The title
of the piece of art that I found the most interesting and influential at the
Palmer Museum of Art is “Affirmative Action.” Jerry Kearns is the artist of
this piece. Kearns created “Affirmative Action” in the year 1987 on a canvas by
using acrylic. The background of the painting is completely red and yellow and
shows the rooftops of what appears to be a group of buildings in a major city.
The focus of the painting, however, is the woman positioned in the center. She
stands out because, unlike the background, she is in all black and white. She
appears to be your “typical woman” wearing a dress and heals with her hair all
nicely done. Her anger and frustration is clear in this painting just by
looking at her face. She is in a wide stance and is hard at work shoveling
manure that is in black and white as well. The piece is on a normal square
canvas but it is extremely large. The large size helps the artist to make his
point even that much stronger and more obvious.
Jerry
Kearns is known for his work with large canvases similar to this one as a way
to reveal a social issue. In “Affirmative Action” Kearns focuses on the issue
of women’s rights. Women’s rights were a big concern right around the time when
Kearns created this piece especially when it came to them receiving equal pay
for equal work. Equal pay did not just refer to their salary, however. This
also included things such as a wide variety of benefits received for working
and bonuses. The woman depicted in Kearn’s piece is shoveling manure which is
clearly a job that is below her. It is assumed that she is not collecting what
she should be for this degrading job as well. There are numerous things that
Kearn could have been trying to accomplish by creating this piece. One of these
may have been to show the influence that legislation has had on gender
inequality at the time in the U.S. because this was not the only gender issue
of the time.
“Affirmative
Action” has a good amount of pathos that can be found within it. It works on
your emotions by making you feel bad for this woman and, therefore, all other
women in similar situations as hers at the time. It could also make you feel
angry. How is a man’s work any better than a woman’s? This piece connects to my
values specifically because I feel that men and women should not be treated
differently no matter what the situation. I know that I personally would be
aggravated if I were living in this period going through this. People are
people and every individual deserves to be treated fairly.
Kearns
creates credibility by incorporating suitable images from comic books,
television and other popular sources in his works. He is known for considering
himself an “editor of the information flow of culture.” The bold
confrontational scale of “Affirmative Action” is a popular style used by
artists as well. Those considering the canvas may enjoy this style of art and relate
it to other famous artists and works that they admire bringing them to respect
Kearns as an artist automatically.
I think
that this piece is trying to make the claim that women and men are born
equivalent and therefore warrant the same rights like I stated earlier on in
this blog post. A women’s’ work is just as beneficial and valid as a man’s so
why should she not receive the same credit and reward for it? In my opinion
Kearns could have made this piece more persuasive by depicting a man in the
scene alongside the woman to make a stronger comparison. Maybe he could have
shown the man being paid while she was shoveling or simply show him doing a job
that was not as difficult.
I am not
normally a museum-goer but I enjoyed visiting Penn State’s Palmer Museum very
much. It was something different for me because I am not creative and do not
usually enjoy art as a result. It was nice, however, to go out of my comfort
zone and try doing something new. I don’t know if I would have gone in
otherwise but now I think that I may go back again! The visit was definitely
beneficial for me personally.
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