John Biggers Research Paper
John Biggers: The Impact and Significance of Symbolization in African American Art
The integrated symbols of African American and African cultural themes within the artwork of John Biggers greatly reflects and displays women playing a non-stereotypical role within society. First it is important to understand the definition of symbolization, which is defined as, "the systematic or creative use of arbitrary symbols as abstracted representations of concepts or objects and the distinct relationships in between, as they define both context and the narrower definition of terms." Now that I have clarified the definition of symbolization I can proceed in showing you exactly what a huge role symbolism plays in John Biggers' artwork and most importantly …show more content…
John Biggers was, "from Gastonia, North Carolina, he was born in a shotgun house built by his father, Paul. The shotgun houses were very popular in this particular day of time because they were designed where every room connected to another, and their name symbolizes that you could literally fire a shotgun through one side of the house and a bullet would go straight through the house and come out the other end. They were very simple in their design and building shotgun houses took no time at all. John Biggers' father was a Baptist preacher, schoolteacher, farmer, principal of a three-room school, and shoemaker. His mother, Cora, did laundry and cooked for white families." Being raised in such a structured strong rooted up bringing John Biggers was raised in a family that was able to keep their feet on the ground, and they were able to ground themselves in the south where obtaining a structured and successful life as an African American was almost unheard of. Therefore, his childhood days gave him a strong stepping stool into the real world, and aloud him to strive for only the best, but at the same time he was able to keep things real by never losing the true perspective of things. Another lifestyle influence that took place and is displayed in John Biggers' art work is described when Cavan Leerkamp states, "As I have read and studied I would say the greatest influence on his art (other than of course his awe-inspiring teacher Professor Lowenfeld) would be his trip to Africa. What makes symbols truly special is a spiritual and personal connection made through an experience relating to that symbol." John Biggers' trip to Africa gave him hands on experience of the African Culture and aloud him to take his perceptions of the culture and apply personal and spiritual symbols to create a central theme within his artwork. The impact that the culture had upon John Biggers and his ability to soak up
The integrated symbols of African American and African cultural themes within the artwork of John Biggers greatly reflects and displays women playing a non-stereotypical role within society. First it is important to understand the definition of symbolization, which is defined as, "the systematic or creative use of arbitrary symbols as abstracted representations of concepts or objects and the distinct relationships in between, as they define both context and the narrower definition of terms." Now that I have clarified the definition of symbolization I can proceed in showing you exactly what a huge role symbolism plays in John Biggers' artwork and most importantly …show more content…
John Biggers was, "from Gastonia, North Carolina, he was born in a shotgun house built by his father, Paul. The shotgun houses were very popular in this particular day of time because they were designed where every room connected to another, and their name symbolizes that you could literally fire a shotgun through one side of the house and a bullet would go straight through the house and come out the other end. They were very simple in their design and building shotgun houses took no time at all. John Biggers' father was a Baptist preacher, schoolteacher, farmer, principal of a three-room school, and shoemaker. His mother, Cora, did laundry and cooked for white families." Being raised in such a structured strong rooted up bringing John Biggers was raised in a family that was able to keep their feet on the ground, and they were able to ground themselves in the south where obtaining a structured and successful life as an African American was almost unheard of. Therefore, his childhood days gave him a strong stepping stool into the real world, and aloud him to strive for only the best, but at the same time he was able to keep things real by never losing the true perspective of things. Another lifestyle influence that took place and is displayed in John Biggers' art work is described when Cavan Leerkamp states, "As I have read and studied I would say the greatest influence on his art (other than of course his awe-inspiring teacher Professor Lowenfeld) would be his trip to Africa. What makes symbols truly special is a spiritual and personal connection made through an experience relating to that symbol." John Biggers' trip to Africa gave him hands on experience of the African Culture and aloud him to take his perceptions of the culture and apply personal and spiritual symbols to create a central theme within his artwork. The impact that the culture had upon John Biggers and his ability to soak up