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Cultural Appropriation Of The Renaissance: How Culture Influence Art

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Art does not exist in a vacuum; an artists’ work is influenced by the culture they were brought up in; this is true of the artists of the Renaissance who painted their Christian icons, and it is still true for the artists of today. We are inspired by the customs and traditions that surround us, and the society that has helped build the foundations of our character. Culture influences art, and art can be found in most aspects of a culture; from their paintings and writings; to their music and clothing. It is important to recognize this influence, and to give proper credit to the members of a culture that pioneer a form of art, but often times these people never get the recognition they deserve. Imitators come along and present their art, their culture, as their own. Most would agree that it is only right and fair for an artist to receive credit for their work, but in spite of this, this issue, known as cultural appropriation, continues to plague society. Cultural appropriation, on the surface, is when one takes and uses elements from a culture that they do not belong to. But when we go deeper a more insidious problem is revealed. …show more content…

One of the earliest examples is in the rock and roll scene of the 1950’s, where African Americans were heavily discriminated against. Music executives didn’t want to hire black performers, but they wanted to profit off of their music achievements, so instead they hired white musicians that would imitate their style. This lead to musicians, like Elvis, receiving fame and recognition for popularizing a music genre with white audiences; a genre that he stole from the African American artists that founded it and never received the credit or the payment they were owed (Nittle, 2015). The man who discovered Elvis, Sam Phillips, is credited with saying, “If I could find a white man who had the Negro sound and the Negro feel, I could make a billion dollars." (Garelick,

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