ARTIST Adrian Piper, American, born 1948
MEDIUM Gelatin silver photographs with silkscreened text
DATES 1990
DIMENSIONS overall: 43 7/8 x 98 in. (111.4 x 248.9 cm) A 44 1/16" x 22 1/8" x 1 7/8" B 44 1/8" x 35 1/16" x 1 7/8" C 44 1/8" x 31 5/8" x 1 7/8" (show scale)
COLLECTIONS Photography
CREDIT LINE Purchased with funds given by the Daniel and Joanna S. Rose Fund
RIGHTS STATEMENT © Adrian Piper
This paper analyzes the work title ‘Pretend.not to know. What you know’ by the artist Adrian Piper. The triptych piece depicts three mothers of different ethnicities and their children. Starting at the center of the piece, a studio portrait of a Caucasian woman hugging her child while happily looking towards the viewer. On the left side, an African mother, frowning and looking away from the camera, holds her child who, as the mother, shows obvious signs of malnutrition. On the right side, an Asian woman and her child sit on a pile of wood and robes while looking towards the right side of the frame, covering her and her child’s head with a scarf. A text written in red letters at the bottom of every picture, divided in three sections from left to right reads: pretend - not to know- what you know.
One of the most obvious references of this piece is the iconic representation of ‘The Madonna and the Child”. This title often refers to the image of the Virgin Mary and the child Jesus. As part of the Roman Catholic tradition and the Orthodox Church, this depiction has its roots in European culture and religious beliefs at its core. Piper’s deliberate placement of the proud Caucasian woman at the center of the piece reflects on her privilege. Based on the entirety of Piper’s work, it is fair to account this piece as a commentary on race and politics.
Sassoferrato / 'madonna And Child', 17th Century, Italian School. Child Jesus. Virgin Mary. is a painting by Giovanni Battista Salvi da Sassoferrato -1609-1685- which was uploaded on March 29th, 2019.
Even though this depiction of the Madonna (which means “my lady” in Italian), has crossed all cultures around the world, and her physical features vary according to the ethnicity of her followers, the white-skinned virgin is the most advertised and popular of all. It also might be important to notice the fact that this is the only posed photograph- further on in this paper, I will reflect on the concept of ‘the harmful mother’ or ‘intensive mothering’ based on the mother’s gesture. This woman probably visited the photographer’s studio with the pretense of preserving an idealized image of her and her child. This brings to mind the dilemma of the pose, and reflections on image-repertoire and tableaux vivants referenced in the famous philosophical essay on photography ‘The Camera Lucida’ by Roland Barthes. As the author states:
““...It [the photograph] completely de-realizes the human world of conflicts and desires, under cover of illustrating it. What characterizes the so-called advanced societies is that they today consume images and no longer, like those of the past, beliefs; they are therefore more liberal, less fanatical, but also more “false” (less “authentic”)””
Based on this report new meanings emerge from Piper’s artwork. In contrast to the other two images on each side, the Caucasian woman hugs her child from behind in a very protective manner, and both, the woman and her child look straight at the camera. One of the focal points when thinking of contemporary patriarchal motherhood is the presumption that mothering is inherent to all women, and the caring of the child, an exclusive responsibility of the biological mother. This type of mothering develops into the best called “intensive mothering”. The institution of motherhood has created arbitrary methods for the “appropriate” caring of the child based on its ideologies. As the feminist Sharon Hayes marks: these methods ‘are constructed as child-centered, expert-guided, emotionally absorbing, labor- intensive and financially expensive’. So, maybe what Piper means, when including the red text over the image ‘not to know’, is precisely our ignorance of our lost wisdom on the true nature of motherhood.
For Rich, the patriarchal institution of motherhood is located at the same level of rape, prostitution, and slavery. Her meticulous research clearly exposes how it is in maternity that women are transfigured and enslaved. When following these lines, attention is called to the other two mothers depicted in this artwork. Starting on the right side with the Asian mother and text ‘what we know’, the focus lies purely on the procedures of the institution in this region well known as one of the apex of political control over women’s bodies. Since it is not possible to clearly define the origins of the woman in the picture, only assumptions can be made. In relation to the other two images, it is possible to infer that this photograph could be part of the collection of memories of the Vietnam war. Continuing in this line of thought, it is accurate to suggest that the suffering of the African and Asian woman facilitates the happiness of the Caucasian family in this case. On the other hand, ‘The One-Child Policy’ and the radical reproductive politics implemented in the early 1980’s in China come to mind. Notice the gesture of the mother protecting her child with a head scarf, while her look seemingly connects with the unaware mother at the center as if she is attempting to scare her.
As we go on in this dissection, it becomes more and more evident the violent and almost evil bonds reinforced in the bloody text connecting the three mothers: the ways of mothering, their myths and ideologies, the social order or class/race system, war and slavery. The one history that men and women can account equally is the fact that we all come from a mother’s womb. So, when speaking of the deviation of history, Africa is the very first place I am drawn to.
The Black Madonna Of Czestochowa is a painting by Irek Szelag which was uploaded on April 26th, 2013.
It is not random the fact that the Black Madonna of Częstochowa has a scar on her face, and her look is way more opaque than the one of the light skinned one. The relationship between the gaze of the African mother and her child and the Częstochowa’s Lady is astounding. This painting has its origins in Jerusalem. In 326, it was discovered by St. Helena, who brought it back to Constantinople to be presented to Constantine the Great, and later on to Częstochowa as a possession of the Polish Kingdom. Also known as the ‘Hodegetria’ or ‘She Who Points the Way’, the history of this icon, currently resting in Poland, where it is also called ‘Our Lady of Sorrows’, goes beyond the metaphor. Her image was badly injured in 1430 by Hussite raiders and later on corrected by medieval restores. It is essential to note that part of their solution was to repaint the original image and to modify her original features, such as her nose, which was given a more aquiline or ‘European’ look.
The African American tradition differs from the patriarchal ideologies on mothering in the West despite their radical political connections. Unlike its Western counterpart, mothering is understood as the core of the African culture. Their focus is on empowerment, protection, preservation, and resistance especially in the face of racism. An important distinction to highlight is the concept of ‘Community Mothering’ or ‘Other-Mothering’ as a part of a survival strategy and the preservation of the essential values that Mothering represents for the African Culture. Black women are aware of the responsibility of the child’s life and caring as part of a whole and the issues and consequences broad to the community by overcharging with the child’s responsibility to a single mother. White American mothers know the truth of ‘other-mothers’ very well. It is fair to say that a deeply political relationship connects black slave mothers with white families in America, and that many of the upper-middle class children in racist America had developed forbidden feelings with black slave mothers as part of their extended family network. Should we ‘pretend’? Situated on the left side, black motherhood in Piper’s triptych is a symbol of power and dignity. The mother’s resistance despite the brutalities of domination, racial divisiveness, apartheid and dehumanization while preserving the love for her children and responsibility for their nurturance is pure social activism.
Motherhood is one of the keystones of social control across cultures. Not even the most privileged women can escape this reality. Patriarchy still insists in the obliteration of the female body and its powers as a tool for socio-political and economic control. The idealization of the mother’s image lying underneath the docility of the Madonna is confronted in Adrian Piper’s artwork with the strength embodied by the African Mother on the left side, who despite the many injuries caused by the calamities of racism, never quits her dignity and love for her children and the children of her community. Adrian Piper, a female artist who herself experienced the violence of racist America, makes these three Madonnas an icon for all mothers pressured to conform to an unattainable ideal of motherhood across cultures, a red alert to this destructive divisiveness.