A look back at a 1983 Jean-Michel Basquiat interview forced me to once again consider Toni Morrison's reverberating words. In "Playing in the Dark: Whiteness and Literary Imagination," she argued that "a real or fabricated Africanist presence was crucial to their sense of Americanness." "Their," in this case, meant white literary authors. She posited that they distinguished themselves as a cohesive entity, while their identity and work hinged on the existence of a Black population kept in the shadows - historical integrity be damned.
Morrison's argument can be extended to the world of visual art and, more specifically, to Basquiat's presence in NYC's "neo-expressionist" art movement of the late '70s and early '80s. A year after his 1988 death, the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) was offered Basquiat's work, and the organization declined. Then-Head Curator Ann Temkin contended that his paintings were not marketable. Temkin later admitted, "I didn't recognize it as great,...
Morrison's argument can be extended to the world of visual art and, more specifically, to Basquiat's presence in NYC's "neo-expressionist" art movement of the late '70s and early '80s. A year after his 1988 death, the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) was offered Basquiat's work, and the organization declined. Then-Head Curator Ann Temkin contended that his paintings were not marketable. Temkin later admitted, "I didn't recognize it as great,...
- 2/15/2022
- by marjua estevez
- Popsugar.com
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