PERSPECTIVES:
ANGLES ON AFRICAN ART
Exhibition Information
• Instiution organizing the exhibition: The Center for African Art
• Curator: Susan Vogel
• Co-curators: Romare Bearden, Robert Farris Thompson, Ivan Karp, Iba N’Diaye,James Baldwin, Nancy
Graves, David Rockefeller, Ekpo Eyo, Lela Kouakou, Wiliam Ruben
• The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and Birmingham Museum of Fine Arts
• 1987
Purpose of the Exhibition
• Is it ok to ones own perspective onto African art?
The Exhibition and my Question
• Though out this exhibition each co-curator picked out 10 pieces of art work
• Give their reasons why they choose each piece
• Perspectives shows that there are many ways in which a person perceives and
is attracted to certain works in African Art, however, should it be presented this
way to a public learning about African art for possibly the first time (much like
this exhibition is doing)?
The Co-Curators
• William Ruben
• Director, Painting and Sculpture MOMA
• Ivan Karp
• Curator African Ethnology Smithsonian Insitution
• Lela Kouakou
• Baule Artist, Diviner, Cote d’Ivoire
• Romare Bearden
• Painter
William Ruben’s perspective
• Role of the art historian
• Abriviation
• “Primitivism”
• Recreating context
• No way of looking at African art with a clean slate…contact with modern art
• Reference to modern art and its artists
• Geometry
• Aduma Mask
• Language of signs
• African and modern
• East and west art prior to
20th century
• Dogon female figure
• Owns one (17 or so pieces
made)
• Geometrical solutions
• Stylization
• Nose- L shape
Ivan Karp’s Perspective
• Social anthropology
• Word art is problematic
• Context in Africa
• Artestry not art
• Can be found scarification
• Disctinction between art objects and non art objects
• Universal asthetics vs culture bound asthetics
• Baule monkey figure
• A lot of anthropomorphizing in African
folklore
• Iteso folklore about baboons
• Illness that affects children
• Washing the baboon ritual
• Shona Neckrest
• Talks about the shape
• Straight line of the bridge
and protrusions in the
bottom
• Shame that cant touch
• Biodegradeable objects
• Meant to be used
• To have history
Lela Kouakou
• Talks of Baule people being exposed to the “arts” from the moment born and more kinds of art being
available as they grow older.
• Before 1945- every one practice craft:spinning/pottery for women; weaving and basket making for men
• No word for art but many words for discriptions
• Few destinction between object and use
• Standing female figure
• Expresses that it is carved well
• Probably a man’s spirit wife
• Not from his village
• Monkey figure
• Asri kofi
• Holds egg in his hand and
receives blood offering
• For male god Mbra. During
divination dances
Romare Bearden’s Perspective
• Looking for African art
• Afican art offering different view of the world
• African art like drums of jazz
• Look at its pulses
• As a melody
• Kusu male figure
• Geometry: Triangular shapes
• Igbo Ikenga figure
• Curves
• pointing
• Not a good melody more like frech
music
Reception
• The exhibition did what it set out to do but many questions arize from the exhibition
• How were the co-curators chosen?
• How were the objects to be presented chosen?
• Was the 100 pieces chosen objectively
Problems
• Kouakou
• Objects presented
• Vogel contradicts herself
• Arts definistion is the ability to transend is own cultural moment
• Not enough information
• Supplemented by vogel and other baule artists
• Rockeffeller choosing a fake
• Is it still art? Authetic African art?
LA Times
• There's nothing wrong with letting down barriers, but this particular
approach seems patronizing or, at best, wrongheaded. The problem
is that "Perspectives" focuses attention on personalities. Visitors are
likely to learn more about the preferences of artist Romare Bearden,
collector David Rockefeller, dealer Ivan Karp and company than
about African sculpture.
• This was during the exhibitions travel to LA
LA Times continued
• The focus may be on the co-curators rather than thinking
about what kind of perspective the viewer wishes to be (ie.
More informed vs aesthetically centered)
