Karen Pachacama
ART:263 Activist, Interlop & Prankster
Prof. Cacoilo
10/25/2023
This Is What I Know About Art
Kimberly Drew in her book writes up different problems that we have been discussing in class,
including economic problems, contemporary Black art, activism through different types of art and more.
Drew tells her story in detail and through her book expresses her anger and resentment that names of black
artists are not as recognized and presented to the public, but at the same time she also conveys the desire
that she had to feed people with everything the knowledge she acquired daily. Kimberly in a section of the
book tells about an exhibition at the Whitney Museum “Of the 103 artists selected for the exhibition that
year, only nine were Black” page 27; This theme connects with the Guerilla Girls video, as they also
mention that at an art exhibition, the museum was full of art by white people and a serious shortage of
black art. One of the moments in the film that I found very interesting was when Kimberly did not see that
there were so few names of black artists in the Whitney museum exhibition and she expressed her anger
through her blog “On my own social media pages, I wrote angry tweets about the lack of diversity, and by
the end of the weekend, I had fielded interviews with a local art blog and The Huffington Post. ” page 28.
The reason I found this significant is because it is an example of how a “curator” like Kimberly can be an
activist, she didn't see just what was happening and raised her voice through social media, and this is also
how historians and writers can also be avtivists. I think that art and activism is something that is born from
within and is something that simply flows. The art of Latin American Artists Dreams and Probabilities
connects with different readings that we have been doing in class as well as Kimberly Drew's book.
This painting is beautiful but openly significant, here it is explained what the painting wants to say and
what the artist captures the hearts of significant people. I think that each artist defends their own talents
and puts into words the emotions that their art makes them feel, this is very connected with this phrase by
Susan Sotag: " The work that photographers do is no generic exception to the usually shady
commerce between art and truth. Even when photographers are most concerned with
mirroring reality, they are still haunted by tacit imperatives of tate and conscience." Painting can
make a good impact on everyone's lives not only for bad but for good impact on our lives. Every
time we see a a painting we can also absorb what the artist tried to meant. Studies have shown that
expression through art can help people with stress, anxiety, and even depression. Art has also been
linked to improved memory, reasoning and resilience in aging adult.
This, on the other hand, I feel is very connected to the story of Kimberly Drew in a way that she always
remembers her grandfather and maintains him as an idol and important symbol in her ancestral history.
The parents of the artist of this drawing have been in charge of promoting knowledge about what her
grandfather was like so that he is not forgotten. Kimberly, however, wanted people of color above all to
remember and feel proud that there were very talented artists who made art, she did not want them to be
forgotten “I did not want black art to be an insignificant factor. She didn't want black art to be
exterminated. “I saw it happen in my art history classes and I just had to do something to build a story
online.” Page 16. I fell connected with this art because he is talking about his grandfather that passes away
Unfortunately two years ago I went through the same pain of losing a family member. It is hard to let go
that pain but one thing that gave me and the family the strength is living our live they way he would
wanted to. He would love we keep his presence on every of our achievement and that will always make
him proud of ourselves.
References
Kimberly Drew, "This Is What I Know About Art"
Susan Sontag, "On Photography"
Bell Hooks, "Understanding Patriarchy"
Steve Duncombe and Steve Lambert, "The Art of Activism"
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