Student Select: Art Acquisition Trip & Fund
"Both the African and the Western here: Michelangelo’s David and 'power figures' from a number of cultures connect to spiritual narratives. David from the Bible or Torah famously takes on the giant Goliath with his perfect and human sized male body with a slingshot. No doubt a parable of overcoming great adversity. Michelangelo renders David with adoration for the male body bringing the stylization of classical Greek sculpture to this biblical figure. The 'power figures' in many African cultures are said to be vessels for ancestors and male figures connect to aspects of the male role in a society or in family, virility, wisdom, physical strength, etc. So, these are very similar notions and ideas of masculinity that look very different, but one does not have supremacy over the other. Muhammad Ali's quote and title of this work is also about strength and wisdom in life as much as it is encapsulates his boxing strategy. For Black people it doubles as a lesson in navigating the world. For me, it's also another instance where cycles of nature and pollination are used as metaphors for resilience and grace under pressure. I make these contrasts to remind the viewer that we are more the same than different." -William Villalongo
Label from Art 348: Challenging Collecting and Exhibition Practices
William Villalongo’s "Float Like a Butterfly, Sting Like a Bee" is a multimedia artwork that explores black masculinity, beauty, and power. The work is characterized by the dichotomy between African and Western conceptions of strength and masculinity; illustrated through the contrast between the African power figures and Michelangelo’s David that are arranged in a starburst at the center of the piece. The stylistic differences between these works show how values of beauty differ between cultures. Villalongo’s use of both Western and African mythological figures alludes to the gulf between perceptions and reality of black people in a Western context. In addition, it is important to note the difference in value typically placed on these two kinds of art: the statue of David is heralded as one of the most important pieces in the Western art historical canon, yet African statues have often been dubbed “primitive” by Western institutions. Below the starburst a fist clutches three-dimensional drinking gourds, referencing both the gourds used by enslaved people to drink water and the name for the Big Dipper constellation used by enslaved people seeking freedom while traveling along the underground railroad.
Cutouts in the velour paper and small collaged butterflies emanate from the central compositions forming a calming aura. The imagery is topped by a collaged boxing helmet. Together the butterflies, boxing gear, and the title of the work create an homage to Muhammad Ali. Villalongo believes that Ali’s famous saying, “float like a butterfly, sting like a bee,” is as much a lesson about navigating the world as it is about boxing. Villalongo is a black man exploring topics of black power and masculinity, two aspects of blackness that have been demonized as aggressive and violent by white society, but in a way that frames them as important pillars of black life and resilience. He seeks to fill in the “inherent and persistent fragility that surrounds black life” with symbols of healing and remembrance such as butterflies and African sculpture.
Blog Post: ART348 Exhibition, Learning , Unlearning, Relearning: Mediating on America's Past and Present by Sarah Zhang ‘23
