I’ve decided not to choose a painting, but the photograph of Jean-Michel Basquiat you can see on the beginning of the video. On this photo, you can see Basquiat, well-dressed, barefoot, who’s looking at us with a serious expression. Behind him, a wall has been painted by him and shows us a little part from his art. I chose this picture for two reasons : first, I think Basquiat is a very important man for both art and equality between black and white. Indeed, he is one of the first black artists who managed to get a place in the field of painting, even if it’s been hard for him. On the other hand, I found this photo very interesting because there is a contrast between his tuxedo that represent a high social class, and the fact that he’s barefoot, which can remind us the slavery or also the fact that Basquiat remained attached to his modest origins. Then, the overturned chair can symbolize his engagement and his rebellious behavior in relation to segregation and racism.
Plus, I really like his art which is very critical about the society he used to live in, racism and social inequalities. So, I like this photo because it shows Basquiat’s universe just with a suit, a overturned chair, some painting on a wall and barefoot.
By the way, there is a great movie that have been done on his life named Basquiat, the radiant child, with several grand actors.
Now, about Thelma Golden speech. First of all, she thinks that art can change our mind concerning the culture and ourselves, which means that it has a real power on people. She develops this aspect of how images are powerful by giving us an example that really happened, during an exposition, where a woman told her about two paintings she though unsettling. This event made her think about this power dimension of art. So, according to her, images are working as catalysts, because they’re making people react and think about something, in this particular point black culture in the USA.
Which bring us at her opinion about the role that a museum have in society. Indeed, she asked, with one of her expositions, if a museum couldn’t be a catalyst in a community, in order to make people think about themselves.
To conclude, I agree with Thelma Golden’s point of view concerning the fact that artists are catalysts for several reasons. First, art is a roundabout way to express artist’s opinion, and when people are looking at a painting or a sculpture, they are thinking about what is the secret message of the painting. They can agree or not with the artist’s opinion, but they at least have think about the main idea. Furthermore, a painting is already a catalyst in itself because it always creates a reaction from the spectator. So, because the artist is the one who is at the origin of this reaction, we can say that he is the catalyst. And then, museum is a place where people are solicited by a lot of ideas and where they can talk with other person about what they’re thinking concerning the piece. That’s why artists are the one who can make people react, become angry, enthusiastic or involved just with their imagination, their talent and their wish to change society.
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