Black Portraiture[s]: The Black Body in the West

226 Pages·2016·30.738 MB·English

by  Cheryl Finley, Deborah Willis

Nka
5 RAMEZ ELIAS
IN MEMORIAM 19582016
JOURNAL OF CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN ART
FOUNDED 1994 6 FROM THE EDITORS
Cheryl Finley and Deborah Willis
FOUNDING PUBLISHER
Okwui Enwezor 8 THE SLAVE AT THE LOUVRE
AN INVISIBLE HUMANITY
EDITORS
Françoise Vergès
Okwui Enwezor
Salah M. Hassan
14 WHO’S ZOOMIN’ WHO?
Chika Okeke-Agulu
THE EYES OF DONYALE LUNA
ASSOCIATE EDITORS
Richard J. Powell
Sarah Adams • Carl Hazelwood • Nancy Hynes
Derek Conrad Murray • Sunanda Sanyal CONTENTS
CONSULTING EDITORS
Rory Bester • Isolde Brielmaier • Coco Fusco
NUMBER 38–39, 2016
Kendell Geers • Michael Godby • Elizabeth Harney
Thomas Mulcaire • O. Donald Odita • Gilane Tawadros
Frank Ugiomoh 22 DEFACING THE GAZE
MANAGING EDITOR AND REIMAGINING THE
Clare Ulrich BLACK BODY
GRAPHIC DESIGN CONTEMPORARY CARIBBEAN WOMEN
Marshall Hopkins ARTISTS
Michelle Stephens
ADVISORY BOARD
Norbert Aas • Florence Alexis • Rashid Diab 32 BLACK, QUEER, DANDY
Manthia Diawara • Elsabet Giorgis • Freida High
THE BEAUTY WITHOUT WHOM
dele jegede • Kellie Jones • Sandra Klopper
WE CANNOT LIVE
David Koloane • Bongi Dhlomo Mautloa
Monica L. Miller
Gerardo Mosquera • Helen Evans Ramsaran
Ibrahim El Salahi • Janet Stanley • Obiora Udechukwu
Gavin Younge • Octavio Zaya 40 POSING THE BLACK PAINTER
KERRY JAMES MARSHALL’S PORTRAITS OF
Cover: Barkley L. Hendricks, Photo Bloke, 2016. Oil and acrylic on linen, 72 x ARTISTS’ SELFPORTRAITS
48 in. Courtesy the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York. © Barkley L.
Peter Erickson
Hendricks
52 AU NÈGRE JOYEUX
Nka wishes to acknowledge support for the publication of the journal
EVERYDAY ANTIBLACKNESS
through generous grants from the Andy Warhol Foundation for the
GUISED AS PUBLIC ART
Visual Arts, the Prince Claus Fund for Culture and Development,
The Hague, Netherlands, and David Hammons. Trica Keaton
Andy Warhol Foundation 60 SAGA BWOYS AND
RUDE BWOYS
MIGRATION, GROOMING, AND DANDYISM
Michael McMillan
Nka is published by Duke University Press
on behalf of Nka Publications.
70 PORTRAITS IN BLACK 152 JAMES BARNOR
STYLING, SPACE, AND SELF IN THE EVER YOUNG, NEVER SLEEP
WORK OF BARKLEY L. HENDRICKS AND Renée Mussai
ELIZABETH COLOMBA
Anna Arabindan-Kesson 162 MAKING SPACE,
CHANGING SPACE
80 POSTPOST
BLACK PEOPLE AND NEW MUSEUMS
BLACK?
Ngaire Blankenberg
Nana Adusei-Poku
168 OTA BENGA IN THE ARCHIVES
90 CONFESSIONS OF UNMAKING MYTHS, MAPPING RESISTANCE
A BLACK FEMINIST ACADEMIC IN THE MARGINS OF HISTORY
Pamela Newkirk
PORNOGRAPHER
Mireille Miller-Young
174 BUST BRAWL
THE BATTLE OVER A BLACK BRONZE
96 A PICTURE’S WORTH
PRINCE
TOWARD THEORIZING A BLACK/QUEER
Yemane I. Demissie
GAZE IN THE INTERNET “PORNUTOPIA”
Jafari Sinclaire Allen
182 BENDING HISTORY
Maaza Mengiste
102 ICONS BROUGHT
FORWARD 186 DIFFERENT, BUT NOT ABNORMAL
RENÉE COX’S QUEEN “OUT” IN AFRICA
NANNY OF THE Lyle Ashton Harris
MAROONS
Kimberli Gant 196 RECLAIMING HISTORY
A VISUAL ESSAY
110 THE UNNAMED BODY
Elizabeth Colomba
ENCOUNTERING, COMMODIFYING,
AND CODIFYING THE IMAGE OF 202 FROM BODY TO DISEMBODIMENT
THE BLACK FEMALE
Jean-Ulrick Désert
Alissandra Cummins and Allison Thompson
210 BLACK PRESENCE IN
122 NO MORE “POISONOUS,
FRANCE
DISRESPECTFUL, AND SKEWED
Lewis Watts
IMAGES OF BLACK PEOPLE”
BARBARA WALKER’S LOUDER THAN WORDS
REVIEWS
Celeste-Marie Bernier
134 HANK WILLIS THOMAS
218 READING BASQUIAT
A NECESSARY CAUTION
EXPLORING AMBIVALENCE IN
Kerr Houston
AMERICAN ART
142 NO BODY’S PERFECT
220 A NEW REPUBLIC
Kanitra Fletcher
KEHINDE WILEY

RAMEZ ELIAS
In Memoriam (1958–2016)
t is with deep sorrow that we, the editors of Nka:
I
Journal of Contemporary African Art, mourn
the death of Ramez Elias, who passed away on
Thursday, April 21, 2016, in Paris, France. Ramez
was the designer of Nka for the last sixteen years. A
remarkably talented artist, Ramez has left an indelible
mark on the design of Nka, shaping its character, not
only as a leading journal, but also as an elegant one in
the field of contemporary and African and African
diaspora art. Ramez was not just a brilliant designer; he
was a dear friend. He was generous, kind-hearted, and
a very caring human being. Words fail to convey our
loss and sadness. But here at Nka, we shall continue to
build on the design vision he established and that has
taken us this far.
Ramez studied at the American University in Cairo
before moving to Ithaca, where he lived beginning in
1994. He was a multitalented and creative individual.
In addition to being a designer, he was also a gifted
theater actor who performed with groups such as Al
Warsha, an experimental theater company based in
Cairo, Egypt. Ramez hailed from a prominent Egyptian
family that played a pioneering role in the rise of the
independent publishing industry in Egypt since the
early part of the twentieth century. His grandfather,
Elias Anton Elias, a well-known modernist intellectual
and the author of one of the first Arabic-English dic-
tionaries in Egypt, founded in 1913 the Elias Modern
Publishing House, which has contributed tremen-
dously to publishing in the fields of literature, arts, and
children’s books.
Our sincere condolences to our dear friend Natalie
Melas, Ramez’s wife; his brother, Nadim Elias, and his
wife, Laura Elias; his nephews, Sammy and Karim; his
niece, Nada El Omari; his brother-in-law, Majdi El
Omari; and the extended family and friends in Egypt
and Ithaca, New York.
Rest in peace, Ramez. Your memory and the beauty
you brought to our lives will forever stay with us and
guide us to better horizons.
Okwui Enwezor
Chika Okeke-Agulu
Salah M. Hassan
Journal of Contemporary African Art • 38–39 • November 2016 Nka • 5
DOI # 10.1215/10757163-3777031 © 2016 by Nka Publications
From the Editors
Diakhaté, and Jaira Placide (New York University,
Institute of African American Affairs); Awam
Ampka (New York University, Tisch School of the
BLACK PORTRAITURE[S]
Arts, Department of Social and Cultural Analysis);
Thelma Golden (The Studio Museum in Harlem);
In Bamako we say, “I ka nye tan,” which, in English, Jean-Paul Colleyn (L’École des hautes études en
means “You look well,” but, in fact, it means, “You sciences sociales, Centre d’études Africaines); and
look beautiful like that.” Anne-Christine Taylor-Descola, Anna Laban, and
Seydou Keita Christine Barthe (Musée du quai Branly).
The essays offered in this special issue of Nka
ow the black body has been imaged in the were gathered from that historic meeting in Paris
H
West has always been a rich site for global from January 17 to 20, 2013, and offer the most
examination and contestation. The represen- cutting-edge perspectives on the production and
tation and depiction of black peoples often has been skill of black self-representation, desire, and the
governed by prevailing attitudes about race and sex- exchange of the gaze from the nineteenth century to
uality. From the ubiquitous Renaissance paintings the present day in fashion, film, art, and the archive.
that picture black people as the sublime backdrop Artists, historians, designers, writers, and image
or purposely attracting the lustful gaze of the other, makers from around the world gathered in Paris
to the 2012 French Elle magazine’s article on First to discuss the state of the black portrait circulating
Lady Michelle Obama’s sense of style finally filtering in the present and in the past. They asked: How are
down to the fashion-strapped black masses, to the these images—both positive and negative—exposed
2012 Italian Vogue special issue on African fashion, to define, replicate, and transform the black body?
there is evidence that discussion of the black body Why and how does the black body become a pur-
remains relevant. How the black body is displayed chasable, global marketplace, and what are its lega-
and viewed changes with each generation, con- cies? In what visual and nonvisual spaces do these
stantly allowing young diasporic innovators from images and instances either take permanent resi-
the Americas, Europe, Africa, and the Caribbean dence, reemerge, recycle, or simply become illegi-
to add their own ideas about reinvention and ble? How can performing blackness be liberating for
self-representation. To be sure, the universality both the performer and the audience? Can the black
of black culture and its global presence has played body be deracialized to emphasize cultural group-
a leading role in mainstream sports, music, perfor- ings, encouraging appropriation and varied perfor-
mance, fashion, and visual arts, with implications mances across racial lines? Finally, and importantly,
worthy of much critique. what are the responses and implications?
Paris, an internationally key and highly These are some of the questions that were posed
influential Western space in all things concerning over the four-day conference held at noteworthy
the visual arts and modernity, was the perfect venues across the snowy city of Paris, including
stage for  Black  Portraiture[s]: The  Black  Body L’École des Beaux-Arts, the Université de Paris
in the West, the fifth in the series of visual art 7, and the musée du quai Branly, where a riveting
conferences organized by Harvard University film series was held on the last day. Discussions
and New York University since 2004 and jointly also focused on aesthetics, vernacular style, fashion,
presented in 2013 with L’École des hautes études en and ethnography in describing a sense of place and
sciences sociales (the School for Advanced Studies identity. Day after day, participants and presenters
in the Social Sciences), musée du quai Branly, and conducted diverse visual readings of the notion of
Cornell University. We were honored to participate the black portrait while challenging conventional
as conference organizers with professionals perspectives on identity, beauty, cosmopolitanism,
representing a wide range of disciplines. They and community in Africa and its diaspora.
included Henry Louis Gates Jr. (Harvard University, Through a series of panels, films, and read-
W. E. B. Du Bois Institute); Manthia Diawara, Lydie ings, Black Portraiture[s] included a wide range of
6 • Nka Journal of Contemporary African Art • 38–39 • November 2016
DOI 10.1215/10757163-3641612 © 2016 by Nka Publications
discussions relating to the experiences of a people contemporary black portraiture. All in all, we believe
who have been caricatured through much of visual that the essays presented in Black Portraiture[s]
history, particularly in nineteenth-century anthro- offer an important collective story told through
pological and colonial photography. Presenters multiple voices.
also explored how African men and women used What makes this collection of essays so exciting
photography, and later environmental portraiture, and critical is its broad focus on the black portrait
film, fashion, art, and performance, to experiment and the important aesthetic and ideological issues it
with varied ideas of themselves and to ultimately continues to engage. Drawing on the ideas and works
honor how they see themselves and wish to be seen of leading and emerging writers of our time while
by others. For example, they demonstrated how including the discussions of photographers, schol-
some photographers, often in collaboration with ars, artists, curators, and filmmakers of the African
their subjects, created idealized poses, while others diaspora, the Black Portraiture[s] conference clearly
displayed active confidence through style and dress. revolved around collaboration, building upon the
Scholars, artists, and writers alike unabashedly strengths of each of the organizing institutions as
proved how these individuals sought to celebrate well as the curators, writers, artists, filmmakers, and
their beauty and style, whether in Senegal, France, photographers whose visualization of the African
Jamaica, New York, or all around the world. diaspora has guided these crucial discussions about
As in the past, photographs and film today are art and representation. By featuring some of the
considered visual testimony of a collective memory. most extraordinary writers, historians, artists, and
Even now, race and power guide our visual reading theorists working today, we hope this special issue
of these images, which both entice and incite. What of Nka, based on the conference, enables readers to
we imagine and know about these subjects through see that the image remains ever powerful in an age
the visual image is mediated through the insight of where black lives matter.
curators, historians, writers, poets, photographers,
filmmakers, and visual artists and is framed within Cheryl Finley is an associate professor and director
the experience of the idealized portrait, whether of visual studies in the Department of the History of
in art, fashion, film, or documentary photography. Art at Cornell University. Deborah Willis is profes-
“Having a portrait taken by [the well-known Malian sor and chair of the Department of Photography and
photographer] Seydou Keita . . . signified that the Imaging at New York University’s Tisch School of the
sitter was modern,” according to Manthia Diawara. Arts.
“To go before Keita’s lens is to pass the test of
modernity, to be transformed as an urbane subject Notes
even if one has no power in the market or at the 1 Manthia Diawara, “Talk of the Town,” Artforum 36 (February
1998): 67.
train station.”1
Finley/Willis
Thus, African photographers today are recon-
structing their experiences of life by capturing
moments through visual testimony. Writers and
curators today are framing exhibitions in novel
ways in urban spaces as well as in popular museum
settings. By including a discussion of fashion, we
continue to bring international attention to con-
temporary designers and photographers and bring
to light the social and aesthetic impact their work
has made in defining this art form. Some authors
use theoretical and analytical tools of art history
and film studies, while others mine the wealth of
popular imagery to demonstrate the complexity
found in mapping and reading both historical and
Finley and Willis Nka • 7
THE SLAVE
AT THE LOUVRE
AN INVISIBLE HUMANITY
Françoise Vergès n 2012, for the Paris Triennial, I organized a
I
program called “The Slave at the Louvre: An
Invisible Humanity,” hosting guided visits to
look for the ghosts of slaves in the Louvre. Built in
1793, the museum collects work dating through
1848 (everything post-1848 being housed in the
Musée d’Orsay). These two dates carry particular
resonance for the history of slavery in the French
colonies. On August 29, 1793, following the 1791
slaves’ insurrection, the French colony of Saint-
Domingue abolished slavery, and on April 27, 1848,
slavery was finally abolished in all of the French
colonies. In May 1802 Napoleon Bonaparte rejected
the decree of February 4, 1794, abolishing slavery
in French colonies, and reinstated slavery. France is
the only European country to have abolished slav-
ery twice.
It was thus interesting to visit the Louvre, whose
collection is framed between these two dates, to see
how modern slavery has been represented, or not.
8 • Nka Journal of Contemporary African Art • 38–39 • November 2016
DOI 10.1215/10757163-3641623 © 2016 by Nka Publications
Jan Steen (1626–79), La Mauvaise compagnie (Wicked Company). Oil on wood, 0.414 x 0.655 m.
Courtesy Musée du Louvre. © RMN-Grand Palais (Musée du Louvre). Photo: Adrien Didierjean
Vergès Nka • 9