Kehinde Wiley and Intertextuality

Kehinde Wiley is a gay American artist. Born in Los Angeles he is renowned for his works which feature “contemporary African American men in poses taken from the annals of art history, while incorporating a distinctive use of elaborate, graphic and colorful wallpaper-like backgrounds.”(Cretique, 2011)

Wiley’s work is explicitly postmodern and provides interesting discussion on the topic of intertextuality. Intertextuality can be defined as “he relationship between texts, especially literary ones” (‘Intertextuality’, 2011) and refers to the way in which texts exist in relation to other texts. In essence intertextuality aims to acknowledge the fact that our interpretation of a text is inexplicably linked to the contexts in which the text or part of the text has been presented throughout history. 

As mentioned Wiley’s work references and redefines esteemed poses from art history. His use of male African American subjects creates juxtaposition between historical art practice and recent African American/ urban culture. His work is rife with intertextuality   as is evidenced most eloquently in this excerpt from the artists statement on his website: “By applying the visual vocabulary and conventions of glorification, history, wealth and prestige to the subject matter drawn from the urban fabric, the subjects and stylistic references for his paintings are juxtaposed inversions of each other, forcing ambiguity and provocative perplexity to pervade his imagery.”(Wiley, 2011) I particularly appreciated this quote as I feel it explains the nature of Wiley’s work, I feel the sense of forced ambiguity and the almost perplexing viewing experience his work provides is indicative of his powerful use of imagery to construct a social narrative.

The idea of pluralism is another postmodern ideal, which relates to Wiley’s work:

Pluralism in art can be defined as “ . . . the nature of art forms and the artist as diverse. The cultural context of art is all encompassing in its respect for the art of the world’s cultures. Pluralism honors differences within and between equitable groups while seeing their commonalities.”(Caldwell, 1999) Wiley uses the concept of pluralism to enhance the conceptual power of his works, by including a juxtaposition of historical and urban imagery, imagery which itself obviously entails vastly differing cultural perspectives, within the frame of a single art work Wiley creates a stage on which to comment on the ideology of pluralism and the fact that such diversity does not necessarily co-exist as peacefully in life as it may in the world of contemporary art.

Analyzing the concept of pluralism in Wiley’s work highlights the questions the artist raises about the ideals of social/cultural hierarchies, colonization, globalization, stereotypes and politics, which govern the dominant western worldview of our time. The stark sense of juxtaposition between the subjects of his paintings, particularly their skin color, and the historical poses and backgrounds provides a poignant comment on the way in which western culture has dominated many other cultures in the development of the world. Personally I found his works to be very evocative in this sense as I was unprepared for just how out of place the subjects of his paintings appear and how they conflict with a typical western visual hierarchy.  The way in which old and new ideals of society are positioned within the work across an inter-racial background raises many socio-political questions which many audiences would prefer to avoid and in terms of intertextuality forces the viewer to consider social atrocities regarding colonization and cultural hierarchy which have been deemed acceptable by the prevailing western worldview.

Personally I really valued the experience of researching Wiley’s work.

Initially I was slightly put off by the somewhat kitsch nature of the paintings yet as I delved deeper into the contextual concepts surrounding the work I found I was inspired and deeply moved by this artists body of work.

. I also found it interesting that he does not shy away from the commercial arena of art as he has recently done a campaign with Puma in Africa for which he created portraits to promote unity through sport. (Cretique, 2011) This engagement with the advertising industry enhances the message of his works, which deal with the ideas of western consumerism infiltrating all cultures on the planet. To summise, Wiley is a master of juxtaposition and his ability to combine conceptual depth with technical skill is admirable.

References:

(“Intertextuality”, 2011). In Oxford Dictionaries.London:Oxford University Press.

Kehinde Wiley Artist Profile

http://www.cretique.com/archives/4012

Kehinde Wiley Online, Artist Statement

http://www.kehindewiley.com/main.html

Kehinde Wiley Artist Profile

http://www.deitch.com/artists/sub.php?artistId=11

Caldwell. (1999) Cultural Context

http://www.public.iastate.edu/~design/ART/NAB/PluArt.html

Hussein Chalayan

Burka 1996 Hussein Chalayan

Hussein Chalayan hails from Nicosia, Cyprus and has twice been crowned British designer of the year. (Designboom, 2011) His work is informed by his appreciation of architectural theories and embraces ideas from the fields of science and technology. As can be seen from the examples displayed here: Afterwords (2000) and Burka (1996) Chalayan’s work is often confrontational to viewers as well as those wearing the garments. Chalayan’s work in drawing inspiration from a variety of aesthetic fields presents garments, which question the difference between art and fashion. According to the Oxford Dictionary Fashion can be defined as; “A popular or the latest style of clothing, hair, decoration, or behavior “ (‘Fashion’, 2011) While Art is defined as: “The expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as painting or sculpture, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power” (‘Art’, 2011) Although definitions by nature can be quite limiting when discussing broad concepts, such as the scope of art and fashion, the help to provide a criteria against which to assess differences of the two areas. Primarily, it can be seen here that the difference between art and fashion is concerned with the idea of utility. Art may be produced for pure aesthetic value but the term fashion encompasses the idea of utility and further more so the idea of current social utility. If we are to consider Chalyan’s works in light of this information, it becomes clear that both works involve aspects of both areas considered. In my opinion the work Burka veers more to the field of visual art as the social connotations and visual statement presented take precedence over the garments involved in the work. Afterwords on the other hand is a much more typically fashionable piece yet through its use of a range of mixed media materials it begs to be included in the field of wearable arts much more so than typical runway fashion. I believe that Chalayan is best described as an interdisciplinary artist as he produces a range of powerful works, which reference many creative genres.

Afterwords 2000 Hussein Chalayan

Many viewers find Chalayan’s work overbearingly confrontational at times, His graduate show which featured a collection of decomposed/exhumed silk dresses caused a stir at the time of its release and following works such as Burka do not exactly fly under the radar. (Designboom, 2011) I personally enjoy the confrontational nature of Chalayan’s works and find the use of juxtaposition in his body of work refreshing as it questions common conceits about art making.  I believe his ability to achieve such an effect across such a wide range of art making practices evidences his high level of technical skill and appreciation of cultural theory.

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The Level Tunnel 2006 Hussein Chalayan

Repose  2006 Hussein Chalayan

Another key feature of Chalayan’s work is his link with business and the marketing industry. In works such as The Level Tunnel (2006) and Repose (2006) Chalayan has explicitly joined forces with industry to produce works, which function to promote commercial business.

The Level Tunnel was collaboration with Absolut Vodka, which sought to recreate the experience of vodka in an interactive tunnel experience. (The LEVEL Tunnel, 2007)  While, Repose featured an aircraft wing adorned with Swarovski crystals as part of the Swarovski Crystal Palace exhibition. (Art Rattler, 2011) The meaning of art is always questioned when painters/designers begin to transcend the confines of the gallery/runway setting and when business is involved the ideology behind such works is always controversial. However, in the case of Chalayan who states in an interview with the British Design Museum that  “ My work is about ideas. If I had to define my philosophy in just a few words, it would be about an exploration, a journey, and storytelling – it is a combination of these things with suggestions and proposals at the same time. It is a quest into certain areas and proposing a way of looking at something. I am very much an ideas person, which my team helps me to realize. I am not a one-man show. When you are someone trying to create an idea, you don’t always have the means to make it practical first time round – the perpetual struggle of making a prototype and then making it real.” It becomes clear that perhaps commercial business has a lot to offer when it comes to the logistics of orchestrating artistic exploration. Obviously the nature of works is influenced by such a relationship as the fields or advertising and marketing are typically more restricted than free art making practice and projects are undertaken with a clear end goal in mind. Yet in a world where marketing is perhaps our most powerful form of visual communication I feel it is inevitable that the boundaries between art and marketing will be blurred, such a grey area is intriguing to artists such as Chalayan who are concerned with juxtaposition and cultural theory and provides scope for hybrid projects which may further all disciplines involved in their production.

Absent Presence 2005 Hussein Chalayan

Another prominent work Chalayan’s is his 2005 film Absent Presence.

The film screened at the Venice Biennale and considers garments in terms of the role of the wearer. DNA is traced and analyzed to produce predictions about the life of the wearer and their activity in the garment.  This work is quiet obviously steeped in the tradition of scientific reasoning and therefore references Enlightenment thinking and art making processes in its veneration of the power of scientific learning. To quote Chalayan: “The Absent Presence is an enigmatic story based on identity, geography, genetics, biology and anthropology” (“Hussein Chalayan,” 2011).  This statement classifies the film as rather humanist in nature and supports the above point. However I think an element of the sublime can also be found in the work as the interest in tracing the residue of our human experience reminds us that there are more powerful forces than the individual human at work in the sphere of our existence and demands the viewer be aware of the fact that our existence is far less private than we imagine.


In the tradition of artists such as Andy Warhol and Damien Hirst other artists produce some of Chalayan’s works. For example the Sculptor Lone Sigurdsson made some works presented in Chalayan’s Echoform (1999) and Before Minus Now (2000) fashion collections. This kind of practice raises the question of when and why is it important that the artist personally made the work?Personally I think that essentially all art involves aspects of intertextuality and collaboration and that if contextually relevant the practice of employing others to produce a work does not diminish the achievement of the initial artist.The following statement describes the contextual position of Chalayan’s work well:“Presenting fashion as a site of exploration and as expressions of concepts, Hussein Chalayan challenges preconceived notions of what clothing can mean, rather than as garments with only functionality in mind. Motivated by ideas and disciplines not readily associated with fashion, Hussein Chalayan’s pioneering work crosses between architecture, design, philosophy, anthropology, science and technology.” (Art Rattler, 2011) When viewed from this multidisciplinary context it is easy to see how engaging the skills of art makers from various disciplines could further Chalayan’s explorative process. Essentially if the concepts/ideas driving an artwork are the concern of and originally questioned by the initial artist, I feel that it is not necessarily degrading to employ another to execute the technical/physical creation of a work. In fact such collaboration adds another dimension of meaning to the work and explicitly conveys a deeper level of contextual significance than can be achieved if the work is the product of a single artist.

References:

http://arttattler.com/designhusseinchalayan.html

http://designmuseum.org/design/hussein-chalayan

http://www.husseinchalayan.com/#/home/

http://www.designboom.com/eng/interview/chalayan.html 

http://www.husseinchalayan.com/blog/ 

Post Modernism , Ai Wei Wei and Banksy

Han Dynasty Urn with CocaCola ,Ai Wei Wei (1994)

Flower Riot ,Banksy

Postmodernism defined by Art Historian Christopher Witcombe as an attack on the bourgeois ideal of modernist art, “A sort of nihilistic neo-dada” is a particularly volatile concept/art movement/cultural theory to pin down (Witcombe, 2000). The bullet point below attempt to give an overview of key features of such a phenomena.

·      The etymology of the term post modern bears reference to the Latin term for “after” and the “modern” period. “In philosophy the modern period was started by Descartes (1596-1650) who believed in exact science and objective knowledge. Descartes was rationalist-he believed in reason, and he thought that human reason can grasp truths independent of time or place.”(Saugstad, 2001)

·      Postmodernism is often viewed as a stoic rejection of modernism, “ that is to say, a rejection of the doctrine of the supremacy of reason, the notion of truth, the belief in the perfectibility of man and the belief that we could create a better, if not perfect society. This view has been termed deconstructive postmodernism” (Witcombe, 2000)

·      An alternative view to the point above suggests that postmodernism may also be considered as constructive, seeking to revise the ideals of modernism rather than merely opposing them. “Constructive postmodernism . . . seeks to revise its (modernism’s) premises and traditional concepts. Like deconstructive postmodernism, it attempts to erase all boundaries,

 to undermine legitimacy and to dislodge the logic of the modernist state. Constructive postmodernism claims to offer a new unity of scientific, ethical, aesthetic and religious intuitions. It rejects not science as such, but only that scientific approach in which only the data of modern natural sciences are allowed to contribute to the construction of our worldview.”(Witcombe, 2000)

·      Postmodernism is concerned with intuition and the facets of human experience, which it considers, have been reduced due to modernist thinking. “ Constructive postmodernism seeks to recover truths and values from various forms of pre-modern thought and practice. Constructive postmodernism wants to replace modernism and modernity, which it sees as threatening the very survival of the planet.” (Witcombe, 2000)

·      Postmodernism is concerned with relativism and accepts the idea that truth is relative, denying the existence of absolutes. “In essence, it stems from a recognition that reality is not simply mirrored in human understanding of it, but rather, is constructed as the mind tries to understand its own particular and personal reality.” (“Postmodernism”, 2011)

·      Postmodernism is paradoxical by definition. In venerating relativism it establishes the concept that even the very beliefs postmodernism is founded on are open to questioning. Such a realisation inspires a dystopia attitude of cynicism. As eloquently stated by philosopher Richard Tarnas postmodernism “"cannot on its own principles ultimately justify itself any more than can the various metaphysical overviews against which the postmodern mind has defined itself." (“Postmodernism”, 2011)

·      Postmodernism accepts ambiguity. The concept of ambiguity is inherent in post-modern ideals and as a result postmodernism will always avoid an absolute sense of definition. “The post-modern is deliberately elusive as a concept, avoiding as much as possible the modernist desire to classify and there by delimit, bound and confine.” (Witcombe, 2000)

·      Postmodernism does not propose the existence of a grand narrative. Postmodernism promotes pluralist thinking and enjoys complexity.” In post-modern society is more fragmented. Belief in one truth or universal criteria has been substituted by a number of “small stories”, and a diversity of criteria.”(Saugstad, 2001)

Cop Snorting ,Banksy

In terms of influencing the art world the ideals of postmodernism translate into the existence of art that stems from the historic rejection of the past coupled with a deep feeling of cynicism towards the future. Post-modern artists are not convinced as the surrealists were that great art can save the world and hence post-modern art is in general far less concerned with optimism than that of the modernist era. To quote Whitcombe: “Having rejected the past many years ago, and now with the future no longer being the goal of artistic effort, many artists turned with visible distress to the present and focussed their attention on contemporary popular culture.” (Whitcombe, 2000)

Two post-modern artists, both of whom are prolific in the media, display the ideals of post-modern art rather poetically, British artist Banksy and Chinese artist Ai Wei Wei.

Though hailing form different parts of the globe Ai Wei Wei and Banksy both produce politically infused art, which is hard to ignore.

To examine these artists further let us assess the following works; Ai Wei Wei’s 'Han Dynasty Urn with Coca-Cola logo’ (1994) and Banksy ‘s Flower Riot and Los Angeles (2008), against the defining criteria of postmodern art:

In terms of displaying social and cultural pluralism, disunity and a sense of the existence of an unclear basis for social unity both works make valid points. Ai Wei Wei’s urn provides poignant comment on the changing role and questioning of tradition/religion and state control in China, post industrialisation. While Banksy’s works highlights the deconstructed nature of meanings / symbols in post-modern society and the trivial / stereotypical perception of values in current society. His innately political almost propaganda like imagery challenges viewer perception and venerates the idea of social rebellion. He is in essence by depicting a typically disruptive figure, the rioting youth, as a conveyor of peace challenging common notions of right and wrong.

The attention to the play of surfaces and imagery without concern for depth of meaning is another key feature of these works: Ai Wei Wei in brandishing a treasured artefact with a coca cola logo amplifies the often false idealism of tradition and hints that the commercial revolution is in fact motivated by similar provocations as traditional social constructs.  This defining feature of post-modern art is Banksy’s forte in an ironic sense he literally plays with surfaces in his choice of substrate for the graffiti medium. Conceptually his work is all over this point, Banksy is a gifted manipulator of social imagery and its according visual language. He turns perceptions on their head, inviting the viewer in with a comfortable dialogue only to turn this sense of security on it’s head, poking fun at the victims of such thought. The irreverent and subliminal nature of Banksy’s works brilliantly references the nature of visual media in post modernity and highlights the post modern rejection of modernist control. The work Los Angeles 2008 is a prime example of this; an evolutionary stage drawing of man coupled with the motif of a fast food meal juxtaposes and challenges a cornucopia of common social paradigms. Namely evolution and the postmodern sense of social mediocrity.

Finally another key facet of post-modern art, which is prolific in the above works, is the deconstruction of the dominance of high culture over pop culture. Hybrid cultural forms are the love child of post modernity. These works definitely fit the bill:

Ai Wei Wei in  “defacing” a high art object with a commercial slogan immediately validates pop/commercial culture as equally as influential as traditional hierarchical constructs. Exposing a dialogue on the motivations of tradition and essentially introducing commercialisation and material culture at the post-modern interpretation of traditional values.  Banksy on the other hand, is more obvious in his approach to this facet of postmoderninty: What you see is what you get in a very literal sense with banksy’s works, his use of a typically low art /vandalistic medium in highly refined technical practice, highlights the hybridity of culture present today. This also pays homage to the power of graffiti and street art to gain a substantial audience both within and outside of the high art gallery setting. It is this universality in appeal and demonstration of visual power, which give banksy his infamous reputation.

Like all post-modern artefacts the works discussed here reference an abundance of concepts, which one could discuss for an eternal period. However even from this brief discussion tit is plain to see that the works contemplated are rife with the ideology of post modernity and all its associated glory. Both Banksy and Ai Wei Wei are masters of creating the meme’s of the art world.

Dropping Han Dynasty Urn,Ai Wei Wei 

References:

Witcombe, C. (2000) Modernism and Post Modernism

http://witcombe.sbc.edu/modernism/modpostmod.html

Saugstad, A. (2001). Postmodernism: What is it and what is wrong with it?”

http://goinside.com/01/1/postmod.html

“Postmodernism” (2011)

http://www.pbs.org/faithandreason/gengloss/postm-body.html

Imagery:

http://theworldsbestever.com/2008/02/new_banksy_pieces_surface_in_l.php

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2009/03/11/how-china-conquered-the-art-world.html