Global cultures 1980–now
Unit 1: Lesson 10
Figuration, the body, and representation- Identity Politics: From the Margins to the Mainstream
- Stephanie Syjuco, The Visible Invisible
- Wangechi Mutu, Preying Mantra
- Wangechi Mutu, The NewOnes, will free Us
- Marina Abramović, The Artist is Present
- Rineke Dijkstra, Odessa, Ukraine, August 4, 1993
- Maryam Hoseini's Every Day Abstractions
- Jordan Casteel Paints Her Community
- Luchita Hurtado's body of work
- Shirin Neshat, Rebellious Silence, Women of Allah series
- Kehinde Wiley, Napoleon Leading the Army over the Alps
- Kehinde Wiley, Ice T
- Kehinde Wiley, Rumors of War
- Yinka Shonibare, The Swing (After Fragonard)
- Shonibare, The Swing
- Freud, Standing by the Rags
- Kiki Smith, Lying with the Wolf
- Kiki Smith Quiz
- Catherine Opie, Figure and Landscape series
- Stefanie Jackson, Bluest Eye
- Amy Sherald, Precious Jewels by the Sea
- Michelle Browder, Mothers of Gynecology
- Douglas Coupland, Terry Fox Memorial
Stefanie Jackson, Bluest Eye
Key Points
- Jackson uses a surrealistic approach to convey the impact of physical and emotional racial violence on Black girls and the dreams they may conjure to escape or gain freedom from such violence. The surrealistic features of the painting include: disembodied or dematerializing forms; the blurring of boundaries between interior and exterior space; and the externalization of psychological tensions between beauty and ugliness, child and adult.
- Many of the pictorial details in the painting are references to the characters and plot of Toni Morrison’s 1970 novel of the same name. While created almost 30 years apart, Jackson’s and Morrison’s works reflect a broader commitment by Black creatives to repossess the image of Black women and girls, who have been largely absent from the dominant history of visual art and literature.
More to Think About
Both Stefanie Jackson’s painting and the Toni Morrison novel it references prompt us to reflect on a racialized American society. In particular, we are forced to consider how racial trauma around identity, perceptions of beauty, and representation is perpetuated. How do you see this reality portrayed in Jackson’s painting and in our society today?
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