You may now refer to Yeezy as "Kanye Picasso": how the art world is relevant in Kanye'
** writing this while watching the live stream of the Yeezy Season 3 fashion show from Madison Square Garden**
Kanye/Yeezy/The Louis Vuitton Don says what he wants whenever the hell he wants. It is one of the reasons I respect Kanye, he is unabashedly himself, this does not mean I always agree with what he spews, but he meaningfully says it all with conviction. This spew, which I am sure he would refer to as “the spreading of his creative genius” has lead to many controversies, let us not forget the recent ‘Ye and Wiz beef over Twitter (glad that is settled) and some of his self-praising quotes, such as “My greatest pain in life is that I will never be able to see myself perform live”, evidently, he thinks quite highly of himself; YEEZUS does rhyme with “Jesus” if I am correct.
Along with comparing his status to the likes of Jesus Christ, Kanye has often compared himself to Pablo Picasso. His newest album, which drops today (PRAISE YEEZUS!) is titled T.L.O.P. (The Life of Pablo), further and blatantly referring to himself as the late, great fine artist, Pablo Picasso. Although the album name has changed numerous times (‘Ye’s creativity is ever evolving, duh) and is cryptic, I can confidently say that the Pablo he is announcing is THE Pablo Picasso. Clue #1: Kanye mentioned Picasso while giving a lecture at Oxford University, he said, “My goal, if I was going to do art, fine art, would have been to become Picasso or greater,” so apparently he admires the guy. Clue #2: he was also quoted saying, “When I think of competition it’s like I try to create against the past. I think about Michelangelo and Picasso, you know, the pyramids”, proving that he not only thinks his creativity echoes Picasso's, he wants to be seen as greater than Picasso. Most of Kanye’s songs are autobiographical, so if examined under the titled “The Life of Pablo”, Kanye maybe comparing his life and his creative processes to those of Picasso. We will have to wait and listen.
Putting 'Ye’s controversies and ego aside, I’d like to focus on how art history and popular culture, especially media and music, synthesize more today than ever before. The information age has led us all to be able to research and immortalize past historical figures. i.e. we all have heard the the name “Pablo Picasso.” Here is a little background on Picasso for you non-art history majors (the majority of the world). Picasso is regarded as the foremost artist of the 20th century, helping to define “Modern” art. He revolutionized art because he radically opposed the its classical principles, focusing on experimentation with different modes of representation- think Cubism (refer to Picasso's, Les Demoiselles d'Avignon, from 1907 below). Picasso was also incredibly prolific; he was a painter, a sculptor, a printmaker, a playwright, a poet, and a stage designer. His prolific nature may be why Kanye believes he is the modern day Picasso, and Kanye can support this claim. Kanye too is prolific. Maybe you all missed it, but ‘Ye is now a fashion designer. He also directs, produces, writes songs, and performs songs, not just for himself, but for other artists as well. Kanye and Picasso evoke many comparisons other than being prolific, they both became notable artists at a young age and had/have eccentric personalities, the list could go on. Staunch scholars of art history would scoff at this comparison, but I think Yeezy fans should embrace the connection. The connection is possible and relevant because of the information age. Kanye’s self-proclaimed link to Picasso is only impactful because we know of Picasso’s prowess, thanks to the internet and social media.
The thing is, Kanye is an artist, and even fine artists recognize his talent. Barbara Kruger, an extremely well known contemporary conceptual artist, had in fact requested ‘Ye’s music for a film about her career exhibited at the LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art) in 2014. The short film covers the history of her works; all backed with Nicolas Jaar’s remix of Kanye’s “Blood on the Leaves”. The union of Kruger’s work and Kanye’s song surprised but enlightened me; a perfect combination of institutional art and an un-institutional rap artist. Artists recognize other artists, and this appreciation is helping to evolve the art world into a more productive arena of ingenuity.
So what the hell is the relevance of all this art talk? The information age allows us to blend the strict disciplines of fine art with media/music and create a major dialogue. The boundaries between the two are blurring, bending the definition of “art". Art as painting. Art has rap music. Art as the combination of both. Fine art is now both Picasso and Kanye.
