Rewritting Art History

Continuation of the issues discussed this week regarding the work of Hanson and Basquiat:

I wanted to share this article from The Atlantic which discusses the artificial Eurocentricity of Art History and the art world and the steps which are being taken to rewrite the discipline which favors artwork from Europeans and men and holds other cultures, races, and genders to the standards which were created to honor that small group.

While Art Appreciation is much better than other art history classes (think Renaissance art history) at doing justice to non-western artwork and non-male artists, the conventional foundations for analyzing art: line, color, space, etc. are all founded on western notions of art and beauty. While these fundamental elements of art can and are applied to non-western art, they may not be the fundamentals of the culture which produces the work. Those, what we call fundamental, elements, may not be, in fact, 'fundamental' for that culture. Art Appreciation, though there has been a push to include works from non-western, non-male artists, is inherently western biased.

This article not only highlights what is being done to counter this bias, it also brings to light the larger problem of the bias itself. It reinforces systemic racism, sexism, parochialism, etc. By creating a standard of art upon the artwork of a limited few and placing that artwork on a pedestal (metaphorically), we disenfranchise everyone else. We make everyone else think that their culture, their voice, their feelings, their work is not valid, is not worth being honored unto itself, unless it is able to meet the requirements of a culture, race, or gender not of its own.

This is an extremely interesting, important, and relevant topic around art and art appreciation. I strongly encourage you to read it and if you feel so inclined, use it as a topic for discussion for one of your journal entries. I would love to hear your thoughts on it.