ARTICLE #2: INSPO
Artists that inform + inspire (Part 1)
“I should have gone to art school,” I tell myself when I am knee deep in grading the 105th persuasive outline at the end of the semester as I daydream about wearing a beret and attending the MFA gallery show at the prestigious art school I would have surely taught at if I had gotten my MFA in art instead of my Ph.D. in Communication Studies.
Kara Walker - Storytelling and Silhouette
Instead I wrote papers, competed in speech and debate, and did performance work. In my procrastination time, I pored over feminist art books. I went to every gallery show I could. I read manifestos, and how tos. I listened to podcasts and watched Youtube tutorials. I put myself through my own strange curriculum of art and artists letting my curiosity lead the way.
Yayoi Kusama - Body Art + Stylized Repetition
And I was promiscuous. I studied performance artists, poets, painters, collage artists, musicians, installation artists, body artists. I mean, I even found a girl on Etsy who specialized in line drawings of the flaccid penis. If it was weird, I was in. I was curious. I was inspired.
Keith Haring - Activism and Proliferation
And along the way, I learned a lot, even if I didn’t write it all down. It’s interesting to me though, that a lot of people I talk to are not familiar with many of my favorite artists. As I have started making more visual work, I’ve had people ask me about my influences, or ascribe them to me.
Andy Warhol - Color + Celebrity
The obvious ones (for this latest colorful, abstractish stuff) are Warhol and maybe Matisse, Miro, or Picasso. Those are the ones everybody knows. And the answer is, “YES,” that is surely some of the work that I pull from visually. There is so much more to art than image. My favorite thing about artists is when they make me think differently, question something, see something in a way I hadn’t before.
Amy Sherald - Representation
When I was given the opportunity to do another gallery show, I considered my impulse to constantly do portraits of drag artists, LGBTQ icons, and other artists that I admire. I always wanna hype the people around me that I see doing incredible things and to amplify their voices any way I can.
Salvador Dali - Distortion + Surrealism
I thought if I was going to have a show that highlights my style and the things I’m working out visually, it might be good to share the influences that I pull from both visually and intellectually.
Kiki Kolgelnik - Pop Art (but not a jerk) + Feminism
I wanted to highlight 18 artists who have shaped the work I make in the world. (These are the first 9)
Barbara Hammer - Representation Matters + LGBTQ Art
It is an act of gratitude, of return. I’m tugging my ear fam. I’m gesturing emphatically to the tech crew as I bow. I’m giving credit where it is due. In a word, and indeed, they are my INSPO.
Jenny Holzer - Big Art for Big Ideas + Redaction
