FEATURE:
Pop Art
IN THIS IMAGE: Equestrian Portrait of King Philip II (2010) by the American artist Kehinde Wiley is displayed for the first time in the U.K. at the exhibition. The painting is the last artwork commissioned by Jackson before his death/IMAGE CREDIT: Kehinde Wiley/Stephen Friedman Gallery/Sean Kelly Gallery
Michael Jackson: On the Wall
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THERE are plenty of great music-related…
IN THIS PHOTO: Michael Jackson performs in Germany in June, 1988/PHOTO CREDIT: David Baltzer/Zenit/IAIF/Reduz
events happening around London – there is one that sticks out as a particular highlight. The exhibition at The National Gallery, Michael Jackson: On the Wall, needs your pennies and bodies. It is a celebration and retrospective that looks at the King of Pop. Following the death of Michael’s father, Joe; it has got me thinking about the departed superstar and what he had to endure. Whilst the new exhibit does not, obviously, allude to Jackson’s childhood and domestic abuse; the fact we all know what happened in that home makes the exhibit more special and needed. All of the Jackson children would have endured some strict and harsh punishment; an upbringing Joe Jackson felt was encouraging and beneficial. Alexis Petridis, writing in The Guardian after his death, looked at Joe Jackson and his different sides:
“Joe Jackson’s legacy is the shaping and promotion of the Jackson 5, comprising his sons Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon and Michael, and later Randy. The young family band from Gary, Indiana, became a phenomenon in the late 1960s and 70s, with their first four singles, I Want You Back in 1969, and ABC, The Love You Save and I’ll Be There in 1970, topping the Billboard charts.
But Jackson’s legacy is also one of cruelty. In 2003, he told the BBC that he whipped Michael as a child. In 2010, he told Oprah Winfrey that he beat his children with a strap and didn’t regret doing so. “It kept them out of jail and kept them right,” he said. In the 2003 ITV documentary Living With Michael Jackson, the singer told interviewer Martin Bashir that his father would oversee the Jackson 5’s intense rehearsals “with a belt in his hand” and “tear you up, really get you” if one of the brothers missed a step.
IN THIS PHOTO: Acrylic and silkscreen ink on linen portraits by Andy Warhol on display at the Michael Jackson: On the Wall at the National Portrait Gallery on 27th June, 2018/PHOTO CREDIT: Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP Photo
“I just remember hearing my mother scream, ‘Joe you’re gonna kill him, you’re gonna kill him, stop it,’” Michael recalled. “I was so fast he couldn’t catch me half the time, but when he would catch me, oh my god it was bad, it was really bad.” Michael also said his father would taunt him about his “fat nose”, and later told Winfrey he was so afraid of his father that he would sometimes vomit when he saw him. In 1979, Michael fired his father as his manager and took control of his career himself. The rest of the Jackson 5 followed suit in 1983”.
It wouldn’t be much of a leap – reading those words – to realise Jackson’s cosmetic surgery and physical alterations could have stemmed from that childhood abuse. The feeling of inadequacy and not standing out could well have led to the radical and unsettling changes he made to his appearance. In any case; the death of Joe Jackson uneasily conflicts with a celebration of Michael Jackson’s life and influence. Before adding my thoughts; here is a description of Michael Jackson: On the Wall from the National Portrait’s website; they give you an overview of the exhibition:
“This landmark exhibition explores the influence of Michael Jackson on some of the leading names in contemporary art, spanning several generations of artists across all media. Curated by Dr Nicholas Cullinan, Director of the National Portrait Gallery, the exhibition will open in the summer of 2018 to coincide with what would have been Michael Jackson’s 60th birthday (on 29 August 2018).
IN THIS IMAGE: Michael Jackson (1984), a silkscreen, features in a room dedicated to the work of Andy Warhol/IMAGE CREDIT: The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc./DACS
Michael Jackson is one of the most influential cultural figures to come out of the 20th century and his legacy continues into the 21st century. His significance is widely acknowledged when it comes to music, music videos, dance, choreography and fashion, but his considerable influence on contemporary art is an untold story. Since Andy Warhol first used his image in 1982, Jackson has become the most depicted cultural figure in visual art by an extraordinary array of leading contemporary artists. For the first time, Michael Jackson: On the Wall will bring together the works of over forty of these artists, drawn from public and private collections around the world, including new works made especially for the exhibition”.
IMAGE CREDIT: David LaChapelle
There is a lot to view and marvel at – if you are a fan of Michael Jackson or not. It is wonderful to see the King of Pop commemorated and given great tribute by some wonderful artists. Jackson was quite misunderstood through his life and was never far from paparazzi and the media glare. The image we have of him in private – if he ever got it! – differs from the man on the stage and in the recording studio. These artworks look at Jackson in a number of poses and settings; wonderful creations that stick in the mind and open the eyes wide. The reviews have come in and tell you what effect the exhibition has. Time Out gave their thoughts:
“Susan Smith-Pinelo’s dancing cleavage, bouncing to ‘Working Day and Night’ across a series of screens, tells you infinitely more about the man. MJ made the world dance, and in the process opened floodgates of black sexuality and cultural pride. There are plenty of brilliant black artists here. Glenn Ligon paints MJ as a child as if it’s a self-portrait, Isaac Julien uses his face in collages, Auppau Junior Boakye-Yiadom attaches helium balloons to a pair of shoes, leaving them eternally on their tiptoes. This is MJ as a statement of the power and legitimacy of black America, a revolution in pop and culture.
IN THIS IMAGE: Michael Jackson commissioned Mark Ryden to create the cover for his 1991 album, Dangerous/IMAGE CREDIT: Courtesy Mark Ryden/Paul Kasmin Gallery
But he also represents the absolute excesses of fame. Suddenly, MJ becomes twisted, troubled, fragmented. He’s Jesus in David Lachapelle’s photos, he’s the capitalist antichrist of communism in Dan Mihaltianu’s installation of masks, he’s the modern Baudelaire in Lorraine O’Grady’s photos”.
Will Gompertz offered his views and impressions on the highs and lows - and some notable omissions:
“The elephant in the room - or chimp, I should say - is that the curators were unable to loan any one of the three or four versions of Jeff Koons' famous sculpture Michael Jackson and Bubbles. That's a bit like not having Pele in the best ever Brazilian soccer team, or cutting a chapter out of Great Expectations.it leaves a big hole in the show.
But despite that necessary omission (wittily acknowledged by the curators with a prominently displayed photograph of the sculpture by Louise Lawler, and a satirical take on it by Paul McCarthy) and a scrapbook feel of the display, it is an affecting exhibition.
We bear witness to a sensitive, creative young boy becoming a commodity to be exploited: a Warholian product of popular culture whose soul is used like the fizz in bottle of Coke to add a little sparkle in the lives of thirsty consumers”.
It is great there are these multiple sides and interpretations of Michael Jackson. From the rather sweet yet ambitious projection one gets around his Thriller/Bad days (1982-1987) to the rather inflated and extraordinary images that greeted us on his 1991 opus, Dangerous. Jackson grew into that unstoppable king of the world who saw himself as a saviour and majestic creature. He not only had to fight abuse from his father but discrimination and racism from music T.V. and producers. Seeing Michael Jackson – a then-black artist – on MTV and helping break barriers was a huge step that opened the door for others artists. Ignoring the fact that, in all likelihood, Jackson changed his skin colour to fit into music and not have to face discrimination does not hide what he did and how long he campaigned.
IN THIS IMAGE: The Man in the Mirror room of the exhibition includes this mixed media work by German artist Isa Genzken, Wind (Michael David) (2009)/IMAGE CREDIT: Isa Genzken/VG-Bild Kunst/DACS/Jen Ziehe/neugerriemschneider
The way Jackson saw himself differed, I guess, to the public perception. Aside from the controversies and accusations; there was this man who changed the face of music and, of several decades, was one of the most influential artists of his generation. Rising from the Jackson 5 to the behemoth Pop superstar who ruled the airwaves; it was an exciting, fractious and media-courting ascension that changed lives and, in many ways, changed the music industry. I am a huge fan of Jackson and first encountered his music after the release of Bad – maybe in 1988 or thereabouts. I was captivated by this eccentric, energetic and accomplished human who had that fire and genius songwriting ability; a performer who gyrated and gesticulated in a thrilling and evocative way. When interviewing songwriters; so many of them name-check Michael Jackson and rank his albums as especially influential. He still exerts this pull and power today – nine years after his death – and remains the undisputed King of Pop. From biblical representations to disturbing images; pomp and gaudiness; reality and a man who knew how large his fanbase was – to a tender and free-spirited human who wanted to express himself through music and connect with his fans. It is an extraordinary and intriguing documentation of an artist who inspired other artists (in the painting/illustrative sense) to spring into action and view Michael Jackson in their own…
UNIQUE manner.