Style Imitating Art: “Conjunction”

Style Imitating Art comes from Salazar, Terri, and Shelbee. You can think of it as fashion meets art museum! Style Imitating Art challenges people to find inspiration in different art works, create looks based upon that art work, and share them with the curator for that piece. Every other Monday one of the three selects an inspiration piece of art and posts the image on their blog. They then invite others to interpret that art work through their style. The following Monday, they share their outfits. The curator shares submissions the following Wednesday on her blog. Shelbee chose this week’s art work. If you’d like, you can read why she chose it here. Style Imitating Art is an interesting way to inspire your outfits. I know it does that for me! You can see a few of my looks here, here, here, and here.

Inspiration art work…

About the artist…

Born on September 2, 1911 in Charlotte, NC, Romare Bearden was an African-American artist whose creativity broke through many different boundaries. Early in his life, the Bearden family relocated to New York City as part of the Great Migration. His father, Harold, was a pianist, and his mother, Bessye, was heavily involved in the NYC Board of Education. His parents’ home became a hotspot during the Harlem Renaissance. In 1927, he moved to Pittsburgh to live with his grandparents. Bearden graduated from Peabody High School in 1929 and attended Lincoln University, the second oldest historically Black college. He also attended Boston University and New York University. He graduated from NYU in 1935 with a degree in science and education after studying art, education, science, and math.

A little more…

For a time, Bearden played semi-professional baseball. In Boston, he played for the Boston Tigers which was a Black team. He even pitched against Satchel Paige when he played for the Pittsburgh Crawfords. Mickey Cochrane, the Philadelphia Athletics catcher, brought some teammates to play against Boston University. Bearden’s pitching skills brought him to the attention of Connie Mack, owner of the Athletics. Mack offered him a place on the team, 15 years before Jackie Robinson walked onto the baseball field for the Brooklyn Dodgers. There is some disparity between what happened next. It’s not known if Mack believed Bearden was white or said he needed to pass for white. In any event, Bearden decided professional baseball was not for him.

Still more…

After his decision to leave professional baseball, Bearden began to hone his skills as an artist. First, he produced works styled after Mexican muralists like Diego Rivera and José Clemente Orozco. After serving in the Army during WWII, Bearden began dabbling in more abstract art. His style continued to evolve yet seemed to be rooted in his African-American heritage as well as his spiritual upbringing. By the 60s, Bearden turned to collage as a means of expressing himself. He used glossy magazine clippings to create different works in support of the Civil Rights Movement. A founding member of the art group, Spiral, Bearden and the several members of the group would work to use art as a means of supporting that movement. Bearden’s collages were a direct result of his feeling torn between being an artist and a Black man.

A skosh more…

Bearden, ever the artist, also composed music. He co-wrote “Sea Breeze” which was recorded by Billy Eckstine and Dizzy Gillespie. Bearden and his wife, Nanette Rohan, created the Bearden Foundation to help young artists. On March 12, 1988, Bearden died from complications of bone cancer. The New York Times described him as “the nation’s foremost collagist.” Romare Bearden was the recipient of numerous honors and awards. You can read so much more about him here and here.

About the art work…

“Conjunction” measures 18 3/4 x 15 in. (47.625 x 38.1 cm.). It is a lithograph and was completed in 1979. I have heard of lithographs, but I wasn’t completely sure what they are. So, of course, I googled it. Here is what I found. This particular piece of art is currently on display at the Asheville Art Museum in Asheville, NC. It is in the collection of the Harold A. and Ann R. Sorgenti Collection of Contemporary African-American Art. Sometimes, I get bogged down in the colors and prints of a piece of art when I’m participating in the SIA challenges. I forget to stop and really look at what is actually there. Here we have three people standing together and holding or shaking hands. Bearden was a social worker on and off throughout his life. He would have realized the importance of human interactions. Conjunction occurs when two or more things are in the same time and space. Bearden combined his knowledge of humanity, math, science, and art to create this beautiful piece of art.

My interpretation…

I cheated this go round. I’m going to confess right now. You may have thought, “Hey, wait a minute! That’s Marsha’s old porch!” And, you’d be right. I knew I had absolutely nothing else in my closet to remotely come close to this challenge. So, I am recycling an old look. You can visit the old post here. I think the colors of the kantha cloth top as well as the stripes in my tee work really well for this challenge. If my pants had been black, the interpretation may have been a skosh better due to the graphic use of black in the art. At the time of this post, I apparently wasn’t doing Lewks, and I’m not sure I was even wearing any jewelry. I was wearing a pair of L’Artiste sandals, but I can’t tell which ones!

Wrap it up, Marsha!

At first, I felt badly about not creating a new outfit for this piece of art and SIA challenge. But, the more I thought about it, the more I realized I’d just be doing something with the same two main pieces (the tops). So, I’m recycling a look! I believe Bearden may be the most complex of the artists I have researched over the last couple of years. I’m so glad Shelbee brought him to my attention even though I was unable to create a new look for this challenge. So, can we talk? Have you ever created a collage? What strikes you most about this artist? Please leave a comment or two, and we can talk. I promise to respond as soon as possible.

Thank you!

I want to thank all of you from the bottom of my heart for reading, commenting, subscribing or emailing! It truly means so much to me! If you’d like to follow me on Instagram, you can find me here.

Affiliate links and such:

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Where you can find me:

Linking up with Nancy’s Fashion Style,  Fine-Whatever, Is This Mutton, Shelbee on the Edge, Chez Mireile, The Grey Brunette, and Away from the Blue as well as Deb’s World. I also link up with This Blonde’s Shopping Bag, Doused in Pink, I do deClaire, Mummabstylish, and Style Splash. Please check out these wonderful ladies and their blogs! I also am a co-host for Ageless Style on the third Thursday of the month and Songful Style on the last Monday of the month. I co-host Traffic Jam Weekend every Thursday with Melynda and Lisa. I also host Final Fridays on the last Friday of the month as well as 10 on the 10th on the 10th of the month! I do hope you’ll check out all of these blogs and link parties!

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