Joyce Owens: Artist On Art

A New World Order! but same old same old for artists

Hey, I am ecstatic about the election.

I didn't think I could look at McCain's painful arm gestures for 4 years, not to mention Sarah Palin.  I would be terrified that something would happen to McCain and  we would be stuck with a president who is clearly so inexperienced.

So we dodged that bullet.

I have been wondering about other things...

What can artists expect from the 44th President?

I personally know that most of us are worried about making a living from our art. When spending is curtailed wouldn't it follow that art sales may diminish on the local level? If so, then what? Will the next president's education package include bringing the arts back into every classroom, meaning more steady jobs for artists in teaching? 

Or will  he replicate the programs similar to the Works Progress Administration providing work for artists doing what we have trained for, painting, sculpting, producing plays,  making films,  shooting photos, etc. ?

Will his economic stimulus plan include stimulating programs that promote living fine artists, such as additional funding for the NEA?

I maintain that it is an essential component of the education process that starting when every child is young she or he needs significant exposure to, and participation in, all the arts.  Public school is the perfect place for this exposure to take place.

Artists, we have to decide what our community's needs are, as well as identify our individual  needs, and let them be known. What do you want???? Find your congressperson and contact them with your ideas here.

The sculpture shown above is by Joy Kessler and is called " Inspected, Dissected, Suspected".

Black Artists in new times: Change for us, too?

President-elect Obama is not the only one traveling to D.C. from Chicago. I'm here for a few days, too, on my business, and my husband's. I have a meeting with an important gallery. Had an impromptu opportunity to show work to a board member of a prominent arts organization in Philadelphia, too.

We went to Howard, my alma mater, and met the new president, (of Howard, not the USA) last night, and several Obama operatives spoke about his win. Today, after a day of talks about the economy, etc. with a group of columnists from across the country called the Trotter Group I went to the Howard Art Gallery with a bunch of them. We saw Starmanda Bullock's retrospective. The gracious Tritobia Hayes-Benjamin  allowed us a quick visit. Eileen Johnston, who was my contact for the alumnae exhibition I was thrilled to  be included in back in 2005,  unlocked the already closed gallery staying past the regular hours so we could enjoy the work...and more.  That's another example of why I love Howard.

The city is vibrating with Obama's win. I feel empowered just being here in Obama's new second city. His transition  team is here.  My husband and members of the Trotter Group met with Valerie Jarrett  yesterday.  It's exciting that she may be the next senator from Illinois, according to CNN! All of this is clearly a dream come true for the country, and for people who can trace their lineage to before the Revolutionary war when their ancestors were brought here as slaves!

But these are my questions, and artistic dilemma!!!!

Black art  is a response to our position as underdogs in a racist society, as well as a call to embrace  our history and culture, so I expect the rationale for it will change with the advent of global power in the hands of an African American, or not? If we are now a post-racist nation, will the imperative for  Black art eventually disappear as the playing field seems to be leveling and will the "trickle down effect" manifest in the world of visual art? Or will the desire for all things black, as there seems to be a desire for all things Obama, make it hard for us to keep up with a welcome demand for our work???

My artwork often confronts people with the idea that we are left out, in general, and missing from most museum walls, unless it is a special show of African American art.

Years ago I started painting former slaves ("Survivor Spirits" series) and Middle Class African Americans from 1900 ("Out of the Box" series) and recently I started a series, "Retro-Racing History", inserting our faces and culture into paintings by masters such as Titian and Gainsborough. I show a partially completed one below.

But is this a moot point  now? Since the new leader of the free world is black, does that mean we are finally free, too? Well, I guess I mean, will we finally be equal?

VOTE everybody! No excuses, please....

Come on, my friends...

(okay, that's not original, I stole it from "our friend" John McCain, a decent, hard working man.)

But please just listen. This is historic. This is once-in-a-lifetime. You KNOW that! So no slacking...

Whether you vote right or left. Whether you choose the lesser of two evils (as some people say). Whether you can't bring your racist-ass self to vote for a qualified black man and a seasoned senator (Biden).

Whether you think you'd rather see Sarah Palin as the next co-host on the View, replacing Elizabeth, who, I for one, am ready to see go. Talk about unqualified???? She was a loser of that Survivor show and she gets to voice her opinions globally on a daily basis!!!  At least Sarah Paling (oops, this spelling of Palin is a Freudian slip) went to 5 colleges! And won Miss Congeniality in her beauty pageant days, and she is a governor and must know something! She is very good at losing the baby fat after Trig was born. She could do Jennie Craig ads!

Sorry, I digress.

Please VOTE!!!!!!!

Thanks everyone...I will get back to art after this, OK?

The painting above is "Pillars" by Joyce Owens and is about the people of my grandmother's era and earlier, who could not vote in the south. My grandmother and mother emphasized that we MUST vote and told us all the stories about how folks sacrificed to ensure we had the right.