Igor Stravinsky, born in Russia, was a musician, pianist, composer, and conductor, perceived by numerous experts and followers to be one of the leading and most significant composers of 20th-century music. Stravinsky’s compositional genre was noteworthy for its stylistic variety. He accomplished international distinction with three ballets commissioned by the impresario Sergei Diaghilev and performed by Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes (Russian Ballets): L’Oiseau de feu (“The Firebird”) (1910), Petrushka (1911/1947), and Le Sacre du Printemps (“The Rite of Spring”) (1913). (Wenborn, 1999)
The genesis of a musical composition is subject to the dichotomy between inspiration combined with innovation and elaboration in consort with the skillful organization. Igor’s creative process was often a combination of the two. His works highlighted craftsmanship, but at the same time, he held spontaneous innovation in high esteem. Contrasting the different available versions of Stravinsky’s compositions reveal that isolated bars were cut without substitution, and in addition, the arrangement in which formal segments came into subsistence is frequently very dissimilar to the consequent versions. However, Stravinsky upheld a relatively conventional notion of work of art across his career. The concept of ‘work in progress (which actually has a Romantic origin) or the post-modern perception of openwork can only be associated with the artist’s creative process. The poetic detail in the conceptual phase of the composition provides a deep insight into the artist’s creative process. (Wenborn, 1999)
Leon Battista Alberti
Alberti was a renowned Italian author, artist, architect, poet, priest, linguist, philosopher, and cryptographer, and general Renaissance humanist polymath. In art, he is famous for his treatise De picture, which included the first scientific research of perspective. In addition, he penned down works on sculpture. In the field of music, he was supposed to be one of the earliest organists of that period. In architecture, he is commonly viewed as one of the most dedicated to refurbish the recognized language of classical architecture. His legendary significant work on architecture had been translated into several European languages by the 18th century. Alberti was also a skillful cryptographer and conceived both poly-alphabetic ciphers and machine-assisted encryption by means of his cipher disk. (Borsi, 1977)
Alberti looked upon mathematics as the foundation stone for all forms of art and the sciences. The artist was familiar with the sciences of his time. He believed that the final aspiration of an artist is to emulate nature. He professed that different artists make every effort by means of applying different skills to achieve the same goal. Artists desire that the work they have embarked on should seem to be as beautiful as the existent things in nature. Alberti’s creative process thrived upon achieving harmony between Beauty and Reason. As the paramount appearance of this controlled creativity approach, Alberti chose the career of an architect, which he perceived as the premier occupation for humankind, and held architecture more philosophical than philosophy itself in his view. (Borsi, 1977)
Claude Monet
Claude Monet, a distinguished French painter, is also known as Oscar-Claude Monet or Claude Oscar Monet. He was the initiator of French impressionist painting and one of the most unswerving and creative practitioners of the movement’s viewpoint of articulating one’s insight before nature, particularly as relevant to Plein-air landscape imagery. The word Impressionism is a consequence of the label of his famous painting Impression, Sunrise. (Tucker, 1995)
The painter epitomized Impressionism more absolutely and added an additional thrust to it to move it further more than any other artist. The style’s extremism was rooted in the resolve to paint not mere reality but the bearing in mind of reality, the act of awareness and perception of nature itself, by presenting how light, particularly bright light, is likely to liquefy the colors and appearance of the scene. The explanation of this effect was anchored in unprompted, broken, prancing brushwork — if possible articulated in paint applied in front of the focused item, en Plein air. The imagery formed is so recognizable at the moment that it’s possible to fail to remember that Impressionism brought in a newly multifaceted consciousness for its original spectators. The occurrence of light was superior, and along with that, the physical boldness of the painted exterior was also enhanced. Paint and actuality existed together in finely tuned tension. His illustrious garden at Giverny is presented to be equally a private utopia as well as a very fundamental part of his creative processes. While he time and again refused the utilization of drawing as an essential part of his creative process, which was a stance well documented in talks and discussions with his critics, documents that tend to challenge this view have come out in the recent past. The part that Monet’s graphic work plays as a primary facet of his creative process has intricately been studied and continues to be extensively scrutinized. (Tucker, 1995)
Johann Sebastian Bach
Bach was a German music composer and organist whose holy and secular endeavors for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments brought together the strings of the Baroque period and pushed it to its definitive development. Although he did not bring in any new forms of music, he augmented the existing German approach with a vigorous contrapuntal method, a matchless command over the harmonic and motivic organization in pieces of music for varied instrumentation, and the inclusion of reworked rhythms and textures from foreign cultures, predominantly from Italy and France. Respected for their intellectual profundity, technical control, and artistic splendor, Bach’s works consist of the Brandenburg concertos, the Goldberg Variations, the Partitas, the Well-Tempered Clavier, and many other renowned ones. (Schweitzer, 1987)
Bach’s musical compositions arose from his remarkable smoothness in contrapuntal creation and motive command, his panache for creativeness on the piano, his revelation to South German, North German, Italian, and French musical cultures, and his evident attachment to the Lutheran liturgy. His association with musicians, instruments, and music itself in his early years, conflated with his promising talent for scripting cohesively composed music of authoritative vibrancy, seem to have set him on the path to building up a diverse, lively musical form in which distant influences were introduced into a deepened adaptation of the pre-accessible German musical language. He used Italians’ theatrical openings, lucid melodic curves, the sharp drawings of their bass lines, superior metric and rhythmic brevity, more integrated motive handling, and more visibly expressed approaches towards modulation. Bach’s evidently devoted, personal liaison with the Christian God in the Lutheran institution and the elevated requirement for devout music during his era, without a doubt highly positioned sacred in his repertoire. Bach’s in-depth acquaintance with and awareness in the liturgy resulted in his building up elaborate relationships among music and linguistic transcript. In addition, Parody was a fundamental constituent of Bach’s creative process, and the Lutheran Masses are excellent illustrations of that process. (Schweitzer, 1987)
Generalizations on creativity and genius
The creative process is a psychological and societal process relating to the creation of new innovative ideas or conceptions or new relations of the creative mind among accessible notions, thoughts, or perceptions. The creative process is driven by the development of either conscious or unconscious awareness. A different idea of creativity is that it is purely the process of creating or generating something new and original. (Weisberg, 1993)
In the process of describing the creative process of the artists in the above section, it is evident how closely the word ‘Genius’ is intertwined with their creativity. Intellectual brilliance, in combination with the highest quality of creativity, brings in the concept of genius. Beautiful ideas and their proper implementations, which have a profound influence on the observers, get tagged with the label of creative genius. Individuals are often said to be creative on the basis of their lifestyle, their works in respective fields, and their attitudes. Their creative process can be perceived as imaginative, supple, not stereotyped, influential, and authoritarian.
Analysis of the creative process
Creativity is my own experience, is more of an assumptions-breaking process. I tend to analyze a given fact, circumstances, or situation in various possible ways. I believe in the fact that there are many roads leading up to a pre-designated target. Each undertaking has an ultimate goal. There may be many approaches one may adopt to accomplish that objective. In order to do so, one has to make several assumptions and work on them. After carefully analyzing each option and drawing conclusions from each one of them explicitly, one needs to start discarding the ones which are non-applicable or non-implicative per se. This process eventually lets you reach the most original and creative path and sets you up on the course of creativity. (Oriah, 2005)
My experience with the creative process is incomplete conformity and aligned with the generalizations I have made in the previous section. As aforementioned, creativity may be perceived as new associations of the mind with preexisting notions or concepts; my approach towards creativity also brings in the sense of originality and innovation.
Creative act outcome
Creativity may intuitively appear to be simple, but in actuality, it is a complex phenomenon. Creativity is definitely an elaborate process, with the product being an outcome of the implementation of creativity. Though author Daniel Joseph Boorstin mentioned in his book ‘The Creators: A History of Heroes of the Imagination‘ that “even the greatest Greek sculptures, potters, painters, and architects were not individualists” (Boorstin, 1992, 94), it can be stated that art and creativity are fundamentally governed by the flow of emotion.
It commences in a wide spectrum of physical words and lies in its preparatory stage. When struck with a novel idea or concept, the first thing which sets in is a vision of how beautiful it will be when it actually comes into existence. The mind thinks about the way the idea may work. Along with vision comes anticipation, which makes the mind believe that the idea will work out to actually be something striking. The following action requires the conceiver of the idea to take the plunge and implement the idea. This is the most decisive part of the entire process. There are many creative ideas that do not have an outcome and remain unfinished because of being curbed at this stage. There may be many emotions, such as excitement and suspicion, involved at this stage. As the process advances, the clarity of the idea is enhanced, and implementation proceeds. Subsequently, after a long tussle in the creator’s mind, a product finally emerges and is validated by the real world. (Weisberg, 1993)
References
Boorstin, D.J. (1992). The Creators: A History of Heroes of the Imagination. New York: Random House.
Borsi, F. (1977). Leon Battista Alberti. Oxford: Harper & Row.
Oriah, M.D. (2005). What We Ache For: Creativity and the Unfolding of Your Soul. New York: HarperCollins.
Schweitzer, A. (1987). J. S. Bach. London: Branden Books.
Tucker, P.H. (1995). Claude Monet: Life and Art. London: Yale University Press.
Weisberg, R.W. (1993). Creativity: Beyond the Myth of Genius. LA: Freeman & Company.
Wenborn, N. (1999). Stravinsky. London: Omnibus Press.
Arabic calligraphy (Islamic calligraphy) is a form of art involving the use of the Arabic language and alphabet. Arabic calligraphy emanated from the Arabic word, that (خط), which refers to construction or design (Widany, 2011). Islam, unlike other religions, did not rely on figural images to pass their major conviction to faithful. Instead, the religion relied on various shapes and sizes of letters and/or words to convey such messages. Islamic religious leaders believed that figural arts could reflect some elements of idolatry. As such, they turned to artistic calligraphy to express religious beliefs. Consequently, Arabic cultures, as observed in Islamic, focused on promoting calligraphy as the most valuable form of art – writing art.
Arabic calligraphy is the main type of art for Islamic visual expression, creativity, and presentation. In the extended history of the Islamic region, Arabic calligraphy has been associated with beauty, power, and unity (Mubireek, 2000, p. 1). Arabic calligraphy reflects some elements of aesthetic works, which generally capture the cultural values and practices of the Islam community. As such, scholars and artists have explored Arabic calligraphy from historical perspectives to capture its evolution and allow the public to learn about art. In this research paper, Arabic calligraphy is explored to reflect its popularity in Saudi Arabia wall streets, latest applications, and most prominent calligraphy artists associated with it.
As previously noted, Arabic calligraphy holds a special place in the Islamic world. It is considered as artistic and spiritual art that reflects the unity, power, and beauty of Islam. According to the latest observations on the origin and evolution of calligraphy, Arabic calligraphy is slowly making its way into secular art now common in the Gulf region, especially in Saudi Arabia. Walls along major streets have provided the perfect space for expressing this form of art. While the calligraphy may just be emerging and gaining recognition into the mainstream secular world of art, the walls of Saudi Arabia have provided the best place for innovation and development of Arabic calligraphy.
Today, contemporary calligraphy artists, such as el Seed and Ous Ghazzal among others, have created a new form of Arabic calligraphy referred to as ‘calligraffiti. Today, many young artists have identified with calligraffiti. It is now responsible for a large number of young artists decorating the walls of Saudi Arabia with calligraphy arts.
Figure 1: Saudi artists blend calligraphy with graffiti (credit: artist unknown).
Artists rely on walls to express Arabic calligraphy designs. Notably, some artists have used such walls to convey political messages. Saudi calligraphy artists have used walls to explore various forms of calligraphy art. They have presented complex and detailed forms of Arabic calligraphy on walls. In the old town of Jeddah (Al Balad), for instance, artists have blended Arabic calligraphy with graffiti to create calligraffiti (McClellan, 2012).
As many young people identify with calligraffiti, they encounter multiple challenges. They struggle to gain recognition by society in the Kingdom. Many older people are yet to embrace graffiti, and they consider it a form of public bother, vandalism and not an emerging form of art (Al-Mansouri, 2014, p. 1).
Arabic calligraphy artists are nomadic. As such, their works are mainly influenced by local contexts and challenges (Al-Mansouri, 2014). Apart from walls along Saudi streets, some local Saudi artists, such as Ous Ghazzal, work with many other young Saudi artists to decorate cars, but with distinct Arabic letters augmented with intricate graffiti approaches, colors, and techniques.
It is currently observed that many Saudi calligraffiti artists are not prepared for mainstream work. Instead, they want to adapt gradually in a conservative society in which the public may view such artistic expression with contempt.
Calligraffiti has been generally associated with political protest messages. However, in some instances, Arabic calligraphy is applied in the design of various products, including the human body. To some artists, calligraffiti is a form of sport, competition, and arts done for personal gratification and identification. Today, Arabic calligraphy artists, such as Bilal Khaled based in Pakistan, have focused on decorating other items, including cars, street walls, handbags, and human bodies. Fashion and design will present the next opportunity for the artist to explore Arabic calligraphy.
For body art, it works perfectly. The artists believe that the Arabic script portrays physical strength and, thus, it complements physical strength sought by bodybuilders. While bodybuilders’ Arabic calligraphy art is gaining popularity, like any other form of calligraphy, it is yet to be acknowledged by society. Khaled laments that some people consider such art as skin tattoos. Skin tattoos are however prohibited in Islam. The artist asserts that the work is temporary writing that can be washed away and therefore not a tattoo.
Figure 2: A gymnast views his Arabic calligraphy work by Bilal Khaled, a Palestinian artist (credit: Reuters)
Other artists, such as Tarek Atrissi, Josh Berber and others, have found many ways to commercialize their expertise. For instance, they also use Arabic calligraphy on commercials, weddings, and papers as well as tattoos. For instance, Atrissi concentrates on branding and bilingual typography. That is, the artist has developed unique techniques that entail cross-cultural graphic designs by using Arabic calligraphy and exhibition design.
The artist claims that his corporate clients include Apple Inc., the BBC, the Mathaf Arab Museum of Modern Art in Qatar, the V&A museum in London, and the Arab Thought Foundation (Atrissi, n.d). Atrissi is credited by using his style of calligraphy to design the visual identity of Qatar in 2004. He also claims design projects for well-known international brands, such as L’Oreal and Estee Lauder. Also, the artist has worked for other small startups and not-for-profit organizations. Some of his major works can only be found with customized Arabic and multilingual typefaces for many firms in Arab nations. Besides, Atrissi worked as a creative director in Germany and consulted for big corporations.
Arabic calligraphic and the so-called calligraffiti have gained much recognition in marketing. For instance, graffiti artwork has been successfully used to market a new mobile phone, according to a Saudi graffiti artist, Deyaa Rambo.
Figure 3: An artist mixes calligraphy with graffiti (Seed, 2013).
In the Kingdom, many calligraffiti professionals are not prepared to join the general calligraffiti field. However, the situation is different for some renowned Arabic calligraphy artists. Such artists have gained global or regional recognition based on their works. It is imperative to recognize that Arabic calligraphy has evolved from its classical origin to contemporary status. These changes reflect a successful breakthrough for the representation of the culture and calligraphy art for artists globally (Mehbub, n.d). Over time, calligraphy artists have perfected their works and have been able to appeal to the audience globally.
Haji Noor Deen Mi Guang Jiang has established himself as an Arabic calligraphy professional. With Chinese background, Jiang has combined rich traditions with Islamic art to appeal to a contemporary audience. He applies self-developed calligraphic style through a unique fusion of Islamic art and Chinese calligraphic traditions to link some two forms known for the expressive manifestation of the letters and symbols. These two distinct styles of writing from different cultures generally complement each resulting in an appealing artistic work that is unique, aesthetically appealing while reflecting the artist’s genius. Jiang’s exceptional genius and mastery of Arabic calligraphy have earned him a reputation in some of the most prestigious institutions, including Harvard University, MIT, and Berkley University California among others (Deen, n.d). Jiang wants to promote Arabic calligraphy by establishing his academy in China.
Karim Jabbari also brings a unique talent to Arabic calligraphy. He is known as a light calligraphy artist because of constant innovation and developing new ways of utilizing Arabic calligraphy in different ways (Jabbari, n.d). Karim developed his style of Arabic calligraphy by relying on the old Arabic calligraphy for guidance. The artist uses various colors, shapes, and patterns to develop original concepts. As such, the Karim is responsible for the evolution and emerging forms of Arabic calligraphy. The artist has gained recognition because of Maghrebi and classic Kufi calligraphy works while ensuring that Arabic calligraphy tradition remains active.
eL Seed is the Arabic calligraphy artist associated with the so-called calligraffiti. As noted above, the artist blends the modern form of graffiti art and Arabic calligraphy while incorporating street cultures to develop appealing works (Seed, 2013). eL Seed has mastered various cultures, languages, and identities because of his background in Paris. As such, like Jiang, Seed strives to combine two cultures into one using calligraffiti. Consequently, eL Seed has established a unique identity, distinct styles, and mark in Arabic calligraphy. The artist wanted to do 3-D works and found the right facilities to achieve this goal. Through the 3-D approach, eL Seed wants to ‘free’ letters from the 2-D surface on the wall to allow the audience to engage with calligraphy and immerse themselves into the message of the artist.
eL Seed relies on complex composition of words and their meanings in his works to create movements that transform the audience’s perception. The artist uses contradictory elements to depict the reality of life, humankind, and the world. eL Seed observes that it is not simple to change from graffiti styles to Arabic calligraphy. Further, the artist claims that his works aim to break the stereotype. For instance, gold, black, and silver are the major colors associated with Arabic calligraphy. However, eL Seed has often used a shade of pink as his signature color to break the color stereotype (Kalsi, 2014). The artist adds that calligraphy is an abstract form of art that appeals to everyone irrespective of language and/or culture. It goes beyond the eye to the soul and, therefore, the audience who cannot read emotionally connects with the message. eL Seed notes that his calligraffiti is all about emotions and making streets beautiful.
Figure 4: eL Seed breaking the stereotype by using the shade of pink color in Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Hand motions are vital for all emerging calligraphy artists (Berber, n.d). Further, artists have mastered the flow of letters to produce almost perfect graffiti. While they strive for mastery and perfection, artists will continue to learn new unique styles to develop their arts. No specific skills and levels of adeptness can replace the need for further efforts and the need to learn new ways of calligraphy because artists never actually reach the peak of their craft. There is always room for improvement.
Saudi calligraffiti artists are reluctant to go mainstream perhaps because of the conservative society in which they conduct their affairs. Conversely, other artists, specifically the above-mentioned ones, have gained international recognition. Nevertheless, some Saudi calligraphy artists, such as Ghazzal, have received an international invitation to present their graphic design projects in Paris. However, Saudi calligraphy artists decry a lack of support and assistance from branch municipalities, mayoralty, and the chamber of commerce and industry. It was not possible to reach any relevant officials. No serious efforts are being offered to calligraphy artists in Saudi at all.
The 8th International Arabic Calligraphy Exhibition was held in Dubai. The collection reflected the aesthetic aspects of every Arabic language used. It was an opportunity for the audience to learn about history, trends, and cultural relevance of Arabic calligraphy (Achkhanian, 2015).
It is imperative to note that street cultures often shape calligraffiti, particularly among artists who identify with graffiti, hip-hop, and break dancing. Also, most successful Arabic calligraphy artists have interacted with more than one culture as shown in cases of Jiang, eL Seed, Karim, and Tarek Atrissi among others. This implies that the Kingdom could be stifling Arabic calligraphy development because of strict rules associated with the religion. Therefore, such artists can develop their styles by combining Western-style graffiti and Arabic calligraphy.
Calligraffiti artists refer to themselves as street artists who work on different walls in diverse locations and then leave. Artists, however, recognize that their works on walls will always stay with local communities. Hence, Arabic calligraphy artists strive to select words that are relevant to local people. Nevertheless, Arabic calligraphy artists often strive for works with universal appeal. They see art as a means of building bridges and opening conversations with the audience. For instance, in Tunisia, eL Seed created the largest murals with the message of tolerance and unity. In Brazil and Saudi Arabia, the artist was inspired by words from poems to convey specific messages related to local contexts.
Arabic calligraphy artists have better chances of developing their works to appeal to an international audience through exhibitions, which feature both traditional and contemporary types of calligraphy by artists with different backgrounds.
Figure 5: A car decorated with Arabic calligraphy at the eighth International Arabic Calligraphy Exhibition at Wafi Mall.
The research paper has explored Arabic calligraphy, its growing popularity in Saudi Arabia, application for various roles, famous artists, and international recognition. It shows that Arabic calligraphy has its foundation in the Islamic religion. Over the years, Arabic calligraphy has evolved from traditional approaches to contemporary ones, including the so-called calligraffiti. Artists have developed their unique styles without any rules to find the application of Arabic calligraphy in a wide range of cases, including tattoos. Overall, Arabic calligraphy will continue to evolve and take new shapes as more young people join the art in the Kingdom and other locations globally. Such young artists require support from all stakeholders.
The connection between culture and art cannot be neglected in case people want to understand the essence of their values and to store them through generations. People like to talk about their rights and freedoms, their opportunities and challenges, and their achievements that prove their worth and some kind of social importance. There are many ways of how people could protect themselves against unfavourable impacts and changes in the field of art that appear with time. On the one hand, people like to introduce institutions of different types to maintain order and gain control over all creative activities.1
On the other hand, it is suggested to consider artists as ethnographers who have to investigate cultural issues in order to grasp their importance in the modern world.2 In this critical review, two articles will be discussed in order to clarify the main challenges modern artists could face and the methods they could use to solve their problems and avoid misunderstandings. Hal Foster and Rasheed Araeen are the authors who develop their ideas around such topics as benevolent racism, political transformations, truths, and the consequences of decisions made by people.
The review is divided into three main sections including the identification of the main arguments and the explanation of their worth, the evaluation of the supportive material and the clarification of methodological framework, and, finally, the contribution of the chosen sources and the lessons they bring to the field of art. Though their arguments vary considerably, both articles help to understand that cultural identity is crucial in the field of art because it opens people’s eyes and releases artists from such threats as self-contradiction, cultural arrogance, and malevolence so that they could share their history via their projects, underline their uniqueness in their messages, and promote the social, political, and cultural development of different nations.
Contemporary Artists Use Their Ethnographic Skills to Underline Their Exotic Difference
Today, there is a tendency to develop various paradigms and create new institutions in order to explain the relations in human society and give clear definitions of such concepts as art, culture, and identification. Besides, many nations have to find solutions to such question as racism and the presence of racial differences in the field of art. Foster offers to take into consideration different assumptions in order connect political and artistic transformations, use various quasi-anthropological models in order to prove that art should be the result of personal work and inspiration, and pay attention to the limitations modern artists have to suffer from.3
One of the most powerful aspects in the article developed by Foster is the identification of “the other” with its multi-definitions in art and a variety of locations that could be limited or could be elsewhere. The concept of “otherness” is what connects the chosen article with the article written by Araeen. The author says that the fundamental perception of the concept has been dramatically changed. Now, the term “others” is “defined and treated with benevolence” when people are free to define their roles “not in terms of their rights as individuals or equal citizens in a democratic society” but “in relation to the cultures, they have originated from”.4 Though both articles have different authors and different writers, they have many things in common including the impact on the reader and the intention to focus on cultural aspects of art and self-development of artists.
The peculiar feature of Foster’s argument is the relation to the ideas of Walter Benjamin who believed that any artist had to be a producer in a position of an advanced figure with the abilities to intervene in the ways ordinary revolutionaries promote changes on the basis of their personal ideologies. The majority of Foster’s arguments are based on the necessity to compare the political and cultural backgrounds of artists and clarify the reasons for why the idea of the aestheticisation of fascism was transformed in the necessity to capitalise culture so that an artist has to be considered as an ethnographer. At the same time, Foster wants to warn that the practice of “self-othering” could have a number of positive and negative aspects. On the one hand, there is a possibility to consider the worth of alterity in art, underline the importance of culture, use the context in understanding artistic details, and clarify the connection between contemporary art and other disciplines.5 On the other hand, the author underlines that the concept of others could lead to absorption in pure malevolence, ethnographic self-fashioning when artists cannot be centred on one thing only, and philosophical narcissism when respect is questioned considerably.6
In comparison to the usage of the historical perspectives demonstrated by Foster, Araeen’s main arguments prove that many artists continue neglecting the historical contributions in modern art but try to underline the importance of cultural diversity policies as the way to separate artists and prove their exotic difference.7 The author explains that the differences between “black” and “white” artists cannot be neglected because the differentiation of intellectual capabilities of artists has to be based on racial and cultural issues. Still, it is wrong to believe that cultural differences absorb art only. There is one thought that treatment to culturally diverse artists is the way of life according to which black artists have to offer their aesthetic quality, standards, and possible contributions to the way of how people should understand the world. Therefore, Araeen offers the term benevolent or positive racism within the frames of which no discrimination is observed because no disadvantages are created.8 The main argument in the Araeen’s article is the necessity to promote positive stereotypes and introduce artists’ work on the basis of various cultural and racial identities.
The arguments of both articles underline the importance of cultural diversities in art and the necessity for artists to demonstrate their skills and abilities in order to prove that their work and contributions should cover not financial or political aspects only but also an idea that all people are free to express themselves in a variety of forms.
Coloniality and Decoloniality in Contemporary Art
Two articles under consideration contain different means of support to prove the chosen arguments and explain their vision of contemporary article. Both authors prove that the conditions under which art was developed were not perfect. For example, Foster used the ideas of colonialist oppression as the explanation of human activities and intentions. Araeen tells that colonialism was the period when art institutional power was discovered and when people began to recognise and evaluate their work and possible contributions. Coloniality is the concept that describes the darker side of modernity and names “the underlying logic of the foundation and unfolding of Western civilisation from the Renaissance to today of which historical colonialisms have been a constitutive, although downplayed, dimension.”9
The presence of coloniality and decoloniality proves that people (not only artists) are bothered with the necessity to be culturally identified and properly represented. Cultural identity is what people have to strive for, and coloniality could be introduced as the epistemic strategy in order to create the required difference.10 Colonialism helps to incorporate racial points of views and introduce the required structural basis so that all artists could be treated with benevolence. Araeen explains that institutional racism should not deprive people of their creative positions but has to identify the roles that have to be fulfilled and the rights that have to be considered.11
Araeen and Foster pay their attention to the questions of identity and its importance in art. Still, the investigations of Fosters seem to be deeper in comparison to the achievements made by Araeen. Foster points out that alterity is one of the main points of subversion within the dominant culture.12 Therefore, it should be used to give definitions of art, an artist, and identity so that an artist could become a kind of paragon of formal reflexivity and a reader of culture that could be understood as text.13 It is wrong to believe that colonisation with its ability to hold people in their grips and make their brains empty and free from any forms and content has to be spread supported during the next years.14 Theoretical literature and the archival materials used by Araeen and Foster help to understand that cultural transformations cannot be stopped or neglected.
These transformations just occur in order to make people stronger and more confident in their intentions to prove their ideas and support their beliefs. Artists should not be the outsiders in this movement but to participate actively in order to create a supportive basis for such cultural, political, and racial transformations. In one of his past works, Araeen explained that an artist is a thinker who has to represent a kind of racial and cultural other who cannot be “defined or recognized by what [s/he] does in art, one’s position as an artist is predetermined by these differences”.15 Such theoretical explanation of racism and its connection to art seems to be a good contribution to the discussions of cultural movements and concerns about the changes of visions. In his turn, Foster aims at weighting the framework in which artists have to work and sharing his personal observations on how artists could deal with self-contradiction and arrogance around.
Importance of History in Understanding of Art
The articles of Foster and Araeen introduce a solid basis of how artists have to develop their abilities and recognise their cultural roots in order to become a significant part of the world’s history. It is important to understand that individuals take responsibility for moving their history and making it better by means of their experiences, ideals, and allegiance.16 At the same time, people should understand that art should have nothing in common with craft because the craft is the way of how people earn money and create incomes, and art is the way of how people share their views and thoughts.
In the majority of cases, it seems to be easy to develop some theoretical ideas and share the assumptions that could or could not be proved with the help of practice. The project developed by Mignolo aims at investigating museums in the modern world and in the colonial world and clarifying the ways of how it is possible to decolonise them and what changes have to be expected.17 The illustrative example offered by Fred Wilson in the form of Mining the Museum in 1992 is one of the most powerful attempts to explain how the process of decolonisation could occur. It is the explanation and illustration of how artistic disobedience should look like regarding epistemic and aesthetic characteristics. Mignolo underlines that the collection disclosed a number of demons of Fred Wilson and his understanding of the dark side of the US history.18
At the same time, the articles under analysis show that, sometimes, the intentions of artists to prove their positions and to use decoloniality as the way to change something are characterised by negative reactions and outcomes. Artists want to use such values like authenticity, singularity, and originality19; however, they fail to comprehend their true essence and possibility to influence human lives. Therefore, Araeen underlines the necessity to understand artistic intervention in relation to the society artists live in, its location, historical roles, and transformational processes that have already occurred and that could be developed within a short period of time.20
To understand the cultural differences in the works of white and black artists, Araeen gives two illustrative examples evaluating the works by Francis Souza and Aubrey Williams.21 Souza expressed Indian sexuality and tried to deprive his work of explicit sexual pleasure that was inherent to his own culture. Such decision made him “exoticised other” in the world of art.22 Williams did not focus on certain cultural roots that made critics investigate his exhibitions and be defined as one of “the others” because of his fascination with different cultures at the same time. These examples show that any artist could become “the other” as soon as not-standardised approach or idea is offered and proved as an effective one. Sometimes, people do not even need the explanations and definitions. All they could ask for is the history and the description of the situation in which cultural difference help to create a masterpiece. Artists have all rights to understand the world they want and share their understanding as one of the possible ways to contribute the world development and the development of a particular society.
Conclusion
In general, the review of two articles written by Araeen and Foster promotes the opportunity to evaluate the peculiarities of such concepts like art, artist, personality, identity, and craft. Sometimes, people are confused about their intentions to use art as a form of self-expression. Decoloniality is the result of artists’ work and their abilities to create their masterpieces not for someone but for themselves. Araeen and Foster explain that artists have already come to the conclusion that their work has to be introduced as a crucial part of cultural heritage. Now, it is high time to identify the ways of how to support the idea of cultural heritage through the works of artists, who define themselves or defined by critics as “the others”. Cultural identity and benevolent racism facilitate the lives of ordinary artists. Still, artists have to comprehend the essence of such transformations and interventions in order to succeed in art and demonstrate the results which meet the expectations of society.
Bibliography
Araeen, Rasheed. “The Art of Benevolent Racism.” Third Text 14, no. 51 (2000): 57-64.
—. “A New Beginning: Beyond Postcolonial Cultural Theory and Identify Politics.” Third Text 14, no. 50 (2000): 3-20.
—. “Art and Postcolonial Society.” In Globalization and Contemporary Art, edited by Jonathan Harris, 365-374. West Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell, 2011.
Foster, Hal. “The Artist as Ethnographer?” In The Traffic in Culture: Refiguring Art and Anthropology, edited by George E. Marcus and Fred R. Myers, 302-310. London: University of California Press, 1995.
Hall, Stuart. “Cultural Identify and Diaspora.” In Identity: Community, Culture, Difference, edited by Jonathan Rutherford, 222-237. London: Lawrence & Wishart, 1990.
Mignolo, Walter. “Museums in the Colonial Horizon of Modernity: Fred Wilson’s Mining the Museum.” In Globalization and Contemporary Art, edited by Jonathan Harris, 71-85. West Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell, 2011.
—. The Darker Side of Western Modernity: Global Futures, Decolonial Options. London: Duke University Press, 2011.
Sardar, Ziauddin “Introduction”, in The Third Text Reader: On Art, Culture and Theory, eds. Rasheed Araeen, Sean Cubitt, and Ziauddin Sardar (London: Continuum, 2002), 11.
Footnotes
Rasheed Araeen, “The Art of Benevolent Racism,” Third Text 14, no. 51 (2000): 57.
Hal Foster, “The Artist as Ethnographer?” in The Traffic in Culture: Refiguring Art and Anthropology, eds. George E. Marcus and Fred R. Myers (London: University of California Press, 1995), 302
Foster, “The Artist as Ethnographer?” 302.
Araeen, “The Art of Benevolent Racism,” 58.
Foster, “The Artist as Ethnographer?” 305
Ibid., 304.
Araeen, “The Art of Benevolent Racism,” 62.
Araeen, “The Art of Benevolent Racism,” 59.
Walter Mignolo, The Darker Side of Western Modernity: Global Futures, Decolonial Options (London: Duke University Press, 2011), 2
Ibid., 153.
Araeen, “The Art of Benevolent Racism,” 58.
Foster, “The Artist as Ethnographer?” 303.
Ibid., 304.
Stuart Hall, “Cultural Identify and Diaspora”, in Identity: Community, Culture, Difference, ed. Jonathan Rutherford (London: Lawrence & Wishart, 1990), 224.
Rasheed Araeen, “A New Beginning: Beyond Postcolonial Cultural Theory and Identify Politics,” Third Text 14, no. 50 (2000): 6.
Ziauddin Sardar, “Introduction”, in The Third Text Reader: On Art, Culture and Theory, eds. Rasheed Araeen, Sean Cubitt, and Ziauddin Sardar (London: Continuum, 2002), 11.
Walter Mignolo, “Museums in the Colonial Horizon of Modernity: Fred Wilson’s Mining the Museum,” in Globalization and Contemporary Art, ed. Jonathan Harris (West Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell, 2011), 71.
Mignolo, “Museums in the Colonial Horizon of Modernity”, 77.
Foster, “The Artist as Ethnographer?” 306.
Rasheed Araeen, “Art and Postcolonial Society”, in Globalization and Contemporary Art, ed. Jonathan Harris (West Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell, 2011), 365.
What do you get when you cross primitive style with higher vision? The work of Melbourne native artist Angony is a possible solution. The artist was in town recently and sat down to talk.
He explained that his life and his art are focused on understanding the beauty of the everyday. He works mostly with acrylics because this type of paint reflects his wishes to remain flexible and workable while also ready to be worked quickly. In his paintings, he tries to capture a sense of human emotion in the everyday – the pain, joy, stresses and challenges.
“The majority of my paintings aren’t planned, it’s just a matter of persisting until something of interest transpires,” he says.
Although he works without planning, his paintings reflect a lack of censorship of emotions, giving them a raw power.
Because he works quickly and doesn’t worry much about planning, Angony says he doesn’t have any of the complaints against acrylic paints drying too fast that many serious artists like him experience. Instead, he revels in the speed the paints impose on him as he allows an image to come to life for him.
“I use acrylic paints because they are versatile, available in many shades, blend well and can be mixed with glazes or pastes for different effects. As I work fairly quickly, they are more suited to my style,” he says.
Australia is home to artists of all kinds, making it difficult for the individual to make his own mark. Strong cultural awareness also makes gaining attention difficult, so Angony’s success so far reveals his skill and his resolve within his field. His art is popular because of the way that he is able to reveal his experience through the bold figures and forms of primitive art.
Primitive art is an artistic approach that suggests the underlying elements of human emotions can be deeply expressed through the colors and lines of the work more than the symbols and forms found in the image (Hughes, 1991). In other words, the colors used and the way the lines interact express deep human emotion more than the pictures or intentional symbols shown. Primitive artists try to get straight to the emotional content by de-emphasizing focus on the image and channeling the emotional experience of the moment in their art. They hope that doing this will enable them to speak through the cultural and social differences of interpretation between societies to a universal connection.
This concept is expressed by Jean Francois Lyotard in his 1984 book The Postmodern Condition. In this book, he describes the creative process as an attempt “to make visible that there is something which can be conceived and which can neither be seen nor made visible.” The primitive artist is trying to remove the intellectual element from the expression to gain a more direct expression of this something.
This element is most often referred to as the sublime. For many artists, such as Angony, this sublime element is recaptured to the highest degree through the sense of wonder and imagination typically found through the focus on ‘primitive’ geometric forms.
The movement toward primitive art was started by Pablo Picasso. As artists concentrated on the essence of the experience of the art and its creation instead of the symbolic form, they discovered that emotions were generally felt the same universally even when technical elements such as symbols, shapes or colors were understood differently by different cultures (Delahunt, 2007). This meant that the process of triggering an emotional response could be approached in the same way across cultures even though the forms might need to be changed.
Angony, like many others, has discovered that some form of recognizable shape is generally preferred by the modern audience and looks to others such as Jean Michel Basquiat or Jean Dubuffet for inspiration.
Basquiat was a well-recognized neo-expressionist artist who gained his start as a graffiti artist in New York (Chiappini, 2005).
Dubuffet introduced the term ‘art brut’ to refer to art produced by non-professional artists working outside of the boundaries of aesthetic norms which he often used as inspiration for his own pieces (Dubuffet, 1993).
Angony also often looks to the artwork of children for inspiration, but his subjects are anything but childlike.
In paintings such as “An Uphill Battle,” the colors are subdued and generally monochromatic within the red spectrum. This gives the painting a sense of energy and life being the color of the vital element blood, but the darker tones indicate older blood, deep emotion, pain and hardship.
Within the painting is the shape of a very small hill angling into the image from the bottom center and leaning toward the right hand side. The word ‘give’ in capital letters is scratched into the paint near the top of the hill. Paralleling the angle of the hill and extending a bit above it is a very long, very thin arm. This arm enters the painting from the bottom left corner and ends in an open hand with curled fingers just above the word ‘give’. Just above the halfway point on the left hand side of the painting is the face of a man, nearly the same color as the background, with a gleaming white downward-angled eye and a mouth full of equally white teeth that could be smiling as easily as it could be gritting its teeth in pain.
Thus, although the painting is highly primitive in its images, it expresses a great deal regarding the pain and need of the indigenous peoples of Australia living within the modern world. Whether the figure is attempting to climb the hill or is holding a hand out for donations is a matter of interpretation as is the expression on the man’s face.
Not all of Angony’s paintings center on such serious topics. “Beach Babe,” for example, offers a simple view of the backside of a woman with particular emphasis given to her bottom.
“Painting for me is probably similar to people who love reading … it’s a great escape in which time has no relevance and when I can allow my emotions and impressions of life free expression,” he says. “To hold a roof up is not the only purpose of walls, paintings give life to any scene and like a good song can change your entire outlook.”
While Angony is busy painting images intended to tell us about his feelings, we cannot help but respond and gain a better sense of Angony. We become familiar with the person, understand what is important to him, feel some of his pain and struggle and celebrate his joy. As a result, we are convinced that a person’s art is a good reflection of their soul.
Rapid globalization has brought to our attention the influence of modernity and urbanization on different aspects of our social, political, and economic lives. Atagok (4) says that because there is an expanding pressure of globalization in different aspects of our lives, everything is subject to a reevaluation and change. This outcome puts our traditional cultural views of art and literature at crossroads with new ideas on the same.
Additionally, it creates a clash between the norms, values, beliefs, and practices that have inspired artistic creativity in conservative societies and in liberal societies (Atagok 4). The clash between contemporary issues and universal value systems has emphasized the need to reevaluate our ideas about the bridge between what we understand as traditional norms, contemporary issues, and modern values. Similarly, from the same realization, we are forced to discuss different social and political issues that focus on a reexamination of the center vs. the periphery, the East vs. the West, and the local vs. the universal (Atagok 4).
In a cultural and artistic context, these reviews bring to our attention the need to reexamine the creative process and reevaluate different pieces of artwork that were previously done by non-western participants with those done by new crops of artists who do not want to conform to past prejudices and norms surrounding participation in art. The reexamination of issues pertaining to the creativity of different groups of artists stems from a reevaluation of the same issue by people who would have otherwise not questioned such issues in the first place.
Stemming from the global trend that has promoted equality of rights in different aspects of our social, economic, and political lives, including race, sex, country, religion, and sex, there has been a resurgence of a push to reexamine the same force of equality in mainstream art (Harris par1). This problem partly stems from the near-absence of women in mainstream art in certain parts of the world (mostly conservative societies).
Despite its scope and influence in this century, some sections of our society still do not understand how art and equality forces shape our understanding of contemporary, traditional, cultural and patriarchal norms we use to comprehend specific aspects of our lives. Indeed, in some instances, some of these forces conflict with our traditional views of gender, politics, art, science, and other aspects of our social lives (Harris par 1).
For example, the traditional Islamic view of women’s roles in art in its religious and social forms conflict with the forces of modernity that stem from globalization (Atagok 4). The secrecy associated with Islam and gender roles in some parts of Asia has further compounded this mystery because few people know what to make of the place of women in traditional Islamic societies and in today’s multilingual, and culturally diverse global society. Stemming from this realization, Haddad and Findly say,
“The institution of various forms of Islamic socialism, the imposition of the Islamic societies of a colonial superstructure of westernized institutions and values and the curious metamorphosis of Islamic society under the Soviet domination in central Asia have all had their effect on contemporary art from Islamic lands” (172).
Based on the above assertion, few people know what to make of contemporary Islamic art. This problem is more poignant in Western societies, which know little about Islam, or its social norms. Consequently, there are few publications and few exhibitions of contemporary Islamic art in western societies and, by extension, the larger global art space (Haddad and Findly 172). The same issue explains why there are only a few private collections of contemporary Islamic art in these societies and almost a non-existent public collection of the same in major western capitals.
Islamic art, in its most basic form, has mostly adopted subtle representations of women in western societies. In fact, some oriental painters of the 20th and 21st centuries adopted European representations of women in the Islamic world. The works of different Turkish painters, such as Zeki Izer’s in “The Road to Revolution – 1933,” explain some of these distorted European depictions of women in Islamic societies. In this work, we find that the artist personified the roles of women and gender in Islamic nations with a female figure borrowed from the Liberty at the Barricades (a European representation of women in the Islamic society) (Haddad and Findly 172).
From the paucity of materials on contemporary Islamic art, this paper investigates the roles played by female contemporary artists in Turkey in shaping the gender narrative that has always limited the creativity and expression of women in this country. Since Turkey is largely a Muslim state, the findings of this paper would be useful to our understanding of the role of women and gender in Asia and in the wider Islamic caucus of countries. However, before we delve into these details, it is important to understand why we chose to investigate the works of contemporary female artists in Turkey.
Why Turkey?
It is important to investigate the Turkish contemporary art scene because it is at a crossroads between embracing the modern view of art or maintaining the traditional view of the same. Indeed, Turkey stands right in the middle of Eastern and Western cultures, both figuratively and geographically. Consequently, it has to look back at its own history and reexamine its place in a multicultural society.
Concisely, as Harris (par 1) observes, the world today is having a “Turkish moment” in the sense that many progressive developing countries are starting to reinvent themselves as emerging markets of contemporary artwork. Referring to this observation, Harris says that “Today, Turkey is once again home to an extraordinarily vibrant contemporary art scene” (par 1). More importantly, many artists have taken a controversial view of unmasking the role of women in this art scene.
They have done so by reviewing the different layers of religious or cultural conditioning that have consistently prevented them from expressing their full artistic creativity when conveying what they think about the role of women in this society (Gulay 380). The works of Kezban Arca Batibeki and Taner Ceylan explain this strategy by developing pieces of art that portray strident imagery of women in the Islamic world.
Most of their works have portrayed women in burkhas, while others have portrayed them in barcodes (Haddad and Findly 172-173). Gulay (380) has documented provoking works that explain the role of women in Turkish society by revealing the works of Eller Yuraki and other artists who developed a painting showing bikini-clad women raising their hands next to a mosque. Some of these art pieces have drawn a lot of attention from mainstream media and art galleries around Europe.
For example, Eller’s works elicited a lot of attention at an art gallery in London, where a sale of Turkish contemporary art was ongoing in the city (Harris par 2-3). Some of her works fetched a premium (£121,250). This figure is three times what observers projected it would sell for because their initial estimate was about £35,250 (Harris par 2-3). At an auction for Ceylan, more than 15 artists sold their artwork and collected more than £2.4 million (Harris par 2-3).
The above figures outline a narrative that shows how Turkish contemporary art continues to draw the world’s attention. Part of the reason we see the good sales numbers in Europe is that observers expect Turkey to join the European Union in the future (Harris par 2-3). Furthermore, a new trend within Turkey that has seen the country undertake significant cultural and economic reforms. Relative to the increased attention directed towards Turkey, Harris says,
“Turkey has arrived. Not just in economic and political terms, but also in its resurgent contemporary art and cultural scene… the issues addressed in Turkey’s contemporary art movement have a direct link to the concerns of modernization faced by all non-secular Islamic societies” (par 4).
Most of the effort that stakeholders have directed towards transforming the country’s cultural scene is paying off because Turkey recently won the European Capital of Culture Award (Harris par 4). Those who have spearheaded this view have done so with the aim of synchronizing the country’s own artistic performance with the present western-styled artistic performance. To do so, they have examined the role of women in the Turkish contemporary art scene of the 20th century and compared it to their place in the 21st century. We have also done the same and outlined the role of women in the Turkish art scene below.
Role of Women in Turkish Art
According to Isaak (1), it is important to understand the social world of female artists to comprehend what their work is about and to come up with a picture that reflects their society holistically. In Turkey, different institutions have promoted a theme of cultural progressiveness embodied by the development of several institutions of art, such as the Academy of Fine Arts in Istanbul (Isaak 1).
Although most of the work produced by this institution is Islamic in nature, they have highlighted progressiveness as a core theme. There has been a consistent westernization of Turkish art throughout the years, but this trend started in the early 1920s when Turkey became a Republic (Harris par 3). This event brought new avenues for women to highlight their artistic creativity, while at the same time cutting their link with traditional values and norms that often held them back from expressing their artistic creativity. Relative to this assertion, Isaak (1) says that most artists who wanted to display reality moved away from traditional forms of art, and adopted a western-styled form of the same.
Early forms of art were developed by artists who wanted to develop portraits, or works of art, about people who were closest to them. Others were just glad that they found a new platform of showcasing their reality to the world (Isaak 1). Most of these artists developed works that showed their contempt for constraining aspects of the Islamic faith towards women. According to Haddad and Findly (172), rarely are their artists who attached their names to their works in traditional Islamic societies.
Therefore, except for a small clique of talented artists in the Islamic world, many Muslim artists produced works of art anonymously. This is, in part, because of the failure to differentiate the role of the artist and the role of the craft worker. Additionally, the lack of a strong theoretical basis to evaluate the art and the lack of critical literature about art did not help to improve the manifestation of Islamic-centered artists in the contemporary art space.
Given the anonymity associated with Islamic art and the exclusion of women in the same field, it was almost impossible to develop a body of historical work that highlighted the creativity of women in Islamic societies. Isaak (1) says there also other types of arts that historians have consistently ignored despite the fact that female artists almost exclusively developed them. For example, the rural arts of embroidery and rug weaving are specific types of artistic works that were almost exclusively done by women but rarely talked about.
What Changed?
Historically, Turkish women were only allowed to engage in traditional forms of art, such as embroidery and weaving. However, a lot of progress has been made since then, and today; more than 50% of all artists in Turkey are women (Atagok 21). This phenomenon is partly explained by the fact that most students who study in the art departments of many higher institutions of education in Turkey are women. Nonetheless, it is also pertinent to note that most of them struggle to finish their course.
There is also a silent phenomenon in Turkey, where some women join the art world from private practice (Atagok 21). Of striking observation is the imbalance in the number of male and female educators in art departments within these higher institutions of education because there are significantly more male educators compared to female educators in this sector. Comparatively, other fields of education, such as architecture, have a proper representation of both genders.
In Turkey, there are many art galleries where women could showcase their work. Most of these art galleries are in Istanbul (Ankara). The state and municipal galleries in these regions give young and upcoming artists an opportunity to showcase their work to Asia and the wider world. However, this has not always been the case because, in the 20th century, there were few women who were visible in the Turkish field of contemporary art. The tide only started to change in the 1960s (Atagok 21). Today, there are as many women in the field as there are men. Furthermore, studies show that the number of women will continue to rise in this field because they have a more individualistic and experimental attitude towards the development of their artistic pieces (Harris par 2-3).
For a considerable period now, Turkish women have moved away from using the close-knit surface painting, which has been synonymous with Islamic art for more than one century. From the same trend, the use of surface decoration and schematic imagery in Turkish contemporary art has been overtaken by events as many women have adopted different media and techniques to express their artistic creativity (Atagok 21).
The demographic of women who have changed the nature of Turkish contemporary art are mostly educated women who come from middle-class or well-to-do families. Most of them also speak multiple languages and have traveled to different countries. These social dynamics explain why they understand the nature of mainstream art in these countries. Most of these women also understand the different types of issues that affect women in Turkish society and have devised new ways of solving them through the adoption of different ways of contextualizing their artwork. Therefore, their medium and approach to communication have often differed from what Islamic contemporary art used to be.
Relative to this assertion, Atagok says, “From their different points of view, they take up different social and cultural issues, which emerge from their own history, environment, and approaches to working in specific sites” (22).
From an abstract point of view, most modern women in Turkey now act as observers and social critics of what is going on in their society and are increasingly reevaluating the identity of women in Turkish society. Most of these women have also chosen to further their creativity in writing and are now addressing some of the perennial gender bias issues that have traditionally dogged Islamic societies for a long time. To emphasize their new roles in the art scene, Turkish women have tried to provide context for their artistic creations. However, Harris (par 21) cautions that this change of strategy is not a group effort, but rather an individualistic view by women of Turkey about what is going on around them.
Questioning Orientalism by Turkish Female Artists
As highlighted in this paper, female artists in Turkey are increasingly redefining the way people see Turkish women in the contemporary art world. These views have pivoted on investigating several social issues relating to women and gender (Ersen par 1). Others have supported progressive movements in Turkish society, such as the movement towards feminism, by promoting equality in the arts. Oriental ideals provide another area of focus that these women have focused on.
Nil Yalter, Sukran Moral and Gulsun Karamustafa are some pioneers in this field of analysis because they have consistently questioned how society views the place of women in the art scene (Ersen par 1). At the same time, they have questioned the place of Orientalism in the Turkish contemporary art scene. For example, Nil Yalter, who is a French-based artist, questioned an artwork that had a woman (belly dancer) without ahead. She said the artwork depicted the disenfranchisement of women in Turkey (Ersen par 1).
Her work was among the first videos out of Turkey that were celebrated in France. She used the belly dancer image to symbolize the prejudiced oriental woman’s identity that permeates through different cadres of the Turkish society. Sukran Moral is another artist who has questioned traditional patriarchal norms about Orientalism. She did so through a performance artwork titled the “Turkish bath” (Ersen par 1). The work is a visual cultural symbol of the orient. It also has a feminist aspect in its formation that questions the place of Orientalism in Turkish art. In a commentary piece of this work, Ersen says, “The artist went to men’s bath in women’s bath to unset a taboo instead of placing herself; her body where she should be” (par 1).
Many observers have observed this work and seen it as a test to unsettle gender boundaries that have always characterized the Turkish society and other Islamic societies (Gulay 380). More so, they have strived to redefine the sexual identities of both genders. Nonetheless, what is important to note in this review is the boldness of the artist to break a taboo by developing a work of art based on her naked body. This is an affront on a “prohibited” area in the Turkish contemporary art scene. In another review of the artist’s works, Ersen says, “Sukran Moral both faces her identity as a feminist woman artist and an eastern/orient Turkish artist living and working in Italy. These struggles naturally led the artist to this questioning mind’s reflection of her artwork” (par 1).
Sukran Moral is not the only artist who has taken a bold step in questioning the place of Orientalism in the Turkish contemporary art scene; another Turkish feminist female artist called Gulsun Karamustafa has also done the same through different works, such as “From the Inside” and “Fragmenting” (July 380).
Through these works, she has expressed her criticism regarding the inclusion of Orientalism in the Turkish contemporary art scene. For example, in her work titled, “From the Inside,” the artist used different fragments of oriental paintings to develop her work and highlighted the theme of “objectification” as a constant theme that mainly permeates through different types of artwork that exemplify the theme of Orientalism. The artist has consistently used her feminist identity to question such norms and the visual cultural codes of the western collective memory to do so (Ersen par 1). Other notable works developed by female artists in Turkey appear below.
Examples of Notable Artistic Works, of Turkish Women
As highlighted above, Turkish women have reevaluated the traditional ideas of a woman’s identity through artistic experimentation. They have chosen to do so by reexamining the contents of their works and adopting different methods to express their creativity. The works of Bilge Alkor, Nese Erdok, and Nur Kocak explain some of these new strategic directions because, in their paintings, they express new identities by varying abstractions of human relation in soft and lyrical figures (Atagok 22). These works are partly represented through group portraits, which indicate human relationships. The following images highlight examples of some of these works.
Some Turkish contemporary artists have used ornaments and women’s clothes to explain the place of women in this society. Nur Kocak has been a pioneer in this regard, but her work has not been confrontational, despite it addressing the same gender bias issues in the Turkish contemporary art scene (Atagok 22). In other words, her works convey the position of women in society, using women’s ornaments and clothing, but at the same time not having the women in the works of art. The image below represents such works of art.
Another group of artists who have tried to reshape the position of women in Turkish contemporary art is comprised of Tomur Atagok, Ipek Aksugur, Inci Eviner, Hale Arpacioglu, Selma Gurbuz, and Canan Tolon (Haddad and Findly 175). These artists are mostly painters and sculptors. Other artists who fall in the same category are Candeger Fortun, and IsikTuzuner who are based in Amsterdam (Atagok 22).
These groups of artists have repositioned the place of women in the Turkish contemporary art world by using mixed media to convey their artistic expressions. They have also used symbolism and fragmented their artistic work to convey their core message, which is liberty for their artistic works (Haddad and Findly 175). Hale Arpacioglu has taken a slightly different approach from her peers by viewing the human being from a psychological standpoint.
However, other artists have taken a deeper and thought-provoking view of their artwork because they always strive to emphasize the importance of women’s identity in their artistic expressions. Tour Atagok, Ipek Agsukur, and Inci Eviner are some artists who have ensured that their artistic work is message-oriented (Ersen par 4). Consequently, their works are often fragmented or dissected. Others are made into symbols to emphasize the importance of identity. The image below represents an artistic piece of Tomur Otago. The work was developed in 1983.
Inci Eviner has taken a completely different approach to develop her work because she often strives to portray an interior life view of her works. This distinction was brought to light by Atagok (23) who has spent long periods commentating on women’s issues and analyzing the place of women in contemporary art, both in the present and in the past. Some of her works have strived to depict women as the vertebrae of society through their pivotal role in supporting motherhood roles.
Other artists, such as Ipek Agsukur, have taken an entirely different approach of the same issue and expressed their representation of women by taking multiple photos of themselves and transforming them into motifs of Anatolian goddesses (Haddad and Findly 175). Selma Gurbuz and Canan Tolon have also used the same strategy to express their artistic creativity on the same issue. Stated differently, they have also used Anatolian motifs to depict their idea of womanhood in Turkey. However, their works have had multiplying variations of this imagery. Relative to this assertion Atagok says, “Their works are rooted in reconsidering the past, but multiplication/repetition becomes a strong factor in their sculptures or installations” (23).
Candler Fortun is a Turkish female artist who specializes in modeling different parts of a human body into symbols that are representative of fragmented forms. Her products are similar to other works done by Selma Gurbuz and Canan Talon. Isik Tuzuner’s approaches are not necessarily different from the works of the authors mentioned above. She uses leftover materials and paints over them to create fragmented works of art. Part of her motivation for using this strategy is environmental protection (Gulay 392).
Other female artists who have had a significant impact on the contemporary Turkish art scene include Nil Yalter, Canan Beykal, and Gulsun Karamustafa. Although these women are mostly cultural and social commentators in the Turkish art scene, they have worked in the installation by moving their work from two-dimensional spaces into three-dimensional spaces. The works of some of these artists have stood out in reshaping Turkey’s cultural and social space.
More importantly, they have reexamined the place of women in this society by forging a more reconciliatory tone to their works (Gulay 380). For example, the works of Gulsun Karamustafa mostly depict how different genders could live together harmoniously. She has presented this idea by using stories or different fragments of stories. Some of these fragments have worked through connotations (Atagok 23).
Canan Beykal has used a different approach to speak about the same issue. She is among the first few conceptual artists that have used light, writing, voice, and video to transform two-dimensional artwork into three-dimensional creative works. Most of her products have spoken about different issues touching on gender in the Turkish contemporary society and in the wider Middle East region. However, they have mostly spoken about ethical issues and dilemmas on the same.
Pundits say that Nil Yalter is among the first few artists to delve into the social commentary space (Haddad and Findly 175). Although based in Paris, she is active in the international arena. Her work has focused on highlighting issues about human rights. To do so, she has used photographs, documents, and computer-generated graphics to reach her local, regional, and global audiences. Hale Tenger is another social commentary artist who has delved deeper into understanding the social issues facing women from minority groups in Turkey. Observers say she is arguably the youngest of all installation artists (Haddad and Findly 175). Historians have said that she has made a deep impression on her audiences by using materials from ready-made films and popular videos that talk about everyday social issues (Atagok 23).
Some artists have chosen to use a different approach by using the concept of space to evoke memory among their audiences. Those who have chosen to do so have done so by eliminating details in their work. They have also chosen to refrain from loading objects or images to their works and give them a new meaning. Atagok (23) delves into this discussion by giving us details about the nature of work undertaken by some researchers in this field.
For example, he says, “Handan Borutecence reconsiders the past with reference to particular historical sites while Ayse Erkmen, a DAAD scholar and another international artist, is interested in reducing the forms to its essential to convey a sense of the present site” (24). The author also talks about how other female artists have used different forms of artistic expressions to explain their views on the same matter. For example, when referring to the works of Fusun Onur, he says, “she frequently uses unexpected or second-hand materials in a different way to make personal statements about her life” (Atagok 24).
Comprehensively, we find that most of the artists mentioned in this paper use abstraction, fragmentation, and representation. We have also seen that others have used distortion and elimination. However, regardless of the strategies used by them, all the artists speak about the social culture that surrounds women in their society. Their works mostly depict a new form of experimentation and liberalization associated with a new crop of female artists who are striving to reshape conventional wisdom of women in the Turkish contemporary art space by using new and innovative forms of art to merge form with content.
Through their works, they give their views about different social issues facing the world by transforming their observations, feelings, and thoughts into reputable works of art. The transition represented by their works shows how far Turkish women have come from the anonymous women of Anatolia whose main forms of artwork centered on embroidery and weaving. The transition also reflects a paradigm shift in the pace of women in the art space because, in the past, they could only showcase their work at home, but now, they could do so at regional, national, and international levels. This fact is supported by the dozens of artists who have minted millions selling their work in major art galleries around London and in other European cities.
My Personal Experience
I have witnessed the female movement in the Turkish contemporary art scene while working as a freelance writer for the culture-based magazine in Ankara, Turkey. In my free time, I spent most days attending different art galleries and history museums in the city. I used such experiences to form the basis of my writing for which I reported to contemporary art aficionados who were staunch readers of our articles.
Since this job was fun for me, I made many friends who were not shy to tell me about the history of Turkish art. Some of them were old enough to explain to me how women were non-existent in the Turkish contemporary art scene. Despite loving good photographs and abstract paintings developed by some of the most celebrated Turkish artists, I learned a whole wealth of knowledge about the works of new female artists in the Ankara art scene.
My experience not only broadened my knowledge of the work undertaken by Turkish female artists but the wider art fraternity in the country. I must admit that before coming to the Turkish art scene, I often thought that most of the works of art in Turkey and other Middle Eastern countries were mostly about war and terrifying pictures of families in desolate.
I never thought that I would find a strong and growing base of female artists who were not only willing to redefine the narrative surrounding what people thought about the Middle East, but also what they knew about the roles of women and gender in their society.
I realized that most women who took part in this process were professionals who either were entering the industry or had been in it for a while. For example, I noticed that some of the galleries I visited were not only run by women but also owned by them. Most of the commentators and culture journalists I came across were also women of all lifestyles. A friend of mine once told me that there is a strong gender balance in the Turkish art scene compared to any other type of profession in the country.
He further told me that the voice of women in Turkey is exceptionally strong, despite the fact that they have been traditionally silenced by religious views on the role of women in the society, political views on sex, and social norms that have created an imbalance between the sexes in different aspects of Turkey’s social, political, and economic growth. Based on the increasing dominance of women in the art scene, it is important to say that this field is mostly purified of most gender bias issues that have characterized other professions.
There is also a growing pool of revered female artists in Turkey, which is making a name for themselves regionally and internationally. In fact, some people have attributed their growing influence of women in other aspects of Turkish social and political development to the pivotal role that women are increasingly playing in the Turkish art scene. Most of the women who have championed this progress have highlighted female issues in their oeuvres.
I had noticed this trend from my visits to different art galleries that different types of women who have focused on highlighting the issues between men and women developed this trend. Others have also taken it upon themselves to explore the place of women in Turkish society and in the wider Middle East region. Some have even taken a broader understanding of the same issue and strived to explore the place of gender, worldwide.
Some female artists depict themselves as feminists and their work mostly stem from such themes. Similar to the body of work created by female artists in the UK and the US in the 1970s that revolutionized how people see female artists; Turkey is doing the same because women are increasingly getting more attention in different fields of contemporary art. In other words, the different types of artistic work we see today in Turkey have created an unsusceptible and powerful space for female artists to express their views about different gender and women’s issues in the society. For us to appreciate the progress made by female artists in changing the dynamism of cultural and social issues in the Turkish contemporary art scene, it is important to note that in 1913, the Newspaper of the Ottoman Painter’s Association did not support female participation in the art (Atagok 24).
The same article was sexist, in the sense that it argued for the view that only men could be passionate enough to create significant works of art. However, as we have seen in this paper, towards the end of the Ottoman Empire, daughters from wealthy and middle-class households in Turkey were taught to develop different forms of art and consequently became less inhibited in their expression of artistic creativity. This revolution has paved the way for what we now see today as the reinvention of the female artist in the Turkish contemporary art scene.
Challenges facing Female Artists in the Turkish Contemporary Art Scene
Although we have seen the progress made by Turkish women in reclaiming their place in the country’s art scene, a myriad of challenges continues to face them. The lack of financial support tops the list of these challenges (Atagok 24). However, this problem is not only unique to them but to all artists in general. Indeed, most art galleries in Turkey are privately funded. Therefore, if an artist falls outside the realm of the funding outreach of these art galleries, it becomes increasingly difficult to benefit from it.
It is a shame that the government has done little to support the growth of the art scene in the country because it is not only required to protect the country’s heritage and Islamic culture (through art or otherwise), but also support the creation of the same. Going forward, education would be a key instrument for revolutionizing how the government and everybody else sees the art scene. Education would be important in raising people’s awareness about art in the Turkish scene and make more of them appreciate the work done by not only contemporary female artists but also other artists as well.
Indeed, as Isaak (9) observes, the state of women in the art space is not representative of the general art scene in the society because the consistent discrimination of women in this space is of concern to observers and female artists in general. Owing to this observation, it is indispensable for all stakeholders in the art scene to continue the struggle for equal rights and empowerment for women across the world (not only in Turkey). Nonetheless, at the same time, women need to continue working hard to get respect in the art scene because this value is not going to be handed to them freely, without earning it in the first place. In other words, female artists need to demonstrate that their work in the art scene is not a hobby, but a serious venture (a profession).
Conclusion
In this paper, we have seen that western criticism of Islamic culture focuses on oriental sexuality. The visual and verbal art in Europe has mostly affirmed this fact because most of the themes that underscore the development of these works include slave markets, eunuchs, polygamy, homophobia, and the likes. Most of the works of art accepted in the western world, or deemed popular in these places, often appeal to the quest, or need, for western audiences to understand the theme of sexuality in Islamic countries. Consequently, artists who have recognized this need, and are speaking to it through their works, get the most recognition in western societies.
However, it is important to understand that the shift has occurred because they are explaining gender, women, and human rights issues in their countries as foreigners, and not necessarily as locals. The divide between the East and the West has forced them to address this issue this way because most western audiences do not necessarily understand the intricate details of Islamic culture or the gender issues that continue to plague women in Turkey and other Islamic nations.
Therefore, they are forced to explain the same issues from a foreigner’s point of view, which happens to be the view of the west towards Islamic culture. Artists who have adopted this view of the gender issues facing Muslims in Turkey and the wider Islamic peninsular are mostly based in major European capitals, such as Paris and Italy. A couple of them are already mentioned in this report. Nonetheless, we cannot take away from them the progress that they have made in repositioning the place of women in the Turkish contemporary art world. They have played a monumental task of increasing the profile of women in this space by producing some of the best works of art people have seen.
They have also tackled the social issues facing Turkish women in unique and creative ways. Of importance is the theme of liberty and democratization of the art space, which has not only expanded the space for women to participate in art but also challenge traditional beliefs about gender in the Turkish art space. Nonetheless, the role played by women in liberalizing gender issues in Turkey and democratizing the art space is not a new phenomenon because, for a long time, women have also played an instrumental role in the liberalization movement in Turkey. Indeed, women have played an instrumental role in the liberalization of Turkey and several types of artwork have memorialized their accomplishments.
Compared to many “oriental” societies, Turkish art has been the most active in documenting some of the works or accomplishments of these women. Based on this assertion, it is pertinent to point out that women play an instrumental role in the Turkish art scene today. The trend is only going to increase considering Turkey is being recognized around the world as being the bridge between the East and the West.
Works Cited
Atagok, Tomur. “Contemporary Turkish Women Artists.” Paradoxa, vol. 2, no. 1, 1997, pp. 1-25.
Figure 1. La Joyeuse Compagnie (Louvre, n.d.).Figure 2. Peace Bringing Back Abundance (MET, n.d.).
Among many well-known masterpieces exhibited in the Louvre, two fascinating artworks were created by female painters of the XVII and XVIII centuries. One is the picture La Joyeuse Compagnie (1630), painted by Judith Leyster in oil on canvas. Another one is the oil on canvas painting Peace Bringing Back Abundance (1780) by Elisabeth Louise Vigée-LeBrun. This paper will examine the works by Judith Leyster and Elisabeth Louise Vigée-LeBrun.
Judith Leyster was a poorly known Dutch painter of Holland’s Golden Age. La Joyeuse Compagnie, shown in Figure 1, was originally believed to belong to the other painter until, at the end of the XIX century, it was proven otherwise (National Gallery of Art, n.d.). Elisabeth Louise Vigée-LeBrun might be considered “one of the most celebrated women artists of the XVIII century in France” (The National Gallery, n.d.). Peace Bringing Back Abundance, displayed in Figure 2, was created to be admitted to the Academie Royale de Peinture et la Sculpture; it was an entrancing work.
La Joyeuse Compagnie depicts a violinist and a woman beside him in ordinary lighthearted surroundings. In Peace Bringing Back Abundance, there are two people painted as well. However, the overall impression from the artwork is quite eloquent rather than mundane since the women in the painting are shown in expressive divine poses. Overall, the colors applied within both paintings are warm and harmonic. Within La Joyeuse Compagnie, the shades are evidently more contrast and sometimes very vibrant, which creates a visually attractive juxtaposition of colors. The shades of Peace Bringing Back Abundance are warm, but the saturation is less intense than in the other paintings, and the color palette is generally pastel.
In terms of balance, both paintings have reduced the number of details in the background and, oppositely, vivid precision within depicted people. In Peace Bringing Back Abundance, the level of precision while showing the figures is less intense than in the other painting, which creates a sense of lightness and sanctity. Generally, the theme of La Joyeuse Compagnie is the depiction of entertainment in the Dutch Republic during those times. The careless facial expressions of the characters and warm, welcoming tones create a joyful impression. However, as it was common among Dutch Baroque painters, Leyster might have put a deeper symbolic meaning to her work (National Gallery of Art, n.d.). Although the violinist seems carefree and happy, the woman beside him looks at him with a multifaceted expression, open to differing interpretations. Therefore, while depicting something simple and mundane, Leyster might have pinpointed certain details in the painting in order for the spectators to notice it and to reflect on possible deeper meanings of the work.
Elisabeth Louise Vigée-LeBrun creates an allegory as she depicts the female characters of Peace and Abundance (The National Gallery, n.d.). Hence, the theme of the painting can be considered to be sub-historical; therefore, there might be a lot of different meanings and interpretations of this work depending on the spectators. Thus, the way the women in the painting embrace each other and look each other directly in the eyes might refer to the solid link between the concepts of peace and abundance. Similar to the other painting, interpretations of the meaning of the work are flexible and might differ depending on the audience.
Overall, both works are painted with a very careful approach and attention to detail. It is evident that both painters were following the tendencies and expectations of their artistic surroundings. Although the core ideas behind La Joyeuse Compagnie and Peace Bringing Back Abundance differ, the depiction of the themes related to people’s contentment and hopeful happiness unites them in a way. While Lester’s background of being a poorly known painter whose works were thought to belong to someone else brings attention to her paintings, overall, her technique does not necessarily stand out from other Dutch Baroque painters. At the same time, Vigée-LeBrun’s works were widely recognized in France, and she ended up being a part of an Academie, which was not common for women in general.
References
Barringer, F. C. (2020). Creating a Female History Painter: Vigée-Lebrun, Labille-Guiard, Mongez, and the French Academy. The University of Alabama.
The human mind is a very versatile issue; it finds the outlet for the energy, flow of thoughts, and ideas, which can be expressed in a great number of various ways. Thus there are many styles and movements in the art to express different opinions, develop various techniques, and depict certain images and landscapes.
Period
Thereby I would like to tell you about the movement of baroque, which from my point of view is one of the most magnificent, pompous, sublime, gorgeous, bizarre and pretentious. “Baroque was born in Italy, and later adopted in France, Germany, Netherlands, and Spain. The word “baroque” was first applied to the art of the period from the late 1500s to the late 1700s, by critics in the late nineteen century. Baroque covers a wide range of styles and artists” (“Baroque: Main Representatives” 1).
Region
The style of Baroque was spread all over the European continent in different expressions of art from 1590 and until the beginning of the eighteenth century. The expressions of art representing this very movement had little differences within European national art, though there were some features in common. Baroque artists used a great number of different techniques to involve the observer in the picture, into the sphere of grotesque compositions and rich ornaments.
While observing the picture which represents the Baroque style a person appears in the other world full of graceful angels, antique gods, and godlike creatures. The images are depicted in some movements; every gesture seems to possess a specific meaning; the angels persistently invite the observer to have a closer look and to understand the magnificent world of kings and queens.
Painting
According to the dictionary article, the Baroque means something “of, relating to, or having the characteristics of a style of artistic expression prevalent especially in the 17th century that is marked generally by the use of complex forms, bold ornamentation, and the juxtaposition of contrasting elements often conveying a sense of drama, movement, and tension; characterized by grotesqueness, extravagance, complexity, or flamboyance” (“Baroque” 1). Thus the basic peculiarity of the whole movement was important for its effect of spontaneous experience, gestures, and dynamism of the depicted picturesque scenery.
“The baroque, as an epoch of interesting contrasts and perhaps many times one of bad taste (individualism and traditionalism, inquisitive authority and unsteadying freedom, mysticism and sensualism, theology and superstition, war and commerce, geometry and capriciousness), was not the result of multi secular influences on a country whose character they shaped, nor did it result from influences that irradiated from one country that was supposedly endowed with such characteristics upon others related to in” (Maravall 12-13).
I believe such a description gives the fullest definition of the baroque as a style and represents it both as epoch and as style. Thus the epoch from the late sixteenth century till the early eighteenth century was represented by the baroque style. One of the main characteristics of the baroque style was the action performed by the person depicted in the picture, and the depiction accuracy of all movements and gestures, rather than symmetry. To achieve the effect of movement and of the lively picture the artist made the picture asymmetric and imbalanced.
Important artists within the movement
Many outstanding artists are representing the style and epoch of the baroque. Every country has its masters: Italy is represented by such great artists as Annibale Carracci and Caravaggio whose subjects are depicted in an accurate realistic manner involving contrasts of darkness and light to achieve more tension; the Flemish art of the baroque style is represented by the works of a marvelous painter Peter Paul Rubens whose pictures are defined by the choice of colors as the whole style depicted images in true to nature colors; the region of the Netherlands is represented by the great painters Rembrandt Van Rijn who was claimed to prefer ugliness because of his realistic depiction of people and Jan Vermeer whose “Girl with a Pearl Earring” is one of the best examples of the European art of the baroque epoch; and France is represented by the artist Nicolas Poussin, whose natural landscapes seem to be organized in the way to reach the harmonious look, which, I think, is not very typical of the baroque style (Horstman 114-115).
Thus there are a great number of important artists within the movement of the baroque. The style has its representatives in all the leading countries of that period, which lasted from the late sixteenth century and ended in the early eighteenth century. The movement had leading artists in Italy (Michelangelo Merisi-Caravaggio, Guido Reni, Annibale Carracci); France (Claude Lorrain, Nicolas Poussin, Jean Clonet); Spain (Diego Rodriguez de Silva y Velazquez, Juzepe de Ribera); Germany (Georg Flegel); the Netherlands including Flemish artists(Peter Paul Rubens, Rembrandt van Rijn, Jan Vermeer); England (Jeremiah Meyer, Samuel Cooper). “The art of the baroque is the product of an age in which a new and optimistic equilibrium of religious and secular forces is achieved” (Nash 55). The distinctive features of the pictures painted according to the baroque style were extravagance, intricacy, the role of movement and gesture, the contrast of light and darkness.
Works Cited
“Baroque: Main Representatives”. HuntFor.com. 2007. Web.
Horstman, Allen, and William H. Burnside. The Essentials of European History: 1648 to 1789, Bourbon, Baroque, and Enlightenment / William H. Burnside. New Jersey: Research & Education Assoc., 1990.
Maravall, Jose Antonio. Culture of the Baroque: Analysis of a Historical Structure. United Kingdom: Manchester University Press ND, 1986.
Nash, A. Steven, and California Palace of the Legion of Honor, and Lynn Federle Orr, and Marion C. Stewart. Masterworks of European painting in the California Palace of the Legion of Honor. New York: Hudson Hills, 1999.
The Museum of Contemporary Art Australia (MCA) is one of the leading institutions in Australia. Over the years, it has engaged in a wide range of activities and displays intended to support the achievements of many artists. It identifies itself with the goals of the Aboriginal population of the country and engages in activities to support their cultural heritage. The MCA has been on the frontline to help promote art from different perspectives. It continues to source and exhibit artifacts from different regions as one of the strategies for promoting different forms of culture and art. One of the ongoing exhibitions at this museum is the Primavera 2021: Young Australian Artists. This review gives a detailed analysis of this specific annual exhibition at the MCA.
Reason for Choosing this Exhibition
The primary aim of a museum is to create adequate opportunities for visitors to explore the available collections. This practice enables them to get a sense of inspiration, entertainment and even acquire new ideas (Bennet, 1995). Additionally, the display of various works of art and objects of historical significance help preserve culture in different ways. The MCA has been involved in identifying, collecting, preserving, and displaying different materials that help people learn more about the past. The institution is also on the frontline to showcase a number of activities and achievements in the arts. Such efforts are critical and capable of supporting the overall experiences and goals of the greatest majority.
The reason behind selecting the Primavera 2021: Young Australian Artists exhibition is because it is an annual event at the MCA that resonates with the above purpose. This event will be taking place till June 12th this year (The Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, 2022). People are encouraged to visit the gallery without having to pay anything. The exhibition has been taking place at the museum for the last three decades. Within the past thirty years, such an exhibition has helped upcoming Australian artists below the age of 35 to showcase their works. This effort helps attract attention of more citizens from different parts of the country. The curator is tasked with completing a complex investigation to identify upcoming and talented artists.
Through such a process, this exhibition becomes admirable since it helps deliver two outcomes. First, it helps boost the morale of the entrants into the exhibition, thereby increasing their chances of recording a successful career. The opportunity allows them to meet more people who might decide to sponsor their works or ambitions. Second, the exhibition is worth choosing for analysis since it remains a powerful approach for encouraging more young individuals to embrace the arts for expression and career goals (The Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, 2022). These achievements have helped the country appreciate the attributes defining the culture of its people. More successful artists are born from this exhibition, thereby helping improve the cultural standings and values of different racial groups in Australia.
Detailed Analysis
The selected Primavera 2021: Young Australian Artists presents an example of an exhibition that has succeed and delivered the much needed outcomes for years. The curators involved within the past three decades understand that young artists require inspiration if they overcome most of the existing barriers (The Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, 2022). Every curator relies on his or her abilities to set the right theme and ensure that the exhibited works, performances, and objects are notable. These efforts have made the exhibition appropriate and capable of sensitizing more people across the globe about Australia’s unique culture and the love for spectacular art.
The exhibition under review presents a number of aspects that make it meaningful and inspirational. For instance, the current displays could be falls under the arts category. The curator is focusing on upcoming artist in Australia whose works are admirable and attractive to viewers. This strategy makes it easier for individuals who intend to visit to make up their minds with ease. The curator has selected an effective theme for this year’s exhibition (The Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, 2022). Specifically, the visitor realizes that the exhibition revolves around the celebration of young Australians who have excelled as artists. Such a theme communicates the intended objective, thereby encouraging more people in the country to become part of the exhibition.
To make the exhibition information, the visitor is guided to meet some of the artists whose works remain outstanding. The 30th anniversary event intends to showcase materials narrating the participating professionals’ stories. Their works are seen to help the visitors engage with past technologies and innovations that help redefine the world today (The Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, 2022). The exhibition also focuses on the techniques involved in the production of the selected artworks on display. The viewers can consider them in an effort to learn more about the unique attributes of the wider Australian culture.
To ensure that the current exhibition at the MCA delivers the intended results, the curator considered a number of approaches during the preplanning phase. For instance, the involved team prepared a budget and shared it with the management of the museum. Their lead curator, Hannah Presley, formed a team of several people interested in Australian art. The individuals applied proper communication strategies while defining the required tasks (Schubert, 2009). The exhibition was characterized by a preliminary investigation whereby key upcoming artists were identified and recruited from different parts of the country. These approaches were practical and capable of delivering a successful exhibition at the MCA.
In terms of purpose, the Primavera 2021: Young Australian Artists is designed in such a way that it delivers the much needed education to the visitors. The curator has selected emerging artists whose works can inspire and guide visitors to consider new ways to achieve their maximum potential. The artworks on display throughout the exhibition period are selected in such a way that the deliver recreational outcomes. These efforts have helped past curators to select the right candidates and include them in such annual events (Schubert, 2009). These elements show conclusively that the current exhibition is founded on the realistic and social facilitation approaches. Through such exhibit designs, the curator has created the best environment for allowing individuals to interact with each other while focusing on the spectacular materials on display.
The curator has gone further to ensure that the key affective measures are fulfilled through the exhibition. Specifically, the works are selected in such a way that they can help trigger an attitude change. This approach is capable of allowing more visitors to start empowering upcoming artists while making it easier for them to continue pursuing their goals. In terms of interest level, the inclusion of several individuals aged 35 years and below has helped increase the interest level (The Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, 2022). Consequently, the approaches have increased the overall satisfaction level among the participants and visitors. These elements have played a positive role towards making the exhibition successful.
Strengths and Weaknesses
The success of the Primavera 2021: Young Australian Artists exhibition at the MCA could be attributable to a number of factors or strengths. First, the involved team has adopted a befitting curatorial approach that resonates with the demands of the targeted visitors and selected artists. For this case, the strategy revolves around bringing upcoming artists to the limelight and guiding members of the society to appreciate different forms of art. The inclusion of the young generation encourages more people to become part of the process (Simpson, 2006). Second, the curator has selected a unique group of artists that has formed the foundation of the exhibition for the last thirty years. Such an approach promotes a sense of consistency, thereby allowing followers of the event to visit the museum and meet the upcoming artists.
Third, the choice of the MCA is the best partner for this exhibition for the last three decades makes it admirable and successful. This strength explains why more people have been willing to identify with upcoming artists capable of improving cultural innovation through their works of art. Fourth, the curator engaged in a thorough research and investigation to identify and select the best candidates to be part of this exhibition (Bourdieu, 1984). Such an approach is capable of encouraging more citizens to visit the museum every year and learn more about the upcoming artists. The selected one for the ongoing exhibition includes Sam Gold, Elisa Jane Carmichael, Hannah Gartside, Justine Youssef, and Dean Cross.
Fig 1: Elisa Jane Carmichael’s works of art1Fig 2: Dean Cross’ works on display2Fig 3: Hannah Gartside’s installation at the exhibition3Fig 4: Installation view (Primavera 2021: Young Australian Artists)4
From the exhibition, Elisa Jane Carmichael is presented as an artist who expresses contemporary adaptations using various techniques, such as weaving photo media, painting, and the use of textiles (see Fig. 1). Dean Cross’ works appear to promote para-tactical art. He presents collisions of ideas, histories, and materials through his works (see Fig. 2). For Hannah Gartside, her works are aimed at presenting various were of experiencing the notions of subjectivity and sensuality and how they relate to the physical world (see Fig. 3). These exhibits showcase a unique strength that makes the overall event meaningful and capable of attractive more visitors.
Fifth, the move to recruit artists from different regions across the country makes it possible for the exhibition to present a sense of national image or pride. More visitors are able t come to the MCA for the exhibition and get the chance to interact with such professionals. Sixth, the curator has ensured that most of the works on display from such artists have a number of things in common (The Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, 2022). For example, it is evident that they portray techniques and artistic styles that people across Australian generations appear to share. Such an approach has helped drive a new form of debate and interpretation of the wider community.
Finally, the physical display of most of the artworks is done in a professional manner. The curator has ensured that visitors can be in a position to identify and make their personal interpretations from such works. The chosen objects from the artists are varied and capable of triggering new conversations about the future place of art in the contemporary Australian society. The displays are riveting and capable of encouraging more people to visit the museum. These approaches, therefore, support the wider mission of the museum (Duncan, 1995). Additionally, the curator helped the museum launch an online exhibition to showcase most of the works from the selected artists. The combinations of these key elements have led to one of the most successful exhibitions at the MCA.
On the other hand, the exhibition presents several weaknesses that could become the best ideas for improving it in the future. For instance, the event intended for more than three months only features a small number of artists. Curators in the coming years could address this issue by selecting more professionals from different parts of the country. Another issue emerging from this exhibition is the fact that some of the curatorial attributes are missing or hard to identify. Specifically, the visitor would take long before identifying the leading or guiding theme for the entire exhibition (Bourdieu, 1984). A more defined approach could be considered to make future exhibitions more successful. Finally, the consideration of emerging technologies could allow more people to visit the MCA’s website and acquire numerous insights from the virtual version of the exhibition.
Conclusion
The completed analysis has selected the Primavera 2021: Young Australian Artists as a successful exhibition that continues to meet the demands of both artists and visitors. The MCA has considered the best approaches to promote the event while relying on the best curatorial approach. The event helps promote Australian culture while allowing more people to remain engaged and innovative. The outlined strengths are in tandem with the attributes of most successful exhibitions. The consideration of the outlined weaknesses could guide future curators to plan and present successful Primavera: Young Australian Artists exhibitions in the future.
References
Bennet, T. (1995). The birth of the museum: History, theory, politics. New York, NY: Routledge.
Bourdieu, P. (1984). Distinction: A social critique of the judgment of taste. Boston, MA: Harvard University Press.
Duncan, C. (1995). From the princely gallery to the public art museum. In Civilizing rituals. New York, NY: Routledge.
Schubert, K. (2009). The curator’s egg. London, UK: Ridinghouse.
Simpson, M. (2006). Revealing and concealing museums, objects, and the transmission of knowledge in aboriginal Australia. In New Museum Theory and Practice (pp. 152-177). Blackwell Publishing.
Robert Smithson is an artist who impressed Americans and other populations with his extraordinary works. He resorted to the forces of nature to create something unique and breathtaking. The Earth and soil seemed to be his main sources of inspiration.
The artist contributed art greatly because he made representatives of the general public pay attention to the world around them. For example, Smithson’s impressive earthworks reveal the connection between human beings and nature. He showed how glue covered the ground, hurting everything that could be found under it, and then provided a contrasting idea with a woodshed built by people but almost destroyed by soil. It seems that there is an opposition between these two parties and no clear conclusion can be reached. He also prepared several works that showed our nature as something originally eternal but coming to an end soon. Broken circle and spiral jetty remind of never endless circulation, but they are interrupted. A lot of his sculptures reveal destruction and organization. For instance, the glass is broken, but it is gathered in several equal banks in the Gravel Mirror. It makes people think of their actions, as they can see the destruction brought by humans and their attempts to cope with it. Smithson emphasized that it was impossible to make broken things whole again, that is why people should think about the consequences of their behaviors and actions. Similar ideas can also be found in the artist’s drawings and films.
The works on the website made me realize that Smithson was a person who paid much attention to the environment and the way it influences and is influenced by the population of the Earth. They allowed me to see that he was highly concerned about the effects of urbanization and implemented these thoughts in his works. The interview with the artist provided an opportunity to understand how his vision of the world developed. I believe that Smithson wanted others to feel that suburban atmosphere he was familiar with but emphasizing the fact that it was changing. In addition to that, the interview reveals that the artist was influenced by other people and works. He had an opportunity to travel and to see how different populations treated the same things. The fact that he had never gone to college made me think that he was an intelligent person who created unique works not affected by the ideas the educators wanted their students to grasp. The essay also shaped my conception of Smithson’s work, as it discussed their meanings. I also agreed that Smithson’s minimalism made his works look as visionary evidence of what was happening around us.
I believe that the artist’s works should not be assessed because they were made to share ideas but not to be prized for the techniques used. Still, when evaluating Smithson’s art, one should pay attention to the forces that dominate, colors used, and shapes. As a result, one will be able to define what is the idea depicted by the artist and what emotions and attitudes he had towards it. In this way, one is likely to notice that the works are mainly black and white, which proves that they are based on contrasting ideas, including life and death, good and evil, nature and people.
Commercialization has entered every aspect of modern life. A statement is probably true to some extent, but at the same time people tend to believe that some aspects would remain untouched by that material term “commerce”. Speaking of an aspect that is controversially related to commerce and at the same time far from it in its essence, art comes to mind.
Using controversy to describe the art commerce relation is not a coincidence, as for an ordinary person there might be two images that can be recalled when visualizing such relation: an artist living in poverty and hunger drawing masterpieces after which he dies unknown, and auctions and galleries in which the aforementioned masterpieces are sold for enormous sums.
These images are no longer true, which literally means that many artists have started to enjoy popularity and fame selling their works at the peak of their careers. This does not necessarily mean changes in the quality of the works of art, rather than introducing an element into the art-commerce equation which is promotion. This paper analyzes the artist-promotion relation in terms of the forms that it might take and the resulted influence based on a short review of opinions from different media articles.
Analyzing the artist-promotion relation, first of, defining these two terms in the context of the present analysis is necessary. An artist is a person who relies on his/her individual efforts and talent to create forms of expression, for example paintings. Regardless of the quality of the works an artist could be known to the public or an obscure painter. In the article “Art for Everybody” by Susan Orlean, an example of a popular artist is shown through Thomas Kinkade, whereas in “Shapinsky’s Karma” by Lawrence Weschler, Harold Shapinsky is an example of an unknown artist. In both cases, the presence of talent only does not necessarily imply popularity and demand for works. That’s where the other part of the relationship should be explained, i.e. promotion.
Promotion in the context of this paper can be defined as any activity the result of which is the popularization of an artist and his/her works in order to form a commercial demand in the public. It should be noted, however, that originality, talent, and quality are essential aspects, although the correspondence of the promotion to these features might not be present. E.g., in the “Art for Everybody”, Orlean expresses the opinion of art critics on the works of Kinkade stating that “art critics consider Thomas Kinkade a commercial hack whose work is mawkish and suspiciously fluorescent, and whose genius is not for art but for marketing — for creating an “editions pyramid” of his prints, each level up a little more expensive, which whips up collectors’ appetites the way retiring Beanie Babies did.” (Orlean)
Similarly, in “Shapinsky’s Karma”, Shapinsky turned from an unknown painter to a subject of a televised program depending only on the qualities of his promoter, who took the responsibility of advertising Shapinsky’s brilliance totally without his involvement. “I bet him that within a year I would secure a show for his father’s paintings at a major world-class gallery” (WESCHLER)
In explaining the effects of promotion as a process of forming a solid public opinion the word objectivity should be used. Drawing an analogy to the effect of the contemporary media, in the article “Host” by David Foster Wallace, the author states that “the ever-increasing number of ideological news outlets creates precisely the kind of relativism that cultural conservatives decry, a kind of epistemic free-for-all in which “the truth” is wholly a matter of perspective and agenda” (Wallace)
This kind of relativism can be seen in Orlean’s article where the author expressed her opinion on the effect of promotion on the popularity of Thomas Kinkade.
Through Orlean’s article, the artist-promotion relation, in addition to being a commercially successful marketing move, it could be sensed that the author views this relationship as a step of closing the gap between the art and the masses, “My art is relevant because it’s relevant to ten million people. That makes me the most relevant artist in this culture, not the least. Because I’m relevant to real people.” (Orlean) It could be sensed through Orlean’s article from the overall intonation disapproval of Kinkade’s commercialization of the art.
Kinkade’s promotion is similar to the promotion covered in Wechsler’s article, although presented at different stages, is creating a media factory in which people work to convince the public that these paintings are masterpieces made by geniuses, which in cases is true. It could be seen the slightly different outcomes of different promotion strategies in Orlean’s and Wechsler’s articles.
Kinkade has commercialized his work, in a way that he created approved manufacture of an advertised style and content the ownership of which promoted as prestigious. At the same time, the promotion of Shapinsky’s paintings was put with a goal of bringing attention to the artist himself, forcing “the Encyclopedia Britannica to revise its entry on Abstract Expressionism to establish the name Shapinsky in its rightful place among de Kooning, Pollock, Rothko, and the others.” (WESCHLER)
Both those strategies in this artist-promotion relation implement the same approach mentioned in “Host” by David Foster Wallace, in regards to the radio political show business, were “explaining” the news really means editorializing, infusing the actual events of the day with the host’s own opinions.” These opinions are “as just one person’s opinions, exempt from strict journalistic standards of truthfulness, probity, etc., and yet they are often delivered by the talk-radio host not as opinions but as revealed truths, truths intentionally ignored or suppressed by a “mainstream press” that’s “biased” in favor of liberal interests.” (Wallace)
It could be seen that in the previous statement if we replace the word “liberal” with commercial and the word “revealed truths” with promotion, the main core of the artist-promotion relation will be the same as the main principle of the media presented in the example of political radio shows. Artists need promotion to be known to the public and for their works to be recognized. However, the commercialization of the artist’s work might harm the artist as well as the public. In that sense, the success of the artist and the sales of hisher work will depend merely on the popularity of his name resulted from the efforts of his manager. The two artists presented in Orlean’s and Wechsler’s articles are exemplary of such an approach. It cannot be said that they are wrong, rather than they are different, although they might lead to similar outcomes.
References
Orlean, Susan. “Art for Everybody”. 2001. Susan Orlean. Web.
Wallace, David Foster. “Host”. 2005. The Atlantic. Web.
WESCHLER, LAWRENCE. “Shapinsky’s Karma”. 1985. NY Times. Web.
