Afrosurreal: Behold the Invisible Worlds of Ringgold and Kentridge
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2024
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Bryn Mawr College. Department of History of Art
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Thesis
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Award
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eng
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Open access
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Abstract
Afrosurrealism is not just a movement or a genre. Afrosurrealism is the manifestation of African and African American scholars, writers, and artists who have devoted countless years and resources towards capturing the lived, contemporary Black experience on paper and canvas. Ralph Ellison, Jean Paul Sartre, Amiri Baraka, and now D. Scot Miller have all built their own interpretations of Afrosurrealism through the words of previous accounts. However, as definitions and guidelines for Baraka’s abstraction evolved after the release of each new published paper, the growing exclusivity of Afrosurrealism became antithetical to its function as an artistic genre. Hence, my use of Afrosurrealism as a framework. In performing an Afrosurrealist reading of Faith Ringgold’s Jo Baker’s Bananas and William Kentridge’s Monument, I was able to unearth and answer questions revolving around race, gender, and identity within both pieces. The Invisible World of Afrosurrealism not only conceals our bodies, our fears, and our secrets, it also functions as the key from which Black expression can passionately and unapologetically flourish.