Gallery Dept. Jay-Z Style!
Amidst a small bleak contemporary art gallery with white walls and an unhung display of pieces to look at, a crowd of about 100 people stood around the room’s center waiting in anticipation. The crowd consisted of a microcosmic pick from those of the young, creative New York type including artists, writers, dancers and so on. They had been invited to attend the clandestine event which was a filming of the live video performance for Jay Z’s new song 'Picasso Baby'. The release is from the hip hop star's new album titled ‘Magna Carta.. Holy Grail’. For those who haven’t heard the song, its upbeat and fluid in the usual tempo and interwoven lyrical groove that Jay Z delivers. Much to the rapper's style aswell, the song isn't too blatantly over the top materialistic or outright derogatory compared to many of today's other popular rap songs. Rather, stylistically, 'Picasso Baby' extols a synchronous beat and the lyrics while ketchy enough to find meaning among the rapper’s vast demographic of listeners, is meant to portray Jay Z in self grandeur as he makes personal comparisons to the artistic genius of contemporary painters like Warhol, Rothko and Picasso.
In the essence of rap and the all too often loose sense of reality for which the genre's lyrics are often focused upon like high priced designer wears, champagne or cognac libations and luxury automobiles, 'Picasso Baby' can hardly be viewed as much different in it’s glamour message. Meanwhile, some have even tried to argue that the song takes a more refined manner for it's listeners to reason with as atleast the topic of renowned artists may get people to think along cultural terms for a brief moment. Yet any notion that the song delivers some essence of educated or exemplary description of the art world even in the scope of today’s conceivably skewed sense of importance seems sheer preposterous.
Without coming down too hard on the rappers lyrical originality, for anyone who appreciates art, the song's message surely is viewed as an insult to the greatness of those painters that the song makes mention of. For Jay Z to rap about owning the work of these contemporary artists with their price tags in the multimillion dollar range is one thing and true to the all too common essence that rap has gravitated towards for the last decade with it's blingy focus.
But as some critics have expressed that the song exposes a constructive message of cultural awareness to some of JayZ's otherwise unfamiliar demographic of listeners is ridiculous. One person quoted, "People have to realize he’s referencing artists who have been shape shifters in themselves. They have to know that a younger person hearing him saying I’m Picasso, is going to look up Picasso."
To hold such a notion in my opinion is to blasphemize the art that has been a timeless cultural fixture in the western world for the last century. No argument can reasonably substantiate that someone of the performance genre of art or lyrical talent such as Jay Z can hold ground next to the magnificence in visual production like Pablo Picasso and others. To understand the brilliance in the enormity of works that Picasso and many others, ie Salvador Dali, have produced is a topic of elaborate discussion for which lifetimes of study have been dedicated by art historians. In understanding the magnificence for which Pablo Picasso or so many other artists have demonstrated their capacity to produce is simply an uncontested argument when up against an altogether different talent of lyrical art that people may associate with Jay-Z.
The notion of performance art however evidently was the intended objective as the production was filmed at the Pace Gallery in the Chelsea area of Manhattan on July 13. Notwithstanding the point already expressed in the incomparable class of talent between the rapper and the referenced artists, the idea behind the video’s making is nonetheless something of modern creative expression for which many within the art community will associate as such.
Thus on the pretense of the live video representing the concept of performance art, the project certainly has merit, with it's aforementioned lyrical misrepresentations aside. The interaction between Jay Z and the other handful of performers demonstrated an interesting off the cuff choreography that evoked some emotion. The spontaneity of facial expressions from the individuals whom JayZ’s reacted with was somewhat compelling. One of the most intriguing moments seemed to be when the rapper intimately presses his face against the shows collaborator Mariana Abramovic and cites..”you can smell the champagne of my breath.” Abramovic is known for her reputation in the art world having held several MOMA and other world exhibitions including her 2010 show titled, "The Artists is Present" where she remained in the gallery for 30 days alongside her works as a central ornament to the display.
Others who were part of the live video included several actors, local NY artists, writers and normal everyday urban people. Of the recognizable participants were Rosie Perez, writer Judd Apatow and a rather unknown but still notable dyed blond singer/dancer named Radical Phoenix. In all in all true form to the rapper's representation for the city in which he grew up, the performance takes a piece from the modern wave of fashion centric, nuevaue, urban expression that has become a standard bearer of what people now perceive as a theme for acceptable modern art. This being a project of experimental creativity is applaudable but differentiating the prominence of skill and prolificness between these different expressions of art should not be overlooked.
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