Analysis of Arts: Presentation as Violence, An Eerie Textile Design, and Exchange Street

FINAL PAPER ASSIGNMENT
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Final Paper Assignment
Virtual Exhibition Artist: Kara Walker Title: Presentation as violence Medium: Graphite and pastel on paper 2010. Description: The drawing shows the social evils that often took place in the society, with men using women to fulfil their sexual desires. It also shows how the black women were used as tools for sexual gratification.  Artist: Frédéric Etienne Joseph Feldtrappe (1786–1849) Title: An Eerie Textile Design. Description: The picture shows the colonial textile industry that relied mainly on slave trade to obtain the resource including cotton. Despite showing the slave trade, there are no harsh images that depict the actual events, such as chains to show how the individuals were tied out.  Artist: Unknown Title: Exchange Street. Description: the photograph shows the Exchange Street towards entrance to the Union Stockyards. It depicts apartheid because during this time, there was slavery but some parts of the country, such as this one, experienced the serenity of the moment.
Thematic Essay
The images above show the main events that have been shaping the themes in art. The main themes have revolved around slavery colonization, and apartheid. The purpose of this virtual exhibition is to show the role of art in our daily lives. Different forms of art exist that range from music to paintings, and drawings, to sculptures among others. Art has always been a mode of communication and the medium through which artists give a reflection of their perceptions of the society. Analysis of these photographs does not only reveal something about the society, but also communicates some information about the photographer. It shows the different perspectives that people perceive the world. It shows how people experience the world differently and it is this experience that ultimately shapes their interpretation. Based on the images, it is evident that the traditional arts, philosophy, and literature were dominated by slavery, as evident in the first drawing, colonization as evident in the second one, and apartheid, as evident in the third one.
The first drawing called Kara Walker was done by Kara Walker, an American contemporary painter and installation artist who explores gender, race, sexuality, violence, and identity in her work. Her works mainly highlight the gender and identity issues especially among the African American women. She utilizes images from historical text books to show the level of enslavement that African Americans went through especially during the Antebellum South. She uses her works to poke holes in the romantic idea of the past, which was characterized by humiliating, desperate reality that African-Americans went through. These images depict the life that she experienced while growing up.
Her drawing titled Representation as Violence shows the kind of life that she experienced and one that she castigates. The drawing highlights the scenes of horror and guilty pleasures that characterized the early society. The drawing depicts a White man using black women to fulfil his sexual desires. The drawing also features a preacher, who seems to be preaching to a deaf audien...