It’s February! Do you know what that means? It’s Black History Month! It’s important to highlight prolific black artists during this month and show them some love. This may come as a surprise, but a big part of my college career was focused on contemporary black artists, and if there is an artist I believe encompasses the essence of this month, it would be none other than Yinka Shonibare.
Shonibare is a British-Nigerian artist working in the United Kingdom creating brightly colored Dutch Wax fabrics that are deeply associated with Africa. Dutch Wax textiles are vividly colored often with bold patterns that are typically associated with African dress. These textiles were originally created by the Dutch using Indonesian techniques for and marketed towards Dutch settlers in Africa. However, they fell flat when it came to gripping European settlers’ attention and ultimately performed poorly. However, the bold fabric became of great interest to the native population, so the Dutch switched gears and marketed the textiles towards the African population instead. This boldly colored textile ultimately became synonymous with African dress.
Shonibare creates a discussion around cultural identity, colonialism, and post-colonialism using these fabrics throughout his works. His piece “How Does a Girl Like You Get to Be a Girl Like You?” plays with these sentiments. The work displays three women’s costumes of late 19th century European dress created with Dutch Wax textiles. The idea behind the display is that African fabrics display African identity, however the reality is that most of these fabrics are still made in Europe with little to no African influence on the design or company boards. A symbol of nationalism for a large group of people is still linked colonialism, and that is an important thing that should be discussed.
Another prolific artist that needs recognition is a RISD graduate, Kara Walker. Walker’s work pushes racial boundaries to the max and doesn’t shy away from controversy. Her works deal with stereotypical black images in an exceedingly controversial way. One of her works titled A Means to an End: A Shadow Drama in Five Acts was pulled from a 1999 exhibition at the Detroit Institute of Arts because of the antebellum imagery. The cut outs that Walker utilizes was a popular home decoration technique in early American households meshing what is supposed to be a beautiful tradition with bold and often disturbing images of the Antebellum Period.
Both Walker and Shonibare create a discussion around both historic and current realities of living as people of color in predominantly white societies. This February, why not take a look at some art by black artists? Who knows, you might just learn something new!
