Cultural Identity TATE STAFF
Cultural Identity Explore the importance of the development of ‘Cultural Identity’ to the artists within ARTIST ROOMS TATE STAFF
Artists often explore the characteristics that determine our personal and social identity. They construct a sense of who we are as individuals, as a society, or as a nation. They question stereotypes and conventions while exploring attributes such as gender, sexuality, race, nationality and heritage. Our culture is informed by various forms of artistic and social endeavour such as technology, politics, style, music, performance and the arts. ‘Cultural studies’ emerged in the late 1950s and has been informed by radical approaches such as Marxism, feminism and semiotics. 1
August Sander Pastrycook 1928
2
August Sander Bricklayer 1928
The period of the Weimar Republic 1919–33 was a time of immense cultural revival in Germany. Berlin was the nerve centre of this activity and art forms such as cinema, dance, literature, theatre and visual arts all thrived. The mood of the time was famously captured by Christopher Isherwood’s novel Goodbye Berlin, its decadence and political upheaval were depicted in the paintings of the Neue Sachlichkeit artists such as Otto Dix and Geog Grosz. Dix, like many artists of the time, was a subject of the Weimar photographer August Sander, who photographed individuals and groups of people that he then classified according to
their occupations and position in society. Amongst these categories were The Skilled Tradesman, which included iconic portraits such as Bricklayer 1928 and Pastry Cook 1928. This lifelong attempt to document the German people resulted in Sander’s exhaustive portfolio People of the 20th Century which presented a diverse and democratic society. This vision was at odds with the emerging totalitarian regime which marked the end of the Weimar Republic and Sander’s publication Face of Our Time 1929 was subsequently confiscated and 3
“Everything “Everything that has has been been that on earth earth has has on been different different been from every every from other thing.“ thing.“ other - Curator of Arbus’s exhibition at the MoMA 4
destroyed by the Nazi government in 1934. Sander is recognised as a major force in the history of photography. His work was an enormous influence on a later generation of photographers such as Diane Arbus, Richard Avedon and Walker Evans.
earth. Individuals, all different, all wanting different things, all looking different. Everything that has been on earth has been different from every other thing. That is what I love: the differences, the uniqueness of all things and the importance of life… I see something that seems wonderful; I see the divineness in While Sander was known for his range of subjects, ordinary things.” Diane Arbus was known for photographing those on the margins of society. New York born Arbus came Another New York-based photographer was the to prominence in the New Documents exhibition at artist Robert Mapplethrope whose images, like Arbus, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1967, along convey a sense of trust and honesty. Mapplethorpe, with Lee Friedlander and Garry Winogrand. The exhi- who primarily worked in the studio, came to prombition heralded a new generation of photographers. inence in the mid-1970s with portraits of his inner The exhibition’s curator noted that they “directed circle of friends and acquaintances, including the documentary approach towards more personal artists, composers, and socialites. Unlike Arbus, end…Their aim has been not to reform life, but to Mapplethorpe used himself as a subject, returning know it.” New York in the 1960s, like the Weimar to the self portrait throughout his career. Republic of 1920s, was a richly diverse society and attracted artists and political dissidents. During this Mapplethorpe’s oeuvre included photographic period cultural politics were at the fore; minority portraits, still lives and nudes. He was also known groups such as the Black Panthers challenged for his sexually explicit images, which depicted the authority through protest while the repression of underground gay S&M scene of the mid-1970s. In lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities these controversial works, sexuality takes prececulminated in the Stonewall riots of 1969. dence over social class or distinction of the sitter: examples of this include unknown young men such Arbus’ interest and celebration of gender and iden- as Smutty 1980 and Tattoo Artist’s Son 1984. The tity is evident in images such as Two Friends at Home, British artists Gilbert & George began to photograph N.Y.C. 1965 1965 where a couple are photographed casts of young men from London’s East End in the in their domestic setting, creating an intimate portrait early 1980s. Although works such as Existers 1984 are suggestive of the nature of their relationship. Arbus’ somewhat ambiguous the young men are elevated direct images convey a sense of trust between the to the status of icon through their embodied potency, sitter and the artist where strikingly and often brutal strength and beauty, the use of photographic panels portraits convey inner emotions. “There are and have resembling stained glass windows. Such depictions been and will be an infinite number of things on of young men aroused considerable hostility among 5
Robert Mapplethorpe Smutty 1980
critics, who accused Gilbert & George of being exploitative, and wrongly described the youths as rent boys or East End thugs.
Nauman blurred the boundaries between performance and installation art in the 1970s with works that encouraged the spectator to become participant. His work often incorporates tools of mass Gilbert & George explored their own identity working media e.g. televisions and neon lettering, while chalas a pair and presenting themselves as ‘living sculp- lenging their conventions. Nauman’s video works, ture’, incorporating themselves and their lives into which are at times both ambiguous and menacing, their art, they set out to provoke their viewers, to are metaphors for the rituals, gestures and struggles make them think and question conventions and of daily human existence. In works such as Setting a social taboos. Bruce Nauman, like Gilbert & George, Good Corner (Allegory and Metaphor) 1999, Nauman was associated with conceptual and performance documents his everyday life, where his identity as an art in the 1970s. Nauman is renowned for his inves- individual is informed by ‘place’ and occupation. The tigation into the human condition through language menacing nature of the works concern questions of and the human body. “My work comes out of being anxiety and alienation. Whilst not ‘overtly’ a political frustrated about the human condition. And about artist Nauman’s work often references the political how people refuse to understand other people.” cultural climate of the late-twentieth and early twenty-first century.
6
Robert Mapplethrope Tattoo Artist’s Son 1984
7
8
Gilbert & George Existers 1984
9
Bruce Nauman Setting a Good Corner (Allegory and Metaphor) 1999
In the late 1970s, Jenny Holzer devised slogans known as Truisms 1977-9, which play on commonly held truths and clichés. A truism is a statement which is obviously true and says nothing new or interesting: A LITTLE KNOWLEDGE CAN GO A LONG WAY. Initially, the Truisms were infiltrated into the public arena via stickers, T-shirts and posters. Later, Holzer started using electronic displays. In 1982 she emblazoned these messages across a giant advertising hoarding in Times Square, New York. The Truisms are deliberately challenging, presenting a spectrum of often-contradictory opinions. Holzer hoped they would sharpen people’s awareness of the ‘usual baloney they are fed’ in daily life.
Here Holzer uses a document from the National Security Archive, enlarging a military map and setting it upon a bright background. Holzer’s technique forces us to acknowledge the interpretative power of language, where the words “protect”, “suppress” and “isolate” emanate strongly against the image of a deeply divided and segregated Iraq.
Like Holzer, the work of Belgian artist Johan Grimonprez can be read as a political comment on contemporary culture while asking questions. Grimonprez came to prominence when this filmessay, Dial H-I-S-T-O-R-Y + Inflight 1997-2001, was shown in 1997 at Documenta X. The work sees the protagonists perform a series of rituals at airports Protect Protect 2007 forms part of a series of screen- where identity is to some extent removed, taking off prints that reveal sensitive government transcripts items of clothing while being security cleared and relating to America’s intervention in the Middle East. saying goodbye to loved ones. The work traces the 10
“My work comes out of being frustrated with the human condition. And about how people refuse to understand other people.�
- Bruce Nauman
11
“A little little knowledge knowledge “A can go go aa long long way.” way.” can - Jenny Holzer
12
Gerhard Richter 48 Portraits 1971–98
history of airplane hijackings, eerily foreshadowing celebrities and factory stars of these artworks such the events of 9/11, through archival images discov- as Liz 1965 are not just a celebration of celebrity ered during thorough research, televised images but are tinged with tragedy, especially the images and quirky home movies. of women such as Elizabeth Taylor, Marilyn Monroe and Jacqueline Kennedy. The stars themselves were As Grimonprez uses pre-existing film to collage often associated with misfortune and the works an artwork, Gerhard Richter used photographs of both pre-empt the obsessive nature of celebrity eminent scientists, writers, musicians and philos- an d reflect on the negtive connotations of life in ophers found in encyclopaedia and dictionaries the public eye. His society portraits, like those of for his 1972 work 48 Portraits. The figures, such Mapplethorpe, represent not just the society that he as the writer Franz Kafka, the composer Igor himself inhabited but also wider popular culture and Stravinsky and the scientist Isidor Issac Rabi, are all many subcultures. European and North American men. Although they broadly represent a humanistic view of Western The polaroid, A Self-Portrait with Fright Wig 1986, civilisation in the nineteenth and early twentieth is one of several that Warhol took in preparation century they do prompt the question of which cultural for a series of large-scale paintings commissioned figures are used to compose history. There are no by Anthony d’Offay for an exhibition at his London women, religious figures or prominent persons from gallery in 1986. In the photographs, and subseout with Western society. One of four photographic quently transferred into the paintings, Warhol’s editions of 48 Portraits 1971–98 is held in the ARTIST skull-like head is isolated from his body, floating ROOMS collection. against a dark background. This composition bears striking similarities to a Robert Mapplethorpe photoAndy Warhol’s celebrity portraits and films often graphic portrait of Warhol from the same year. In incorporated those from his social scene, including both, Warhol wears his famous silver wig, but, in this his associates from his studio, The Factory. The Polaroid, the hair stands on end in an almost manic 13
fashion. His eyes seem to be fixated on something to the left, behind the viewer, creating a distinct feeling of uneasiness. This series of self-portraits was the last Warhol completed before his death in 1987. Richter and Grimonprez appropriate objects and images into their artwork to construct identities as does Ellen Gallager, much of whose work is informed by her Irish and African-American heritage. Gallagher’s paintings and mixed media collages often question racial stereotypes and appropriate references to the physical divisions in race. Paper Cup 1996 is part of Gallagher’s first mature body of work which explored layered and contradictory themes. Gallagher has created a loosely structured grid by lining up small pieces of writing paper in multiple rows, recalling the history of handwriting exercises. Closer inspection reveals each line to be carefully constructed from rows of bulbous shapes resembling the vowels a child must repeat when learning to write, though they are in fact a reference to the stereotypical lips of American blackface minstrels. From a distance this large work’s subtle geometry resembles an American minimalist painting, but closer inspection reveals not only a darker side of American history but references Gallagher’s own mixed-race origins.
14
Jenny Holzer Protect Protect 2007
15
Designer: Lily Greenwald in April 2018 for Typogrpahy Typeface: Tate (Regular, Regular Italic, and Bold) Paper: Printed on Mohawk 100 lb Text Images: Sourced from the websites of Tate, Barcelona Museum, Whitney Museum, and The Modern Text: Orginally published by Tate http://www.tate.org.uk/artist-rooms/collection/ themes/cultural-identity
16
17