This week we read Why Artistic Activism: Nine reasons by: Stephen Duncombe and Steve Lambert. We dive into the nine reasons on why people have chosen art activism and how it impacts or has impacted our world and generation. 

Activism is known for creating an action and or a movement. When is come to artisic activism we learn how art  moves the mind body and soul. Artistic activism is another form of peacfully protesting. Art tends to lead people on to the measurable shifts in power. We learn to observe,annalyze and respond creatively. Artistic Activism has been used throughout history. Activist around the civil rights movement used songs and drew stories about their experiences as a form of peacful protesting. We are given examples of artistic activism and how it makes people more anntentive by naming it as such. This does not mean that there is not a down side to artistic activism, feeling daunting, the huge commintment most artist also feel, the huge risk you are taking putting your work out there. It is knowing your are going to cross boundaries that some people may not agree with.  

Now when I read about the 10 female performance artist and how it relates to artistic activism. These women have put themsleves out there since the 1960’s. Performing their acts as a way of protesting for women’s rights. We learn about the intistute of the arts feminist program. It was co founded by Judy Chicago and Miriam Schapiro in the 1970’s, which was one of the first feminist art programs in the united states. Public performances were later used as a form of advocatism for women. The story of Ana Mendieta was very impactful. At the early age of 12 to flee Havana with just your sister, leaving everything you know behind, she ends up in an orphanage in Iowa. She decides with the help of her sister and the other unoccompanied cuban children, created some of the most impactful performative pieces of art work. Her art expressed her displacement and ideology she expreinced as a child. These women have taken matters into there own hands and have stood up for causes that have matter most to them through their art. They have made a impact in the world that will last forever and that will inspire others as well. What I admire the most is that  these women came from humble beginnings and have been able to tell their experiences through art.  

I picked Isabel Cabanilla’s de la Torre mural because she represents the movement of women wanting change in Mexico. Isabel was a Mexican artist and activist. She was assassinated in the border city of Juarez. She was an outspoken advocate for women’s rights and a member of the feminist collective Daughter of Maquila, in other words, daughters of factory workers. She stood up for all factory women going missing in Juarez on their way to work at a factory plant, never being seen again. There is little to no coverage of the missing women. Isabel spoke up, which ultimately led to her death. When it comes to countries ruled by leaders who don’t give a damn about women, it is ten times more dangerous for any activist group to stand up for what they believe is right.

I chose this artwork because it was the first time I saw a painting depicting black women as “soft” and “delicate.” I’ve seen a lot of paintings like this, but never of someone who looks like me. I’ve also always been a fan of period dramas, and the vast majority of them are filled with white women, so I never got to see what a WOC would look like during those times. This painting represents black femininity. As a black woman, I’ve noticed that we’re always depicted as “strong” or “masculine,” so seeing this painting reminded me that I, too, can be beautiful and delicate like a flower. This painting is activist to me because it is unlike any other painting I have seen. In a world that promotes Eurocentric features, I believe this painting acknowledges that black women are also beautiful.

The art I have chosen is by Ricardo Levins Morales this piece of art represents activism perfectly by displaying many of the ongoing societal and environmental issues and behaviors that threaten to keep us stagnant in our growth as a society. I have chosen this based on all of the information we have received in this class and the change we desperately need in the world we can say no and stand against the false narratives and information they try to force upon us we do not have to fall into a forced normality that is not our own.

When your raised in a certain climate sometimes things that seemed regular in hindsight aren’t regular at all especially when your young. You see things like people that look like skeletons trying to sell broken VCR’s , or those same skeleton people breaking into houses at night, or the once prominent basketball player fall from grace because of his addiction. The crack era was like nothing I have ever seen and this mural reflects that. This mural was done in (1986) by Keith Haring. A mural that was created in reference to the crack epidemic that plagued the inner city. I love this mural for a few reasons. Its artistic representation the horrors of drugs, his stylized character design and also because I witnessed how bad that climate really was and art was all I really had. To me this artistic activism brought awareness to a problem that was ignored or swept under the rug . The mural was created without the city’s permission and Haring was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct as often artistic activists are. Another artist painted over Haring’s “crack is wack” so that it read “crack is it”, and the entire mural was painted over by the City Parks Department.

Later when the New York City Commissioner was informed that a famous artist work had been erased he apologized to Haring and offered him several different locations where Haring could paint. Haring’s signature visual style of thick black outlines around hieroglyphic like characters convey movement. The mural displays the word crack is wack in a large cloud of smoke from a crack pipe. Some symbolism is shown as the right side of the mural displays Haring’s character being lowered into the jaws of a monster. I have watched people deteriorate from the outside in after being swallowed by the beast that was crack. Haring’s “crack is wack” mural is one of his more famous pieces for its simplistic but engaging artistic value. His work also spoke volumes regarding social and political issues. His art was more conscious as opposed to the trashy art form graffiti had been labeled around that time. Haring’s mural has since become a New York Landmark.

I chose the painting Guernica by Pablo Picasso because I feel that it’s an excellent example of artistic activism. This huge painting reflects the suffering of the Spanish citizens during the Spanish Civil War. The bombing by the german aviation over the town name Guernica was what inspired Picasso to create this painting. In it, we can see fear reflected in multiple faces because of the violence. There is a mother with her child who seems panicked, animals who also are freaking out about the situation, etc. The multiple tones of gray express sadness, sorrow, pain, hopelessness, and many other negative emotions. Also, this painting is huge, the measures are 11 ft 6 in x 25 ft 6 in, which I think brings more intensity to the emotions conveyed. I think this is artistic activism because it brought politics to the fine art world and Guernica expresses many of the terrible feelings experienced by the victims of the war. Another fact of the painting is that it was at the MoMA from 1939 until 1981, initially to collect funds for people affected by the war, but then Picasso refused to give it back to Spain until Democracy was achieved in the country again. The painting currently is at the Museo Reina Sofía in Madrid, Spain

A while back I did a writing assignment for my speech class writing about an artist who has made a change. I chose Frida Kahlo, since researching her and getting to know her life she has become my favorite artist. This painting was by Frida Kahlo (Henry Ford Hospital 1932) and one of my favorites that she has done. She explores intimate experiences females face but are not spoken about such as miscarriage, pregnancy, menstruation, breastfeeding, infertility, sexual organs were private, but she published them in her paintings. She is known to be a feminist icon because she speaks on things that were considered extremely taboo even now. Therefore, I chose this painting because it demonstrates the pain and sorrow she experiences after her miscarriage. This is activism to me because she is painting from experience and knowledge of what other women go through but would not speak on, she stands for women’s freedom of expression. 

Luncheon in Fur (Oppenheim, 1936) is a precursor to the feminist art movement. This surrealist work’s title specifically references Manet’s The Luncheon on the Grass (1863) and the novella Venus in Furs. The Luncheon on the Grass was a critique of bourgeois society, depicting a bourgeois lunch in an idyllic setting, with two clothed males and two female nudes. Previously the only female nudes that were deemed appropriate were mythic depictions. Manet’s depiction of real life women was considered vulgar and highlighted the hypocrisy and voyeurism of what was considered gentile and appropriate for art. Luncheon in Fur makes a similar critique of bourgeois sensibilities with the tea set immediately invoking bourgeois custom. The fur coated cup implies the vaginal, with the fur coated spoon implying the phallic – to be dipped in the vessel. I feel this piece, by a female artist, represents how the “personal is political”, particularly its depiction of female sexuality, bringing the cup to one’s mouth implying oral sex and female pleasure, a controversial idea for its time. 

This is a mural on the a middle school in the area in Williamburg originally called “Los Sures” the southside. It was designed by Las muralistas and painted by the community. Myself being one of them. It is my favorite mural. So many beautiful components and colors and even better it incorporates taino symbols who were the indigenous people of the caribbean. A lot of our activism was rooted in teaching our history to the young people in our communities and the seeds we plant come to frutation. I can stare at it all day. I really enjoyed this particular assignment.

 Adélaïde Labille-Guiard (1749–1803) She was advocate for woman to have an opportunity to become painters just like men. In 1783 Labille gained attendance by the French king to allow only four women members at any given moment. During the time, there weren’t many women who were painters, and the reason why is because woman’s artistic pursuits should be limited to drawing as a private pastime. Figure painting was deemed the purview of men. This meaning behind the painting represents that women are allowed to paint their publish art and allow to paint with their minds no matter what it is. I enjoy this assignment and this shows many ways to express ourselves and allowed us to share our thoughts behind a work of art.