Title of Artwork: “Ship of Fools”
Artwork by Kehinde Wiley Year Created 2017
Summary of Ship of Fools
Four young black guys are shown in this artwork rowing a decrepit rowboat over a rough sea. A storm is brewing, as shown by the dark, black, and orange hues in the sky. A solitary tree with green leaves sits in the middle of the boat. One of the guys is bare-chested and wearing blue trousers, carrying an oar in each hand. On each side of him, two guys seem to be arguing and/or laughing loudly. The fourth guy is seated at the rear of the boat, facing away from the viewer and gazing out at the choppy waters.
All About Ship of Fools
These paintings, by J.M.W. Turner, Winslow Homer, and Hieronymus Bosch, inspired Wiley to create the In Search of the Miraculous series. For the first time, the show included Wiley’s first three-channel artist video, in which the artist quotes from Madness and Civilization by Michel Foucault as well as The Wretched of the Earth by African-Caribbean philosopher Frantz Fanon to discuss the concept of “otherness”
When it comes to migration and isolation in today’s America, Wiley examines the intersection of art historical tradition with black people clothed in modern clothes. In his words, it’s “This is a significant change from my previous work. Because I’m researching the history of marine art, water plays a significant role in my project. Shows about the water have traditionally focused on exploration and conquering, but this one also explores migration, sanity, and dislocation. It’s about America’s current state, in a way.” He sees water as a potent symbol for both himself and other people of colour in the United States. He clarifies, saying, “It’s no coincidence that my studio is in West Africa; my father is from there, as is my whole body. Black people crossing the Atlantic to become the founders of my nation, establishing the economy, building the dialogues that led to our revolutions and civil wars and our hip-hop and our blues, yeah, it’s in there. Bodies travelling across water is an essential theme in this performance. The same is true of the debates about Europe and Brexit, as well as how we identify ourselves.” There is a tree travelling with the four guys in this picture, which represents the way displaced peoples are compelled to take their culture with them as they move to new locations.
To reimagine the ocean as a site of trauma, Wiley asks us to rethink heroic sea paintings as sites for white explorers, heroes, and colonisers in the Atlantic slave trade, as well as in the current immigration crisis that has resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of black and brown refugees at sea.
Ship of fools meaning
Plato’s Republic’s Book VI has an allegory about a ship and its dysfunctional crew, known as the ship of fools. Then they use medicines or alcohol to render their honourable shipowner unconscious, and then they seize possession of the vessel, taking everything it is carrying with them.
Information Citations
En.wikipedia.org, https://en.wikipedia.org/.
