Wiley’s works reference specific paintings by Titian and Tiepolo, but he incorporates a range of art historical and vernacular styles in his paintings, from the French Rococo to the contemporary urban street. Wiley's work works between traditional and contemporary vision. He describes his approach as “interrogating the notion of the master painter, at once critical and complicit.” He makes figurative paintings that “quote historical sources and position young black men within that field of ‘power.’” His “slightly heroic” figures, slightly larger than life size, are depicted in poses of power and spiritual awakening. He deliberately mixes images of power and spirituality, using them as a filter in the portrayal of masculinity. The poses of his figures relate back to the Renaissance paintings. Intertextuality is an important issue in postmodernism theory. As a result the works of many postmodern visual communicators discuss the notion of intertextuality itself o are explicitly intertextual in nature. intertextuality refers to the way that any one text (written or visual) is influenced, or made up of a variety of other earlier texts. As a result, the notion of intertextuality suggests that whenever we try to make sense of a text (written or visual) we are constantly referring back to our understanding of its influences to help us understand.
During modernity European males dominated the art world therefore I think Wiley's work relates to Pluralism because Wiley uses men figures in his paintings. Wiley is African American himself therefore he has used African American men in his paintings. Wiley's work also relates to Pluralism because it gives the viewers an idea that there are different cultures but everyone 'is equal'. According to Caldwell (1999): Pluralism is an art to the nature of artforms and artists as diverse. The cultural context of art is all encompassing in its respect for the art of the worlds cultures. Inclusion of individuals of differing ethnicities, genders, ideologies, abilities, ages, religions, economic status and educational levels is valued. Pluralism honours differences within and between equitable groups while seeing their commonalities.
References:
http://en.wikipedåia.org/wiki/Kehinde_Wiley
www.google.com/images
Caldwell, B. (1999) Cultural context. retrieved 16 Oct, 2003 from http://www.public.iastate.edu/~design/ART/NAB/PluArt.html
I agree with what Manea has said and Intertextuality has shaped Wiley's work. the way he uses Old portraiture techniques emphasizes that he wants to give his characters in his paintings power and authority. This relates to the black african american characters he uses in his paintings because they have never really been involved in the art would and white european men have always dominated the art industry. I think he also use the old renaissance poses to resemble how african americans are dominating the hip hop culture and making a name for themselves in the world. Wiley's somewhat quirky work appeals to me and i look to what new paintings he will do in the future.
ReplyDeleteI like how Kehinde has taken people of the streets and placed them into historical moments like renaissance. I think his works would have caused a lot of controversy as he used black people imitating poses of those from another historical period. I beleive that this is a bold move as to me, he is trying to make a statement about everyone being equal and this is where we see a lot of pluralism. "During modernity European males dominated the art world" i agree with this, and I like how Kehinde is trying to change that. The quote from Caldwell that Manea has written, lists a lot of different key points of pluralism that are present is Kehinde's work.
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