The Triptych: Wangechi Mutu
Don’t call it work…
weekly docu comic by The Realist - Asaf Hanuka (dope comic art)
Wangechi Mutu: Indurated Ulcers of the Cervix (2005)
collage on found medical paper
Pasting images taken from porn and fashion magazines over a prudish diagram of vaginal infections, Wangechi Mutu examines the perception of female sexuality. Her amalgamated portrait capitalises on the contradictions of role expectations: as western media ideal, sex goddess, and mother. Contorted in anger and crowned by black diamond dust, Mutu’s figure becomes both victim and warrior, alluding to the repercussions of female exploitation in both Africa and the west: from prostitution to sexual war crimes.
Wangechi Mutu: Adult Female Orgasms (2005)
packing tape, fur, collage on found medical illustration paper
Wangechi Mutu observes: “Females carry the marks, language and nuances of their culture more than the male. Anything that is desired or despised is always placed on the female body.” Piecing together magazine imagery with painted surfaces and found materials, Mutu’s collages explore the split nature of cultural identity, referencing colonial history, fashion and contemporary African politics. In Adult Female Sexual Organs, Mutu uses a Victorian medical diagram as a base: an archetype of biased anthropology and sexual repression. The head is a caricatured mask – made of packing tape, its material makes reference to bandages, migration, and cheap ‘quick-fix’ solutions. Mutu portrays the inner and outer ideals of self with physical attributes clipped from lifestyle magazines: the woman’s face being a racial distortion, her mind occupied by a prototypical white model. Drawing from the aesthetics of traditional African crafts, Mutu engages in her own form of story telling; her works document the contemporary myth-making of endangered cultural heritage.
Do one favor for yourself. Never be ungrateful in a relationship to any woman. For if you do not respect a symbol, then you do not respect your clarity of consciousness, and woman is a symbol of regeneration.” - Yogi Bhajan Women’s Day Salute
Lissie covers Kid Cudi’s Pursuit of Happiness.
Black girls rock.
shapeshifting. a tool of necessity and evolution in the 21st century for men and women of color.
Delbert Afrika, one of the Move 9, just before one of the worst police beatings ever recorded on televsion. MOVE’s history of insuborination is documented here: http://insubordination.blogspot.com/2007/07/attention-move-this-is-america.html
Now Featured on HYCIDE: Quiet Women Don't Make History
Photographer Profile on Phillis Kwentoh
Fan Page: OPEN
OPEN is a new publication dedicated to showcasing the work of writers, photographers and visual artists with an appreciation for the erotic aesthetic. OPEN serves as a platform to promote sex positive erotica that explores themes of existentialism, spirituality, identity and self-definition and to encourage and inspire healthy dialogues about sex, love, exploration and intimacy.
Edited by fayemi shakur and Michael A. Gonzales, OPEN features stories by Greg Tate, Miles Marshall Lewis, Kris Ex, Samala Kelly; poetry by jessica Care moore, Danny Simmons, Liza Jessie Peterson, M.Tkalla Keaton, Afefe Tyehimba, Fela Merah; photography by Saddi Khali, George Pitts, Sara Banevedes, Timothy Ivy, Akintola Hanif and more. Akintola Hanif serves as the Director of Photography.
On our website we blog about erotica, sharing enlightening interviews and fun findings by the editors.
Edited by fayemi shakur and Michael A. Gonzales, OPEN features stories by Greg Tate, Miles Marshall Lewis, Kris Ex, Samala Kelly; poetry by jessica Care moore, Danny Simmons, Liza Jessie Peterson, M.Tkalla Keaton, Afefe Tyehimba, Fela Merah; photography by Saddi Khali, George Pitts, Sara Banevedes, Timothy Ivy, Akintola Hanif and more. Akintola Hanif serves as the Director of Photography.
On our website we blog about erotica, sharing enlightening interviews and fun findings by the editors.
Skyy, can you feel me?
us.
