Name: Palacpac, Vince Chester V.

Grade & Section: 12-ABM

SLP 2 UNIT 3 LESSON 1

List at least ten famous politically committed art works of the world, the occasion or event that each work
reacts to/against, and the message and impact of the work on the people for which it was created. Then
write a three-paragraph essay explaining how and why visual art works make for effective visual socio-
political statements/arguments.

10 famous politically committed art works of the world:

1. Massacre in Korea, 1951 by Pablo Picasso

The painting of the Massacre in Korea showed the American intervention in the Korean
War. Pablo Picasso created the painting to show that he was on the side of the Korean civilians by
showing how heartless the American forces were that they made the Korean civilians suffer and
killing them on their own territory. Picasso was able to show in his painting how upsetting it is
that the people of the Korea had no power over their own land and had their lives taken away by
military forces that had no care at all.

2. Théodore Géricault - The Raft of the Medusa

The painting of the Raft of the Medusa showed a tragedy that happened when the French
naval frigate Méduse got into a wreck and killed a large number of people, only leaving a few
that survived which encountered major starvation, dehydration and there were even reports of
cannibalism occurring. Géricault created this painting to show the unsettling truth of what
happened in the tragic event that also resulted in causing stress to the French government.

3. Europe after the Rain II, 1940-42 - by Max Ernst

Europe after the Rain is a painting by Max Ernst shows the devastation of the aftermath
of the Second World War that resulted in landscape destructions all around Europe. Max Ernst
created this painting to show the horror and devastation from the war that he had to live and
fought through. He depicted in the painting the horrid looks of the landscape that the war left in
order to convey his disgust in the consequences that the war has brought to his life and Europe
that also affected the Nazi politics in Germany.
4. Peter Kien - Watercolor of Terezin from 1944
The Watercolor of Terezin was created by a Jewish artist named Peter Kien who was able
to show the inhuman living conditions that inmates experienced in concentration camps. Peter
witnessed the life that inmates had to live with inside the camps by using stolen artistic materials.
Through his art, he showed the sad reality of what it is like to be imprisoned and what lifestyle
they had to deal with.

5. Man at the Crossroads by Diego Rivera

The Man at the Crossroads was a mural created by Diego Rivera originally for the
Rockfellers who paid him to make a mural for their center. They had an agreement that it would
be divided into three panels wherein the center shows a worker handling a machine wherein it
was the part to show the Man at the Crossroads and two other panels flanking the center panel
would be about The Frontier of Ethical Evolution and The Frontier of Material Development. The
mural was approved by the Rockfellers but later on forced Rivera to destroy it before getting to
finish it because of the image of Vladimir Lenin and a Soviet Russian May Day parade being
featured on it. This received complain from The New York World-Telegram which resulted in
Rockfeller destroying the mural that Rivera has created. Because the artists were not happy about
it, Diego recreated the composition of the Man at the Crossroads in Mexico through the use of
photographs that he kept.

6. Norman Rockwell - The Problem We All Live With

The Problem We All Live With is a painting created by Norman Rockwell that depicts
the issue of racism that occurs in America and in other parts of the world. Norman Rockwell
created the painting to stand up for the people that experience being mistreated due to their races
by depicting an image of an African-American girl being kicked out of her elementary school by
Deputy US Marshals. Rockwell used his platform in art to stand up and address issues that
concerns lack of freedom of movement, racist graffiti, and the segregations of races in schools.

7. Flower Thrower (Love is in the Air) by Banksy

The Flower Thrower is a graffiti art of a boy dressed up as a militant person wearing a
baseball cap and a bandana to cover his face holding flowers as an object he is about to throw.
This graffiti appeared on the West Bank Wall which is a construction that made a lot of people
unhappy making the wall a canvas for paintings and protests. But Banksy showed in his graffiti
that despite the aggression and outrage that people feel about this, choosing peace is more
important which is why he chose to put flowers on the hand to throw to represent that love is in
the air.
8. “We don't need another hero” by Barbara Kruger

Barbara Kruger is a well-known artist for creating artworks that addresses issues about
consumerism, feminism and women identity politics. In the artwork she made called “We don’t
need another hero” shows a black and white image of a girl being mesmerized by the boy’s
muscles to show the cliché gender stereotype that boys have more power than girls. Using
Barbara’s style of art, she added a bold writing in red and white saying “We don’t need another
hero” to stand against the gender stereotype that the society believes.

9. "Gargantua" - Honoré Daumier

Garguanta is an artwork by Honoré Daumier that depicts an image of a king sitting on his
throne being fed bags of coins by the poor. The king was shown big in the artwork to signify his
power is above everyone. Daumier created this artwork to reveal the ugly truth about the cruelty
and selfishness that high class people do to others that have a lower standard of living by
mistreating them and taking advantage of them knowing that they have less power than them.

10. "Liberty Leading the People" by Eugène Delacroix

The Liberty Leading the People is a tribute painting of the July Revolution of 1830
created by Eugène Delacroix that shows how romanticism has been used ever since the 18 th
century to symbolize freedom or sovereignty. In the painting shows a woman in the foreground
representing the concept of liberty that is seen to be leading people by the way she looks at them,
while raising the revolutionary flag which is also the French flag wherein this people has referred
to this as a political propaganda.
Essay explaining how and why visual art works make for effective visual socio-political
statements/arguments.

The Importance of Visual Works

Visual art works play a big role in making effective socio-political statements and
arguments. Visual art works refer to the use of art and images that are seen through the eyes of
people in order for artists to make their statements and arguments more persuasive. Each
individual has different ways of how they can express themselves regarding proving a statement
or an argument wherein some are better in expressing through writing, some are better through
being verbal and some are better through the use of art. Artists find the use of visual works
significant by having the capability to deliver their point by using visual art presentations like
drawings, paintings and photography. It does not only benefit the artists for using their skills and
knowledge in art to prove an argument but is also benefits the audience by being able to
understand it better for it is presented visually.

The use of visual art works is very helpful in making effective socio-political statements
and arguments by being able to use images to deliver thoughts about a topic. Through using
visual works, artists are able to show an image of a memorable event or story that has made a big
impact on the society and by sharing the artist’s concerns and thoughts about it. This can be done
by the way the visual art is portrayed by adding symbols that represent certain messages that the
artist wants to convey. An example that shows how visual work is helpful in making effective
socio-political arguments is Pablo Picasso’s abstract painting of the Guernica wherein he wanted
to express his outrage on the massacre that killed many lives of people. Picasso used symbols in
the painting that shows how mistreated the people in Guernica were. He also used dark colors to
signify that the event that happened was tragic and upsetting.

Visual art works are important in proving arguments because they provide a communitive
way to help express a thought effectively. Through this, viewers are able to understand better
about the topic by the understanding and connecting of symbols in the images that interprets the
message that the artist wants to show. In conclusion, visual works are significant in making socio-
political arguments effective as it is one way to deliver an artist’s perspective and communicate
about a certain topic. It enables the artist to emphasize the main message that he wants to convey
by how he organizes and adds symbols and details into his work. In this way, the viewers are able
to comprehend the argument better by seeing visual art presentations and also helping them come
to realizations about the real life events in the society and the truth behind it, therefore making
visual arts just as important as other ways to deliver a statement and argument.