In this essay I would like to discuss how African art changed and inspired European art. African art is a beautiful and deeply interesting type of art, full of traditions and spirituality. Over time this art has influenced many artists such as Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay This is a wonderful thing but these artists have failed to portray the meaning and spirituality that comes with it. They embraced the techniques, use of colors and methods very well, but traditions and beliefs were still missing. I will introduce and analyze two different artists, Jean Michael Basquiat and Hank Willis Thomas, explaining the differences between African art and African art. influenced by European and American styles. The second part of this essay will explain the difference between African art produced by Africans and African works produced by Europeans. Akan peoples This early sculpture is a good representation of fertility, in the Asante family wood carving, fertility and children are very popular themes, the piece represents a royal mother breastfeeding her child. Why a real mother? The figure is no ordinary woman, she is a queen mother as she wears sandals and sits in state on formal occasions; a normal woman will be represented on her knees or without shoes. The Asante family is a long clan dynasty that rules southern Ghana. The sculpture not only expresses education, but also the concept of family and the continuity of a matriarchal lineage through daughters since in the Asante tradition a woman's sole purpose in life was to have children. Chris Ofili. The Raising of Lazarus This artwork is very simple, almost superficial but at the same time full of rich tones, such as black, red and green; the figures are almost illegible because this painting is very influenced by dance. Dance is an incarnation, it is as if the figures represented were very graceful and delicate; the irregular lines are very sinuous so much so that they can evoke a sense of sensuality in the bodies. The choice of colors is very specific and interesting, the artist decided to choose five colors which are very dominant in African art, all these colors represent something. In this type of art, red symbolized violence and sacrifices, the African artist chose red to represent the struggle they made for their independence, and sometimes they can also be used to give a sense of fertility and life. Black can be seen as death and darkness, but in other countries such as Kenya it can symbolize prosperity because it resembles dark rain clouds. White represents eternal life and God. Yellow is prosperity and gold. Jean-Michel Basquiat, GlennBasquiat is one of the most naive painters of the famous artistic movement of Neo-Expressionism. His art appeared simple and complicated at the same time. At first glance you would think that his style is almost childish due to the use of very bright colors and unrealistic figures, but this is not the case. It's all about disparate traditions, practices and styles creating visual collages between Afro-Caribbean heritage and urban origins. His work is an example of how American artists of the 1980s could reintroduce the human figure into their work after the great success of Minimalism and Conceptualism, thus establishing a dialogue with the more distant tradition of 1950s Abstract Expressionism. The artist appropriates Africa by taking bones, skulls and arrows and then adding his neo-expressionist touch. The objects represented are irregular, scribbled, suspended from nothing as if they were hallucinations. Basquiat demonstrates in his.