Kehinde Wileys Three Graces and a Mash Up of Identity through the lens of Iconography, Neo-Marxist, and Queer Theory

Kolsch, Lindsay ARH 702-OL Prof. Schwartz November 12, 2011

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In 2008, on a chilly night in Chicago, thousands of Americans gathered to celebrate a historic milestone as the first African American President Barack Obama accepted the appointment of the Oval Office.1 Two years later, the situation of African American males has less than improved with unemployment rates with historic highs in twentyseven years at 19%.2 In a startling and even playful contrast, we see Kehinde Wileys larger than life portraits of African American males affront social and economic experience and depiction in his work Three Graces (2005) (Fig. 1). Wileys efforts to create, or rather re-create the black male aesthetic are not only widely successful in the art market, but are powerful works that cannot be achieved with mere formulaic compositions as many critics argue. Exploring African American artist Kehinde Wileys Three Graces (Fig. 1) through the lens of Iconography, Neo-Marxist Theory, and Queer Theory, I argue that the Wiley is constructing an intertextual identity and broadening the meaning of what it is to be seen as black in America. When a viewer encounters Wileys works, as I did in 2008 at the National Portrait Gallerys show RECOGNIZE! The Art of Hip-Hop, there is an immediate familiarity and impression of significance and monumentality of a noted historical painting. Many historians and critics justifiably have initiated criticism or praise of Wileys work through the one of art historys foundational methodology, Iconography. Utilizing the approach developed by Erwin Panofsky we will briefly look at Wileys work with a three level

Alex Johnson, Barack Obama elected 44th president Change has come to America, first African-American leader tells country, MSNBC.com, November 5, 2011, http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27531033/ns/politics-decision_08/t/barack-obama-elected-thpresident/#.TrqS51YalAY, (accessed November 8, 2011) 2 Annalyn Censky, Black unemployment: Highest in 27 years, CNNMoney.com, Sep. 2,2011http://money.cnn.com/2011/09/02/news/economy/black_unemployment_rate/index.htm, (accessed November 8, 2011)

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reading: pre-iconographic, convention or precedent, intrinsic meaning of the image.3 The pre-iconographic level reveals three African-American men arranged tightly in a group, two of the men face the picture plane (A and C) and the middle figure (B) stands between the two men with his back turned (Fig.1). Each figure is dressed in contemporary sportswear, such as a basketball jersey, baseball jersey, sports jacket and jeans. The second level of reading reveals that the formal grouping and arrangement of the figures have a visual and literary correlation to a set of female figures known as the Three Graces. The Graces, or charities, were originally found in Greek mythology and represented joy (Aglaia), charm (Eurynome), and beauty (Thalia).4 The Graces were a source of goodwill and cheer to gods and mortals of Greece and would preside over all festivities and celebrations.5 In addition, based on the formal arrangement of the figures standing in a tight sculptural like grouping we can be distinguished that these Graces are in fact more accurately quoting Roman Graces because typically the Greek Graces were more freely depicted from rendering to rendering dancing or in a variety of poses and arrangements.6 While Wileys group portrait reveals a connection with a mythological text and a visual system of tradition throughout art history, as we move into the third level of iconography we see the deeper meaning revealed through a synthesis of the cultural themes. First, as was clear in the second level of iconography the subject and formal
3

Laurie Schneider Adams, The Methodologies of Art: An Introduction, Westview Press: Boulder, CO; 1996, 36-37 4 Jane Francis, The Three Graces: Composition and Meaning in a Roman Context,Greece & Rome, Second Series, Vol. 49, No. 2 (Oct., 2002), Cambridge University Press, http://0www.jstor.org.library.scad.edu/stable/826905, 180-198, (accessed November 8, 2011) 5 Francis, The Three Graces: Composition and Meaning in a Roman Context,Greece & Rome, Second Series, Vol. 49, No. 2 (Oct., 2002), Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Classical Association, http://0-www.jstor.org.library.scad.edu/stable/826905, 180-198, (accessed November 8, 2011) 6 Ibid.

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arrangement of the graces have been duplicated throughout the history of art. But we see in particular, Wileys work is quoting a visual text of the Renaissance master Raphaels Three Graces (1500-1505)(Fig. 2). In Raphaels work, the women maintain the posture and formal arrangement of 2:1 with the central figures arm embracing the figure to the left and her right arm outstretched holding an apple. The contemporary quotation immediately inserts Wileys work in the narrative of art history and the lineage of Master artists. In addition, the intrinsic meaning is derived by Wileys variations of Raphaels figures, which as in historical tradition are female, (nude except for a shear drapery around one of the Graces loins), they hold red apples, and are placed in an idyllic landscape (Fig.2). This substitution of male for female, African American for Caucasian, and clothed for unclothed figures, is particularly significant. Considering the representation of the Graces shifted between cultures, Greek and Roman, the meaning of Wileys figures can also be read anew and symbolically. If the Graces served a purpose in the culture of Greece, the viewer must ask himself or herself what purpose do they serve in our country? Further our attention is drawn to the attributes of Wileys figures. The decoration of their bodies and perhaps the answer to the viewers question is in how we see this group. The clothing and jewelry become integral in the viewers ability to identify the social and economic role of the in the American landscape. Here the figures are distinct, yet unified in genre, the first wears a basketball jersey, baggy jeans and chain necklace, the second a Negro baseball league jersey, baggy jeans, watch, and a baseball cap, and the third an athletic suit, sports jacket, and large ring, these are young urban African American men (Fig.1).

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The identity of these males are closely associated with sports, and perhaps could be read as boasting of African American achievement within the sports industry. One of the figures wears a Negro League baseball jersey, which alludes to the underlying class and racial distinctions that have been exploited throughout American history. There is an interplay and power given to this group just by being included in a historical visual narrative. Nevertheless, this interpretation generated by the iconography methodology is narrow and limited in its ability to reveal the social and economic implications that shape identity for African American males. Rather, through the lens of Neo-Marxism we will explore how Wileys intentional mash-up of history and contemporary culture provide a statement how African American men attempt to overcome social inequality by being seen as possessors of status symbols of capitalistic society. Neo-Marxism emerged as a methodology in the 1960s and was shaped by the influential writings of Karl Marx (1818-1883). Marx and Friedrich Engels (1820-1895) wrote the Communist Manifesto (1848), which described an inevitable progression of capitalism to communism through the dominant mechanism of change, class struggle.7 Art historians adopted the fundamental ideas of Marx to explain shifts of art. A dominant ideology of this methodology is the basis that the upper class utilizes their wealth to create an illusion of reality in order to oppress the laborer, which is embraced as such despite its oppressive results.8 Eventually, the enlightenment of the laborers will expose

Hatt, Michael and Charlotte Klonk. Marxism and the Social History of Art in Art History: A Critical Introduction to its Methods, Manchester and New York: Manchester University Press, 2006, 120-142. 8 Hadjinicolaou, Nicos. Art History and Class Struggle in Modern Art and Modernism: A Critical Anthology ed. Francis Frascina and Charles Harrison. New York: Harper & Row Publishers, 1982. 243248.

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the conflict of interest, abandon the ideology, and revolt against the upper class.9 Further, Frederick Antal theorized that style in a visual tradition contributes to an ideology and always belongs to a class or a section of a class.10 Several elements of Wileys work Three Graces (Fig.1) lend to a Neo-Marxist discussion and illuminate how this economic struggle and enslavement to consumerism props up the urban male African American identity. Wileys mythological subject matter and the size of the work (6 x 8) lends the work to be classified as a history painting, a genre of art which was esteemed traditionally the highest within the Western canon.11 As an African American male himself, Wileys participation in the tradition is in direct conflict with the genre typically reserved for the extremely wealthy and male Caucasian painters that further propagated the upper class ideology. Wileys work subtly reveals and brings this historical reality to the viewers mind, and then exposes the underlying ideology by placing in the mythological scene the physical likeness of three anonymous African American males from Harlem.12 Wileys method of selecting his models has included randomly selecting and approaching young men that command a type of power as they walk through their urban environment.13 The models are taken back to Wileys studio, participate in choosing a pose from an art history book, and then are photographed in their own
9

Hadjinicolaou, Art History and Class Struggle in Modern Art and Modernism: A Critical Anthology ed. Francis Frascina and Charles Harrison. New York: Harper & Row Publishers, 1982. 243-248. 10 Hadjinicolaou, Art History and Class Struggle, 244 11 Paul Barlow, Introduction: The Death of History Painting in Nineteenth-Century Art? Visual Culture in Britain, Vol. 6, No.1 Summer 2005, Manchester University Press, http://www.manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/uploads/docs/s1_23.pdf, 1, (accessed November 1, 2011) 12 Marianne Combs, Repainting art history, Minnesota Public Radio, March 11, 2005, http://news.minnesota.publicradio.org/features/2005/03/14_combsm_icons/ (accessed October 15, 2011). 13 Krista Thompson, The Sound of Light: Reflections on Art History in the Visual Culture of Hip-Hop, The Art Bulletin 91 no. 4, http://www.collegeart.org/caa/news/index.html, (accessed October 15, 2011).

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clothing.14 In Three Graces, we see that the clothing of the models then reflects the personal style embraced by each man in the painting (Fig.1). The inclusion and special attention given to the clothing reveals the significance Wiley is highlighting of this commodity in shaping these mens identity. More specifically, these men are wearing a specific genre of clothing, sports gear. The prominence of sports gear could provides commentary on the centrality of sports in shaping urban identity, and most specifically points to power and masculinity. Sports in America are a $70 billion dollar industry, but it is one where only a few select individuals can be employed.15 More attractive to participants in the capitalistic framework is the ability to make astronomical paychecks for their performance. Many young African American men relate not only to the physical prowess and capabilities of these athletes, but are provided by the media and advertisers these figures as role models to further perpetuate the illusion and ideology of the upper class. They provide an extremely narrow perspective of success and even more realistically, employment. Wileys process of selecting models that identify themselves as sports fans also shows that these models willingly use these material items as symbols of power and status. For Wiley, including status symbols is both a part of portraitures genre, but here is mash-up and condensed in a historical painting. More importantly however is Wileys presentation of the ideology held by this class of urban African American men and will work to demonstrate how the ideology of capitalism actually further enslaves them and has interests contrary to their

14

Combs, Repainting art history, Minnesota Public Radio, March 11, 2005, http://news.minnesota.publicradio.org/features/2005/03/14_combsm_icons/ (accessed October 15, 2011). 15 U.S. Sports Industry: Nearly a $70 Billion Business, Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association, June 2008, http://www.sgma.com/press/3_U.S.-Sports-Industry%3A-Nearly-a-$70-Billion-Business (accessed November 8, 2011).

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own. Wileys work exposes the commoditization of the African American male identity displayed in the jewelry accessories, clothing and ornate background in Three Graces. Turning to the jewelry, we see that Wileys Three Graces includes likely actual accessories the figures wore and an additional invented one, which we will look at further (Fig.1). First, the significance of incorporation jewelry in the work as a facet in constructing African American identity is the popular cultural phenomenon called bling bling. Bling bling refers literally to the sound of light reflecting off of jewelry and reflective materials such as platinum and diamonds, but is used as slang to denote not only expensive and flashy jewelry but also clothing, other possessions, and the lifestyle associated with hyper consumerism.16 The term and phenomenon of bling bling became a central theme in urban and Hip-Hop culture after it was coined by rapper B.G. in 1998.17 The proliferation of the term and accompanying visual culture was possible through the popularization among a variety of outlets including music videos and in the sports industry. In Krista Thompsons article The Sound of Light: Reflections on Art History in the Visual Culture of Hip-Hop, the potency of bling is its ability to bring visibility to individuals by a heightened state of consumption of commodity, while simultaneously blinding or obliterating vision of onlookers and destroying threats to their prosperity or notoriety.18 Being seen, however, is not about just being recognized, but it is about obtaining a level of power and status through the only means offered to those participating as disadvantaged members of a capitalistic society.

16

Bling Bling, Dictionary.com, 1997, http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/bling+bling?qsrc=2446 (accessed November 8, 2011). 17 Thompson, The Sound of Light: Reflections on Art History in the Visual Culture of Hip-Hop, The Art Bulletin 91 no. 4, http://www.collegeart.org/caa/news/index.html, (accessed October 15, 2011). 18 Ibid.

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Looking again at the origin of bling well-known bling retailer Jeffrey Halfshaq Marino argued the term became popular when athletes like Shaquille ONeil flaunted their championship rings in 2001.19 In Three Graces (Fig.1), we see a spectrum of jewelry on the figures, the first wears a platinum necklace, the second has a large colorful watch, and the third surprisingly wears a large ring featuring a sizeable green stone set on a decorative gold base. In addition, I argue that reflective nature and shiny appearance of the figures clothing allow the sports gear to function here as bling. The clothing is a part of the status signifier. Surprisingly, only one particular piece of bling is not a contemporary piece of jewelry, the seemingly out of place item is the third figures large green ring. The ring features a bright green stone and gold setting, and visually enhances the figures relationship to the golden ornamental pattern in the background and reflects the green apples (Fig. 1). Apples have traditionally represented desire in the Christian tradition stemming from the book of Genesis. Adam and Eve were tempted in the Garden of Eden by the serpent to eat of the tree of Good and Evil, or knowlege. The fruit was forbidden, to be out of their reach. Wileys artistic liberty created a fictitious piece of green jewelry perhaps to serve as a warning against an attitude that fuels African American mens desire (green with envy) to also participate in the consumerist habit of bling bling and even flashy sports gear. The consequences here are the same as it was to Adam and Eve, that these material objects should not be eaten, (or bought) for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.20 Wiley creates not only a picture of African American male identity shaped by consumerism, but the statement of destruction and
19

Bling Etymology, HiphopMusic.com, April 26, 2003, http://www.hiphopmusic.com/archives/000090.html (accessed October 14, 2011). 20 Genesis 2:17 New King James Version

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enslavement they suffer by their capitalistic identity. Yet, the Neo-Marxist approach and Iconography still leaves several important questions about identity uncovered, such as African American male sexuality. Through the lens of Queer Theory methodology, we see how Wiley is able to exposes the normative represent of sexuality and power to suggest that the inclusion of homosexual male identity in the broader African American definition. In Danielle Wallaces article Its a M-A-N Thang: Black Male Gender Role Socialization and the Performance of Masculinity in Love Relationships, she relates that African American maleness includes an outward, often sexualized exhibition of status and wealth.21 Queer Theory investigates the modern preoccupation with otherness and attempts to deconstruct the notion that sexuality is binary, for example homosexual identity in America is defined by being the opposite of a heterosexual.22 Wiley specifically accomplishes this by presenting viewers with an ambiguous display of sexuality among the three male figures in Three Graces (Fig.1). Wileys close copy of Raphaels formal arrangement requires the embrace of the center (B) and left figure (A), but the figure to the far right (C) has a self-reflexive touch and suggests a variety of male sexuality. The male-male interaction between figure A and B is starkly contrasted by their facial expression which is stoic, terse, and perhaps more aligned with the accepted social constructs of maleness and power in urban culture. In particular, the clothing of

21

Danielle M. Wallace, Its a M-A-N Thang: Black Male Gender Role Socialization and the Performance of Masculinity in Love Relationships, Temple University, The Journal of Pan African Studies, vol. 1, no. 7, March 2007. 22 Stephen Valocchi, Not Yet Queer Enough: The Lessons of Queer Theory for the Sociology of Gender and Sexuality, Gender and Society, Vol. 19, No. 6 (Dec., 2005), Sage Publications, 750-770, http://www.jstor.org/stable/27640849 (accessed November 8, 2011)

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these figures accentuates the social constructed maleness that is associated with the hyper-masculine interest and professions in sports. Yet, the viewer senses the sexual tension and the ambiguity of the groupings interactions. In Thomas Bodkins The Approach to Painting, the Graces in Raphaels work (Fig. 2) are theorized to represent the journey of female sexual maturity as the first clothed figure represents a maiden (Chastitas) with the final fully nude woman (Voluptas) represents maturity.23 Wileys substitution of the male figure for female begins to blur binary gender roles and show that sexuality, even for African American men, is not a linear progression. Two figures embrace, the third does not but refers to himself with a limp feminine wrist and feminine jewelry, a large ornate ring. The icons or symbolic identifiers of gender begin to loose their clear definition in this arrangement. Further, Wileys retention of the traditionally female pose yet display of male figures creates a sort of cross dressing image and representation of identity similar to one found throughout art history like Caravaggios Boy with basket of fruit (1593)(Fig.3). The historical precedence of this fluid sexuality among African American men can be noticed in the case of Peter Sewally, an African American man arrested for stealing while dressed as Mary Jones, a female prostitute.24 When interrogated about who, where he was from, and what he was Sewally replied simply I am a man. Sewally was featured in a lithography depicting the male dressed in female costume (Fig. 4). Perhaps the significance of this lithograph is the presence of gender and sexuality in flux among the African American males. Finally, Wiley, who is an openly homosexual, blurs boundaries of what it means for a male to approach another male in a homosexual or
23
24

Thomas Bodkin, The Approach to Painting, Collins: London, 1945. 107. Jonathan Ned Katz and Tavia Nyongo, "Visualizing the Man-Monster," OutHistory.org http://outhistory.org/wiki/1:_The_Man-Monster_Story (accessed November 8, 2011)

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heterosexual way he approaches young men off the street to find models. Ultimately, Wiley is able to demonstrate through this work that there is a key identity missing from the commonly perceived community of urban African American male sexual identity. On the surface, African American artist Kehinde Wileys work Three Graces can appear as an ironic posturing of contemporary youth in historical poses. However, upon reexamination, an iconographical and Neo-Marxist Theory demonstrate poignant statements about the existing commoditization of the urban African American male image. The work offers up these ideologies for scrutiny and challenges viewers to reexamine the pop culture images that further propagate the capitalist system. In addition, through the lens of queer theory we recognize that Wileys work functions to expand the scope and possibilities of sexuality as it creates and solidifies identity among this demographic.

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Bibliography Adams, Laurie Schneider. The Methodologies of Art: An Introduction, Westview Press: Boulder, CO. 1996. Ashe, Bertram D. Theorizing the Post-Soul Aesthetic: An Introduction, African American Review, Vol. 41, No. 4, Post-Soul Aesthetic, University of St. Louis (Winter, 2007), 609-623. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25426980. Accessed September 30, 2011. Barlow, Paul.Introduction: The Death of History Painting in Nineteenth-Century Art? Visual Culture in Britain, Vol. 6, No.1 Summer 2005, Manchester University Press. http://www.manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/uploads/docs/s1_23.pdf. Accessed November 1, 2011. Bling Bling, Dictionary.com, 1997. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/bling+bling?qsrc=2446. Accessed November 8, 2011. Bling Etymology. HiphopMusic.com, April 26, 2003. http://www.hiphopmusic.com/archives/000090.html/. Accessed October 14, 2011. Bodkin, Thomas. The Approach to Painting, Collins: London, 1945. Cartwright, Julia. Early Work of Raphael. Kessinger Publishing, 2006. 14. Censky, Annalyn. Black unemployment: Highest in 27 years. CNN Money.com, September 2, 2011. http://money.cnn.com/2011/09/02/news/economy/black_unemployment_rate/inde x.htm. Accessed November 8, 2011. Cole, Michael Wayne. Sixteenth-century Italian Art, Wiley-Blackwell, 2006. 42-44. Combs, Marianne. Repainting Art History. Minnesota Public Radio March 11, 2005, http://news.minnesota.publicradio.org/features/2005/03/14_combsm_icons/. Accessed September 30, 2011. Davis, Brendan and Lydia Ward, Kehinde Wiley," ARTinterview online magazine, issue 009, 2008. http://www.artinterview.com/Issue_009/interview_Wiley_Kehinde.html. Accessed September 30, 2011.

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Francis, Jane. The Three Graces: Composition and Meaning in a Roman Context in Greece & Rome, Second Series, Vol. 49, No. 2, October 2002. Cambridge University Press, 180-198. http://0-www.jstor.org.library.scad.edu/stable/826905. Accessed November 8, 2011. Hatt, Michael and Charlotte Klonk. Marxism and the Social History of Art in Art History: A Critical Introduction to its Methods, Manchester and New York: Manchester University Press, 2006, 120-142. Hadjinicolaou, Nicos. Art History and Class Struggle in Modern Art and Modernism: A Critical Anthology ed. Francis Frascina and Charles Harrison. New York: Harper & Row Publishers, 1982. 243-248. Johnson, Alex. Barack Obama elected 44th president Change has come to America, first African-American leader tells country. MSNBC.com, November 5, 2011. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27531033/ns/politics-decision_08/t/barack-obamaelected-th-president/#.TrqS51YalAY. Accessed November 8, 2011. Katz, Jonathan Ned and Tavia Nyongo. "Visualizing the Man-Monster." OutHistory.org http://outhistory.org/wiki/1:_The_Man-Monster_Story. Accessed November 8, 2011. Kehinde Wiley: Artist File. Deitch, http://www.deitch.com/files/artists/KWBio.pdf. Accessed August 28, 2011. Kim, Christine Y. Kehinde Wiley Faux Real Issue Magazine, December 2003. Accessed September 30, 2011. Murray, Derek Conrad. Hip-Hop vs. High Art: Notes on Race as Spectacle. Art Journal, Vol. 63, No. 2, College Art Association (Summer, 2004), 4-19. http://www.jstor.org/stable/4134516. Accessed September 30, 2011. Painting: Kehinde Wiley National Portrait Gallery. http://www.npg.si.edu/exhibit/recognize/paintings.html. Accessed September 30, 2011. Raphael, Steven. The Socioeconomic Status of Black Males: The Increasing Importance of Incarceration. Goldman School of Public Policy: University of California, Berkeley (2004). http://urbanpolicy.berkeley.edu/pdf/ch8raphael0304.pdf. Accessed October 1, 2011. Rodgers, William M. III. The Color Of Opportunity; Understanding the Black-White Earnings Gap. The American Prospect. October, 2008 Vol.19 Number 10, Pg. A6

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Sorkin, Jenni. Kehinde Wiley. Frieze.com Issue 118 October 2008. http://0www.frieze.com.library.scad.edu/issue/article/kehinde_wiley/. Accessed September 29, 2011. Thompson, Krista. The Sound of Light: Reflections on Art History in the Visual Culture of Hip-Hop. The Art Bulletin, vol. 91 no 4, 2009, 481-505. http://www.collegeart.org/caa/news/index.html. Accessed October 15, 2011. U.S. Sports Industry: Nearly a $70 Billion Business. Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association, June 2008. http://www.sgma.com/press/3_U.S.-SportsIndustry%3A-Nearly-a-$70-Billion-Business. Accessed November 8, 2011. Valocchi, Stephen. Not Yet Queer Enough: The Lessons of Queer Theory for the Sociology of Gender and Sexuality. Gender and Society, Vol. 19, No. 6, 2005, Sage Publications, 750-770, http://www.jstor.org/stable/27640849. Accessed November 8, 2011. Wallace, Danielle M. Its a M-A-N Thang: Black Male Gender Role Socialization and the Performance of Masculinity in Love Relationships. Temple University The Journal of Pan African Studies, vol. 1, no. 7, March 2007 Yaeger, Patricia. Editors Column: Black Men Dressed in Gold. PMLA, Vol. 124, Number 1, January 2009, 1124.