Three artists working in our communities today have rich connections with the past. This connectedness allows us to appreciate those who have gone before; teaches us that all art is cultural appropriation; gives us insights into today; and gives youth a path forward.
The artists featured here are Mary Jackson, Kerry James Marshall, and Kehinde Wiley. They have all been widely exhibited in major museums and represented in prestigious galleries.
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| Mary Jackson & her three foot basket |
Mary Jackson is a
fiber artist and a
MacArthur Fellow. She was born, and still works, in South Carolina, a descendant of the
Gullah community. Basketry and fiber arts have been cultural assets among the Gullah people, with linkages back to their West African ancestors.
Basket making is a feature of most societies, both as an art form as well as for utilitarian purposes.Gullah baskets tend to be made from sweetgrass, with other materials woven in. The color palette tends to be neutral and the designs derived from functional items.
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| Mary Jackson and her baskets. Photo by Jennifer Gerardi |
Kerry James Marshall is a painter and sculptor born in Birmingham, Alabama, raised in Los Angeles, California, and resides primarily in Chicago, Illinois. The themes of his work revolve around African American life and history. He and his family have chosen to reside in a working class neighborhood in Chicago because he feels called to paint the richness of black life as it is experienced by most African Americans. His
current exhibition is in New York at the Metropolitan Museum of Art's contemporary wing, the Met Breuer. See his upcoming show at the
Seattle Art Museum February to May 2018.
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| Kerry James Marshall 2014 |
Kehinde Wiley was born in Los Angeles, educated at Yale, and is now based in New York. He is a
portrait painter and sculptor. He is interested in shifting people's perspectives and perceptions of black people and other people of color. To achieve this, he takes classic European paintings of aristocrats and religious figures and recreates them using sports stars, hip-hop artists, and often, people chosen right from the street. His paintings have the lush colors and backgrounds and complex
compositions of the 'Masters' of the Renaissance.
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| Kehinde Wiley, NYT photo |
Wiley also explores classic Greek, Roman, and Chinese themes, again using
black people as models. He has series based in India, Israel, Sri Lanka,
and France amongst other places.
His current exhibit at the
Seattle Art Museum (SAM) features stained glass windows, religious triptychs, sculptures in the style of
Houdon, and large format oils.
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| Left: Ice T by Kehinde Wiley 2005 Right: Napoleon by J-L David 1806 |
Each of these artists brings such visual joy to the viewer. They address important cultural and political history issues. They look to the past to create in the present and pave the way for younger artists to think critically and look for new ways to express their ideas. And
HERE, in the August 17, 2017 of the New York Review of Books, is an excellent discussion by
Daryl Pinckney of how black artists today see themselves and how this has/has not changed through time, including commentary about Kehinde Wiley.
