Feinin – Chris Ofili, The Holy Virgin Mary, 1996
The concept of these feinin studies are to parody the works of artists. I use whatever props I have, and try to assert the least amount of energy producing them, but importantly as closely to resemble the original work. I have fooled readers thinking that I owned the piece. They are all self portraits photographed by a timer. Sometimes the camera does not fire when I pose, or things just fall off my body while I am being photographed. These are the challenges I face.With Chris Offili, I had the opportunity to see his painting, "Iscariot Blue" which is about Parang. Mr. Offili as you may know is responsible for the infamous painting, "The Holy Virgin Mary" which was deemed sacrilegious. The parody is more about him, and the value we place on art, he also lives here in Trinidad.
What I have learned is not to take your work too seriously, whether some pieces are termed works of art, that's left to you and the History books. Now back to meh next Feinin, I see it already, ogood, is jinks, meh ca do dat, but wait .....dem know already.
5 comments:
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LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Now dat is AHHHHHTTTT!
Beautiful!! I absolutely LOVE this. Two questions.
1. Why mention Chris Ofili, are you celebrating his style?
2. Why yuh cut down yuh plum tree??
-WAPnin
Well, look at that! I always learn things from you. I had no idea that Chris Ofili lives in Trinidad. Lucky T&T. By the way, I walked under a bronze Maman in Ottawa. She had an egg sac but I have to say that what your Maman has makes her look more like a Papa to me. I'm thinking "Bourgeois Papa" - the upside down, desecrated plum tree symbolising the suspension of logic as the spider king continues its rabid consumption of our nation's patrimony.
-WAPnin
Quite apart from this being a Feinin study of Ofili's similarly titled piece (about which I knew nothing until I saw your work) I would have liked it without the reference. When I first saw it, I thought Black Madonna. My mind then ran to Our Lady of Guadalupe because of the uncharacteristically bright colours that you chose to drape over her body. Then my eyes went back to the staring eyes and the tongue. Is she saying, "Boo!! Take that!" or "Look!...really look at ME!" or is she herself stunned by something that she is seeing or experiencing or is her expression meant to present her as a less demure, Kaliesque female power. I love the positioning of the fingers of the right hand especially. For me this photo would be right at home incorporated into a nicho, properly framed...very compelling.
-WAPnin
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