art blanche

Nude with raised arms (1907), Pablo Picasso

The reverse of technology is what draws them in. Europe during this time, the 19th century, was going through an industrial revolution. This rise of city life and labor made many Europeans long for the days of a slower lifestyle that was more connected to nature. Europeans also started to travel more and were able to bring back artifacts and novelties from whatever exotic location they were off to. This time was also when the primitive artists wanted to go against the strict European art academies and salons, the ones who controlled every aspect of art that was shown in galleries and that was taught in schools. Previously, all of the work that was featured in these galleries were done by artists who were well off and attended fine art schools and only certain types of art could get featured. The rigidity of this institution grew tiring to artists and in order to find inspiration for art again, they went to countries whose ideals and perspectives on life were different. Many anarchist movements were happening during the 20th century because of industrialization and colonialism, so primitivism coincided with those anarchist ideals. Instead of idealizing the city life of Europe (and showing some sort of patriotism), they rebelled against the progression of cities. 

Seems innocent enough, right? A modern anarchist just wants to reconnect with the lifestyle less contemporary. Ah the joys to leave the hustle and bustle of Europe and escape to the beaches of Tahiti…

But any look into history will show you why this concept is distasteful and racist.

Time and time again in history (shit, even in modern day) the ideas of marginalized groups are taken and used for profit by the dominant group (usually white people). There was the incident in 2018 where Kim Kardashian had her hair done in cornrows and called them “Bo Derek braids” and news outlets just … went with it? There was the incident in 2013 where Selena Gomez wore a bindi in several of her performances. Even in everyday life, you could see someone wearing a headdress, a kimono, blackface, etc. at a Halloween party just for ‘fun’. The point is, this concept is nothing new and has been exemplified in history in many ways. 

Primitivism is just that, cultural appropriation. The way that the aboriginal people would look in the paintings was often distorted and exaggerated. One of the most notable primitive artists, Paul Gauguin, would often sexualize and belittle Tahitian people in his work with vague cultural and religious symbols. He toyed with the idea of, how will these people react when I introduce them to my profound religion? Many of his paintings mix the religious ideals of various aboriginal beliefs with Christianity and he’ll show Tahitian people in Christian prayer poses. “He portrayed the natives as living only to sing and to make love,” said Nancy Mowll Mathews, author of Paul Gauguin, An Erotic Life. 

Let’s use one of Gauguin’s paintings to show misrepresentation of culture. In the painting La Orana Maria (Hail Mary) (1891), Gauguin depicts the Christian Mary as a Tahitian girl with a child on her shoulder, the child of Christ. The fruit laid out in front of her in a ‘fata,’ a platform used by the Polynesians to make offerings to the gods. ​In the middle of the painting, the two women posing are inspired by Javanese Temple, Borodurur, that he kept photos of. In the very back, to the left, is an angel with black hair hiding away. He blends 3 different cultures into one painting but doesn’t depict any of the aspects correctly. He blends the stories together and recreates Tahitian life as if it were going through different religious and cultural changes. The Christian Mary is good . . . a Tahitian woman is good . . . now imagine them together. And that seems to be the biggest issue with primitivism, the fact that cultural significance of certain religious symbols are forgotten about in the name of art. They pick and choose the best aspects of cultures and religions and mesh them all into one painting, and ignoring all the parts that don’t fit the aesthetic. After all, this is an art style based off of the ‘primitive’ experience and is subject to everyone and their own aesthetic. Why include poses from temples in Java, Indonesia in a painting blending Christianity with Tahitian life? (It’s purely for aesthetics)

Remember how I mentioned the industrialization and colonialism in Europe during the 20th century? Well, their colonialism got so extreme that 90% of Africa was under European control. The fascination with this ‘exotic’ country and it’s people started to rise- and primitivism was a product of this fascination. They viewed African people as inhumane, hypersexualized, uneducated spectacles that needed to be observed. And thus came the creation of human zoos, featuring people of color (and mostly African people) to be gawked at, poked and prodded. Millions of visitors came to these zoos and supported this dehumanization of people. These zoos were closed as embarrassingly late as 1958. In 1994, there were plans in France to create a human zoo showcasing an Ivory Coast village where the people involved were contractually obligated to be topless. Disgusting.

History is important to keep in mind when determining if something is culturally inappropriate or not. Just because it happened a certain number of years ago and isn’t happening today doesn’t mean that it never happened nor should it be forgotten about. And just because the exact same thing isn’t happening now doesn’t mean that something with the same theme isn’t still happening. Human zoos no longer exist, but did racism end with it? Prejudice and misrepresentation often times get neglected or overlooked but it is important to talk about topics like this to keep people accountable and to learn from. 

Styles like primitivism are now synonymous with artists like Picasso and Gauguin who had no right to claim it as their own in the first place. Their style is the exaggeration, exploitation, and dehumanization of indigenous people that they were able to get recognition for. Now, African artists are speaking up against the harmful misrepresentations and are having problems with reclaiming their culture from this grossly misrepresented art style. Francis Nnaggenda, a contemporary Ugandan artist, says, “People tell me my work looks like Picasso, but they have it wrong. It is Picasso who looks like me, like Africa.”

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1) Still life: these are fairly straightforward- set up a scene in front of you that you get inspiration from. Fruit, flower arrangements, and yummy looking meals seem to be popular when choosing your inspiration for your still life painting. Don’t know what to paint? Pick 4 of your favorite things from your room or from around the house, arrange them together to be aesthetically pleasing, and there you go! You can use whatever medium you feel comfortable with. Pay close attention to how they interact with each other and how the light hits these objects. 

2) Abstract: this art style is rising in popularity, and for good reason. This style of art can be done with very little art experience and can still convey your message pretty well. Start with a variety of shapes and colors and build off of that. What mood are you in right now? What color represents that? Are you feeling rather …. Squiggly line? Or more … straight line? Try to convey your emotions and thoughts through shapes and colors.

3) Self portrait: no other references or tools are required besides you and your medium of choice! You can go old school and sit in front of a mirror or you can use a photo reference. You can go as realistic as you want or go abstract. Plenty of artists in the past have done self portraits in various styles, so the options are limitless. 

4) Collage: this one is fun and a personal favorite, as I love to mix different mediums and materials into my art. You can basically add in whatever you want: scraps of paper, fabric, feathers, glitter, photos, prints of other art, etc. And you can decorate it with any sort of art medium as well- paint, charcoal, pastel, ink, etc. Get messy! 

5) Acrylic pour: This one can be a little pricey, since a lot of paint needs to be used and most of it gets discarded anyways. But if you have the paint then one way to create art is to literally just pour the paint in random sections of the canvas with other colors. The colors start to blend together slightly and interact in interesting ways. You can get some interesting organic patterns with this method!