The Lemmerman exhibit told the stories of individuals who had just been released from prison and what their first meal was. Julie Green interviewed these handfuls of ex-prisoners and asked them questions about what it was like behind bars and why they chose the meal they did. There were a couple of pieces from the exhibit that stood out to me for a multitude of reasons, one piece was Whopper, Fries, and Then, even though there’s no bio as to who or what this person was like, you can still get a piece of their story through this painting. What this painting does tell you is that this man was named Juan Melendez and he was on death row for 17 years before being exonerated for all crimes. His first meal as a free man he chose was that of Burger King, he was finally able to make choices for himself and chose the meal of a king…literally. The feast he rewarded himself with didn’t sit right with his stomach and he eventually threw up the food, his mind and body were quite ready for the outside world. The colors Julie Green chose were different shades of gold and brown. I think the gold represents “royalty” while brown may separate the mud and dirt of prison. She also incorporates flowers and plant life to possibly symbolize the beauty of the outside world that Melendez wasn’t able to see. The overall work is set on a dinner play with his name on it, this could mean how everything in prison had his name on it and was a part of his few belongings that made him still feel like a human. One quote that relates to this work of art is from chapter 5 of our textbook, "Sadly, as relevant today as it was then," this quote explains in very few words how our prison system hasn’t changed at all, we treat those who are behind bars like they are less than the rest of us. This inmate was stripped down to just his name, and maybe even less, he was a nobody until he left our prison system, and even then, he will never recover
Another painting that stood out to me was the Mac, Manhattan, Mom, art piece. This art piece doesn’t tell us the name of the ex-convict but it does tell us a bit about their life, for example, this person chose to have Mcdonald’s as their first meal after being let out of jail. They are also from New York, and probably most important of all, they are a mother. Just from the title of the piece, we got so much about this person, but taking a closer look at the painting we can see more in-depth their life and choices. Julie Green chose very methodically what to put on the canvas, the main centerpiece is a giant sandwich, which you can deduce to this ex-prisoner choosing to have a big mac. The background of the piece is different buildings of a New York skyline made from different things from fabric to buttons which could indicate that this woman could’ve been some sort of seamstress or at least liked to make clothes. And finally, there is a bunny rabbit wearing a dress and holding balloons in the top left corner, this could mean many things to her having a daughter who made this bunny and gifted it to the mother while serving time and the woman held it close to her to remind her what was on the outside waiting for her. Or she would have drawn this bunny and it could represent the freedom she is missing out on while behind bars. Either way, this bunny holding balloons were held close to this ex-convict's heart for Julie Green to incorporate into her final painting. Bell Hooks said, “Clearly we cannot dismantle a system as long as we engage in collective denial about its impact on our lives." This quote relates to this art piece because I interpreted this work as though it was a mother who was longing for their child, they were missing the life they had before being incarcerated and the freedom in which that came along with it. People may not realize but for those who are locked away, their sentence just doesn’t affect them but the family they’re leaving behind too. The Prison system is a trickle-down effect that affects everyone, from the people whose taxes are used for prisons to remain open and those whose family members are locked up. But because prison culture is so deeply ingrained in our minds and the way the system works that we will never change the messed up vulture which is the American Prison System.
No comments:
Post a Comment