Welsing: Symbolism and Racism in Art Part 1 of 2

In this telephone interview, artist Philip Maysles and Dr. Frances Cress Welsing discuss the black forms in Robert Motherwell's Spanish Elegies as symbolic of the connection between black male genitalia and death in the white unconscious. Maysles and Cress Welsing argue that the meaning of these works must be understood within the context of racism. They apply Cress Welsing's theory of Color Confrontation to a reading of the black and white work of the Abstract-Expressionists, particularly Robert Motherwell's Elegies. As the conversation progresses, Maysles and Cress Welsing discuss strategies for people who call themselves white to engage in honest dialogue. They also discuss the artist's own practice as an attempt to examine his affiliation with whiteness critically.

This interview may be heard in its entirety at Art International Radio (AIR):

(Updated 05/15/2009)
http://www.artonair.org/archives/j/content/view/1571/159/

Broadcast Date: December 25, 2006

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