“In the House of My Father”, Donald Rodney
Words by Emilia Sogaard
Donald Rodney (1961-1998) was a black British artist, a founding member of The Wolverhampton Young Black Art Group and the Pan-Afrikan Connection, later known as the BLK Art Group. His lasting influence is due to his innovative use of materials and sensitive artworks. “In the House of My Father” was made for the 1997 exhibition “9 Nights in Eldorado”, dedicated to the artist’s father. The motif of a house is a recurrent theme in the artist’s work, both seen in his exhibitions and his private sketchbooks. This idea of the house, where the body is sheltered and can express its-self freely, suggests that architecture has the ability to create a safe environment. The noun ‘house’ also has connotations of being a place for family; it is reminiscent of family bonds and for many provides a space of inclusion and acceptance. Recognising that the house is an environment where the body interacts with an enclosed space away from the public eye suggests a lack of judgement and protection from discrimination, where one can feel at ease. For the artist this could be a reflection of growing up as one of 12 with Jamaican parents, facing the endemic racism in England.
The name of the work “In the House of My Father” highlights the family connections and the medium of the work shows the presence of the body within the home. By using skin to construct the shape of a house the significance of body in relation to the space of the house is confirmed. This work is particularly powerful as it was photographed in 1997, two years after Donald Rodney’s father died. The artist was unable to make it to his father’s funeral, so pays homage to his father through this delicate artwork. The name of the exhibition references a funeral ritual from the Caribbean.
Donald Rodney could not attend the funeral as he was in hospital due to his ongoing fight with sickle-cell anaemia. This is an inherited disease that affects people of African, Caribbean, Eastern Mediterranean, Middle Eastern and Asian descent. How does our reading of this artwork alter knowing Donald Rodney suffered from sickle-cell anaemia?
Our perception of the work changes as we begin to comprehend that the white sheets weren’t just bed sheets but hospital bed sheets. Growing up the artist filled countless sketchbooks from his hospital bed, presenting his artworks as a prevalent metaphor for the suffering that he underwent. This photograph is the original image taken of the work; a 3D structure composed of his skin removed during a series of operations and delicately held together by a pin. The clinical brightness of the background juxtaposes the item of disease and decay that rests so precariously in the principal focus. With starched sheets that suggest perfection and order acting as the background of a single shade, the problems of racial inequality that Rodney faced cannot be dismissed. Arguably, he aimed this artwork to convey the ill-doings of an institutionally racist country, rather than delving into his personal plight with ill-health; while the artist was known for showing interest in the ways objects rot, this artwork does more than represent his fight with sickle-cell anaemia.
The lack of research into and awareness of sickle-cell anaemia correlates with the fact that it predominantly targets black males. The inadequacy of funding on a medical scale is indisputably linked to the social impacts of high infant mortality rates and shortened life expectancy in adults. While it can be said that great artists like Donald Rodney and his contemporaries were enriching the art scene and paving the way for a richer art society in England, their ‘enriching’ art cannot be translated into economic terms to help combat the disease and increase awareness. This connection between race and economics and art has been highlighted recently in the exhibition at the Hayward gallery (London): “In The Black Fantastic”. The name of this exhibition was questioned with the choice of the word “black”, inserting the artist’s work into a racially charged space. Yet this was arguably a tactical choice to ensure its funding as a broad title increases the target audience and so the economic opportunities; in England public exhibitions of black artists have been facing a severe lack of funding.
The shortcoming of economic support in the health and cultural spheres and the choice of medium in Donald Rodney’s works neatly represent what his close friend Keith Piper explained as being “the fragility of black space” in the U.K. This lack of public space for artists reinforces the idea of judgment and barriers outside the space of the house and it begs the question of what space do artists like Donald Rodney have in art history? Diane Samuels, a contemporary to Rodney, described him as “a critique of art history, while also demanding his place in it”. This quote shows his continuing influential power and his determination to be present in the public realm as a black artist.
“Autoicon”, created in 2000 by Donald Rodney’s contemporaries, is a continuation of a project started by Rodney which is a space for creative output incorporating medical data from the human body. This project is described as simulating his physical presence and elements of his creative personality. The establishment of projects after the artist’s death shows his firm presence in the British art scene and shows that the work “In the House of My Father” has prominence in society today in questioning racism, bodily presence and how representation in a cultural setting of an art gallery can be translated into tackling racial inequality.
