Talk:Kiki Bokassa

Many problems need resolving

The lede claims that Bokassa "...is an autodidact conceptual artist, who works in the expressionist, figurative art genre." This is nonsensical. First, "autodidact" has a particular definition -- that of one who has mastery of a given subject or skill, which they did not receive from training under other masters (typically through a formal education). It does not simply mean "self-taught", which appears to be Bokassa's situation. If one is not recognized as having mastery of a subject or skill, "autodidact" is an improper term and should be removed. Someone who takes up playing the piano, has never taken lessons, and knows how to play "Chopsticks" may describe themselves as "self-taught", but they would not qualify as an "autodidact". Second, "conceptual art" has particular characteristics, chief among them being that the concept of an artwork, which is able to be (and usually is) articulated, takes primacy over any physical manifestation of the artwork. It may exist independently of a physical form, only within the mind of the "viewer", as with An Oak Tree by the conceptual artist Michael Craig-Martin. No such characteristics are discernible in Bokassa's artistic output. Furthermore, conceptual art is largely at odds with "work(ing) in the expressionist, figurative art genre"; a nonsensical stringing-together of different genres. It would be as nonsensical as saying that "John Cage is a minimalist composer who works in the rockabilly, jazz genre." The second sentence in the lede states "She has paintings in private collections in the Persian Gulf and USA." One source is cited for this assertion, but it leads to a dead link, and searching the site of the source for "bokassa" turns up nothing. Likewise the third sentence, which claims "She was brought up in Lebanon and has exhibited widely in Beirut and overseas"; that link resolves to a site which, when searched for her in the archives, nothing appears. The second paragraph claims "In April 2009, Bokassa created an immersive art event in Beirut entitled ‘72 hrs’, in which she painted for 72 hours continuously as a peaceful form of expression in self-imposed incarceration. The work took place in a giant canvas cube at Laboratoire d'Art. The event came to the attention of more than 30 international media outlets and was reported on in at least 74 countries". These claims are ostensibly supported by two sources, one of which is the aforementioned dead link. The other is from the digital version of the Lebanon Daily Star. However, although the article does exist, and does make the claim that "The event came to the attention of more than 30 international media outlets and was reported on in at least 74 countries", that does not seem to be supported by sources. A Google search of "Kiki Bokassa" + "72 Hours" returns a paltry 111 results, many of which are either quotations of this article or are unrelated to this "event". There does not appear to be even a single mention of the artist and event in any significant media source, other than the piece in the "Daily Star". In accordance with WP's standards covering WP:BLP and WP:N, the article needs to be rewritten and properly supported by reliable secondary sources, or removed. Bricology (talk) 21:06, 12 May 2021 (UTC)