Leigh Isaac
Professor Doris Cacoilo
Art of Resistance
October 25, 2023
What I Know About Art Essay
As Kimberly Drew said in her memoir This is What I Know About Art said, “Art and protest will forever be bound together." The book encapsulates how Drew’s career turned around after creating Black Contemporary Art. Curating at a young age, she started her blog to educate others about Black artists who weren't talked about in her art classes, which only talked about white and male artists. “I saw it happening in my art history classes, and I just had to do something to build a history online,” she says in response to her blog, taking her first step off the curb into art activism. [ Drew pg 21]
Like Drew, many artists, authors, historians, musicians, etc, can be activists by exposing forgotten or unspoken information through different mediums. In Drew’s book, she explains how after interning at the Studio Museum in Harlem, which highlighted Black artists, she didn’t “... get many opportunities to learn about artists and movements that got me interested in art in the first place” when she switched her major to art history. [Drew pg 20] Her internship exposed her to a new perspective in the art world that the rest of her classmates and teachers didn’t have, which sparked activism within her. While studying white-male-dominated history, she taught herself about Black art history and created a blog as a textbook for the internet to look through and learn from. Her blog is similar to Journal Rappe, a YouTube channel run by Cheikh Sene and Makhtar Fall in Senegal. The duo realized that the negative connotation of political news in Senegal made it hard for young people to learn and talk about. To educate the young people of Senegal, they created a YouTube channel to provide “.... political information” through “culture young people feel is their own. [hi-hop mixtapes].” [Duchombe & Lambert pg 34] Because people like Drew or Sene and Fall saw something missing in the conversation of art or politics, they created art pieces or curated artworks to advocate for these messages and artists to be heard.
“...An activist really entails is having an idea of what needs to be changed and doing something about it” and through that action, others will be inspired to do the same. [Dochombe & Lambert pg 5] Journal Rappe inspired others to create content similar to Sene and Fall but for their own countries. I am sure that many other BIPOC artists saw Drew’s blog and felt inspired to do a similar curation of art targeted toward different minorities. A great example is the Artistas de Latinoamérica Sueños y Posibilidades (Latin American Artists: Dreams and Possibilities) in NJCU. The exhibit showcases Afro-Latinx artists and allows them to show stories through different mediums. Similarly to Black Contemporary Art, this exhibit focuses on minority groups that are rarely talked about in the art world. Like Drew’s mission, the curator gives these artists the space to be the majority and have a voice to tell stories to anyone who walks in, like in these pieces.
"Queen of Propox” is an acrylic on canvas piece by Ray Arcadio. The artist paints a Black woman in black and white. Her eyes and hair are exaggerated with big shapes and colorful lines to create a mask. This may not look like a form of activism, but it is. Not only is it participating in an activist exhibit, but it also celebrates Black women. This piece perfectly fits with Arcadio’s series “Messengers," where he uses shapes and lines [white or colors] to accentuate the features of the women. In this particular era of the series, Arcadio puts the women into clothing typically worn by high-society white people. In this piece, the woman reminds me of old Hollywood from the black-and-white style of her dress, glossy lips, and pose that gives off a movie-star-on-a-runway vibe. Old Hollywood was a very white-dominated industry, and it was extremely rare to find a black man or woman as the main star of a film. Arcardio’s allusion to history through clothes is a work of activism because it creatively sheds light on whitewashed history and reclaims it for those who were robbed of their moment because of their skin color. As Arcadio’s caption says, “we are here.”
“Bold yet fragile” is a multi-block lino print by Tenjin Ikeda. The artwork showcases various stamps of flowers and leaves surrounding a small bust of a Black man. Three hearts line the bottom of the paper. This activism piece introduces the conversation of "what defines masculinity?" What defines masculine has changed over the years. Although the stereotype that men, especially Black men, are assumed to be strong, emotionless, and bold still exists today. However, in the piece, Ikeda makes the man smaller than the flowers to show that isn’t the case. Behind a man is a vulnerable side that must also be addressed. “Bold yet fragile” is activism because the artist uses this piece to express his side of that conversation by advocating that “there is fragility that exists” within the masculine. [Ikeda]
Through her memoir, Kimberly Drew has opened my eyes to how things are possible in one’s career. One small thing, like applying for a paid internship, can blossom into an adventure of passion and dedication through art. Her journey is very inspiring for me because she was able to grow her career and passion with direction. After the Studio Museum in Harlem, she knew what she had to do and went for it. The most meaningful moment for me was when she quit the MET. As Drew said, “...we don’t have to subscribe to anyone else’s idea of success.” [Drew 52] The MET seems like the highest job you could get as an art historian or curator, but she quit despite that because her fight to see Black artists in the art world mattered to her more. I relate to her story because the path I want to take in media arts isn’t typical nor the highest standard for many. My parents always tell me to shoot higher, but after reading that quote, I already am, which is important. Another quote that stuck out to me was, “for so many young people of color, we feel like we don’t have the luxury of exploring the liberal arts.” [Drew pg 14] Although I had opportunities to explore the arts, there was always somebody telling me the limit to what level I could take art seriously, aka keeping art as a hobby. Seeing her being able to take her journey into liberal arts makes me want to continue mine and hopefully find a small opportunity that can spark a big change in my life!
Work Cited
Arcadio, Ray. Queen of Propox. Artistas de Latinoamérica Sueños y Posibilidades (Latin American Artists: Dreams and Possibilities), 13 Sep,-15 Nov, 2023, New Jersey City University, Jersey City.
Ikeda, Tenjin. Bold yet Fragile. Artistas de Latinoamérica Sueños y Posibilidades (Latin American Artists: Dreams and Possibilities), 13 Sep,-15 Nov, 2023, New Jersey City University, Jersey City.
Drew, Kimberly. This Is What I Know about Art. Penguin Workshop, 2020.
Duncombe, Stephen, and Steve Lambert. The Art of Activism: Your All-Purpose Guide to Making The Impossible Possible. O/R, OR Books, 2021.
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