Posts tagged Eurocentrism

I just realized that the artists that I learnt in high school and for a semester in university were all European artists such as Pablo Picasso, Vincent Van Gogh, Rene Magritte, Leonardo Da Vinci and others. The thing is I have written about Picasso and Magritte, because I love their art,  and i’ll confess that I like Da Vinci because we are birthday mates. With my love for Surealism, Cubism, and post impressionism, I just realized that all these art movements are associated with European culture and nothing other than that.

Why is it that when art is taught, they only focus on the aforementioned  individuals, as if they are the only ones in the existence of humanity that have ever contributed to art. Although I was taught about other movements from Eastern and African culture, the emphasis and focus placed on these European artists are so much that one tends to forget the “Others”. Why can’t I remember Asian and African artists, and why is it that when dealing with African art, it is so generalized with a focus on artworks that are even older than the ones by the likes  of Picasso and Van Gogh. It’s like the art of the “Other” are only relevant when they are old.

Oh and for modern or contemporary art, everyone remembers Pop Art by Andy Warhol or Richard Hamilton. But we are not taught art by African Americans who have done exceptional work. Well I guess they don’t matter, at least that is what my teachers and profs have implied. I know I may be neglecting art by other ethnicities and “Othered” cultures, but right now i’m concerned with Art by African American’s or African Canadians, because i’m an African (Nigerian) in North America, I do not see myself represented in the art world or at least my teachers and profs created this under-representation. 

I’m so sick of the so called ideal “whiteness” or “Euro” whatever the fuck these ideologies are called, because they just damage what we learn or remember. We are so conditioned in this kind of thinking. There is whiteness in film (lets remember that some people were/are mad that Rue from The Hunger Games was Black), literature, art and every aspect of the culture industry.. 

Anyways rant done.. so mad right now..