2015 Festival of the
Arts: 11th Annual Art History Symposium
California State
University, Sacramento: Mariposa 1000Saturday, April 11, 1-5:30 p.m.
Bridget Gilman, one of the speakers at the Art History
Symposium, focused on the contemporary issue of urban transformation and
aesthetic experimentation responses to Gentrification in San Francisco. Among
her influences were Mike Mandel, Larry Sultan and Janet Delaney who were
photographers who photographed in San Francisco. Gilman explained how Delaney mimicked
Ansel Adams strategy of taking photos from an elevated view point such as from
the top of a car. Mandel and Sultan took photos billboards in order to
challenge commerciality but instead had the opposite effect. For example when
the two collaborated in creating Sunkist oranges billboards, the Sunkist Company
actually liked the photographers’ billboards and wanted to buy them. The artists’
rebelled by responding with a billboard with oranges on fire. When I asked
Gilman what she found interesting about Gentrification she responded by saying “It’s
relevant in today’s society. It costs as much to live in San Francisco then to
live in Manhattan”.
Another speaker who spoke at the Art History Symposium was
Matthew Weseley. His focus was on the work of African American Artist Robert
Colescott. Weseley explained that Colescott dealt with racism and segregation
in Oakland and that in different times of Colescott’s life he was labeled with
different racial descriptions such as Mulatto and even White. Colescott did not
identify with black stereotypes and was afraid of them because he did not want
to be associated with them. In search of his identity he confronted black
stereotypes in his paintings. One example of such work is a painting titled The Green Glove Rapist which is an
acrylic on canvas painted in 1971. This piece was created in reaction to a case
where a rapist was believed to have been black but in reality was not, in
reality the rapist was a Jewish man. Colescott painted the scene not how it
happened but what people thought had happened. He painted based on
pre-conceived notions reflecting the meaning of dark skin and how society
interprets it.I found the last speaker’s content to be the most interesting. Nicolas G. Rosenthal focused on the growth of vibrant Native American Indian Art in Northern California in the 20th century. What I found to be so fascination was Rosenthal’s exploration of Contemporary Native American Art. I have commonly seen and admired the Artwork of traditional Native Americans’ but have never seen Contemporary Native American Art. Rosenthal explained that the explosion of Native American Artists’ making and selling work is a way to argue for the validation of Native American culture. It is a rebellious response against the push for assimilation. It also shows change over time to Native American culture. An example of this is a by Artist Jean Lamar created in 1985 titled Vuarneted Indian Cowboy which shows a Native American woman in Contemporary society wearing sunglasses, a cowboy hat and Western style clothing. In the Native American woman’s sunglasses is the reflection of an eagle and jets.
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Jean Lamar's Vuarneted Indian Cowboy |
