Adrian
Piper is a professor of philosophy and an artist. Much of the work
of this African American artist has dealt with issues of race and
identity in contemporary America. She has been producing and showing
her art since the late 1960s.
Vanilla Nightmare series by Adrian Piper
“In her Vanilla Nightmares
series, Adrian Piper's charcoal figures are aggressively inserted
into a seemingly democratic medium--the newspaper. In Vanilla
Nightmare #6 she reinserts the image of enslaved blacks into
a corporate and political discussion of South Africa that avoids
mention of them. In another, she reverses the scene of seduction:
a drowsily recumbent male model, wearing only his Calvin Klein’s,
is visited by what appears to be the ancient figure of the djinn.
The spirit hovers over him somewhat ominously. It is perhaps the
most enigmatic image in this battle of persuasion: an ancient struggle
of influence, here played out between the exquisite corporate fantasy,
and the genie-- a protoadvertising vehicle of desire-- portrayed
by a vision of critical intrigue.”
Images from the Vanilla Nightmare Series:
http://www.vogesunddeisen.de/AP_works.html
Adrian Piper’s Home Page
http://www.adrianpiper.com/
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