How does one judge political art?

Perhaps I'm wrong but I saw no mention of the political cartoon which is rather straightforward in its message. My favorites being Mauldin and Oliphant

very wise statement. Unfortunately we are always in a rush to reinvent ourselves, and we miss all the lessons taught by all those "dead guys on horseback"
I forget where it was I saw Astatue of Nathan Bedford Forrest.Whenever I see these kinds sof public statues, I like to read the plaques or incised wishes.

Im not a collector of Civil War photos, Actually setanta found this avatar and offered it for my use. I guess its time for a Spring avatar change, I think Ill try to find something less military. I always wanted one of Tigger cause I can do a great impression of him for the kids

I just finished a piece, waiting for it to dry, that ended up with some clouds in it because the red bled through in a kind of neat brownish weird way. I am going to call it Iraq.

truth
Good, Joanne. I think that opportunism is an important subjective orientation to have when painting, especially abstract painting. Its objective counterpart is serendipity.

Well I have to tell you this one is looking pretty good now all I have to do is leave it alone.

I gave up on the digital camera and am taking regular pics and will have them printed to a CD so I can post some for you all to see.

truth
Pant, pant, print photos to a CD? pant, pant, how does one do that? pant pant.

Well I have been told all you have to do is order it up when you get your film developed. It cost more but well worth it.

The pics I posted in the A2k Gathering Gallery from Austin. I did that from a CD that came back with the negatives and the other pics. You just slip the CD in the puter and upload. It cannot be to hard it only took me short period of time.

Joanne, how and where do you post pictures? , JL, do you have a digital camera? if not Kodak has a CD option when you have your film developed, and the beginning software is on the CD. I use them for work because its easier to get film for a 35MM camera than to have extra flash cards . (Sony makes a digital that plops the pix right onto a little CD in the camera) They used to make one that put the images on floppy discs

In the Gallery FM I think you have to be a subscriber but I am not sure.

And about the trip in July I will send you a PM about it.

truth
Thanks, guys. Useful information.

lollipop art with a message
Hi, I am working as resident artist for our counties art center. I am working with young head-start children creating a piece that will go on display and move around the county. I intend to use lollipops as a symbol of childhood and carefree images that we all wish to see in our youth. Because the children are the financial status of the poverty community, I would like to incorporate a political message that will be viewed by the more prosperouse surrounding community. The lollipop and the children will be one and the same in images. I will use colorful design to represent the brightness of the child, but somehow want to send the message that poverty and wearing rose colored glasses keeps children in the poverty community. Any suggestions? They piece will be a collage of the children's work organized within 9 art frames. Four of the frames will represent a window. Colorful children will be peering out at the viewer. Lollipops and other materials including rose colored glasses will be incorporated into the pieces. My challange...... how do I suggest poverty without making the piece too heavy?

Any suggestions????

Shealy Sherry Healy
Edit [Moderator]: personal website removed

truth
Shealy, the only thing that comes to mind is the attachment (pinned or glued) of dirty, broken and torn dolls (old raggy things). Good luck on this admirable project.

jln - you don't have to be a member to post to the gallery, only to have one of your very own. It is easy to use and you just have to wait for the moderators to approve it (as not being porn or whatever!) I wish you would post some of your work and share it - it's good.

shealy - i went to a brilliant exhibition at the Tate Gallery in Liverpool a few years ago, where an artist from South America (?Brazil) had done some absolutely stunning images of street children there. He had used the detritus swept up from the streets after carnival - dust, dirt, wrappers,cigarettes ends, bits of glitter etc and used them to 'draw' beautiful subtle drawings of the children, then photographed them and the images were about 6-7 foot tall. They were absolutely amazing - you didn't realise they weren't charcoal/pastel drawings at first and then suddenly you realised what they were made from - if you contacted the Tate Gallery in Liverpool they may be able to email you some information on the artist.

truth
Thanks, Vivien. One of these days I'm going to hire someone to show me how to send photos to the Gallery. I am a subscriber.

Shealy i found the link

tate gallery Vik Muniz exhibition

his work was fascinating - I tried to 'lift' the image and post it but it won't work.



Vik Muniz has a longstanding fascination with photographic documentation. He has a personal collection of works by photographers who specialised in recording images of images, such as museological records and archives. His own work involves a similar layering of representations. Aftermath and Sugar Children - the two series represented in TRACE - take the form of photographs of drawings done by the artist. The drawings are, in turn, derived from his photographs of the original subject. The images in Aftermath contain a further layer of reference. The subjects are street children in Brazil: extremely vulnerable children with whom the artist established a relationship of trust and collaboration. In this instance he invited them to find images they identified with in books on art history, then asked them to pose in the position of the principal figure in the selected painting. This was the starting point for a lengthy series of displacements.
The reproduced drawings appear from a distance to be almost photographic in their realism, but on close inspection it becomes clear that the materials are far from conventional. For the Aftermath series Muniz collected street sweepings left over from the Carnivale in Rio and scattered them onto a light box. He has then skilfully dusted and vacuumed the material away to produce a convincing replica of his original photograph. In Sugar Children, as the title suggests, he has used sugar as his medium. In each case there is a resonance between the material and the subject matter. The process itself is also highly suggestive, particularly in Aftermath where the dust and scattered sequins lend the images a forensic quality.

Thank you for responding to my question. And, thank you for the link. I have put together something that I just now find pleasing. The theme is lollipop. The children's art is put together on one board. Houses, made by the children represent the different life styles and prosperity levels of the families of the children. Some homes have lollipops while others do not. The lollipop represents the basic needs and expectations of all children.

In addition, I have five wooden frames in the piece, they are decorated with colorful textures and lollipops. Again, some of the frames seem abundant while others seem less than satisfactory. The frames are filled with pieces of artwork, a painted bear, faces drawn by the children, colorful candy and simply childhood objects. The frames on the piece represent the departmentalized way many of our cities and communities exist. A pair of rose colored glasses are strategically placed near the center of the piece representing our ability or chose to see or not see the poverty of some of our families and children. In the center of the piece is a pure white box with a colorful piece of writing about the symbol of the lollipop. I have been most pleased with the final touches of the piece. I found it quite spectacular to place clear plastic paper in sections over the art,forcing the viewer to look throught the paper to see what is behind it. It gives one the feeling of opening a box of candy covered with shinny wrapping while taking a closer look at life. Overall, when looking at the piece, called Lollipop, the viewer feels a feeling of expectations, those expectations that create hunger for a surprise box of chocolates. But, upon closer inspection, the viewer sees the mix of abundance and lacking. And, hopefully the viewer is touched by the sweetness of childhood and the slight scent of sugar when standing in front of the piece. And, hopefully the viewer will think about his own personal abundance and lacking. And, hopefully the viewer will question himself and the world in which he lives.

Are we all equal? Do we all have equal chances in life?

I will try to get a photo of the piece and share it here. I am not completely finished yet. The piece should go on permanent display in the county after about three weeks.

Anyone who wants to visit me at my website can go to Edit [Moderator]: personal website removed

Thanks everyone,

Shealy
Sherry Healy

Battle Scene by JLNobody

Hi Joanne. Missed you at the art reception. JL

Heliopo, thats the best work I have seen in quite a while! Best of luck to you.

Joanne, thanks for posting my "Battlescene" here in a thread on political art. I suppose that's accurate: the trees represent gender conflict, one of the quintessential American political phenomena of the 20th century.