... every once-in-a-while I encounter an incredulous query as to why Bob is such a revered figure ... few things irk me more ... but to balance that, even fewer things are as easy to counteract with anecdote, scholarship and evidence ... the veracity of Marley's outsized global footprint is unassailable ... so this time, rather than reiterate descriptives of The Legend, I've chosen to make commentary on random artistic interpretations of Marley appeal ... all gleaned from internet searches ...
... even a cursory surf yields numerous examples of Marley Art inna every style an' fashion ... many incorporate de rigueur Rasta colours indicative of Jamaica and Africa ... increasingly there are efforts which use the full hundred (or "hun-dread" - Bob loved wordplay) in terms of the color spectrum ... check the above work in oil by an artist called Andree ... below, a stretched canvas print titled "Get Up, Stand Up" by Ingrid Black that not only invokes Africa but various other cultures too, opting for hues of brown ... pan-culturalism in full effect ...
... soft tones selected also for the bloodstained, stencil texturing of the pensive-young-hipster-Bob, displayed on the Flickr photostream of user roxycrisp, remind the viewer Marley was both magnetic and prolific before iconoclastic dreadlocks and international exposure came along ...
... the aura of mysticism grew around Marley as his spiritualism chrystallized ... so too his status as griot-philosopher, elemental in world outlook ...
... I sometimes speculate about which specific aspect of Bob's life triggers someone to create a piece ... obviously the artist identified as jtabije was inspired by the Redemption Song lyric ... was it a sense-reverence for words that called for black and white presentation?... thoughts of war and peace?... lions and doves?... islands and continents?... all day and all night?... there's even a Buffalo Soldier if you look closely at this one ...
... it's a fact that there's more to Marley than marijuana ... and there's more to marijuana than Marley ... still, Bob was assuredly complicit in the inspiration for an entire industry of ganja art ... one result of this is that the stiff-necked can only see that dimension ... not so the artistic invention of samihavia who fuses a jacketed, mature-business-Bob to media and the music industry with clever choice of image, color and material ... interperative ites, green an' gold ... yet proudly Rasta ...
... statues, busts, caricatures ... literal renderings and photoshops ... not to mention the merchandising artwork on everything from tissue paper and belly rings to fashion gear and whatsitnot ... there is a lot of future landfill out there bearing the unauthorised image of Bob ... this will always be, given the pervasive popularity of the subject ...
... but there's also a growing body of expression touched-off by memories of Bob Marley and The Wailers, personal and second-hand ... I have no idea if artist T. Noll saw Marley in flight or if photographs sufficed to inform his depiction in oil-on-canvas of the incendiary depth of a Marley performance ... at any rate that inspiration made the original canvas 8'x9' in dimension! ... also available in smaller, numbered, hand-signed reproductions ...
... high-mindedness in the art world can minimize works on popular icons and famous-faces ... and to be fair, there is plenty sycophantic naivete on offer ... however, some of this Marley art reaches the psyche, touching inside with sheer honesty-of-effort and love ... strong Bob attributes, speaking to the enduringly positive legacy of this influential life ...
... in a visionary creation by Jamaican/Canadian artist Barrington Robinson, dubbed "Independence Now And Forever", there's inherent rapture of free-spirit ... a man and his movement of Jah people ... to the world! ...
... as a full fledged Marley appreciator from ever-since ... there isn't a time when I don't hear something new in the message, feel the power of the clenched fist, or revel in the lessons of Bob's emphatic life ... his art continues to flourish and multiply, one way or another, with every passing birthday ...
** UPDATE ** ... now open ... The Berhane Selassie Art Gallery ... located at Tuff Gong International, 220 Marcus Garvey Drive, Kingston, Jamaica ... for more Marley art ...
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