Discussion Prompt
Watch all the videos and read all linked content prior to crafting your response(s).
Address the questions in the Discussion Prompt
Provided embedded image example of artworks that help illustrate the point you are trying to make.
A. Artist Within the Art World: In Response to his Personal Life Experiences and Environment
Kehinde Wiley
American artist, Kehinde Wiley, is a painter whose work utilizes the visual language related to 17th-19th Century Eurocentric Academic painting traditions (the Baroque, Rococo, and Romanticism among them) to explore the contemporary Black experience related to each of his subject’s personal style (particularly their clothing). In this video, Wiley discusses his background, work, process, philosophy, and art historical influences.
Watch this 14 minute video about Kehinde Wiley’s background, work, process, philosophy, and art historical influences.
B. Artist as Educator:
Charles White
Keeping in mind that all artists are storytellers, please watch the video Life Model: Charles White and His Students, about Charles White who was an artist and educator at OTIS College of Art and Design in the late 20th century. As students, you are all part of an institutional establishment, but each individual within any establishment has the potential to create change from within.
As you watch the video, pay attention to how Charles White interacted with his students, who he felt art was for, and how he viewed the potential for a diversity of artists to carve out their own places in the predominantly caucasian Eurocentric art establishment. Consider how a single individual can impact a larger community through their own work.
C. Artist Outside a Gallery(s):
Using massive scale photography of the everyday underrepresented segment of society, JR’s work addresses poverty, politics and gender. Bringing social awareness to the public, JR’s work predominantly exists in the public space.
Prompt Guidelines:
Written Analysis – Post Essay Format
Your analysis of these three artists should be evaluated in an essay format. refer to the Discussion Guidelines for more information.
Part 1: Answer all of the following general questions for each of the three artists:
Who is the audience for the for each of these individuals, everyone or a select few? Explain your answer.
How does/did the work of each artist relate to the issues covered in the chapter? Does their work address social justice or question the status quo? How so? Can you relate to their life experiences? If not, why do you think that is? Explain your answers.
Artists are all storytellers in one way or another, how did you respond to hearing the personal stories revolving around each of these artist’s lives?
What role do our own experiences play in the “life” of the artist’s artworks and careers? Feel free to share examples from personal experience(s) to explain your answer.
Part 2: Now that you’ve learned about these artists, chose the one artist, from these videos, whose work resonated with you the most personally. Find a specific artwork (and embed it in the discussion) that you feel best represents this message. Include the artist, title, size, and location (if it’s a visual artwork).
Address the following in your essay:
Artwork embedded, artist, title, size, location.
What is the message/goal of the art? Be specific.
How effectively does the artwork communicate it message? Provide specific examples in you answer. Does the range (the number of viewers) of audience affect this?
Do you think the artist’s success in the artwork is directly related to the size of the audience that see it, since it is about protest? Be specific.
