Grand art versus kitsch bitch

By Neslihan

"So two days ago I went to the opera" might be an unusual beginning to a blog post but it is the truth though. It wasn't on my own initiative, it was an -and I quote- "educational, obligatory and relevant activity" according to my Latin teacher. So, here's where we pause. The opera. Maybe we should take one thing into account: you're talking to pop culture teenagers, who watch superficial American teenage drama series in order to escape reality. And not some 18th century opera composed by a random, dusty-wigged German composer. Yes, I'm talking about Händel and his 'Agrippina'. And yes, I'm ignorant, a total layman when it comes to opera or classical music. The idea of sitting in this huge opera hall for FOUR hours just didn't sound that appealing (at first). Hey, take it down a notch, this is our first opera.
 Older generations (grandma/granddad/mother/father/teacher/neighbour) like to make us believe we are the result of the volatile consumer society in which durability and norms have been replaced by tendentious pleasure. Isn't that a little too negative and black and white? And isn't it normal that older generations nag about the generation following them. How will my generation be over twenty years? 
So I decided to give this opera thingy a chance because what is there to lose, right? And it seemed like opera is all about repetitive great gestures. And as I looked at Agrippina (Ann Hallenberg) and heard her impressive voice, I started to wonder: are we used to great gestures like these? Can we handle this much emotion, ambition and passion? Are we able to sit on a chair and focus on only one thing? And although it's dangerous to talk for a mass, I'm going to do it anyway. No, I don't think we are able to do so. In a world in which everything changes too fast, it is important to know a little of everything. So you know everything but only fragments of it. Specialization takes effort and effort takes time. And time still is money, often money we don't have.
So Agrippina, your ambition scared us all after a heavy day of school. We were tired and sceptical, you gave your all and were fierce in your tacky Dynasty costume because that's also something the world of Grand Arts is suffering from: modernizing classics. I never understood why they do such horrible things. Well no, of course I do understand; they want to make it more 21st century, more temporary, more 'us'. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't but either way it awakens a hell of reactions and that's when you know it's good, whether it works or not. So those tacky kitschy 80's costumes and huge hats were the right choice. And even those artificial tacky holiday backgrounds were well-found, eventhough I hated them, I must say, well done. What a wonderful clash between a classic and major tackiness.
Another succesful temporary interpretation of classics are Kehinde Wiley's modern paintings. The Afro-American artist paints African, African-American, Afro-Brazilian, Indian and Ethiopian-Jewish (Beta Israel) men in heroic poses. He mixes baroque prints with divine florals and all his paintings seem to have this intense vibe. See for yourself and maybe take a moment and ask yourself: "What if Napoleon was African?"

'Prince Tommaso

Francesco of Savoy-Carignano', 2006

'Princess Victoire of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha', 2012

'Ecce, Homo', 2012

After Sir Joshua Reynolds’ Portrait of Doctor Samuel Johnson, 2009

Source paintings: Jalouse France November 2012
* I'm sorry for the shitty quality of the paintings, I'm sure nothing tops seeing those in real life.