Flight into Egypt 1965

Curator: Look at the dreamlike quality in Clementine Hunter’s, "Flight into Egypt," an oil painting created in 1965. The colors are soft, the figures are simply rendered, almost childlike. Editor: It has a sort of calm serenity, doesn't it? A stillness that contrasts with the urgency you might expect from a scene depicting escape and refuge. The angels overhead, are they a source of protection or a reminder of potential danger? Curator: Considering Hunter’s background, her artwork carries substantial socio-political weight. She was a self-taught artist from a plantation in Louisiana, who painted scenes from her everyday life. It’s impossible to ignore her identity in these paintings, but even the angels speak to an integration of lived experience into broader theological or historical narratives. Editor: Absolutely. It’s fascinating to see how she synthesizes personal narrative with larger religious and cultural themes. The symbolism in this piece – the donkey, the red rope – what do they represent in the context of her world and the historical event she depicts? Curator: It’s a question of access and control. Mary, and Jesus riding atop the donkey suggests dependence and also triumph, a re-envisioning, where they take precedence as opposed to Joseph leading. Joseph, on the other hand, is quite literally on the ground as if subservient to his own destiny, holding the symbolic red rope, alludes to ideas about subjugation through faith but maybe even an escape from oppression? Editor: I think it's very interesting. Considering Hunter's positionality, and lived experience with themes like these at that particular historical intersection really drives home just how significant each stroke on the canvas becomes. There is great vulnerability here in these figures’ journey that still resonates with migrant populations across the world. Curator: Agreed, understanding her historical milieu enriches our perspective. She elevates lived, local experiences to tell expansive Biblical narratives. This provides social commentary in an age of intense discrimination for African Americans. Editor: Precisely. It pushes us to examine whose stories are centered in traditional art history and whose are marginalized, challenging the established canons. We witness how the politics of imagery, and more specifically who has the agency to create imagery becomes its own revolutionary act. Curator: What’s so intriguing here is to see it visually materialize on this small canvas; this painting speaks volumes about faith, resilience, but more importantly power! Editor: Indeed, this painting offers such layered conversations; an artistic intervention inviting reflection.