Museuem Essay #1

 

    Kehinde Wiley’s painting ‘The Two Sisters’ (2012) is oil on linen measuring 96 by 72 inches. This work is an idealized portrait. Two stately women seem to float in front of a bright flower motif that monopolizes the background of the painting. The flowers are vibrant shades of green, yellow, orange and red. The black background that shows through the flowers creates negative space. The women stand beside each other in long, one shouldered, white gowns. The most notable value in the painting is in the fold of the gowns. The glowing, copper shade of their skin tone and the bright white of their gowns give the sisters an angelic aura. The woman on the right has linked her hands around her sisters left arm. Their hair is swept back and one sister wears bright blue eye makeup. The overall tone of this painting conveys a feeling of warmth.

      Chitra Ganesh’s ‘Eyes of Time’ (2014) is a mixed-media wall mural located in The Brooklyn Museum. This mural is an abstract depiction of Kali, the Indian Goddess of destruction and rebirth. Kali’s head is a golden clock. She has long, wild hair that trails off into part of poem. Her skin is a muddled blue-grey. She has three breasts, three legs and six arms. One of her feet rests upon a glowing, mechanical looking, orb-like structure. Her arms are outstretched and each hand either holds an object or makes a gesture. One holds a sycle with a single drop of rhinestoned blood falling from the point. Another hand holds an eyeball. One scarred arm with glittery bangles on its wrist juts out of a grotesque mouth on her shoulder. She wears a skirt made out of severed arms. The background is made up of bands of colour, blue at the top, red at the very bottom and a large negative space in between.

      Though these works of art come from two very different artists with distinct styles, mediums and backgrounds I believe that both works symbolize the strength and resilience of women. In most of Kehinde Wiley’s paintings that depict more than one woman they are always making some sort of physical contact. I believe this simple act of touch represents the unbreakable bond of sisterhood and how unifying the feminine experience can be. Chitra Ganesh has chosen to represent woman kind as a warrior goddess capable of creation and destruction. Both artists seem to be challenging the way society views and represents women. Women that have been erased from a white male centric history are presented goddess-like or with an air of royalty. Women that live in a society where they are thought of as lesser beings become powerful creatures capable of destroying their enemies.