“Art and Identity: The Museum of Modern Art” (Field Trip 1)

         Individuality, culture and history are a vital part of our everyday lives. They also all work together to make art and bring change into our lives. Without them, art truly would not be the same. I've picked these particular paintings to represent my definition of individual, cultural and historical identity.

 
Cultural Identity.

Marilyn Monroe will always be a significant part of our culture, thus making her a more than suitable example of cultural identity. She passed away a half-century ago nevertheless her legend still lives on. She's one of the most popular women in the world. She’s is so inspirational to millions of people that not only do fans try to emulate her, but celebrities as well. There are so many Monroe-inspired images like “Gold Marilyn Monroe” by Andy Warhol. After her tragic death in 1962, Warhol made a series of paintings as his way of paying tribute to Marilyn. I like the way he combined painting and photography. This kind of style made his work of art very interesting and unique and it also made Andy Warhol a very famous and well-known artist of that time.

Sometimes it makes me sad to look at her pictures thinking of how such a tremendously brilliant woman died at such a young age. What I like about this particular work of art is that this painting has a very elevating feeling caused by the style and colors Warhol used on it. In “Gold Marilyn Monroe”, Warhol clearly depicts her iconic status by using a gold background and placing her image in the center of it. It's like she was always a center of attention. Even now, so many years later she attracts our attention and influences us, artists, in so many ways. He turned her into someone that is to be idolized and worshiped.

From my point of view his painting represents timelessness of the Marilyn Monroe culture. It helps us to never disregard the impact she made on numerous people with her natural beauty, her sexy looks, and the talent she well presented in her work. I think Warhol creating these works right after her tragic death, will always remind us of how much she influenced the world of pop culture and public opinion on what the society thinks is famous and sexy. I think that Andy's Warhol work contributes this idea very well. 

 Historical Identity.

Children were forced to work because their parents either got hurt or couldn't get a job and they had to support their family. Kids were even sold out by their own families due to the need of money becoming even more dire than before. Although slavery has been practiced through out most of recorded history, the almost incalculable number of slaves involved in the African slave trade has left a legacy which can not be ignored. What's certain is that Africans were subjected to several forms of slavery over the centuries.

The first time I saw this painting, I was instantly transferred into the time of African slavery. African slavery shall never be forgotten, it's a large portion of history. It was one of the cruelest times. People were ripped apart from their families and forced to do work against their will.It is estimated that between 1450 and the late 1800s, 10-15 million Africans were kidnapped and sold into slavery. (http://africa.mrdonn.org/slavetrade.html)”. Children were forced to work as slaves too, there was no age difference limit.

On this painting we can see African kids working on a field. Whether on a small farm or a large plantation, most enslaved adults and kids were agricultural laborers. Kids were had to work or they were faced with horrifically severe punishments. Horrible living conditions, constant beatings and starvation, physically, mentally and emotionally affected the poor kids.

The description says, “They couldn't go to school”. They were not owners of their own lives, they were merely servants required to fulfill their owners boundless wants and needs without question or hesitation.. They were cruelly thrown into a world of hurt, suffering, and the heartbreak of family loss.

I was captivated by this painting. I feel that the simple two sentence description gave us a clear understanding of the dreadfully hard and horrifically painful life in the time of slavery. 

Individual Identity.

Rene's Magritte's painting, “The False Mirror”, is a very unique work of art. As i began to look at it, I thought to myself how very interesting it would be to analyze this work and figure out what was the the artist thinking about while painting it. I also thought about how this work describes her as an artist and as an individual.

The fact that she chose to paint the sky and not something else certainly fills the piece with a deep meaning. The understanding of “The False Mirror”, differs from one viewer too the next. One may look at it to be the world in the eyes of a person who's a dreamer, who's looking at the sky and dreaming of something that maybe will never come true and that's why it's “The False Eye”. Another may view it as a person who's going through a hard time and is looking at the sky hoping for things to change very soon. Maybe the sky for this person is a piece of heaven or maybe it's associated with peace. Maybe she/he hopes that looking at the pure, beautiful sky will help clear up his/her mind and give this person some ideas on how to resolve some conflicts or life difficulties.

In our everyday lives we get used to noticing only things that are going on around us, in our little worlds filled with problems and other necessary things we need to do in order to survive in this crazy fast speeding life. We are consumed with materialistic things and sometimes we forget to take a moment. We need to separate ourselves from that world filled with errands and problems, look up at the sky,think of something good, and let the beauty that surrounds us soak in. Let's look at the world with a different, more positive perspective.

There are many ways to interpret this painting, but I see a person, who took a moment to look at the sky to ease her mind and think of something good.

Finally, each of these paintings may have been categorized to represent one of the proceeding categories, but they all hold some value of each. Their meanings may differentiate, but one thing doesn't, they are all art.

1. Gold Marilyn Monroe    

Andy Warhol 

(American, 1928–1987)

1962. Silkscreen ink on synthetic polymer paint on canvas

2. Unknown. 

 "Their children were forced to work in the fields. They could not go to school."  

3. Rene Magritte 

 Belgian, 1898-1967

 The False Mirror 1928

 Oil on canvas

 Museum of Modern Art. Purchase,1937