This week we will examine the art concerned with the conditions to which all people are born.

Chapter 12, Race, Gender, Clan, and Class, outlines the characteristics that contribute to personal identity, but may also lead to prejudice and discrimination. This chapter will keep your attention! There’s a lot of unique and strong work, along with the humble and posh.

Race. Gender. Clan. Class.

THIS WEEK WE WILL EXAMINE THE ART CONCERNED WITH THE CONDITIONS TO WHICH ALL PEOPLE ARE BORN. CHAPTER 12, RACE, GENDER, CLAN, AND CLASS, OUTLINES THE CHARACTERISTICS THAT CONTRIBUTE TO PERSONAL IDENTITY, BUT MAY ALSO LEAD TO PREJUDICE AND DISCRIMINATION.

RACE AND ART

ART THAT PROMOTES ETHNIC HISTORY AND VALUES:

THESE ARTWORKS EXAMINE OR ILLUSTRATE THE HISTORY OR VALUES OF A CERTAIN ETHNIC GROUP. OVER VITEBSK, BY THE ARTIST MARC CHAGALL, RECREATES AND EXAMINES THE EXPERIENCES OF JEWISH PEOPLE, WHO WERE TREATED AS OUTSIDERS, IN RUSSIA AT THE END OF THE 19TH CENTURY. CHAGALL PAINTED A SOLITARY SILHOUETTED FIGURE, REPRESENTING THOUSANDS OF EASTERN EUROPEAN REFUGEES, PASSING ABOVE A VILLAGE. HE COMBINED TWO EARLY 20THCENTURY ARTISTIC STYLES TO VISUALLY REPRESENT THE INSTABILITY OF THE REFUGE EXPERIENCE. ON THE OTHER HAND JAMES VANDERZEE’S PHOTOGRAPH, SOCIETY LADIES, SHOWS A GROUP OF CONFIDENT, AFFLUENT AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMEN DURING THE HARLEM RENAISSANCE.

ART THAT CRITICIZES RACISM:

THIS GROUP OF ARTWORKS CHALLENGE THE VIEWER TO REFLECT ON THE WAYS THAT RACIAL STEREOTYPES HAVE GUIDED, OR MISGUIDED, OUR PERCEPTIONS OF SPECIFIC GROUPS OF PEOPLE IN OUR SOCIETY. RACIAL PREJUDICE HAS ALWAYS EXISTED AS A PART OF ORGANIZED CIVILIZATIONS. ARTISTS HAVE CREATE WORKS AS ACTS OF PROTEST TO RAISE AWARENESS, OPEN A DIALOGUE, AND FOSTER CHANGE WITHIN THE CULTURES THEY ARE CREATED.

WHO IS LOOKING AT WHOM:

IN THE UNITED STATES, HUNDREDS OF IMAGES ARE PRODUCED EVERYDAY DEALING WITH OTHER CULTURES; IT IS THROUGH THESE IMAGES THAT WE DEVELOP IDEAS ABOUT FOREIGN GROUPS OF PEOPLE. ARTISTS CHALLENGE US TO ASK WHO IS MAKING THESE IMAGES AND TO WHAT END? WHAT IS OUR RESPONSIBILITY IN THIS CONSUMPTION OF THIS IMAGERY? THINK ABOUT WHETHER WE ARE PASSIVE VESSELS, IN THIS MEDIA FLOW, BECAUSE WE DO NOT SPECIFICALLY CREATE THE CONTENT OF THE MASS MEDIA OR DOES THE FACT THAT IMAGES ARE SIMPLY CREATED FOR US, AS A WHOLE, MAKE US COMPLICIT IN IDEAS AND AGENDAS BEING PUT FORWARD BY THE MEDIA?

GENDER ISSUES

EVERY CULTURE SETS UP STANDARDS THAT DEFINE AND LIMIT THE ACCEPTABLE BEHAVIOR FOR MEN AND WOMEN. LOOKING AT ARTWORK FROM DIFFERENT ERAS AND CULTURES PROVIDES A WINDOW INTO WHERE WE, AS HUMANS, HAVE BEEN AND HOW MUCH (OR LITTLE) WE HAVE CHANGED.

GENDER REFLECTED IN ART AND ARCHITECTURE:

THE ARTIST PETER PAUL RUBENS WAS THE MOST SUCCESSFUL NORTHERN EUROPEAN PAINTER OF HIS AGE. HE SPECIALIZED IN GENRE PAINTINGS THAT HEROICIZED THEMES BASED ON MYTHOLOGY, OFTEN USING HIS OWN WIFE AS THE MODEL OF A CLASSICAL GODDESS. HIS PAINTING OF THE SONS OF THE GREEK GOD ZEUS CAPTURING A PHILOSOPHER’S DAUGHTERS WAS CONSIDERED TO BE PERFECTLY ACCEPTABLE WHEN IT WAS CREATED IN 1617. BUT ONE NEEDS ONLY TO LOOK TO THE VARIATION OF ITS TWO TITLES, ABDUCTION OF THE DAUGHTERS OF LEUCIPPUS OR THE RAPE OF THE DAUGHTERS OF LEUCIPPUS, TO SEE THAT OUR IDEAS ABOUT THE ROLES OF MEN AND WOMEN HAVE CHANGED IN THE PROCEEDING CENTURIES. BUT IN THE WAKE OF THE #METOO MOVEMENT OF 2017, ASK YOURSELVES EXACTLY HOW MUCH WE HAVE CHANGED IN OUR VIEWS WHEN IT COMES TO GENDER AND IF WE STILL HAVE FURTHER TO GO?

ANOTHER ARTIST, JACQUES-LOUIS DAVID WAS A REPRESENTATIVE OF THE ERA IN WHICH HE LIVED. DAVID WAS IN AN ARTIST DURING THE PERIOD KNOWN AS THE “AGE OF ENLIGHTENMENT,” A TIME WHEN INDIVIDUAL FREEDOM, THE RIGHT TO SELF-GOVERN, THE SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE, AND TOLERANCE AMONG MEN WERE THE CULTURAL ZEITGEIST. FRENCH CITIZENS OVERTHREW AN OPPRESSIVE, PARASITIC MONARCHY AND ARISTOCRACY THROUGH VIOLENT REVOLUTION, AT THE END OF THE 18TH CENTURY, GIVING WAY TO WHAT WOULD EVENTUALLY BECOME A FREE AND DEMOCRATIC FRANCE BY THE MIDDLE TO THE 19TH CENTURY. HOWEVER, ALL OF THE ENLIGHTENMENT IDEALS THAT APPLIED ONLY TO MEN COMPLETELY EXCLUDED WOMEN, RELEGATING THEM TO THE DOMESTIC SPHERE. DAVID’S PAINTING, THE OATH OF THE HORATII, PERFECTLY ILLUSTRATES THIS GENDER DICHOTOMY WITH IT HEROIC MALE POSTURING ON ONE-SIDE AND DEMURE POSTURES OF THE FEMALE FIGURES ON THE OTHER.

CRITIQUING GENDER ROLES:

GENDER ROLES THAT ARE OFTEN WIDELY ACCEPTED AND SEEM COMPLETELY NATURAL AT ONE TIME OFTEN BECOME CONTROVERSIAL WHEN A SOCIETY UNDERGOES DEEP POLITICAL AND SOCIAL CHANGE. ARTIST WILL OFTEN CREATE WORKS OF ART THAT INTENDED TO POINT OUT INEQUITIES BETWEEN GENDERS IN ORDER TO FOSTER THESE SOCIAL CHANGES. KEEP IN MIND THAT ART SOMETIMES ACTS LIKE A VISUAL MIRROR HELD UP TO THE SOCIETIES AND TIMES IN WHICH THEY ARE CREATED.

CLAN

A CLAN IS A GROUP OF PEOPLE JOINED BY BLOOD OR BY MARRIAGE TIES. IT CAN BE APPLIED TO JUST A SINGLE COUPLE OR TO LARGER GROUPS WHO SHARE COMMON ANCESTRY.

EXTENDED FAMILY:

ART HELPS SOLIDIFY EXTENDED FAMILIES IN THREE WAYS:

1. ART MAKES MAJOR ANCESTORS AVAILABLE TO THE LIVING CLAN MEMBERS.

2. ART DEPICTS IMPORTANT EVENTS IN A CLAN’S HISTORY

3. ART IS AN IMPORTANT ELEMENT IN BRINGING CLAN MEMBERS TOGETHER.

The Nuclear Family:

IN HIGHLY INDUSTRIALIZED SOCIETIES, THE EXTENDED FAMILY HAS LOST MUCH OF ITS STRENGTH, AND THE CLAN HAS DWINDLED TO THE NUCLEAR FAMILY (A SINGLE COUPLE AND THEIR CHILDREN). ARTISTS HAVE EXAMINED THE SHIFT TO THE THIS SMALLER FAMILY UNIT AND HIGHLIGHTED THE CHANGES OF WHAT CONSTITUTES THIS UNIT AS THE DEFINITION OF WHAT CONSTITUTES A FAMILY HAS CHANGED OVER TIME.

CLASS

A GROUP OF PEOPLE SHARING THE SAME ECONOMIC, SOCIAL, OR RULING STATUS COMPRISES A CLASS. CLASS BOUNDARIES CAN VARY FROM RIGID MORE POROUS.

ART AND CLASS STRUCTURE CAN BE LINKED IN SEVERAL WAYS:

1. MEMBERS OF DIFFERENT CLASSES MAY BE DEPICTED WITH DISTINCTIVE BODY STYLES OR POSES.

2. ARTWORKS CAN SHOW THE ENVIRONMENT, ACCOUTERMENTS, AND ACTIVITIES THAT MARK MEMBERS OF A CERTAIN CLASS.

3. A WORK OF ART CAN BE A STATUS ITEM, THE POSSESSION OF WHICH INDICATED THE CLASS STATUS OF THE OWNER.