AN EXHIBITION OF
ART 2
RAP 3
TALIB KWELI x POLLOCK
CONTENTS
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FOREWORD BY EMILY AUSTIN
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PRESS RELEASE DESCRIPTION
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GALLERY FLOOR PLAN
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SELECTED WORKS
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IMAGES OF THE EXHIBITION
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TITLE GRAPHICS
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LABELS
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POSTER
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EXHIBITION BROCHURE
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POSTCARD
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EXTERIOR BUILDING BANNER
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WEB BANNER
8 DOCUMENTATION 23 GRAPHICS 30 ADVERTISING 5
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FOREWORD by Emily Austin
Fine art and hip hop are seemingly separate entities. However, as street artists turned gallery artists, like Banksy or Shepard Fairey, have proven, hip hop culture has a great influence on the art world. A LYRICAL MASTERPIECE explores this connection and the notion that the fine art world has an even greater influence on the world of hip hop. Like hip hop music, art inspires across racial, ethnic, gender, and class lines. Fine art can also carry an aesthetic that includes re-appropriation, sociopolitical context, metaphors, and themes of urban blight, much like the material in many hip hop songs. Art and hip hop are also related on a more materialistic level, and for people of all backgrounds, the collection of fine art is a symbol of status. In the hip hop community, referencing works of fine art in a song is a form of braggadocio, and the more exclusive and expensive the artist, the more bragging rights are earned.
In this exhibition, renowned curator and artist, Anthony Schmiedeler injects his passion of rap and hip hop into the fine art world to create a visual pairing unlike any other. Song lyrics by Kanye West, Jay-Z, and others are projected onto works of art including Dali’s and Pollock’s, creating a kind of modern graffiti that disrupts the notions of “high” and “low” culture in the art world in a fresh and refined way. The experience is only heightened by the audio support of the various projected tracks playing overhead. The exhibition uncovers previously overlooked ties between the hip hop world and the world of fine art, exploring the possible reasons fine art is mentioned in hip hop. The result is a visually stunning and mentally riveting sensorial experience that showcases the influence of two seemingly unconnected art forms on one another, and on society.
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PRESS RELEASE DESCRIPTION FLOOR PLAN INVENTORY IMAGES OF THE EXHIBITION
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DOCU MENT
PRESS RELEASE DESCRIPTION
A LYRICAL MASTERPIECE is a visual and aural exhibition exploring the connections between hip-hop and fine art. The exhibition takes notable pieces by fine art masters including Picasso, Van Gogh, Jackson Pollock, Salvador Dali, JeanMichel Basquiat, Rembrandt, Mark Rothko, and Andy Warhol, and combines them with rap lyrics from hip-hop legends like Lil Wayne, Talib Kweli, Drake, Jay-Z, Eminem, The Beastie Boys, and Kanye West. The artwork is presented in it’s original form and music that is referenced in the exhibition is played throughout on a larger-than-life boombox. Rappers and their corresponding artists are represented by equally large cassette tapes, also acting as a navigation tool. As a song is played, the corresponding artwork lights drop and lyrics are projected across it in striking green light, creating a new, lyrical masterpiece.
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The artwork in this exhibition was carefully curated to reflect the corresponding lyrics, and upon hearing the music, the inspration that these rappers derive from the artists becomes clear. The name A LYRICAL MASTERPIECE, is a textual representation of that connection. MASTERPIECE is defined as "a consummate example of skill or excellence". LYRICAL is "having the musical quality of a song, and especially the character of a songlike outpouring of the poet's own thoughts and feelings". Both these words can be used across art forms to describe something that is happening within the work, but here they are used to together. This is the first exhibition exploring this unique relationship between art and rap. It serves to educate people about the importance of hip-hop in the art world, and vice versa.
FLOOR PLAN 9
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EAST GALLERY
WEST GALLERY
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1. KANYE x DALI 2. LIL WAYNE x BASQIAUT 3. JAY-Z x REMBRANDT/ROTHKO 4. DRAKE x WARHOL 5. EMINEM x PICASSO 6. TALIB KWELI x POLLOCK 7. BEASTIE BOYS x VAN GOGH 8. BOOMBOX 9. CASSETTES
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SELECTED WORKS
KANYE Mercy
DALÍ Profile of Time
LIL WAYNE Papercuts
BASQUIAT Irony of the Negro Policeman
x
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1. "Something about Mary, she gone off that Molly. Now the whole party is melted like Dalí"
2. "Young Money Weezy, B-gang bi-otch. Abstract artist, call me Basquiat."
JAY-Z Maybach Music
REMBRANDT Danaë
ROTHKO White Center
x
3. "The six-deuce long, the curtains are drawn. Perfectly like a Picasso, Rembrandts and Rothkos."
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DRAKE A Little Favour
WARHOL Double-Elvis
EMINEM Must te the Ganja
PICASSO Three Musicians
x
x
4. "Young Frank, suits cut right always. Just got a couple Warhol’s for my hallways."
TALIB KWELI City Playground
5. "Time to show you the most kick-ass flow in the cosmos. Picasso with a pick axe, a sick asshole"
POLLOCK One: Number 31
x
6. "No matter the terminology, blood splatter artistically. It’s looking like a Jackson Pollock painting, it’s a mystery"
BEASTIE BOYS Hey Ladies
VAN GOGH Self-Portrait
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7. "Break up with your girl, it ended in tears Vincent van Gogh, go and mail that ear."
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IMAGES OF THE EXHIBITION
Upon entering the exhibition, you are greeted with the familiar x.
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KANYE x DALÍ
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Title and navigation piece.
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Music plays here, as the exhibition name is visible in the tape deck.
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TALIB KWELI x POLLOCK
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TITLE GRAPHICS LABELS POSTER
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GRAP
TITLE GRAPHICS
DIN Schrift 1451 -4 Tracking First line left-aligned Last line right-aligned
"Tell everyone at the label only use Gothic or Helvetic fonts for email blast unless I otherwise approve." - KANYE WEST
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LABELS “Papercuts ” ft. M ystika l Single 2010
LIL WAYNE x BASQUIAT “Flexible” 1984 Acrylic and crayon on wood 102” x 75” Brooklyn Museu m
Song title, featured artist Album Year released
RAPPER
x
ARTIST
Art title, year made Materials used Size Donating institution
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POSTER
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BROCHURE POSTCARD EXTERIOR BUILDING BANNER WEB BANNER
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ADVE RTIS
BROCHURE
The exhibition brochure includes a cassette tape with all the music featured in the exhibition
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It is also paired with two pieces of colored film. When layed over the brochure, the film can be used to separate the artwork from the lyrics and vice versa. Expanded information about each piece is located on the inside of the brochure.
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Outside
Inside
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POSTCARD
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Like the brochure, the postcard is paired with the same colored film.
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Designed and curated by Anthony Schmiedeler EXHIBITION DESIGN SPRING 2013 PROF. TIM HOSSLER UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS