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In his works, he refers to victims of police brutality such as Eric Garner ("I can't breathe"), a black male who was choked to death by a police officer. I love this artist for many reasons.
First off, the Black Lives Matter movement is something that is very dear to my heart. I am not black (lol, obviously), so I may not fully understand what these people have been through, but as part of the minority in the United States, I can relate to where these people are coming from in terms of stereotypes and racism. I also hold strong opinions about police brutality in our country. Again, I have never been directly targeted by the police but reading articles on this issue and being influenced by social media really makes it a seem like a serious problem to me. (Music has also influenced me a lot as well>> White Privilege II by Macklemore, C.O.P./Criminals Of Permission by J-Jon, etc.)
Secondly, I also think that this artist/designer was really hard-hitting with this collection. I love how the message was so explicit. There was blood representing violence/pain/murder/etc, words that reference to certain people, etc. Even the video he presented at the fashion show was graphic and straightforward: there were bodies lying in pools of blood, cops shooting at people, the choking of Eric Garner, a teenage girl being thrown to the ground, etc. There was not any second-guessing about the issue Jean-Raymond was addressing. His intent was clear.
Thirdly, This show was not just a fashion show, Jean-Raymond was presenting an argument. The designer said to the reporters after the show,
“It’s not for shock value, but it’s what’s going to make you think about this… after you go to three shows. What’s going to make you think about this again at 11 when you’re done for the day? That’s what it’s about.”
Fourthly, I like how it was a risk to do something like this, but he did it anyways. The designer actually confessed that he was initially unsure about actually presenting it to the public. And when he did, some fashion and front-row regulars were so upset they didn't even attend. But the designer stood his ground and asserted his opinion anyways.
Finally, I love this artist because he made it personal. His explicit art was on real life people (which basically made THEM part of the art as well) which is psychologically hard-hitting to many people, I'm sure. Also, he talks about his own experiences with police brutality. And yet, not only did he consider his opinions in his artwork, but he also considered the viewer's perspective while he was putting the entire thing together. Kerby Jean-Raymond reportedly said that he tried to gather the most gripping information possible for the 10-minute video he presented. He also used his own money/team to interview the family members of widely-known victims of police brutality (some clips were even included in the video) such as the daughter of Eric Garner, and the mother of Oscar Grant. But he didn't just stop there. He took it a step further by INVITING some family members of the victims to sit in the front-row seat of his show, which is a highly coveted position.
This artist executed his spring collection so flawlessly and studied it with such depth that even if you are on the other side of the argument, you can't help but to give him some credit.
WOw. I really didn't intend to ramble on about this topic but I feel like a lot of that was necessary to get to my main point. Here's the significance of this artist in relation to my own art: I basically aspire to be this kind of artist. Kerry Jean-Raymond took something that was very personal to him and presented it in a way so that many others could relate to him (geez, I'm Korean and after researching on his fashion show I took personal offense to all the incidents that have involved blacks and police brutality). He also made his fashion items very explicit in the message he was trying to send and by doing so, he took a major risk-- especially because the topic he addressed is such a controversial issue. For me, that's something I can't do very well because I'm so afraid of people not approving of my art and I'm also afraid that my opinion may alter someone else's opinion and essentially limit them to that ONE opinion instead of them coming up with their own conclusions (if that makes sense).. But the fact that he was brave enough to take something he felt strongly about and create a strong message about it really resonated inside of me.
In the future, I would absolutely love to fearlessly create explicit art that addresses an important topic/issue in my life in such a way that it touches other people-- whether it offends them or moves them.
Links:
- http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/09/11/the-designer-challenging-police-racism-at-new-york-fashion-week.html
- http://wisdomchokeyou.tk/post/129047097538/the-designer-challenging-police-racism-at-new-york
WOW this is so densely packed with rhetoric and strong argument (this might as well be an AP Lang blog). It's a great idea to make art that reflects the things that you think are important or worth making statements about to the public. It's a conversational medium that actually tends to convey messages even more effectively than words (a lot of the time, anyway). So, that being said, I would definitely support you making art that is more personal to you. The art that this guy makes is very interesting also. His pieces pack a punch, and the fact that some people were offended and decided not to come is something to think about as well.
ReplyDeleteJenna, your hired! Thoughtful response. I could not have said it better.
ReplyDeleteWell, I must say- yes, personal work and risky work. Put it out there.Both of you.
ReplyDelete