Renee Cox (b. 1960) is a contemporary artist known for her provocative images that address societal issues and stereotypes. Cox’s work frequently incorporates her own body, and she celebrates and explores the black female experience while satirising the racism and sexism prevalent in contemporary culture.
She was born in Jamaica’s Colgate and moved to Scarsdale, New York.
In 1992, she received her MFA from the School of Visual Arts in New York, and from 1992 to 1993, she participated in the Whitney Museum of American Art’s Independent Study Program. Cox debuted her recurring alter-ego character “Rajé” in her first solo show in New York in 1998, one of the influential figures vibrantly dressed in a superhero costume of the Jamaican flag.
Renée Cox is no stranger to fashion. Cox, a former Glamour model and Essence photographer, had an early career in New York defined by the fast pace of commercial assignments. In her thirties, she began the first of several self-portrait series depicting many stylised, influential, and iconoclastic black women. These avatars, which include historical figures, fierce mothers, cosmopolitan socialites, and Afro-centric superheroes, exude sexual agency and unwavering confidence. Cox’s icons forge a distinct path in contemporary photography, narrating a field of vision in which black women perform for the world on their terms.
In 1994, she displayed a self-portrait titled Yo Mama, in which she showed herself nude, dressed only in high heels, and held her two-year-old son aloft. Cox gained considerable notoriety following her 1998 solo exhibition at New York’s Cristinerose Gallery. The exhibition’s show-stopping piece was a large format colour photograph titled The Liberation of UB and Lady J., which portrays a superhero named Raje saving Uncle Ben from his box of rice after gaining newfound strength. The image was so popular that it made the front page of the prestigious French newspaper Le Monde.
In 1995, she co-founded the Negro Art Collective with Fo Wilson and Tony Cokes to combat stereotypes about African Americans. This included a poster campaign in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Los Angeles, prompted by her 5-year-old son’s question, “Why are all black people bad?” This quote, along with others in the campaign, was intended to challenge what many viewers were raised to believe.
One of the most well-known was the Charles Murray quotation, which read: “Surprise, Surprise, ‘in raw numbers, European-American whites are the ethnic group with the most people in poverty, most illegitimate children, most people on welfare, most unemployed men, and most arrests for serious crimes.’ Surprised.” (Fitzpatrick)
The Brooklyn Museum displayed Cox’s “Committed” photography series in 2001, in which the artist commandeered European religious masterworks and redefined them with black figures. Yo Mama’s Last Supper, a remake of Leonardo Da Vinci’s Last Supper with Cox as a naked Jesus, was the most talked-about piece. Cox is surrounded by black disciples in the painting, except for Judas, who is white as he is traditionally depicted.
“I have a right to reinterpret the Last Supper as Leonardo da Vinci created the Last Supper with people who look like him. The hoopla and the fury are because I’m a black female. It’s about me having nothing to hide.” – Renee Cox
Cox displayed a body of work from a series titled Queen Nanny of the Maroons at the Jamaican Biennial in 2006. Cox presents a series of photographs of herself in various situations, such as being baptised, as a schoolteacher among children, as a warrior wielding a machete, and going to church in her Sunday best.
As part of the series, Cox also captured people from the community where she photographed them; Cox captured them in their everyday environment, the same environment for which Queen Nanny fought. These people include the “banana man” with his choice of the day, the “bamboo man” in front of one of his structures, the “goat man” sitting with his goat, and the “old man” sitting on the porch. In addition to these characters, there are photos of naked children and women from the local community. This body of work was awarded the Aaron Matalon Award, a prestigious award for the biennial’s best entry.
Cox’s work is fascinating and politically engaging, thanks to her influential figures, colourful scenery, large prints, and the visual impact of her photographs. She accurately represents her ancestors and expresses her views on society, all while strongly challenging the pre-determined roles of African Americans and women. It creates eye-catching images of black people celebrating the positive histories of the black diaspora while also addressing the legacies of negative or stereotypical images. This aspect of Cox’s work would have aligned with the leaders’ goals.
Given the controversy and debate surrounding Cox’s work, art exploring the intersections of “race,” “gender,” and societal realities remains unsettling and unsettling for many people nearly a century later. Cox is still exhibiting and working on her next series of photographs.
References:
Fitzpatrick, H.-G. (n.d.). Renee Cox. Black Atlantic. Retrieved from https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/black-atlantic/information/renee_cox_pt2/
Images from: https://www.reneecox.org/upcoming
