sports, the body, and aesthetics

In Serena Williams' interview from The Black List Project, she describes herself as the most underestimated 8-time Grand Slam champion to ever exist, questioning why her critics immediately accuse her of "overpowering" her opponents because of her sheer physicality, instead of crediting her with being a sound, mentally strategic player.

Williams' statement sparked a curiosity in me because at that moment, I realized that Serena's athletic performance is often overshadowed by her physical presence on and off of the tennis court, and is even more often, disconnected from her brilliance as an intelligent, opportunistic player. This example illustrates a type of gaze that guises itself as spectatorship. If we can "read" the body in visual art, performance, and fashion, is it possible to do so in the realm of sports?

It is undeniable that certain aesthetic "standards" for black bodies, especially in sports, are constantly produced and reproduced. Check out the Nike Basketball commercial below and think about the ways in which the body is presented and even aestheticized for athletic display. Comments are most certainly welcome.

Image: Hank Willis Thomas, Scarred Chest, 2004.

linked

Drama, race collide at Goodman Theatre - Chicago Sun Times
Off-Center Refractions of African-American Worlds - New York Times

video cult(ure)

Santogold's Creator. Because she's the ish.

afro-pop swag?

Today's artist highlight is that of South African artist Mustafa Maluka. His wall-sized portraits of anonymous yet intriguingly beautiful subjects have been seen most recently in the exhibition Flow at the Studio Museum in Harlem this past summer, which explored what it means to be an "afropolitan," globe-trotting artist.

Critic Rose Oluronke Ojo writes:

"Maluka sees [his figures] as "invented heroes." His goal was to create people he would like to look up to. Each member of Maluka's multiethnic, multihued and multi-textured ensemble may seem familiar to some at first because of the manner in which they are posed, the emphasis on style and fashion, and the titles of the portraits."

Nonetheless, Ojo continues on to describe the artist's process:

"How I produce these paintings, the portraits especially, is that I collect images with a particular gaze. They need to exude a particular strength and pride."

While Ojo suggests that Maluka is taking cues from Pop Art, given his use of textures, bright colors, and mixed mediums, I would like to suggest that Maluka's fresh-faced portraits could indicate the essence youth as the arbiters of contemporary pop culture. Clearly Maluka himself is articulating the quite dreadful and overworked term "swag" here...but nonetheless his imagery is striking, vivid, and indeed captivating.

Image: Mustafa Maluka, I can't believe you think that of me, 2007.

photorealism

Karel Funk's hyper-realistic and unconventional portraits of hooded white men are dually captivating and mundane. By refuting the traditional frontal positioning of subjects in portraits, Funk paralyzes the viewer, forcing them to continually scrutinize the presumed limitations of the two-dimensionality of canvas. You can check out more of Funk's work at 303 Gallery in New York City.

Left: Karel Funk, Untitled #12 (2005)

scene of the day

Philosopher and visual artist Adrian Piper's 1988 video installation Cornered

'black' is the new black

Given the dearth of black representation in the American fashion industry, models of African descent featured in magazine spreads or editorial photo shoots are generally accompanied with a moderate amount of buzz. American Vogue's January issue is no different, featuring models Jourdan Dunn and Chanel Iman. Under the theme "magical realism," the models are sporting the most sartorial trends of spring fashion. However, reading the captions, I got a sense that the editorial board thought it would be "cool" or "clever" to play off of the 'blackness' of the models by using phrases like "wrap star" or "a tribe called dress." Might I mention that the spread had nothing to do with "hip-hop" style, a link that was forcibly made with text. If this month's spread featured white models, would the editors utilize the same captions to frame the clothes? Or is reading and addressing the corporeal blackness of the models a necessary act to frame the insertion of color in a magazine for a mostly white base of readers? A few months ago, Vogue posited the self-critical question, "Is fashion racist?". Maybe not racist, but certainly racializing. Comments are most certainly welcome.

scene of the day: WARNING: graphic content

In 1971 performance and visual artist Chris Burden presented perhaps the most talked about video of all time. "Shoot" will be etched in the memories of performance artists for decades to come.

obama mART

Several artists have been inspired by President-Elect Barack Obama and his quick ascension into becoming a global visual icon of hope and change. As reported on CNN.com today, Visual artist and sculptor Michael Murphy is no different. His wire sculpture entitled Tension is a remarkable feat of sculptural portraiture, rendering Obama in what is now regarded as an iconographic, contemplative moment. Amidst the overwhelming clutter of Obama imagery propagated across the globe, in mom-and-pop shops, make-shift paraphernalia stores, on abandoned buildings, etc., Murphy's piece undoubtedly offers a powerful element of simplicity and sophistication. You can check out more of Murphy's artwork at www.mmike.com.


Tension - 10-23-2008 - 2'x2'x9' - 1000 feet of steel high tension wire, black enamel and poplar base

scene of the day

Video artist Edgar Arceneaux's Watts House Project.