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| Florine Démosthène https://blackcontemporaryart.tumblr.com/ Prelude To the Capture |
“In all honesty, I never thought that I'd write anything that would find an audience”
Quite literally the first page and I already relate. I am actually a writer, as I find poetry easier to express a lot of things so I don't really know how to explain in other ways. Poetry feels like a tool to express how I view things in my head that other people don't really seem to understand. It feels like an engagement. I find that belief that neither my poetry nor my art will reach anyone in the future but I know that it's just semi-realistic pessimism. I understand that not attempting to reach anyone will make my concerns worse as I am actively self sabotaging. In order to create art that will reach people I have to make an effort to actually reach people rather than just continue telling myself everyone will hate it and it will never reach.
“Jean Micheal Basquiat is absolutely not “the Black Warhol” as I naïvely thought – nor are there black versions of non-black artists. He was an artist in his own lane, much like the other people that a reference throughout the rest of the book”
I’m glad that she put this idea into words, of the artist and the (label)/(labeled) version of an artist. It’s very sad that so many diverse artists get covered up and ignored, especially knowing they’ve basically always existed but barely ever got recognized. I recall thinking about this before in another class, about wanting to represent a community that you are a part of but also not wanting to label yourself and be constrained to just that label. There’s no really clear lines or answers to that, but it’s interesting to think about and evaluate.
When I was reading about it before the sentence, that was literally what I thought. I understand where she’s coming from though of course as she hadn’t known of more diverse artists. At the same time, there is no copy of an artist with a different skin color. Artists are of their own, and Basquiat was awesome so I’m glad more people know about him now, not just a black warhol. I am glad she shared that perspective with us and her retrospective comprehension of it.
“Then, just as I began to regret the post, he went on to explain that I had also made my classmates feel “uncomfortable“ during the discussion”.
Oh my gosh? This entire experience is terrible and I can’t believe that he not only made the first comment he made, but continued and made it worse and worse. WHAT does he mean she shouldn’t have enrolled in any art history classes?? Because she’s a woman of color if she can’t take classes? Hello? But he cares so much about his white student’s guilt. Not really sure how to react to this one in an academically written way but just. Wow! Yikes!
Florine Démosthène https://blackcontemporaryart.tumblr.com/
Prelude To the Capture, 8:26 am • 4 January, 2019
This artwork captured my attention for quite a few reasons, firstly being the art style. The textures, compositions and limited use of color creates intrigue for me to examine the figure of each piece. Once observing the figure, I am interested in how the black female body is portrayed. Some of the images can be a bit difficult to decipher from the perspective of setting, but the constant is the figure. Each piece is intimate in a way, presenting the nude in a way that isn’t inherently sexual but portrays the curves in a natural way whether it be laying back or lounging. Especially in art, I think we’re all used to seeing thin, white bodies of women in a welcoming sort of flirtatious way. To evaluate a black woman’s body is to evaluate the history of the body, the woman, and the cultural history behind her skin. I know a lot of people fetishize the plus-size community for being “thicc” and treat fat women as either gross or an object of sex. I’m sure for women of color this is common as well, likely worse because women of color have been historically sexualized and objectified especially for their bodies. I cannot speak for other women, but I believe all body types and people of color should be represented in a way that humanizes AND goes against stereotypical perceptions.
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