Embracing Black Culture Features Fall Creek Junior High Artists and Local Fiber Artist
Fall Creek Junior High art students, under the guidance of art department chair Michelle Feeney, have developed their own self-portraits inspired by American artist Jean-Michel Basquiat’s unique style. These self-portraits are on display in the Fishers Arts Council Gallery at the Collaboration Hub at the Hamilton County Community Foundation this February.
The students captured themselves and used voice and imagery to bring light to social issues that were personal to them. You can read about their artwork through their written artist statements that accompany each piece.
Students were given the choice to display their work publicly in a gallery setting, along with having the opportunity to sell their work, and over 100 students jumped at the chance.
In addition to visual artwork, many students have also contributed colorful reports on Black Americans who have made incredible contributions in the field of science.
Jean-Michel Basquiat was born Dec. 22, 1960. He was an American street artist from Manhattan who rose to fame in the 1980’s. He started as a graffiti artist on the lower East Side inspired by hip-hop culture and his experiences within the black community.
It was hard for the art community to take his work seriously after starting as a graffiti artist. Early in Basquiat’s career, he made his money by selling homemade postcards on the street corners. Artist Andy Warhol purchased one of his postcards. This transaction helped catapult Basquiat’s creative livelihood.
He turned to large scale paintings, often completed on old doors that were found in local dumpsters. He used a variety of mixed media and subject matter to bring awareness to social issues, especially the gap between the poor and the wealthy and integration vs. segregation within the black community.
His paintings were intertwined with brilliant poetry, text and imagery to capture the viewers’ attention to issues that were often neglected or hard to talk about.
He was soon breaking down barriers in art museums. It was not often you saw a black man’s work on display in predominantly a white man’s world. He was soon featured in galleries all over the world and even had a solo exhibit at the Whitney Museum of American Art.
His most famous painting “Untitled,” sold in 1982 for $4,000.00. In 2017, it was auctioned at Sotheby’s for 110 million dollars. His rise to fame and success did not come without struggles. His abondance of wealth, fame and success was something he was not equipped to deal with. He struggled with addiction and later lost his battle at the young age of 27.
His portraits are multifaceted, full of layers, words, images, colors, textures, symbolism and representation from other artistic styles, cultures and time periods. They bring light to social issues that are still hard to talk about today.
Join the party at the Second Friday reception today from 6-8 p.m. at the Collaboration Hub at 11810 Technology Dr. in Fishers and meet the student artists and Kali, explore their passionate art, dig the music of blues duo Scrapper & Skelton and enjoy some light refreshments. This event is welcome to all ages – plus there will be a special interview segment with the artists at 6:45 p.m.