Black artists like Archibald Motley try to depict their struggle with the western white concept of God in their art by depicting racialized biblical subjects by including religious imagery in black genre scenes. The motif of suffering Christ in paintings engages issues of African American cultural identity that ranges from the depiction of crucifix in black genre to conflation of crucified Christ and the lynched black man.
The main intention being to symbolize Christ as a device charged with racial and religious meaning. In Motley’s painting, we become aware of an old woman concentrating on sewing with a white shadow splitting the painting into half. On the right, we see a crucifix. The old woman (Motley's grandmother) represents black history and culture linked to past oppression and tradition. Surrounding her are things she values and this tends to portray Motleys lineage.
The image of a fair-skinned woman portrays his Creole heritages and also helps to balance the work and alludes to secrecy of mixed race lineage of black American families. The contrast in the dressing between the woman in the portrait and Motley’s grandmother is an indication of slavery and its effects on African Americans. The white shadow tends to place Emily and the crucifix on one side and the rest of the items on the other revealing the importance of religion to her. Motley opposes materialism and believes in the afterlife indicated by the door behind the woman symbolizing a gate to the Promised Land thus Christianity is both a relief and conflict to the African American.
Johnson’s “Primitive folk” mode is similar to that of Palmer Hyadens and Jacob Lawrence which is an expression of liberation. The introduction of a black subject in his Jesus and the Three Marys painting highlights contemporary black experiences. A Black Christ makes conflation of sympathetic devout and suffering savior even more literal by including a self-portrait portrays Johnson’s self-perceptions and personal tragedies. The self-portrait method originates from Paul Gauguin. It helps the artist to identify with Christ as one who stands outside society and suffers for his indifferences as an artist.
Tanner’s paintings of biblical narratives have highly dramatic effect with use of few figures and brushstroke. Unlike Johnson, the suffering of Christ is absent. Serene Compositions comfort the viewer and act as devotional imagery with deep spirituality. He believed in the universal aspect of his work, which reveals the polarities that plagued his life and career.He sought to capture racial types, interiors and landscaping specific to biblical past of his works.
According to Pinder, Doughlas’s The Crucifixion sought to locate African American belief in the Christian tradition. From this painting, we can see that he tries to show how the Blackmans suffering overshadows that of Christ. His portrayal of African Simon helping Christ on Calvary was popular as a religious rallying point especially by Marcus Garvey. Christ's persecution and racial oppression of blacks link together in this painting.
References
Rodman, R. C., & Wimbush, V. L. (2001). African Americans and the Bible: Sacred texts and social textures. New York, NY [u.a.: Continuum.
Crown, C., Doss, E. L., University of Memphis., Florida State University Museum of Fine Arts., & American Bible Society. (2004). Coming home!: Self-taught artists, the Bible, and the American South. Memphis, Tenn.: Art Museum of the University of Memphis.
