Word: colescott
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...ROBERT COLESCOTT Carpenter Center November...
...Robert Colescott's body of work makes it look like the Carpenter Center developed their series of lectures on "Metaphor, Allegory, Illustration and Narrative" exclusively as an excuse to invite him to speak. In his 50 years of painting, he has exploited the possibilities of all of these themes extensively. His lecture was basically a retrospective of his work, presented as it would be perceived through those thematic filters. In presenting the straightforward artistic qualities of his work, Colescott couldn't resist discussing the complex political issues his work reflects...
...Colescott began his career as an abstract artist. In 1949, at a fairly young age, he left the United States for Paris to study with Fernand Leger, who was by that time working in quite a representational manner. Leger convinced Colescott that abstraction was not the most effective means of communicating to people. Colescott eagerly adopted Leger's more figurative style in an effort to attract his attention...
...Colescott was also inspired by his exposure to Egyptian art. Egyptian work in its obvious efforts at storytelling led him to the idea of narrative as a basis for his work. Unlike the plot development which occurs in an Egyptian work, Colescott's pieces rely more on the suggestion of a story, the possibility of what may have or may still happen. This is apparent in a series of paintings he did of people sitting by windows. The scenes are clearer depictions of psychological states than of active ones. His use of narrative is usually a metaphorical tool rather than...
While this may be true, Walker's reply doesn't explain how some black artists have managed to avoid or somehow outlive similar controversy, like Robert Colescott and Kerry James Marshall who parody stereotypes in a more literal, straightforward way. Similarly sexual, scatological, or racially-charged, their work seems less threatening (and to my mind less satisfying), because it's far more unambiguous and transparent than Walker's graphic obliquity and elliptical narratives. Walker remarks, "There's lot of information that's not revealed for you. The viewer probably knows most of the story, maybe even more than...