Vanessa German ( born 1976)
Artist Considers the 21st Century Implications of Psychosis as Public Health Crisis or, Critical/Comedic Analysis into the Pathophysiology of Psychosis
2014
Mixed media assemblage
Courtesy Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas
Contemporary Art Gallery
Artist Considers the 21st Century Implications of Psychosis as Public Health Crisis or, Critical/Comedic Analysis into the Pathophysiology of Psychosis
ALICE WALTON: So when I walked through the first State of the Art in 2014, I got to the middle of the Contemporary Gallery and I started crying. There were four or five sculptures of young African American children. They were dolls that were white dolls that were then painted to be black dolls. And I have never, I don't think, before or since been so moved by a piece of art. Well that artist is Vanessa German, and Vanessa has become a dear friend. She's come to speak and perform at Crystal Bridges and in Bentonville several times since. She also received the great honor of being the second recipient of the Don Tyson prize, which is the largest prize in American art, which we award through the generosity of Tyson Foods and the Tyson family each year.Vanessa lives in Homewood, which is a suburb of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and happens to have or used to have the distinction of having the highest child murder rate in the United States, of any area, which is a very sad distinction. Vanessa decided she was going to do something about it. So she started gathering the children in her neighborhood, first on her porch to help make these works of art, and then she bought a dilapidated building from a bank that had it in for foreclosure. And she invited the children in as soon as they finish school to keep them off the streets and keep them safe, and to learn to do art.
And this has been Vanessa's life. So she really is a leader in a whole movement called social art in which these artists--really, their art is all about changing their neighborhoods and doing things, creating things that have a major positive impact on their neighborhoods. And there is no better example than Vanessa German's great sculptures.
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Vanessa German ( born 1976)
La artista considera las implicaciones de la psicosis como crisis sanitaria en el siglo XXI, o Análisis crítico/cómico de la fisiopatología de la psicosis
2014
Ensamblaje de técnica mixta
Courtesy Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas
Contemporary Art Gallery
La artista considera las implicaciones de la psicosis como crisis sanitaria en el siglo XXI, o Análisis crítico/cómico de la fisiopatología de la psicosis
ALICE WALTON: Cuando recorrí la primera exposición State of the Art en 2014, llegué a la mitad de la sala de arte contemporáneo y comencé a llorar. Había cuatro o cinco esculturas de niños afroestadounidenses. Había muñecas blancas que habían sido pintadas, para convertirlas en muñecas negras. Y creo que nunca, antes o después, me conmoví de tal modo con una obra de arte. La artista se llama Vanessa German y ahora se ha convertido en una querida amiga. Ha venido a dar charlas y a actuar en Crystal Bridges y en Bentonville varias veces desde entonces. También ha recibido el gran honor de ser la segunda ganadora del premio Don Tyson, que es el más grande en el ámbito artístico y que otorgamos todos los años gracias a la generosidad de Tyson Foods y la familia Tyson.Vanessa vive en Homewood, un suburbio de Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, que tiene o solía tener la mayor tasa de asesinatos de niños del país, en cualquier área; una cifra tristísima. Vanessa decidió que haría algo al respecto. Así, comenzó a reunir a los niños del barrio para ayudarlos a hacer arte; primero, en la puerta de su casa y, luego, compró el edificio de un banco en ruinas que estaba en proceso de ejecución hipotecaria. Invitaba a los niños a la salida de la escuela, para mantenerlos fuera de las calles y seguros, y les enseñaba a hacer arte.
Esta ha sido la vida de Vanessa. Es realmente una líder del movimiento llamado arte social, en el que los artistas... Realmente, su arte se dedica a cambiar los barrios y a hacer cosas, crear cosas que tienen un fuerte impacto positivo en los barrios. No hay mejor ejemplo de ello que las extraordinarias esculturas de Vanessa German.
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