Renée Stout
American, born 1958
Ogun
wood, metal, photographs and other materials, 1995
Ackland Fund, 97.6.1
Inscriptions:
AN INKISI TO PROTECT YOUNG BLACK MALES 20TH CENTURY AND BEYOND
OGUN--WHY DO THEY ACCEPT BULLETS EASIER THAN THEY ACCEPT LOVE?
LAWRENCE PRE STOUT SR. (1910-1993) GRANDPA!
THEY WERE STEELWORKERS, MECHANICS TRUCK DRIVERS, HUNTERS...
WARRIORS IN A BATTLE FOR SURVIVAL--THEIRS...AND MINE.
JESSE OWENS SR. (1911-1987) PAP!
SPIRIT OF = OGUN
Ogun is the deity of iron and war in the Yoruban culture of Nigeria,
invoked by all whose occupations
rely on iron: hunters, warriors, barbers, engine drivers, etc.
Renée Stout
has
here portrayed him in the
form of an Inkisi (pl. Minkisi),
(pictured at
right)
a traditional "power object" of Kongo.
Composed of materials
believed to be medicinal and empowering, Minkisi
are
used to mediate between people and spirits for good or for bad. An Inkisi
represents a contained force or spirit personality who
controls a particular activity, in this case Ogun who controls war, and is
called on or invoked to solve a condition.
The inscriptions on Ogun, referring to her family and community,
help to tell the viewer why
the artist is invoking this god. : "AN INKISI TO
PROTECT YOUNG BLACK MALES 20TH CENTURY AND BEYOND; OGUN--WHY DO THEY
ACCEPT BULLETS EASIER THAN THEY ACCEPT LOVE?" As Renee Stout related
in an interview, "I am appealing to Ogun to give us the strength and
courage we need to deal with the violence and sickness in our streets."
Although, as the artist pointed out, the invocation of Ogun is
appropriate in this case because, "it is customary
to appeal to Ogun when you are tired of war," she also chose Ogun because
her family "has strong Ogun energy." Both
of her grandfathers,
whose photographs are on the sculpture,
worked in steel mills, her father is a truck driver and mechanic, and she
herself uses many power tools in her work.
As you can see, the artist's representation of Ogun here relates to the
traditional construction of an Inkisi in that they are both composite or
additive
sculptures which incorporate non-traditional media assembled into
an
anthropomorphic shape. Renée Stout's sculpture, however, is
updated, blending traditional elements of the Inkisi with contemporary
objects. Ogun looks vaguely robotic, metal appendages and computer
parts overlay the wood core. There are also references to North American
hoodoo and African voodoo in the bundles which could hold medicinal herbs,
the chicken foot on one side which is echoed by the metal claw on the
opposite and finally the photographs of her grandfathers which give the
sculpture a totemic feel.
Renée Stout has exhibited in the
Kaleidescope show at
the National Museum of American Art and the Astonishment and Power
exhibition at the National Museum of African Art among others. She has
works in the permanent collections of NMAA and the Dallas Museum of Art.
Issues
to Consider