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A matter of symbolism is Obama's Official Portrait
E. Ablorh-Odjidja
For ARTCapitalGhana
February 13, 2018
There are very few fields as rich in symbolism as
the arts. And painting, I dare say, is the most dominant in this
aspect.
So Obama's portrait, by the painter Kehinde Wiley,
is going to be subject to symbolic scrutiny, and opportunistic
exploitation in the name of Art.
But caution, any reviewer must be careful and not
flippant in his or her interpretations brought to this work.
The reason being this work of art is not so much a matter
between the artist and an abstract subject in the painting.
In this case, it is about Obama, the first African
American president, therefore a
matter which easily could transform the interpretation
into a matter between all of us, especially those of us in the
Black world - the artist, his subject, and all of us.
But first, let us make it necessary to ask whether
Kahide's work, with this flourish of buried suggestions, should
merit standing as the official portrait of the first Black
president of the United States.
As much as I would like to have this work burnt,
as Winston Churchill was purported to have wished for his first
official portrait, I still would love to see the ashes of this
burnt work buried somewhere deep within the earth's bowel and to
remain there undigested by any mind for centuries to come.
Or, to have it as the official portrait of the
first Black president, I would plead for a wait for a more
charitable time to put on display before an interpreter can go
about unearthing the irksome symbolisms that some may find
buried in Kahinde's official work on President Obama.
For now, it is still horrifying to think of the
symbols that have already been found in this one work.
And very apprehensive just to think of the minds out there that
will seek to attack this portrait to destroy Obama's heritage.
A legacy overwhelmed with foliage; the official
portrait is likely to be called.
The jungle takes back its own or the sixth
finger aberration man?
Hopefully, there are charitable reviewers out
there who can come up with interpretations more refreshing and
as verdant as the thick foliage surrounding President Obama in
his first official portrait.
If so, then these reviewers must go to work now –
fast!
But before then, we still must ask
Kahinde why we needed to
start Obama on this footing; or why make more controversial this
highly historical figure whose image is already under various
distortions of political nature?
Whatever Kahide's purpose is, we must ask if this
drive is all about artistic notoriety?
There are few personalities of our generation whom
God, the creator, has made more opportune and historic; and,
therefore, more symbolic by their very being or existence.
And Obama is one of these critically, significant personalities.
Obama, as the first Black African-American
president, doesn’t own this pride alone. We share it equally
with him. Kehinde,
therefore, has no right to distort this pride outright in
artistic form.
Obama's official portrait should not be a mission
for artistic experimentation!
The groundbreaking nature of Obama's presidency,
the symbolism of which is already done, is what we ought to seek
to burnish or preserve with this painting. The one such as
Kahinde’s doesn’t arrive at this mark, much more to exceed it.
For an official portrait of Obama, a personality
of providence, I would expect the image of the man to be more
dominant, right at the center, with nothing else like foliage
overwhelming the subject.
A minimalist background and a flawless execution
of details, even if rendered a little in the abstract, is what
would have been satisfying - for me. But the
opposite is exactly what Kahinde has done.
So, to the next painter, I say, no more ridiculous
distortions of historic figures for the sake of art, please!
E. Ablorh-Odjidja, Publisher www.ghanadot.com,
Washington, DC, February 13, 2018.
Permission to publish: Please feel free to publish
or reproduce, with credits, unedited. If posted on a website,
email a copy of the web page to publisher@ghanadot.com. Or don't
publish at all.
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