1) The reasons behind why portraits are created come from a few different places. To preserve historical perspectives and show us in detail the leaders of the past, as well as a memorial to those who have passed on. Portraits are used for the enlightenment of many of what someone or some group of people have accomplished for the betterment of all of us. They can also be used in criminal investigations, for work (those who create and sell portraits for a livelihood), and simply as a way for an artist to express themselves.
2) A community is simply a group of people with a common interest, belief, or goal. It can be a large scale community such as worldwide organizations that stand against violence, or the small group of friends you have at school. Either way, it is an important thing to be a part of, and can be made up of anyone. Those close to you in terms of your family can be considered your community, those at work are part of your work community or those you go to the gym with part of your gym community. It is everywhere, and vital to the human mental wellbeing. 3) My personal community I would consider myself a part of would be the Christian community. As a Christian myself, it is very important to me to be engaged with my fellow believers from all over the world and I have been given that wonderful opportunity at my own church, which is made up primarily of immigrants to Canada. 4) Something that strikes me about Jordan's paintings would be the simplicity of them, with the deeper meaning that you can see is implied, but not truly understand until she tells the story of how they came to be. The stories behind the people in the painting you can tell would be incredible to hear, yet the artworks she creates are just everyday people living their lives, and smiling for a camera for a few seconds. The fact that she goes out of her way to represent a group of people who she feels needs representing is amazing, as it opens that door to discussion about whatever group it may be someone is painting, which in her case is primarily Black men. An important topic, and represented in a wonderful way by someone obviously qualified and understanding of the experience. 5) It's difficult to try and describe someone else's community, especially when you are not a part of it, but from what we can see from this video is that her community seems to be everyone around her. Those she photographs to paint you can tell are comfortable with her presence and who she is, which implies an inherent community with them. Her Aunt, and those she is around with her Aunt as well seem to be people that are part of her community and are important to her. We don't see the other side of her in this video, as she speaks about going to Yale (I believe), but we can then assume that she is also a part of the academic community there as well. 6) Again, I'd like to point to the simplicity and beauty these paintings convey. They are not famous athletes, academics, artists, or musicians, but people from a neighborhood she is comfortable in who live pretty average lives, and pose for a picture for a moment in their day. They convey comfort, solidarity and peace with the simpler things in life and the acceptance of who they are as people. While these people probably often go unnoticed, Jordan takes her own time to notice them and bring light to those who are foundational parts of a community, whether you know it or not. 7) My reaction to both I would say are about the same. Both types of paintings depict these Black men as strong, capable individuals in a simple, but truly beautiful way. I love how she mentions the importance she is holding on not sexualizing these bodies, but making it a statement to the humanity there is in all of us. And while these hold true to both her nude paintings and not, there are also a few differences in the stories they tell. The clothed men seem to be more about life and the struggles of life, whereas the nudes are more of a personal image of strength and solidarity, while remaining dignified and not sexualized, as the world likes to do with any image that is not fully clothed.
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AuthorHi! Me again. Thanks for taking a minute to look over my art and blog posts! Hopefully they mean something to you as well. ArchivesCategories |