My Video Page

Our Family Page

"The Atributes of Dominique Kubuli"

Vonnie & me on our 28th anniversary

"La R�v�lation: L.E.P.I.H"

Yvonne has been my videographer and photographer for many of the images on this website.

Listen to: The Mighty Sparrow's endorsement of Barack Obama

View a Power Point Presentation:Anthroperception:Alternative Realties in Famous Paintings

View a Video:My Mom is presenting my painting donated to the Government and people of Dominica

View a Video:Black History Month lecture at York College, CUNY, 2004, Part 1

View a Video:Black History Month lecture at York College, CUNY, 2004, Part 2

View a Video: Black History Month lecture at York College, CUNY, 2004, Part 3

View a Video: Black History Month lecture at York College, CUNY, 2004, Part 4"

View a Video:The Making of 'Les demoiselles "de moi seul" ' Part 1

View a Video:The Making of 'Les demoiselles "de moi seul" 'Part 2

View a Video:The Making of 'Les demoiselles "de moi seul" ' Part 3

View a Video:The Making of 'Les demoiselles "de moi seul" ' Part 4

View a Video:The Making of 'Les demoiselles "de moi seul" ' Part 5

Les demoiselles "de moi seul"

Acrylic on canvas, 79"x59" Copyrights 2002 David G. Wilson

Warning

This painting is published via this medium only for the intellectual edification of the general public . No unauthorized commercial use is allowed without expressed written permission.

Les demoiselles de moi seul

This painting is a response to Pablo Picasso's "Les demoiselles d'Avignon." In his picture, Picasso destroyed the time honored tradition of perspective in Western art and created a tour de force which was influenced by African art. In the process he revolutionized the concept of art. Using a similar theme of nudes in a room, I sought to portray these ladies in a more exploitative manner in order to accentuate their plight as victims of Western patriachy. They are not only victims of male exploitation, but they are actually African women during slavery as they were dehumanized, demeaned and equated to a marketable commodity. They were put on display and subjected to the carnal whim of the slave master, just as the viewer is guilty of ocular rape.

This is a legacy that is perpetuated today as young rappers who continue the reductive practice of portraying women as marketable commodities dressed for sale in their music videos. The image of the three women is visually evident in this painting, but equally evident is the reductive equation to marketable paraphernalia of these women and an ocular delight and even edible desires. As composites of marketable paraphernalia, they are placed in a hierachy of the master's choice with the one whose image more closely approximates the traditional ideal of the European female in the central location. This practice still exists wherein the beauty and desirability of the African woman is measured by her proximity to the European ideal. Their carnal attributes are exaggerated to indicate the perpetuated practice of sexual exploitation made more palatable by depicting the foremost figure as an edible commodity.

The reintroduction of perspective into this picture is meant to indicate the desire for a reversal of the direction of overt sexual exploitation of women, but paradoxically to dramatize the obnoxious nature of the practice.

David G. Wilson

*GO TODNA

*GO TOContents

*GO TOQuest