Olowe of Ise

I was immediately drawn to this piece, “Bowl with Figures” as I entered The Walt Disney Tishman African Art collection. The colors and intricacy of the piece were astounding, and really jumped out at me amidst the other artwork. The curator also gave a brief synopsis of the piece, which lead me to become very interested. The artist, Olowe of Ise was an innovator in his time. He was a member of the Yoruba peoples of modern day Nigeria, a people whose culture I find supremely interesting.
Among the many facets of their culture, I find the creation myth the most fascinating. They believe they were the first people of the world, and that human kind started in their city of Ilé-Ifè (Falola and Genova 35). After the first few days of class, I have also learned that the first humans were indeed on the African continent and loved to see this reflected in their myths. While there is no archeological evidence to this claim, I think it is an important part of their culture. The second thing I found very interesting about this piece was the imperialist culture behind the work that has finally been attributed. Many African artists were considered “anonymous” and Ise was one of them. This occurred, “Because of racial and cultural biases that prevailed at the time, few ethnographers and collectors were interested in knowing the answer to the question ‘Who made this?’” (Walker). Therefore many beautiful pieces of artwork were rarely attributed to their creators, who were more than likely famous in Africa. This only reflects the impact that colonization has had on a majority of regions on the African continent.
The last aspect of the piece that I really enjoyed was the history behind both the piece and the artist. This bowl is a member to a family called prestige bowls, sculpted for the wealthy elite. It was probably used to serve kola nuts, a Yoruba tradition. The bowl was carved from a single piece of wood, and reflects Ise’s mastery with a free rolling head in the center. The head cannot be taken out of the “cage” in which it rests, and was carved to fit exactly. Ise is known for his artistic daring, and also for his use of large heads and non-static figures. Most of his carvings have an illusion of movement and ornately textured surface space (Bowl with Figures).
I really came to respect Ise as a carver when I did my research and found the best aspect of his artwork, Ise was an early feminist. The lid of the bowl depicts four women dancing in unison, the first time women had been represented in that way in all of African art. It also shows nude males and clothed females, a departure from conventional African art. Usually, “Males in Yoruba canon are depicted fully clothed and standing, while females are portrayed kneeling, unless they represent royalty” (Bowl with Figures). Kneeling was a sign of subservience in African art, and in this bowl it is both men and women who kneel to support its weight. This idea was radical at the time, and through my research I found that Yoruba society had a high stratification between males and females. This depiction of females on the lid of the bowl can be seen as new iconography, and a testament to Ise’s lack of convention in both his artistic style, and the society he decided to represent. I think this is a very unusual representation of “reality” in this artwork.