Appropriation of Indigenous Images in Art

This post is the result of discussions and collaboration with my good friend Adele Arseneau, a Metis artist.  Please visit her website, linked at the bottom of this post.

Artists have appropriated other artist's work throughout the ages. Inherent in that understanding is the concept that the new work re-contextualizes which was borrowed to create the new work.  So why can we not appropriate Indigenous ideas and images into our own work?

Western societies generally believe that all cultural property is inanimate (not living) and can be sold, bought or exchanged for monetary value.  This is in direct contrast to many Indigenous societies, who believe that cultural property can also be animate (living).  This animate cultural property can encompass traditional knowledge, designs, songs, dances, totems, masks, crests, among many others, and cannot be separated from the original owner without compromising the whole. Using the term ‘cultural belongings’ attempts to encompass this expanded understanding what is meant by cultural property. For example, a museum may own a heritage item, but it belongs to the Indigenous group.

This wider understanding has implications. Indigenous people around the world are reclaiming their identities and rights using copyright laws, intellectual property rights, and using the courts, including the court of public opinion.  Museums are changing how they display their collections following consultations with Indigenous groups and sometimes returning these cultural belongings back to the original owners or agreeing to a shared arrangement. Indigenous people are also working  actively against appropriation of their culture.

Artists who use Indigenous elements in their work and sell this work to the public, should consider how their art will be viewed in time and from the multiple perspectives.  Will the discourse be about how well the image has been painted, or about how the artist has appropriated an Indigenous cultural belonging? Will the buyer still enjoy the work knowing that it incorporates appropriated images that belong to another? If the answer is in doubt, consider leaving Indigenous designs and images to those who own them. Personally as an artist, I'd like to be known for my work and its originality, not for what was taken from others - what about you?

https://portfolio.direct2artist.com/adele-arseneau 

  http://www.authenticindigenous.com/artists/adele-maskwa-iskwew-arseneau 

Bruno Bischofberger's Non-Sequiter Approach to Marketing

Ever since I became acquainted with Artforum magazine, I've wondered why the Galerie Bruno Bischofberger always shows these bucolic photographs of alpine scenery, which includes cows, nuns, villagers in funny hats and farmers milking their cows on the back cover of the magazine. The photographs are rural and extremely odd.  What are these cows doing on the back cover of Artforum and why is he doing this?

Bischofberger knows what he is doing. A Swiss art dealer and gallerist, he started with collecting Appenzeller Folk Art, wrote a PhD thesis on it, and has been a major figure in the international art market for decades. He was the first to bring Pop-art to Europe; first to purchase whole series of Warhols and Lichtensteins at once, and first to deal in art on a large scale. He initiated the collaboration between Warhol, Clemente and Basquiat, and the list of his accomplishments goes on.

Back to these advertisements. There has to be some logic there somewhere.  Wikipedia defines Visual Marketing as "the relationship between an object, the context it is placed in and its relevant image".  The Bischofberger ads show strange, non sequiter (Latin for "it does not follow") images to engage and create mystery. The Surrealists did likewise. These images of Switzerland conform to our stereotype of that country, but there is a collision of meaning here: what is being shown in the advertisement (cows) and what is actually being represented (internationally renowned art) are two different things. This technique piques our interest and obscures the meaning at the same time, thereby rendering abstract what is in fact an extremely precise system of marketing of value and information exchange, of public relations, art and commerce.

The take home message for me is if its good enough for Bischofberger, maybe I should try a bit of non-sequiter in my own art, by engaging the viewer more in questioning what I paint and draw, tantalize them, keep them ever so slightly guessing, “Why did she do that?”

Baselitz Doesn't Stack Up (Paints Mostly Upside Down)

Back in February 2013, Georg Baselitz claimed that women lack the basic character to become great painters, because we don't "pass the market test, the value test”, adding: “As always, the market is right.” With this dismissive comment, centuries of female artists were wiped away with a stroke. His comments sparked a backlash then, and recently his comments surfaced again on Facebook, with the same result. Women were outraged (me included) and a few men chimed in their support (thank you men!).

The arguments on whether men are better than women, or women are better than men at doing XYZ, are really boring, don't advance dialogue and understanding, and at worse, result in vitriolic responses (me included). The truth is, most men do not paint well and most women do not either. According to Griselda Pollock, if a man paints brilliantly, it's because of their individuality, not their masculinity. Sarah Thornton adds, “The market gets it wrong all the time. To see the market as a mark of quality is going down a delusional path. I’m shocked Baselitz does. His work doesn't go for so much.” 

How much would a "Baselitz" set you back by? The record for a work by Baselitz was £3.2m in 2011 for his work Spekulatius. When Georgia O'Keeffe's painting Jimson Weed/White Flower No. 1 (1932) sold at Sotheby's on November 20 for $44.4 million, tripling its high estimate of $15 million, it became the most expensive painting by a female artist sold at auction. The record was previously held by Joan Mitchell, for Untitled, which sold for $11.9 million, and was set earlier this year at Christie's New York in May 2014 (see "O'Keeffe Painting Sells for $44 Million at Sotheby's, Sets Record for Work by Female Artist.")

The sales of the Mitchell and O'Keeffe paintings were among several notable sales this year of work by female artists, including Cindy Sherman, Yayoi Kusama, and Barbara Hepworth. ArtNet recently had a piece on living artists (see "Who Are the Top 10 Most Expensive Living Women Artists?"), with all the recent movement among female artists at the auctions, whether living or dead, here are their top 11 female artists (and all of them with more than double or greater value than Mr Baselitz').

1. Georgia O'Keeffe

Jimson Weed/White Flower No. 1 (1932) sold at Sotheby's New York on November 20, 2014, for $44,405,000.

2. Joan Mitchell

Untitled (1960) sold at Christie's New York on May 13, 2014,  for $11,925,000.

3. Berthe Morisot

Après le déjeuner (1881) sold at Christie's London on February 6, 2013, for $10,933,245.

4. Natalia Sergeevna Goncharova

Les fleurs (1912) sold at Christie's London on June 24, 2008, for $10,860,833.

5. Louise Bourgeois

Spider (1996) sold at Christie's New York on November 8, 2011, for $10,722,500.

6. Tamara de Lempicka

Le rêve (Rafaëla sur fond vert) (1927) sold at Sotheby's New York on November 2, 2011, for $8,482,500.

7. Camille Claudel

La valse, permière version (1892, printing/casting 1893) sold at Sotheby's London on June 19, 2013, for $8,018,941.

8. Yayoi Kusama

White No. 28 (1960) sold at Christie's New York on November 12, 2014, for $7,109,000.

9. Barbara Hepworth

Figure for Landscape (1960) sold at Christie's London on June 25, 2014, for $7,083,050.

10. Kay Sage

Le passage (1956) sold at Sotheby's London on February 5, 2014, for $7,074,026.

11. Cindy Sherman

Untitled Film Stills (1977) sold at Christie's New York on November 12, 2014, for $6,773,000.

So next time someone states something just plain stupid, don't reply.  Check the facts, and thus armed, post them for all to see! 

Catch Up - And Plans for the Future

I have been reminded today how little I update my blog. Seems that lectures, writings (theory class), paintings, drawings and prints, oh! and gallery visits, leave little time for eating and sleeping, etc.  As the semester at UBC finished on December 5, I have had some time for housekeeping - literally - and striking some 'must do's' off my list.

For starters, I have updated my website (www.jannakumi.com) with some new work, and more to come.  Also entered two drawings in the FASO December competition (http://faso.com/boldbrush/painting/78229). Those were completed for the drawing class this semester.  This August I was accepted into the Federation of Canadian Artists (FCA) and I have entered two works, a coloured pencil on paper and an acrylic on canvas, which will be shown at the Federation's Granville Island Gallery from January 7 - 18th.  I will enter two more drawings into the FCA juried 'Works on Paper' which will run the last two weeks in January. In case you want to look me up, I am now also on Saatchi Art on line (http://www.saatchiart.com/jannakumi). Finally, I recently sold two drawings in the North Shore Artist's Guild Annual Fine Art Sale last week, so that was nice.

Plans for the upcoming months and into the future two years are to, first, graduate in April with that BFA I started in 2009.  Since retiring two years ago, I've really packed those credits on and now have the required number to graduate.  Might even attend the ceremony, cap and gown included.  Second, to establish my art practice in earnest by entering as many FCA shows and FASO competitions as possible.  I find that a heavy schedule of shows is a great motivator to produce. And that last one is third on my list: Produce a body of work that is either good enough for a solo gallery show or that I can pick and choose from for group shows. Oh! and fourth, post on this blog more.

Beside working in my studio, I've been thinking of what's next academically.  I've found university so stimulating, that the thought of going 'cold turkey' gives me the shivers.  So, I am seriously thinking of taking a postgraduate degree in Art History, one course per semester, and that should leave plenty of time to paint, draw, walk the dogs, and enjoy life.  That's what it is all about, right?

In case I don't get to this blog by Christmas and New Year's - have a joyful time with family and friends. Best wishes for the New Year everyone.

The Indian Group of Seven - PNIAI

The Group of Seven's (Gof7) Lauren Harris exhibition recently held at the VAG got me thinking about another Gof7 - the Professional Native Indian Artist Incorporated (PNIAI).  Founded in Winnipeg in 1973, this group of artists first set about rediscovering their own heritage and then went on to promote First Nations culture.  This culture was based in the Northern Forests, the same forests the seven white men were immortalizing it in their paintings.  At first gathering informally in the early 1970's, Jackson Beardy (1944-1984), Eddy Cobiness (1933-1993), Alex Janvier (b.1935), Norval Morrisseau (1932-2007), Daphne Odjig (b.1919), Carl Ray (1942-1978) and Joseph Sanchez (b.1948) formed this influential and historical group in Odjig's home in Winnipeg.  Since their official incorporation in 1974, the PNIAI have often been referred to as the "Indian Group of Seven".


About the Professional Native Indian Artists Incorporated

The seven artists of the PNIAI worked collectively for the inclusion of their work within the Canadian mainstream and within the contemporary art discourse.  The PNIAI brought political issues to the forefront of contemporary art practices and theory, addressing issues of colonization, exclusion and the national denial of historical and contemporary realities that Aboriginal people encounter daily. Portraying the reality of Canada from an Aboriginal perspective, they brought into Canadian contemporary art, a new vision and vocabulary.  These artists were among the first to establish a forum for the voices and perspectives of the Aboriginal artists.  In many ways, these artists led to the development and acceptance of an Aboriginal art discourse and the recognition of Aboriginal art as a vital part of Canada's past, present and future identity. 


Mackenzie Art Gallery in Kelowna is holding an exhibition of the collective work of these seven artists from  October 11, 2014 to January 4,2015. 

Art and Class

9.5 Theses on Art and Class

I've been reading Ben Davis’s new book entitled, 9.5 Theses on Art and Class, named by Hyperallergic as the 11th of the "10 Best Artbooks of 2013".   Davis is executive editor at Artinfo, and this book is an exploration of the art market using Marxist theory.  The major contribution of this book is discussion of class, artists, and the art market, that goes far beyond the auction results and gallery gripes.  You’ll find within these pages a broad array of topics in contemporary art: How does creative labor fit into the economy? Is art merging with fashion and entertainment? What can we expect from political art? Davis argues that returning class to the center of discussion can play a vital role in tackling the challenges that visual art faces today, including the biggest challenge of all—how to maintain faith in art itself in a dysfunctional world.

Panned by the Greg Afinogenov in IDIOM, I nonetheless find the content a riveting read and came away with a better understanding of where artists stand, and I’d like to think that I’m on firmer ground politically and creatively having read most of this book (at time of writing).  I like the review given by Dushko Petrovich writing in BOOKFORUM better. "Davis is an intellectually clearheaded critic dishing out some tough truths, often backed up with statistics, to the rarefied 'art world.' . . . The book reframes the production and sale of art in tough terms, which is why the collection’s centerpiece, 9.5 Theses on Art and Class, should be required reading for art professionals. In this first book, Davis proves himself a critic to be reckoned with." 

As the book presents some new perspectives on old problems, I hope it generates further discussion.

Artist's Birthdays - December 22

Jean-Michel Basquiat (22 December 1960 - August 12, 1988

I hadn't intended to do another artist's B-Day post so soon, but it is Basquiat's birthday today and he deserves our attention, so this post is a homage to him.  

Starting off as a graffiti artist (pseudonym SAMO),  Basquiat became a pop icon and a cultural figure,  was active in music and film, but he is best known for his neo-expressionist paintings completed during the 1980's. A friend and artistic collaborator with Andy Warhol, he became increasingly isolated after Warhol's death in 1987 and died barely six months later of a heroin overdose on August 12, 1988 at age 28.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Michel_Basquiat

Many people do not 'like' Basquiat's work, and I count myself amongst them.  However, in understanding contemporary work, liking or not liking a particular work is not the determinate criterium for appreciating the work.  The world has become highly globalized, with the center and the margins constantly redistributing across old boundaries.  Art is not labeled "western" or "primitive" any longer, and Basquiat's paintings should be viewed as culturally significant precisely because they broke barriers. His work lays claim to the increasingly diverse and dynamic flow of ideas and ways of seeing and experiencing a world grown increasingly complex. Today, the contemporary art world (Modernism, Post Modernism, Post Post Modernism etc.) is not about the West's point of view being the dominant mantra. It is about a hybrid new aesthetic in which the seeing and the communicating across all cultures uses new forms of expression.  In this way, Basquiat was a ground breaking artist, who drew from his multiplicity of backgrounds and redirected his creativity towards a new interpretation. 

Post Script In 1998, the highest money paid for an original work of Basquiat's was US$3,302,500. In 2002, Basquiat's Profit I (1982), sold for US$5,509,500 and another Basquiat piece, Untitled (1982), for US $13,522,500. In 2012, for the second year running, Basquiat was the most coveted contemporary artist at auction, with €80 m in overall sales. For more information about Basquiat, see the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) or the Wiki link above.