As I looked through and read about Judy Baca's artwork and career, her 1974 wood stain on paper really stood out to me. For one, the painting felt very familiar and I realized it was because the artwork was drawn from Baca's study of Siqueiros work with his past students. There are similarities in the way that the young man who is stretched out onto the floor appears to be reaching out into the audience, almost 3D like, and how Siqueiros always had the figures of his murals distorted into looking 3D. There are also similarities in the colors that Baca uses in this piece, with browns and dark reds that make the painting look more solemn. In addition, both this piece and Siqueiros's most famous works discuss themes surrounding death and violence inflicted upon by the government.
For me, this artwork calls upon more than just gang violence, as many of my other classmates have discussed. As I see the image of a young artist's body laying on the floor with a bullet in his stomach, and his young age printed next to him, I also think about the boys I grew up with and how many of them were lured into gang violence or even killed. Now, I often think about how many of my classmates would say that gangs offered them protection and community and even family. I think about why gangs were created in the first place, especially in LA, where men of color weren't allowed to be in those fancy community clubs. Why is it that we criminalize men of color, particularly black and brown men and how does this affect the outcome of their lives?
No comments:
Post a Comment