Marissa Vincenti
Ph.D. Candidate, Art History
Most people don’t pay attention to the art decorating the sets of prime-time television shows unless it’s part of the plot. For Marissa Vincenti, however, these mere backgrounds help define characters and are a marker of society’s attitude toward culture and those who “own” it.
Marissa, who began her Ph.D. program in art history in 1999, became interested in the field as an undergraduate at Cleveland State University, where, she explains, “I started out as a studio major, with the intent to become an artist. I was well into the drawing program at CSU when I happened to take a course on African American art in 1990. I became completely fascinated with art history and I found that I really loved doing research. I enjoy examining a work in its social, historical, political, and theoretical contexts, not to mention its formal qualities. I also love digging through archives. But I was especially drawn to African art and I soon became interested in works of the African Diaspora, especially in America. As issues of race and identity remain an important fact of the American experience, I find work by African American artists to be critical voices in our culture. For example, Aaron Douglas, the Harlem Renaissance artist I will be doing my dissertation on, was one of many artists who constructed counter-narratives of American history in his work.”
After doing fieldwork in Nigeria, Marissa got her M.A. from Kent State University, “and finally came to Duke for my Ph.D.,” she says. Marissa came to Duke specifically to work with Professor Richard Powell, because “he’s one of the names in African American art history. I felt working with him would be the best graduate experience I could have.” Her experience at Duke is living up to her expectations, because while here “I’ve had the opportunity to improve my researching, writing, and analyzing skills—our professors have high standards. My advisor, Rick Powell, has not only challenged me in these areas, but I’ve often looked to his work as a means of improving my own.” In addition, she is the recipient of the first joint fellowship offered by Duke’s Art and Art History Department and the Duke University Museum of Art (DUMA), and would like to use the fellowship to design an exhibition with DUMA’s collection of African art.
“We Are Striped for Our Labor: Aaron Douglas’s Construction of Black Unity,” is the working title of Marissa’s dissertation; she explains that “I’m looking at the work of Harlem Renaissance artist Aaron Douglas and how he created a conception of cultural unity, or ‘wholeness,’ among black Americans. I’m looking at his interest in universalisms, from formal solutions in his work (such as his employment of Egyptian art for a “pan-African” effect), to philosophical ones (his interest in the universalizing philosophy of G.I. Gurdjieff), to the political (his later interest in communism).”
In addition to working on her dissertation, Marissa says she is looking at the role popular culture “plays in establishing histories or social ‘truths’ about culture—about art, about race, about ‘America,’ etc. I’ve been fascinated with the appropriation of art by popular culture, particularly in set design on television; I’ve been analyzing how the African art on NBC’s ‘Frasier’ aids in the construction of Frasier’s character’s identity as a connoisseur, as a psychiatrist, and how it can also function as a sign of whiteness.”
Marissa’s description of graduate school as “a lot of work” is one most students can relate to. “Although I have more graduate experiences ahead of me in the program, I’ve found that completing the coursework—particularly meeting those end-of-the-semester paper deadlines—to be a grueling experience,” she says, and then voices a conundrum many of her fellow students have mused upon: “Trying to complete three papers which are expected to be of high quality in terms of research, ideas, and writing, and then grade final exams at the same time, will literally give you some gray hairs.” Marissa says that the “tradeoff that keeps me going is that, at this level, you’re working on subjects that you often care a great deal about. I think my friends (read: ‘therapy group’) have helped me a great deal in getting through the program. I also think a sense of humor is indispensable in grad school.” She notes that after all of this work, “even more than developing researching and writing skills, I think the relationships I’ve made—with professors, friends, etc.—are going to be invaluable. You don’t want to feel alone or isolated when you finally get out into your field.”
School hasn’t taken over her life completely; Marissa enjoys cooking and eating the fruits of her labor, going to restaurants, and trying foods of different cultures. Beyond food, she also likes “working on my yard and in my flower garden. I love baseball and watch or listen to games while I work, but I also go to a lot of Bulls games in the summer. I also have a dog and two cats, so they’re always very entertaining. I’ve found that walking your dog is very good mental therapy. And I just like animals— I’m trying to schedule some time to work at Durham’s animal shelter if I can.”
Marissa is looking forward to an academic career, explaining that “after getting my Master’s, a year and a half of teaching convinced me that I wanted to do this for my career. I loved teaching at the college level…and I loved looking at pictures all day! If you get a chance to do something for a career that you really enjoy, why not try to do it?”
Richard Powell
John Spencer Bassett Professor of Art and Art History
Marissa is very well-prepared to undertake her dissertation topic. The time she spent at Kent State University studying African-American art gave her a solid foundation. Her work in our department with modern European art, African-American art, and critical theory will provide a larger frame in which to situate Aaron Douglas. In my conversations with her, it’s clear she’s thought deeply about her topic. I am particularly pleased that she wants to take her research on Aaron Douglas far beyond the existing scholarship.
(This profile originally appeared in the Fall 2002 issue of The GRIND.)