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Familiarizing Myself With The Text
What's Wrong with Museums? African American Artists Review Art History
by Bridget R. Cooks
When I first approach a chapter in the humanities core handbook, I generally read through the entire text to gain an idea of what it is that I am reading. On my second read, I begin to highlight sentences that catch my attention, or that I feel like best represent the main argument or idea of the text.
For instance, on page 138 I used green to highlight sentences I felt stood out as core ideas of chapter 13. On page 139 I used a blue highlighter to highlight the key details Cooks was describing and using as a guide to interpret the oil painting of Henry Darnall III as a Child on page 140.
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Finding a Purpose Behind the Text
Artist
Sanford Biggers
Painting (2014)
Artist
Titus Kaphar
Shifting The Gaze (2017)
Artist
Carrie Mae Weens
And Their Daughter (1995-1996)
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Upon reading chapter 13 of the Humanities Core Handbook, Cooks establishes the purpose of her unit to be centered around the history of Black artists, and how their work has been transformed into being redefined and recognized for their history and artistic power.
Cooks features and describes the work of four distinguished artists--3 of which are listed above-- and provides an informative description in how each artist was able use their artistic skills to inform and educate about the realities of Black people and their silenced experiences and voices. For instance, artist Titus Kaphar is a multimedia artist who remakes original artwork by "cutting, crumpling, tearing, [and] stitching" as a way of manipulating artwork to emphasize a portion of the artwork that may otherwise go unnoticed (146). His artistic tactics can be seen in the artwork centered above, Shifting The Gaze. It appears that Kaphar's focus was the young Black girl centered in the image. To emphasize the figure of the young girl, Kaphar seems to have sporadically painted over the surrounding white figures with what appears to be white paint. In doing so, Kaphar is centering our vision to the young black girl and making us wonder what underlying sentiments and purpose the young girl has.
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Frans Hal, Family Group in a Landscape (1648)
Brief Takeaway From Lecture
During lecture, professor Cooks explored some of the key takeways from observing this painting--some of which I noted along the lines of the following:
1) The children are miniature versions of their parents, which demonstrates how each family member is connected to one another in creating a family unit (Cooks).
2) The Black boy in the painting becomes part of the natural world, and he is also holding freshly caught fish in his hands (Cooks).
In this painting the Black boy goes unnoticed and becomes a mere figure that is disconnected in all forms from the illustrated family. Artist, Titus Kaphar, is able to transform this painting into Shifting The Gaze by making the boy the central focus. Kaphar's version makes one realize that this boy is also human and deserves to be seen as equally deserving of freedom and rights.
Reflection
I personally find it very difficult to look at an image and make connections that run deeper than the surface of what the image may be portraying. I have truly admired how Professor Cooks is able to interpret the artworks covered in her chapter of the humanities core handbook, and how she builds on them in lecture by describing the underlying history and realities that have been overtly shadowed by the lens of white people. Professor Cooks once mentioned in lecture how she once spent analyzing a piece of artwork for about 10 hours, and that in comparison the average person spends a few seconds looking at artwork in a museum. This drastic difference made me realize how much can go unseen and unappreciated in a piece of work when we don't look closely enough. In connection with worldbuilding, one thing I have learned is that it is truly important to acknowledge history beyond the scope of what appears to be the surface, because in order to continue building, we must also learn from the past.
Citations
Banner image from Folklife Magazine: Underground Railroad Quilt Codes: What We Know, What We Believe, and What Inspires Us
Cooks, Bridget R. "Titus Kaphar, Can Art Amend History." Humanities Core, 18 January 2023, BS3 1200, Irvine.
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