The Collective Magazine
The Collective Magazine은 Champaign-Urbana의 아트 + 컬쳐 매거진입니다.
2020년 학부 마지막 학기 동안 The Collective Magazine의 writer로 활동하며 크레이티브 작품을 바탕으로 장편 기사 제작했습니다.
당시 Black Lives Matter Movement로 미국 사회는 혼란과 두려움으로 가득했습니다. 저는 BLM의 움직임과 영향을 미국 미술 시장으로 localize 했습니다. 이를 통해 당시 알려지지 않은 흑인 예술가들의 경험을 기사에 담았습니다. 중서부 예술가들과 5번의 심층 인터뷰 진행하고 미국 미술 산업에 관한 광범위한 조사를 했습니다. 또, 무겁고 중요한 주제인 만큼 많은 독자에게 닿기 위해 그래픽 디자이너와의 콜라보레이션을 통한 기사의 크리에이티브 표현 제작에 참여했습니다. 긴 이야기를 짧은 영상으로 만들어 SNS 채널에 올리기 위해 어도비 프리미어 프로와 어도비 일러스트레이터 활용능력을 개발했습니다.
Controversial한 이야기들을 녹여냄으로 리서치, 인터뷰와 소통의 깊이를 배웠습니다.
Being Black in Art: The Complex Progression In a Billion Dollar Industry
“Oh, America’s racist,” said Dud Lawson, a Chicago printmaker, on the reasons behind America’s delay in Black art appreciation.
Gallery exhibitors, a lot of the time, when they showcase Black artists, they make sure it is obvious that the pieces are by a Black artist, Lawson said. It is his hope that these exhibitions were produced by newly hired people of color working behind the scenes. In reality, Lawson knows that exhibits of Black artists are produced predominantly for the work that showcase their racial background. The exposure, while the intentions are not ideal, can be beneficial.
“There’s a negative side to anything. At the end of the day, everybody’s just trying to make money,” Lawson said. “And plus, the fact that it comes back to giving opportunities to folks and that’s — I’d say, there’s an overall positive there.”
Lawson recognizes a shift in exhibitions of Black artists. Spaces have been created just for Black artists, taking initial steps to steadily reduce issues of representation in the industry. In the U.S., more than 70 Black-owned or Black-founded museums, art galleries and spaces have been created to increase visibility.
“It’s really interesting to me, because when I was a child … the thing that I would always do is go through, look at the Renaissance paintings and, just look for Black people depicted in them, because it was rare that they were there,” Lawson said. “And it was just really interesting to see them depicted that way. And so, the fact that there’s a museum where you can just remove any of that, and it’s just like, yeah, I’m gonna see myself in all of this. But even if there’s not figurative images right there, you know who’s creating it, you know the mindset behind it.”
The U.S. art industry is invested in creative minds, reaching nearly $30 billion in sales, according to a 2019 report by The Art Basel and Union Bank of Switzerland. Of the works in major U.S. collections, only 1.2% belong to Black artists, according to a study by scientific journal PLOS One.
The force of the Black Lives Matter movement over the past summer is making progress toward its mission “to eradicate white supremacy and build local power to intervene in violence inflicted on Black communities by the state and vigilantes,” according to the official Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation. Almost a decade has passed since the movement rose; over half a century since the Civil Rights Movement ended, yet the U.S. art scene remains unhinged.
Brittany Crutcher, University of Illinois junior in studio art, believes underlying censorship is actively delaying the U.S. from reaching the rest of the world. It is not a matter of whether Europe is less racist, but its ability to separate the art from the artist.
Although the mindset opens museum doors, creative work empompasses both the art and the artist; without this acknowledgment, the full story would not be told.
“Americans are very sensitive. And in other countries, they just appreciate art for what it is,” Crutcher said.
An artist who happens to be Black
Joi Fulton, 2D/3D illustrator based in Chicago, centered her work on what she felt was expected from her creations as a Black artist. Relieving internal pressures to produce pieces on trauma, Fulton created emotional and visually dark pieces centered around her Blackness.
“I wasn’t just seen as an artist who was Black, I was seen as a Black artist … it was kind of expected that I was sharing a story through my work, like constantly. And it was this expectation that was brought on me without my consent, in a way,” Fulton said.
The young artist was only creating what she thought she had to: her life as a Black person, the struggle, the negative. The artwork that presents powerful Black stories in history holds great strength. At times, these pieces’ execution calls for numerous requirements keeping artists like Fulton from creating. To be an artist, just an artist, is not simple for Black artists.
Critiques Crutcher receives from her peers and professors frequently link to Black oppression, regardless of her intentions. It is unavoidable, these comments are now embedded into her.
Part of Crutcher’s education includes how to be quiet and listen to professors. It’s a lesson she knows needs to change.
“I just want to draw a picture,” Crutcher said. “We don’t have a lot of like literal, more freedom when it comes to our pieces and it’s really, it’s very annoying because they expect us to reflect our oppression throughout our art. Sometimes we just want to be free.”
Originality: Appropriation or Inspiration?
Ghetto, unprofessional, ratchet. The list goes on in various demeaning forms. Acrylic nails, hoop earrings, bagging clothing, braids were all oppressed until someone, most likely a white person, decided it was trendy. Marginalized groups have been stigmatized for their cultural practices for too long and it has only recently started to peel away.
Cherry picking, shopping elements of Black culture and slapping an “inspired by” label on their “new style” feeds into big money industries continuing the toxic cycle of cultural appropriation.
It is not just celebrities and large corporations that are profiting from and supporting the appropriation of Black culture. For decades, nameplate necklaces have been a statement for coming of age and asserting a sense of self for Black people and other ethnic minorities. Today, it is most likely you or someone you know has a nameplate necklace without realizing where the “trend” started.
Kymani Jendaye Davis-Williams is a junior studying dance at the University of Illinois. While dancing keeps her busy academically, fashion is another outlet for her creativity. The appropriation in the fashion industry is nothing new for Davis-Williams, it’s an issue that needed to be addressed from the beginning.
“I see a lot of like, high-end fashion artists, or Instagram stars like Kylie Jenner, people that they so called, started the trend or just started wearing it. And this is like, that’s been here and started by Black artists a long time ago. So I feel like we should have been credited for that,” Davis-Williams said.
Expanding her art to fashion, Crutcher drew paintings onto acrylic nails. Drawing inspiration from the abundance of acrylic nails she saw on social media that contradicts previous negative connotations, Crutcher recreated John Everett Millais’ “Ophelia” onto a full set. The original piece portrays Ophelia’s madness, hopelessness and powerlessness after her father, Polonius, was killed by Hamlet; realizing the power the men in her life hold.
Crutcher interprets the painting as a story that follows the lives of Black women that are dictated by what a white man allows, expecting them to “live through the overwhelming feelings of hopelessness and powerlessness that Ophelia died with.”
The influence of Black art in mainstream art scenes is a win for her, but the execution needs work.
“The difference between the appreciation of the culture and the appropriation of the culture once you (wrongfully) claim it — that’s the issue,” Crutcher said. “If they acknowledge that it’s from Black culture and stuff like that, I feel like it’s fine. But other than that, it’s a little sketchy.”
There is no excuse for appropriation, but in the art community, the line is quite different.
“At the end of the day, nobody’s really that original, like somebody can do something in a way that hasn’t been done specifically that way before,” Lawson said. ”Every piece of artwork is just essentially expressing something or telling a story. And there’s a limited range of human emotions. So it’s like, what exactly are you showing probably isn’t something that nobody’s ever felt before.”
Originality is very rare. Lawson believes inspiration can look a lot more sinister than it actually is, yet numerous forms of art in mass media are most likely produced pulling inspiration from a Black artist.
“I feel like, most things are inspired by something else, nothing’s created in a vacuum. And when you’re looking and seeking out things to be inspired by, the likelihood is that it’s probably going to lead you to a Black artist. Not necessarily American,” Lawson said.
For Lawson, it is more important to create something nobody else can, even if it’s his handwriting. This is not an excuse for ignoring the credits. Recognition is essential.
Fulton, however, does not see “trend setting” in the art seen in masses. The pointer is closer to appreciation under a microscope. Extensive research and call for a history conscious mindset is a significant part of creating art. Recognition is not a strong suit for the art scene but does exist.
The wave of BLM
The politicized human rights issue, Black Lives Matter, has gathered more people, educated generations and created a wave of positive force to the Black community all within the past summer. The 2020 Black Lives Matter protests influenced not only Americans but all global citizens like no other in the past. The movement’s measurable impact is undeniable.
Social media has played a pivotal role in the BLM impact. Black-owned businesses are being highlighted, microaggressions are being addressed and Black creativity is being celebrated.
“People are starting to understand that we should be recognized and that we should not be looked over. Because we are mostly, the main influencers of a lot of arts,” Davis-Williams said.
In all honesty, Crutcher believes that people are just “tired of white people’s bullshit.”
This has happened before, in a comparatively minor way, and disappeared quite quickly. How long this will last before the nation loses another innocent Black life, goes back into the 50s is never out of the question.
“No, I don’t think it’ll last,” Lawson said.
Black squares on Instagram quickly moved down profiles and were replaced with brunch pictures. Lawson said it was as if people were scared to post anything that wasn’t woke enough; it was “performative wokeness.”
Doors opened for Fulton. BLM forced companies and the art industry to confront neglected issues on diversity and inclusivity. However, it isn’t all positive. During Black History Month, Black illustrators like Fulton were asked to create illustrations of BLM. The intentions were good and Fulton was grateful to have been asked, but the frustration of being told to only create on Black stories was conflicting.
The focus on Black artists is what’s important to Lawson, regardless of how genuine the intentions are.
“I really don’t think that the intent behind exposing or giving more light to artists of color really matters as long as when somebody sees it. Because at the end of the day, that’s what art is, like you’re trying to make something that somebody likes,” Lawson said.