Visit to The Tate Modern 28 September

I took the opportunity of a trip to London to visit the Tate Modern, partly  to obtain some inspiration for the final project of Chapter 4 (achieved this with Nciholas Hlobo sculpture entitled Balindile and the painting Family Jules: NNN (no Naked Niggahs) by Barkley Hendricks, discussed in the blog entry Racial Identity in the Media) and partly to see what else grabbed my attention.

I concentrated on a few subjects, mostly relevant to this section of the course. These are some examples:

Christian Schad Agosta, the Pigeon-Chested Man, and Rasha, the Black Dove 1929

Schad's picture is an example of New Objectivity, an artistic movement that combined social criticism with a near-photographic realism. It is a direct poke at objectification,unusually in this case of male as well as female nude. The pair earned a living as a sideshow act in Berlin funfairs.

Henry Wessel Incidents

Henry Wessel, Incidents 021, from Incidents 2012

  Available from http://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/display/henry-wessel-0

This is a series of images of social America, intended to be seen in a clockwise direction, though the reason for that is not understood.The above is an example of the 27 images: everyday America doing everyday things, a social documentary without words.

 Picasso The Reclining Nude

Pablo Picasso Nude Woman with Necklace 1968

Available from http://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/display/reclining-nude

Unlike 19th century artists who painted their odalisques reclining submissively, Picasso added a sense of energy. Gone are the snowy white complexions and curves, replaced by angular contortions. No niceties in the genital area either, encapsulated by an exhalation of air.

Christian Schad Self-Portrait 1927

© Christian Schad Stiftung Aschaffenburg/VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn and DACS, London 2014

Schad's self portrait is a provocative sign of male dominance of women. The man looks out of the picture with an expression that show impatience and aggression, questioning the viewer's right to be looking in. The narcissus connotes the male vanity; the freggio on the woman's face, inflicted on Neapolitan women by their lovers to make them unattractive to others, denotes male ownership. The woman has almost male facial features.