Sun 8 Jun 2008
This post is coming to you at the suggestion of our esteemed commenter FM.
There is a cover story in the June/July issue of the magazine Art in America called “Talking Politics 2008″ by Eleanor Hartley. She features “six artists whose work courts controversy” including Williams Professor Laylah Ali. The artists “exchange ideas about the common ground between politics and art,” a very timely topic given the recent bit of Yale art drama (discussed on EB here and here, and nicely commented upon by our own Prof. Lewis in the WSJ).
Unfortunately the Art in America article is not available online, although FM has a request in and/or might end up scanning it. We’ll see what happens. Regardless, Prof. Ali is a talented artist and notable figure in the arts. This link is from a PBS feature about artists in the 21st century called Art:21. There are some great shots of the art-in-the-making, as well as slideshows of some of her work, interviews, and other video. What a great program! This link is from another exhibition of showing examples of Professor Ali’s work.
The theme of the article seems all the more timely given the controversy surrounding the installation of “The Assassination of Hillary Clinton/The Assassination of Barack Obama” exhibition in New York City that was quickly shut down by the Secret Service. Granted, some see its attempted creation as more a bit of performance art than an actual attempt to create an exhibition “about character assassination — about how Obama and Hillary have been portrayed by the media,” but it does point again to the intersection of art and politics. The New York Times also did a feature piece in April about how the campaigns generally, and Barack Obama particularly, have inspired quite a bit of political art.
Obviously this is not a new phenomenon. Art is political, politicians and campaigns (and kings and queens and patrons) make use of and support art to fit their various purposes and ideals. Political issues likewise provide an inspiration, frame, and focus for art throughout the ages. Art is revolutionary form of speech, a unique way for artists to express their response to the world. I suppose given the Williams infiltration of the greater art community…wait, that sounds sinister. Saturation perhaps (?) of the arts community it makes sense that one of our professors was featured on this topic. So pick up a copy of the magazine if you see it someplace, or at the very least check out the link to the PBS feature of Laylah Ali above and get a taste of the work and creative process of this talented artist and asset to our faculty.
Do any of our commenters have particularly political pieces of art (visual, musical, etc.) that are your favorites or are particularly notable? Personally, I have always been truly moved and inspired by Picasso’s Guernica. I have seen the tapestry reproduction of the work that is at the United Nations building in New York, and it always evokes a raw sadness and anger in me. Thoughts from others?
June 9th, 2008 at 1:41 am
JG…This post is terrific! Making a suggestion is easy, but you have provided insightful commentary that manages to link recent threads and current news.
One way or the other, I will get the article posted. My scanner is not working at the moment…but perhaps another blogger can pony up a few bucks for the magazine and scan it in for us? Or maybe the magazine will respond soon.
In the meanwhile, one of the questions from the ’roundtable discussion’ (in Art in America) that provoked a particularly refreshing response from Laylah:
The question:
How do you conceive your role in relationship to politics?
Part of her response:
“Though in person I can be quite opinionated and clear about my beliefs, I have often thought of my work as where my questions go. It does not produce answers or directives. It has been more interesting for me to explore the things I wasn’t so clear about.”
And what better way to evoke a deeper response from the viewer than by getting them to ask questions as well…
June 9th, 2008 at 8:58 am
The Guernica (which I saw in New York in the 70s before it was repatriated) is tremendously powerful in person. It has drips and a surface chaos that add considerably to the whole piece. It is so fitting that it is reproduced at the UN, but I’d recommend also putting the original on your life list.
I have been haunted by Goya’s Disasters of War series since I first encountered it in Art 102. Even the title is right: whatever it may achieve, war is always a disaster on many levels.
However far they may be from being technically accomplished and from the mainstream of what we generally think of as “art,” I view the enlistees’ photographs from Abu Ghraib as “art.” Those are the pieces that have politically affected me the most in the last few years.
June 9th, 2008 at 12:03 pm
Larry, I would love to see the real thing. One of these days I’m going to get off this continent and travel…hopefully soon.
The Abu Ghraib photos bring up an interesting point about the meaning of “art” and I think political art in particular. Must it be intentional? The various writings/taggins on the Berlin Wall for example - obviously an expression of sorts, but would they be considered political “art” do you think? I haven’t a clue, but it is interesting to ponder.
And another bit of political art that is a bit closer to the Williamstown home: Rockwell’s civil rights works from the latter part of his career - the very well known “The Problem We All Live With” of Ruby Bridges being escorted to school, and the lesser known “Southern Justice/Murder in Mississippi” depicting the three civil rights workers killed in Philadelphia, MS. In trying to find online images of these two, I stumbled onto an interesting blog post that is itself about art & politics and worth a read - and has both images if anyone is curious.
June 9th, 2008 at 12:45 pm
Fascinating linked post. Thank you.
And there, in a Rockwell piece I didn’t know, were Michael Schwerner, Andrew Goodman, and James Chaney: three men who changed my life and my thinking, and probably set me on the path that was to lead to a New England liberal and liberal arts education. Obama stands on some shoulders that were both giant and woefully, humanly, pitifully slight against the forces of hate (but so heroic, patriotic, admirable and compelling… ). He may be post-racial, as the blogger hopes, but he could not be, nor could he be where he is, without those three and so many others.
June 9th, 2008 at 12:54 pm
JG -
I am not sure about whether intentionality is required in political art. I tend to tend to think it can be political art in the eye of the perceiver, regardless of the intent of the maker (and that would make some sense to me when I look back at traditional art from prior periods and see political overtones and ramifications that may not have been consciously evident to the maker). I guess I’m making the distinction that it becomes political art in my perception as a viewer, quite apart from what the maker intended. This is getting to be like layers of fashions in lit-crit, though, for me. I don’t have the tools I need to analyze these issues abstractly.
June 9th, 2008 at 1:16 pm
Interesting link on Rockwell…some pieces I wasn’t familiar with as well…
There is a book by Richard Halpern:
“The Underside of Innocence” that is all about the darker message under Rockwell’s seemingly innocent, nostalgic work. At least scroll down to the quote from Rockwell where he himself discusses this deeper impetus.
And speaking of art having to do with race and gender, there is the more recent, and highly acclaimed Kara Walker. I have seen her work, and it’s not just powerful in it’s message, but beautifully executed as well.
You know, it occurs to me now (as we remind ourselves of all the courageous statements made by these artists, and the wisdom and prescience inherent in them) what a vital part they have played in getting us to where we are now, especially in the political arena.
June 9th, 2008 at 1:53 pm
Thanks for the Kara Walker link - I, too, admire the execution of her work.
I find Rockwell to be a fascinating study. His at times quite difficult life, struggle with his wife’s and his own mental illness, the political influence of this third wife, the choice and simultaneous limitation in his work for the Post. Really tremendous issues to contemplate in the context of art (and whether “mere” illustrations are art is always a rich topic). Somewhere he spoke of how freeing it was to produce illustrations not bound by the Post’s limitations on the depictions of black Americans, but he always could have produced other work - just not in the context of the lucrative magazine covers. Why and how he eventually crafted those more overtly political images in his later career is worth examining….perhaps some summer reading for me!
June 9th, 2008 at 2:20 pm
Williams College Museum of Art also had a Kara Walker show in 2005. The museum co-hosted & also contributed to the catalogue.
http://www.wcma.org/press/03/Walker.shtml
The New Yorker (10/08/2007) ran a profile of her at the time of the Whitney show.
June 9th, 2008 at 8:39 pm
JG -
I’ve loved this thread. It made me think. I learned a lot.
I plan to read the book on Rockwell when I get a chance. I had long dismissed him as falling over the line into the “cutesy” or vacuous but then a 12-year old insisted that we check out the museum. Something of that darkness shouted through to me, and I learned a lesson about looking more carefully before I just dismissed Rockwell and others of his ilk out of hand. Plus, I now view a wide range of “illustration” as “art” — which I didn’t then — with the “art” or lack of “art” in the piece often becoming clearer as the piece ages.
I eagerly await your next post. You are putting me in touch with resources that I had no idea existed.
June 9th, 2008 at 10:08 pm
Ditto from me.
This is the kind of topic I love. I really don’t have the skills for the argumentative posts…and I just end up getting into trouble. But this I can handle. It’s fun and positive and insightful.
Also, I wanted to say that I heard back from Art In America! They have some sort of ‘embargo’ that prevents them from giving out the article for a 3 month period. But when I mentioned that it was for a blog discussion on Laylah, they lightened up, and said maybe…
So, I will keep trying. I think you will find it interesting because it touches on a couple of things brought up in this discussion; activism…intentionality, fomenting change…etc.