Art Is… Decolonizing Landscape Painting

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art

13 May 201904:21

Summary

TLDRThe video script explores the emotional and political dimensions of landscape painting, particularly in the context of American history. It discusses the Hudson River School's propagandistic portrayal of the American West and the complex contradictions within the landscape as seen by different cultural perspectives. The artist uses abstraction to challenge traditional landscape narratives, highlighting the historical inequities and social structures that persist. The script also touches on the importance of recognizing the contributions and experiences of Native Americans and African Americans, suggesting that the landscape is not just a backdrop but a living testament to the nation's past and present.

Takeaways

🎨 The artist uses landscape and imagery as metaphors to explore feelings of time and illusion.
🚗 The experience of driving across the United States multiple times has led to a changing perception of nature.
🖼️ Robert ants Duncanson, an African American painter, is highlighted for his majestic landscapes that challenge traditional American colonial depictions.
🏞️ The speaker reflects on their own experiences with the landscape, viewing it not as idyllic but as a space of work, ownership, and oppression.
🌳 The speaker critiques the propagandistic nature of American landscape paintings, which often promoted western expansion and ignored historical injustices.
🖌️ The artist's work is described as a counter-narrative to the traditional idea of landscapes, aiming to include historical and social contexts.
🌱 The artist's paintings are influenced by the history of manifest destiny and westward expansion, aiming to address complex contradictions.
🌈 Abstraction is chosen as a potent method to express the artist's identity and to challenge conventional landscape painting.
🏡 The artist's work addresses contemporary social issues such as educational inequity, environmental injustice, and homelessness.
🔍 The artist's approach to painting involves a process of layering and grouping marks to create a collective identity and to 'excavate' narratives from the landscape.

Q & A

What does the artist use as a metaphor for the feeling of time and illusion?
-The artist uses landscape and image as a metaphor for the feeling of time and illusion.
Why does the artist see nature differently each time they travel across the United States?
-The artist sees nature differently each time due to the learning and understanding gained from one trip to the other, which changes their perspective on what they are looking at.
How does the painting by Robert Ants Duncanson challenge the traditional American colonial landscape?
-Robert Ants Duncanson's painting challenges the traditional American colonial landscape by depicting it as majestic yet horrific for anyone with brown skin, thus offering a counter-narrative to the idyllic portrayals of the Hudson River School.
What is the artist's perspective on landscapes from their South Carolina roots?
-The artist views landscapes not as pastoral scenes but as spaces of work, ownership, and oppression, reflecting their experiences growing up in South Carolina.
Why are many American landscape paintings considered propagandistic?
-Many American landscape paintings, particularly by the Hudson River School artists, are considered propagandistic because they were used to promote western expansion and a particular narrative of American progress.
How does the artist's work relate to the historical concept of manifest destiny?
-The artist's work relates to manifest destiny by exploring the complex contradictions and historical inequities associated with westward expansion, using abstraction to provide a counter-narrative.
What social issues does the artist's work address through landscape painting?
-The artist's work addresses social issues such as inequities in education, environmental injustices like those in Flint, Michigan, and conditions contributing to homelessness, all of which are presented as part of the landscape's history.
Why does the artist consider their paintings as landscape paintings despite their abstract nature?
-The artist considers their paintings as landscape paintings because they serve as a counter-narrative to the idea of landscapes being devoid of historical precedents, incorporating the blood and history of American and Native American people into the soil of the United States.
How do the symbolic marks in the artist's grad school paintings contribute to the overall meaning?
-The symbolic marks in the artist's grad school paintings gain identity and meaning when grouped together, articulating something more complex and suggesting an excavation of history from the landscape.
What role does the understanding of Native Americans' relationship with nature play in the artist's work?
-The artist's work incorporates an understanding of Native Americans' deep connection with nature, highlighting their survival and existence in harmony with the environment before the arrival of Europeans.
How does the artist view the potential for change and contribution within their paintings?
-The artist sees their paintings as a space where new possibilities and contributions can emerge, suggesting a future that moves beyond the language and limitations of the past.

Outlines

00:00

🖼️ Landscape as Metaphor and Abstraction

The speaker discusses their artistic journey and approach to landscape painting, which is deeply influenced by emotions, time, and illusion. They recount their experiences traveling across the United States, observing how nature's perception changes with each journey. The artist grapples with capturing light, space, and time, and how these elements can suggest multiple interpretations. They reference Robert Duncanson, an African American painter from the Hudson River School, and critique the propagandistic nature of traditional American landscape paintings that often romanticize colonial landscapes, ignoring the oppression faced by people of color. The artist's own experiences growing up in South Carolina shape their view of landscapes as spaces of work and oppression rather than idyllic scenes. They express a desire to challenge these narratives through abstraction, creating a counter-narrative that acknowledges historical inequities and the complex layers of American and Native American history within the land.

Mindmap

Keywords

💡Emotion

Emotion refers to a natural instinctive reaction to an event or situation. In the context of the video, the artist uses emotion to interpret landscapes, suggesting that landscapes can evoke different feelings and perceptions over time. The artist's emotional connection to the landscape is highlighted by their repeated journeys across the United States, each time perceiving the natural world differently.

💡Metaphor

A metaphor is a figure of speech that describes an object or action in a way that isn't literally true, but helps explain an idea or make a comparison. The artist uses landscape as a metaphor for feelings of time and illusion, indicating that the physical environment can represent more abstract concepts such as the passage of time or the nature of reality.

💡Landscape Painting

Landscape painting is a genre of painting that depicts the natural world, often emphasizing scenery such as mountains, forests, or rivers. The artist discusses landscape painting as a medium to express complex historical narratives and social issues, challenging the traditional view of landscapes as mere representations of nature by incorporating themes of oppression and historical violence.

💡Hudson River School

The Hudson River School was an American art movement in the mid-19th century known for its landscape paintings that depicted the United States' wilderness. The artist critiques the Hudson River School for its propagandistic portrayal of westward expansion, suggesting that these paintings often ignored or romanticized the violence and oppression associated with colonialism.

💡Abstraction

Abstraction in art involves reducing an image to its basic elements, often omitting recognizable imagery. The artist finds abstraction a potent tool for expressing complex contradictions and challenging narratives. By abstracting the landscape, the artist can address historical and social issues that are not immediately visible in a traditional landscape painting.

💡Manifest Destiny

Manifest Destiny was the 19th-century belief that the United States was destined to expand across the North American continent. The artist connects the concept of Manifest Destiny to the westward expansion and the displacement of Native Americans, using their art to critique the historical narrative that justified these actions.

💡Social Structure

Social structure refers to the organization of a society, including its institutions and relationships. The artist discusses how their paintings address the social structure, particularly in relation to vulnerable populations and historical injustices. The landscapes are not just natural scenes but also reflect the social conditions and power dynamics that have shaped them.

💡Inequity

Inequity refers to unfairness or inequality, especially in social arrangements. The artist mentions inequities in education and environmental conditions, like the water crisis in Flint, Michigan, as part of the ongoing social issues that are reflected in their work. These inequities are part of the historical legacy that the artist seeks to address through their paintings.

💡Native American

Native Americans are the indigenous peoples of the United States. The artist connects the history and presence of Native Americans to the landscape, suggesting that their blood is in the soil of the United States, integrating their history and identity with the natural environment. This connection challenges the conventional separation of human and nature in landscape painting.

💡Counter Narrative

A counter narrative is an alternative story or perspective that challenges the dominant or mainstream narrative. The artist's work is described as a counter narrative to the traditional idea of landscape painting, offering a different view that includes historical and social context. This approach aims to 'undo' the simplifications and omissions of past representations of landscapes.

💡Excavating

Excavating, in the context of art, means to uncover or reveal hidden layers of meaning. The artist uses the term to describe the process of creating art that reveals the complex histories and social issues embedded within the landscape. By 'excavating' the landscape, the artist aims to bring forth the stories and experiences that are often overlooked or suppressed.

Highlights

The artist uses landscape as a metaphor for emotions and experiences.

The artist's perception of nature changes with each journey across the United States.

Light, space, and time are captured to suggest and offer different interpretations.

Robert Ans Duncanson's painting is a critique of the American colonial landscape.

The landscape is viewed as a space of work and oppression, not as a pastoral scene.

Landscape paintings are considered political and propagandistic, promoting western expansion.

The artist's work is a counter-narrative to the idea of landscape devoid of historical precedents.

Inequities in education and environmental sites are highlighted through landscape painting.

The artist is interested in undoing historical conditions that persist to this day.

The artist's paintings include marks that take on an identity when grouped together.

The artist's work is a form of excavation, revealing historical layers within the landscape.

The artist's paintings suggest the presence of Native Americans and their connection to nature.

The artist explores the limitations of past language in addressing current issues.

The artist's work invites consideration of new possibilities and contributions to society.

The artist's paintings reveal gaps and histories that challenge the viewer's understanding.

The artist's work is a response to the history of manifest destiny and westward expansion.

The artist's paintings are a commentary on the blood of every American and Native American in the soil of the United States.