Rozeal
June 1 – September 25, 2011
In the “a3” series (“afro-asiatic allegory”), Rozeal explores the confluence of African American and Asian cultures, and the global impact of hip-hop. Mimicking seventeenth-century Japanese woodblock prints, Brown depicts geishas and kabuki actors adorned with markers of twenty-first-century hip-hop culture—gold jewelry, elaborate acrylic fingernails, Afros and baggy clothes. This unexpected combination of periods and styles offers a profound commentary on mimicry, stereotyping, and non-Western constructions of black identity.
Rozeal, American, born 1966, (Left): a3 blackface #69, (Right): a3 blackface #670, 2004, Acrylic on paper,African American Art Purchase Fund
Kitagawa Utamaro, Japanese, 1753-1806, (Left): Two Women at the Morning Toilet, c.1793, (Middle): Two Geisha Preparing for a Fancy Dress Procession, c. 1782, (Right): The Courtesan Wakatsuru with Another Woman, c. 1790, Woodblock color print, Gift of Mrs. Jared K. Morse
Supporter:
Comment Cards & Visitor Participation
Installation Views
