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Article
Conceptual Art: The Untold Story of African Art
Author(s)
Osuanyi Quaicoo Essel, Ebenezer Kwabena Acquah
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DOI:10.17265/2159-5836/2016.10.009
Affiliation(s)
University of Education, Winneba, Winneba, Ghana
ABSTRACT
Conceptual art is one of the twentieth century art movements that has gained popular attention in the contemporary artworld. It has received much scholarly prominence in the Western world, and perceived as an emergent art of European origin. What has been given little or no scholarly attention is the African essence of root of conceptual art movement. This article addresses the historical epochs of conceptual art in Africa and delves into the critical question of whether or not conceptual art is an emergent art in Africa. With the help of the images of African artworks, this article attempts to find visual answers by examining the art-historical account of the art through visual analysis in simple narrative format in telling the African side of the story. It concludes that the adoration and idolization of Marcel Duchamp as the father of conceptual art is contestable since the art was many centuries old in Africa before the twentieth century artists began to practice it in the West. Duchamp’s attempt at dematerialization of art, and showing distaste to the traditional aesthetics of Western art at the time through conceptual exploration had been in practice in African art and, therefore, not an invention.
KEYWORDS
art, African art, art movements, conceptual art, contemporary art
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References
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Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. (2012). The definition of art. Retrieved July 12, 2016 from http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/art-definition/
Stecker, R. (1996). Definition of art. In J. Levinson (Ed.), Oxford Handbook of Aesthetics (pp. 136-154). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Stecker, R. (2000). Is it reasonable to attempt to define Art? In N. Carroll (Ed.), Theories of art today (pp. 45-64). Wisconsin: The University of Wisconsin Press.
Stecker, R. (2005). Aesthetics and the philosophy of art. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield.
British Museum Publications. (1981). What is African art? Retrieved March 27, 2016 from https://www.britishmuseum.org/PDF/british_museum_african_art.pdf
Vansina, J. (1984). Art history in Africa. New York, NY: Longman Group Limited.
Varnedoe, K. (1984). Contemporary explorations. In W. Rubin (Ed.), “Primitivism” in 20th century art (pp. 661-685). New York, NY: The Museum of Modern Art.
Vogel, S. (1990). Forword. In Close up: Lessons in the art of seeing African sculpture. New York, NY: Center for African Art.
Adams, L. S. (2002). Art across time. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Companies Inc.
Alberro, A., & Stimson, B. (Eds.). (1999). Conceptual art: A critical anthology. Massachusetts: Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Amenuke, S. K., Dogbe, B. K., Asare, F. D. K., Ayiku, R. K., & Baffoe, A. (1991). General knowledge in art for senior secondary schools. London: Evans Brothers Ltd.
Antubam, K. (1963). Ghana’s heritage of culture. Leipzag: Koehler & Amelang.
Araeen, R. (2005). Modernity, modernism, and Africa’s place in the history of art of our age. Third Text, 19(4), 417.
Biko, F. (2011, March). Religion Africa’s gift to the world. Africa Watch, 56-62.
Boden, M. A. (2011). Creativity and art. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Boden, M. A. (2012). Creativity and art: Three roads to surprise. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Bomfeh, J. K. (2015, May 29). Ghana’s politics on insincerity. Retrieved July 12, 2016 from http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/Ghana-s-Politics-of-Insincerity-359763
Carroll, N. (2002). Philosophy of art: A contemporary definition. New York: Routledge.
Carroll, N. (Ed.). (2000). Theories of art today. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.
Chisholm, H. (Ed.) (2016). “African Tribal Distribution”. In 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica (11th ed.). Retrieved July 12, 2016 from http://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/bri/view.cgi?n=640
Cole, H. M. (1989). Icons: Ideals and power in the art of Africa. Washington, D.C.: National Museum of African Art.
CultureGrams. (2014). Republic of Madagascar. Retrieved March 27, 2014 from http://www.culturegrams.com/images/samples/Madagascar2014.pdf
Danto, A. (1981). The transfiguration of the commonplace. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Davies, S. (1991). Definitions of art. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
Davies, S. (2004). The cluster theory of art. British Journal of Aesthetics, 44(3), 297-300.
Davies, S. (2006). The philosophy of art. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
Dei-Anang, M. (1975). History of the black peoples of Africa. In World encyclopedia of black peoples (Vol. 1, pp. 194-219). Michigan: Scholarly Press, Inc.
Du Bois, W. E. B., Mahmood, M., & Horne, G. (2007). The world and Africa and color and democracy. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Duncum, P. (2012). Popular aesthetics. Lecture Notes. Champaign: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Enwezor, O. (2016, March 20). Where, what, who, when: A few notes on “African” conceptualism. Retrieved July 12, 2016 from http://www.artafrica.info/html/artigotrimestre/3/artigo3_i.php
Essel, O. Q., & Opoku-Mensah, I. (2014). Pan-African artistic reflections in Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park. International Journal of African Society Cultures and Traditions, 1(2), 30-41.
Fisher, J. A. (1993). Reflecting on art. California: Mayfield Publishing Company.
Fosu, K. (1975). Art and sculpture of the black peoples of Africa. In World encyclopedia of black peoples (Vol. 1, pp. 33-44). Michigan: Scholarly Press, Inc.
Fosu, K. (1993). 20th century art of Africa. Accra: Artists Alliance Gallery.
Fosu, K. (2004). Contemporary art in Ghana, transitions: Samtidskunst Fra Ghana. Copenhagan: Ulandssekreariantet.
Fosu, K. (2009). Pioneers of contemporary Ghanaian art. Accra: Type Company Ltd.
Gaut, B. (2000). “Art” as cluster of concepts. In N. Carroll (Ed.), Theories of art today (pp. 25-44). Wisconsin: The University of Wisconsin Press.
Getlein, M. (2002). Gilbert’s living with art (6th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
Kant, I. (1952). The Critique of judgment. Oxford, UK: Clarendon Press.
Kant, I. (2000). Critique of the power of judgment. (P. Guyer & E. Matthews, Trans.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Kolbowski, K. (2000). An inadequate history of conceptual Art, 92, 52-70.
Labi, K. A. (2013). Art studies in Kenya. Third Text Africa, 3(1), 99-101.
Leuthold, S. (1999). Conceptual art, conceptualism, and aesthetic education. Journal of Aesthetic Education, 33(1), 37-47.
Lewitt, S. (1996). Paragraphs on conceptual art. In K. Stiles and P. H. Selz, Theories and documents of contemporary art. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Metropolitan Museum of Art. (2008). African influences in modern art. Retrieved March 27, 2016 from https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/aima/hd_aima.htm
Museum of Modern Art. (1985). “Primitivism” in 20th century art: Affinity of the tribal and the modern [Press release]. Retrieved from https://www.moma.org/momaorg/shared/pdfs/docs/press_archives/6081/releases/MOMA_1984_0017_17.pdf?2010
Nkrumah, K. (1963). The African genius (Speech by Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, President of the Republic of Ghana, at the opening of the Institute of African Studies on 25th October 1963).
Nkrumah, K. (1964a). Consciencism. London: Panaf Books Ltd.
Nkrumah, K. (1964b). Dr Kwame Nkrumah (Speech by Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, President of the Republic of Ghana, At the Opening Session of the First Meeting of the Editorial Board of the Encyclopedia Africana on Thursday, September 24, 1963 at the University of Ghana). Retrieved 08/09/2015 from http://www.papelesdesociedad.info/IMG/pdf/dr_kwame_nkrumah.pdf
O’Sullivan, A. (1998). Appreciation and history of art. Dublin: Gill & Macmillan Ltd.
Owusu-Sarpong, C. (2003). From words to ritual objects. In C. Owusu-Sarpong and C. Falgayrettes-Leveau (Eds.), Ghana: Yesterday and today. Paris: Museé Dapper.
Oxford Reference. (2012). Definition of art. In The concise Oxford dictionary of art terms (2nd. Ed.). Retrieved July 12, 2016 from http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199569922.001.0001/acref-9780199569922
Pereria, L. (2016, March 20). Conceptual art movement and examples. Retrieved from http://www.widewalls.ch/conceptual-art-movement-and-conceptual-art-examples/
Rubin, W. (1984). “Primitivism” in 20th century art. New York, NY: The Museum of Modern Art.
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. (2012). The definition of art. Retrieved July 12, 2016 from http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/art-definition/
Stecker, R. (1996). Definition of art. In J. Levinson (Ed.), Oxford Handbook of Aesthetics (pp. 136-154). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Stecker, R. (2000). Is it reasonable to attempt to define Art? In N. Carroll (Ed.), Theories of art today (pp. 45-64). Wisconsin: The University of Wisconsin Press.
Stecker, R. (2005). Aesthetics and the philosophy of art. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield.
British Museum Publications. (1981). What is African art? Retrieved March 27, 2016 from https://www.britishmuseum.org/PDF/british_museum_african_art.pdf
Vansina, J. (1984). Art history in Africa. New York, NY: Longman Group Limited.
Varnedoe, K. (1984). Contemporary explorations. In W. Rubin (Ed.), “Primitivism” in 20th century art (pp. 661-685). New York, NY: The Museum of Modern Art.
Vogel, S. (1990). Forword. In Close up: Lessons in the art of seeing African sculpture. New York, NY: Center for African Art.