Man Oh Man

Is Renée Cox an African dragged across the Atlantic or a human swept across time?

African

Cox places her interest in the interpersonal dynamics of racism and racial stereotyping where it belongs; the surface. Her first treatment of the parody that is race are the titles of her works, pointing, laughingly at ebonics. Titles as void as Yo Mama’s Last Supper, coupled with content of quite the opposite nature. She saturates explicitly with meaning. Note the black female Messiah, the braided placemats, and the white Judas.

Being of African heritage - and being in general - is loaded with meaning. Often times so much meaning, others come to assume the trials and tribulations one experiences. One might, shake a head in shame about Treyvon, raise a fist in solidarity, and go about their day - not once taking note of the other’s MAGA hat. What Renée does is expose our assumptions by putting them first and foremost, rewarding the viewer that dares dive deeper. The idea of Christ though revised and reworked over time (#Nicea) is one of transcendentalism. Movement beyond bodies and figures and into the realm of the spiritual whole. One where walls fall, and all is one under the cosmic space that some call “God.” In channeling this often cited image and persona, Renée makes claims above questions of Christ’s race or gender. She instead presents claims on her own nature - the universe in a bottle. Making assumptions of race and gender replaces her radiant - complex - container with a label that reads “Coke.”

Just like Jesus, Renée’s image was warped and wasted by authority. In 2001, Mayor Giuliani of New York plays Pontius, calling the art work ''disgusting,'' ''outrageous'' and ‘'anti-Catholic.'' (1)

Human

Humans are a product of sensation, a product of physical law rising into consciousness, the details of which deserve a paper of their own (2). Sensations, beyond suffering, are what tie us together as humans. The case of African origins in the Americas, is particular but universal; a native people in a foreign land. This rise is well detailed in LeRoi Jones’ Blues People. LeRoi, “their customs, attitudes, desires, were shaped to a different place, a radically different life (5).” Despite this and the depths of cruelty endured, culture was recreated in a void, starting with gospel leading to the blues, jazz, and just about anything culturally relevant to the USA. After being tossed into the void, culture rose from a universal product of sensation. The mediums, mechanisms, and messages become strictly irrelevant.

The viewer makes the decision. Is Renée Cox an African dragged across the Atlantic or a human swept across time? Is she a race, and gender in a location? Or, is she the sum of billions and billions of atoms trying, desperately, to make sense of this world?

The list goes on and on.



Bibliography:

  1. Elizabeth Bumiller, “Affronted by Nude 'Last Supper' Giuliani Calls for Decency Panel,” The New York Times (Feb 26, 2001)

  2. Hofstadter, Doug (2007). I am A Strange Loop. New York: Basic Books

  3. Michael Cooper, “Officers in Bronx Fire 41 Shots, And an Unarmed Man Is Killed,” The New York Times (Feb 5, 1999)

  4. Cox, R. (2001). Renee Cox: American family. New York: Robert Miller Gallery.

  5. Jones, LeRoi, 1963. Blues People; The Negro Experience in White America and the Music That Developed From It. William Morrow and Company.

  6. "Acta Sanctorum." Acta Sanctorum. 1999. Accessed November 01, 2018. http://acta.chadwyck.co.uk/.

By Maxime Mballa-Tagny.