When Rihanna's newest album "Anti" dropped last week, the general reaction was a happy confusion. The reigning pop star known for her electro bangers and tropical reggae swagger presented a mellow mishmash of musical stylings highlighting her vocal flux and authentic soulfulness. If you were expecting a dance party, you were instead served a wobbly, psychedelic mixtape that compels listeners to light up a joint and write some experimental love poems.
The album art is similarly odd.
While Rihanna's other seven album covers feature close-up shots of Ri's face in various glamorous states of queendom, her newest album is more Art. The kind of Art that capitalizes Words that maybe should not be Capitalized.
Rihanna originally unveiled the work at an art gallery in Los Angeles last year, along with the man behind them, Israeli artist Roy Nachum. His oil painting, presented with five other related original works included in "Anti"'s packaging, features a black-and-white image of a young Rihanna holding a balloon, her eyes masked by a gold crown. A deep red bleeds down the top half of the canvas, accompanied by a poem by Chloe Mitchell, written in braille. Similar poems, some by Nachum himself, are sprawled across the various pieces. One reads:
The world is pin drop sound compared to the boom
That thumps and bumps against the walls of my cranium.
I live it and love it and despise it and I am entrapped in it.
So being misunderstood, I am not offended by the gesture, but honored.
The entire album art project could be perceived as shockingly uncool, and, for those who love Rihanna, awesomely so. So self-aware it becomes unaware, the imagery eschews pop cover norms in favor of an overwrought allegory in paint -- perhaps, about the danger of power blinding one from virtue. While Rihanna's classic mode of artistry seems to be playful, irreverent and unfiltered, here she is Serious, Thoughtful, and Poetic.
For better or worse, Nachum offers an accompanying vision both heartfelt and platitudinous, creating something that ignores the art world's mandates for cleverness and irony. In the end, Rihanna seems to still be following her bliss. Whether Instagramming her gem-clad bikini at Barbados' Crop Over Festival or expressing herself through an unabashedly rhymey poem, Rihanna continues doing Rihanna, ad infinitum.
I reached out to Nachum to learn more about the album art and the process behind it. It was rumored he spent a week wearing a blindfold to experience blindness -- a move that, given the subject matter, is somewhat tone deaf. In our email conversation, his generous capitalization of Deep and Important terms speaks to the kind of art making that's often viewed as not cool or clever enough for the contemporary art circuit -- although Jay Z is a fan.
In short, the confounding cover -- and equally confounding explanations from Nachum -- speaks to why so many of us will never be as free as Ri.
When did you become interested in exploring blindness and perception in your work?
My work experiments with human perception and sight. I am a visual person, and as an artist, my life revolves around what I see, and using sight to create. I guess the idea of losing my sight has always been a personal fear and something I felt I needed to explore.
Perception is an ongoing subject. I like to experiment and push boundaries. I materialize my inner thoughts into a work of art, if the viewer consciously or unconsciously connects with these thoughts then I have achieved my objective.
By incorporating Braille into a painting, I expand the possibility of communicating with people who are blind. Braille is also “an eye opener” for those of us that take visual experiences for granted. I encourage people to touch and interact with the work. Human interaction keeps the work alive and breaks the barrier between the viewer and the “sacred object."
I read that you closed your eyes for a week to experience blindness temporarily. What did you learn from this experience?
I wake up in the morning, I open my eyes, and I appreciate the ability to see. The day goes on and somehow I forget that feeling and get caught up in everyday life. Sometimes in order to "see," we need to close our eyes. Life is brief, and we must appreciate its fragility.
My work experiments with sight and perception and in order to work with this subject I felt I needed to Blindfold myself and fully immerse myself into Blindness. I wanted to forget what it was like to have sight, to be reborn in a way, and allow myself to be alone with only my memories. Today we are overloaded with visual stimulation because of technology, and it influences our decisions and our perception of our lives. I needed to escape.
Did you encounter any resistance to the idea?
I did encounter a lot of resistance, mostly from family, but I felt strongly about the experiment. It allowed me to make the work I am making today. It gave me a certain understanding of Blindness, and what life and art is without sight. However, as difficult and as life-altering the experience was, I always felt it was unfair that I had the option to remove the blindfold at anytime.
What was the process in creating the cover art for "Anti"? Would you consider it a collaboration?
Rihanna saw my work for the first time in the private art collections of Jay Z and Ty Ty. She reached out to me and we talked about ideas, life and art, and seemed to share a clear idea of what we wanted to do from the start. I worked on ideas and sketches until we had something that felt right.
Is the image of Rihanna on the cover a significant image?
I have been working with Braille and the reoccurring image of a child with his or her eyes covered by a gold crown for several years, together they stand as a metaphor for man’s Blindness caused by misplaced values and desire. Braille is also a tool, which allows people who are Blind to experience my work through touch. Everything that exists must have a meaning, otherwise it is meaningless. Art, to me, is about testing the limits.
What does the crown signify to you?
The crown is a symbol of power and success that often renders people “Blind” and obscures true values, while the balloon, lighter than air, embodies the possibility of escape and human need to transcend physical reality.
Can you talk about the poem written in braille on the cover? How does it relate to Rihanna's work and your imagery?
I write poetry in Braille, which I then sculpt on to the canvas and then paint in oil on top. I convert my words into Braille. I believe the fact that they are disguised makes you want to read them more. To a sighted viewer, the Braille poetry is abstract. I like the contrast between abstract and figurative.
This is the first time I collaborated with another person. The poem on the cover painting was written with Rihanna by poet Chloe Mitchell; she works with Rihanna. We had a meeting, talked about ideas. I explained to her the concepts behind my work, the symbolism of the painting and its meaning. I wrote the poems on the triptych of paintings seen in the album's inlay, and they express my concepts and ideas that relate directly to the work.
How do you see your imagery and Rihanna's sound interacting in "Anti"?
I think she wanted to do something different with this album both sonically and visually. The cover image and the music connect because they are both very personal to her.
What do you hope to communicate through the image?
I believe the essence of art is communication. I start a painting and I leave the viewer to complete it. My work does not reflect a singular approach that characterizes a cultural moment, and cannot be defined or even metered by time. I want to open people’s eyes. Art cleanses the body and mind from the ordinary patterns of life. Art is an illusion that allows us to see the truth.
How would you describe Rihanna's new album? Did you listen to it while creating the accompanying work?
The album is fantastic, fresh and compelling. It’s different than anything I have heard before. It shows a new and diverse side to her. Rihanna visited my studio last year to complete the triptych. While she was interacting with the paintings, we listened to some of the new music for "Anti." The music seemed to flow from her into the paintings.
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