "contribute to a new understanding
of 'African art' that will remove it
from the realm of the ethnographic, and place
it firmly within the framework of the transcultural
aesthetic that has become accepted practice
among Western artists" (Vogel in the catalogue
by Thomas McEvilley, p. 7). To this end,
the exhibition was presented in a "Western"
manner, including brief biographical sketches
and statements by each artist."
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