Artist as Subject

When I should have been reading about Manet and an article by James Rubin entitled The Artist as Subject: the Paris of Édouard Manet. I actually went on a blog break and came across this wicked Kanye West video for his song Heartless. It’s not his next single, Amazing will be. He is dropping the idea since there’s another video out there that’s doing the same technique.

I had this idea to relate Kanye West to Impressionist painter Édouard Manet in order to relieve my guilt for procrastination. In my research I found that both approach the expression of art in a similar fashion. Manet took his own world as subject matter for painting, declaring a social position and artistic attitude much like Courbet. Manet’s art had captured something of a modern consciousness where his visual and social experiences were coextensive. He referred to his hometown and always put his origins and loyalties on display. Manet’s name was associated with radical, avant-garde destruction to tradition and throughout the decade received lots of criticism for his painting style, particularly for his paintings Déjeuner sur l’herbe and Olympia. Manet painted with Monet and Renoir at Argenteuil where they influenced each other a lot and shared an interest in modern subject. A critic named Louis Gonse considered Manet to be the "father of modernism."

Édouard Manet - Déjeuner sur l’herbe and Olympia (1863)

If you really think about it Kanye West is not so different in producing music and clothing instead of paintings. His lyrics are similar in Manet’s subject matter in that he rhymes about what he’s about and his experiences and loyalties. His recent album 808s & Heartbreak pushes the boundaries of what is considered to be acceptable in rap music. On the subject of criticism, Kanye has been dubbed “Mr. Controversial” and has received a plethora of criticism during his career about his political lyrics and his memorable Bush line during the Hurricane Katrina fundraiser.

Kanye West’s music videos are an art form of their own. They are iconoclastic and innovative going above and beyond to produce an effective visual to illustrate what he raps (or sings) about. Like any artist they become influenced by their peers and their environment this is not any different in the hip-hop world. Kanye has been influenced by producer RZA from Wu-Tang Clan, Daft Punk, Michael Jackson, and Jay Z just to name a few. He has worked with numerous artists throughout his career who have shared his creative vision and have integrated it into their works of art. Kanye West has been considered to be one of the most commercially successful "back-pack" rappers. (Back-pack rapper: Person who raps about real life stuff that matters and his experiences. He is true to himself while rapping and uses his head and heart to write not simply with a pen and producing meaningless words). Perhaps Kanye West is our modern day Manet?

So there you have it: Art history meets Hip-hop. I wonder if Professor Carney would appreciate my juxtaposition? McCleary would for sure!

Images
1. en.wikipedia.org
2 & 3. fadis.com
4. prettymuchamazing.com
5. youtube.com (Screenshot of a fanmade typographic video for Amazing)