In the altar’s center is “a plaster image of the Virgin of Guadalupe, quarter-life size, its brown Indian face staring down on the woman” (Paredes 23). The implication of the stare is of criticism as the Virgin, symbolic of an ideal Mexican womanhood, looks down on Marcela, whose Anglo features starkly contrast with the Virgin’s, and whose actions are in opposition to the values that she represents. This carefully constructed scene is meaningful. Marcela’s lifeless body lies between the bed and the altar, and opposite to the altar is Marcela’s shrine dedicated to Hollywood movie stars. These are the visual images of the opposing forces that characterize the Mexican-American struggle for resistance against American cultural hegemony.
One of the area of conflict that rose in the book involves the usage of the English language in relation of the family’s native language, Spanish. As a Mexican-American raised in the States the exhibition of the English language, whether the use of the tongue is fluent or not, cause a strain in the Mexican culture as the culture takes in consideration of their romance and richness of history in their native tongue (Rothman 204). Language represent the supporting backbone of a person as the progress in life as the ability to communicate without misunderstands, however a person can cause the loss connection to the past romance of the culture and art of cultivation that brings the language to lifes from their inabilities to comprehend the ability/asset to its fullest potential (Rothman 204). To fully understand the true meaning behind a spoken chain of words can be understood by the method of trying to first comprehend the cultivation of the word and the definition behind them. Cisneros embeds the use of Spanish in fragments depicting a sense of reality within a fictional novel, Caramelo, as well with the use of interchangeable dialogues with spanish phrase to express the illustration of Celaya’s family and the culture in which is translate in of importance of pride.
I gained some insight from this piece of artwork. I chose to start with this video due to my background knowledge on the Virgin of Guadalupe. However, I obtained so much more knowledge after viewing this. The thing that was most striking to me was when Juan Diego presented his cloak to the bishop, not only did the requested roses fall, but also the image of the Virgin of Guadalupe. Next, I observed the Sun Stone documentary.
The picture “In Weiter Ferne” from the artist Rafa Alvarez conveys the idea of technology enslaving the modern-day human through the use of setting, color, and character. The picture shows a young girl who appears to be between the ages of 18 and 22 in a room that is extremely messy but also has a part which is nice and clean. This is shown through the use of color; the messy part of the room is in a dark blue as if it is in the shadows hidden away and the clean part is in a bright pink from the computer light projecting from the laptop that the young girl is using. This picture is showing the viewer that the young girl has been enslaved into her phone.
An outlying theme in Arango's oeuvre, and in Colombian art of the era, it that it is seemingly more sensible to see her paintings within the context of literary production, as customary of women's culture in Colombia which accentuates captivity and confinement combined with the depiction of female mental illness and/or physical illness. In the painting Esquizofrenia, Arango also enters into an established international tradition of the visual representation of the female sufferers of mental disorders as well as the “hysterical woman”. The woman depicted in Esquizofrenia represents proximity and compression both through the way in which she almost fills the limits of the frame, and the way her body appears to be straining through the confines
Known for his defining role in the Mexican Mural Movement, Diego Rivera sought to create paintings that depicted the Mexican renaissance and socialist ideas of Mexican politics. After some time studying in Europe, Rivera was influenced by Italian renaissance artist Giotto to paint using fresco techniques (famsf.org). “Two Women and a Child” serves as an example of the theme he portrays in many of his paintings. While the fresco technique was predominantly used during the Italian renaissance, Rivera revitalized this ideal by including it in his painting of “Two Women and a Child”. Rivera’s use of techniques in Two Woman and a Child provide viewers with an understanding of the strength, pride, and perseverance Mexico had during the Mexican Renaissance.
Cofer addresses the cultural barriers and challenges that Latinos experience through emotional appeal, anecdotal imagery, parallelism and the use of effective periodic sentences. In her article, Cofer assesses the difficult cultural hurdles of Latin Americans with emotional appeal. She provides insight on her cultural barriers by first conveying the way she had to dress and her struggle, as it shows in this piece of text, “That morning I had organized… which to base my decision” (Cofer 5). This poignancy works to stress an agonizing feeling of uncertainty and restraint towards the author.
Rousseau grew up in the small city-state of Geneva, Switzerland, where the form of local government is a direct democracy. Their entire town convenes together to decide on the laws of the city. Rousseau argues for a revolution to establish the entire French peoples as the state’s sovereign who make the laws according to the general will. Rousseau says that “Were there a people of gods, it would govern itself democratically” (The Social Contract, 180). Rousseau argues that the general will of the people cannot be decided by elected representatives, but rather by a direct democracy, similar to the one he grew up in.
By answering the question, López imagines and visually illustrates “Lupe’s” physical appearance. Although López exposes legs, torso, and chest/collarbone, she is not sexualizing her. Instead, the body of La Virgen de Guadalupe is being normalized and depicted as symbol of empowerment and a goddess (Pérez, 193). The piece gained immense attention and backlash from the Latin and religious communities as they felt La Virgen de Guadalupe was being disrespected and made a joke. However, López argues that it is traditionalist Catholics whom are disrespecting the icon, as they are the ones who are sexualizing her body.
Not only is it his most celebrated self-portrait, it serves as a multiple portrait for Infanta Margarita, the court, and to a lesser degree King Philip IV and Queen Mariana (as they are only seen reflected in the mirror on the back wall). Through this work Velazquez not only creates a reality that he wished to exist within, he draws the viewer into this reality with him. His highly creative use of the mirror gives the observer the sense that they are the king and/ or queen, standing while Velazquez paints their portrait. His inclusion of himself and his easel are not vain or contrived, but in fact seem perfectly natural (Muller 1976, pg. 218). His synthesis of Spanish and Dutch styles give a sense of space and depth without “descending to tricks of illusionism” (Du Gue Trapier 1948, pg. 347).
In society, there are several stereotypes and gender roles culturally influenced by women today. Cindy Sherman’s Untitled Film Stills series made between (1977-1980) shows different stereotypes of women in different everyday situations. This series consists of the artist posing as those female roles in seventy black and white photographs. In my opinion, by doing this series she challenges the way we view women regularly in pictures, by giving a different perspective. In this paper, I examine Cindy Sherman’s work and how my work is inspired by or relates to her work.
As a photographer myself, the theory of punctum is not unknown to me; however, the application of the concept of punctum towards the perfomativity of a photograph is unchartered territory. The photograph I chose to analyze is Dorothea Lange’s renowned portrait Migrant Mother, which is a Great Depression-era photograph featuring a migrant farmer, and is among the most famous photographs from this turbulent chapter of American history. The raw emotion in the mother’s face, paired with her body language and grimy appearance, captivates viewers; however, it is not the mother that makes this image so powerful to me, but rather, the turned away children framing their mother. This detail adds a new dimension to the portrait for me.
This project is personally important because I am interested in how images shape our understanding of history and war. With the Spanish Civil War regarded as a dress rehearsal for World War II, historians have long pondered its complexities. However, none have combined its two most iconic images—Picasso’s Guernica and Capa’s the Falling Soldier, into a cohesive narrative. Since the end of the war in 1939, many Spaniards have abided by a national policy of “disremembering”. With information either forgotten or destroyed, Guernica and the Falling Soldier, ensure the Spanish Civil War remains in our memories.
With this culmination of literary devices, Blanco achieves her goal of mesmerizing the
Artwork is a form of self-expression from an artist based on life experience, or on something that the artist feels strongly about (Berenson, 87). The product of art can help others with similar experiences but not able to express the same feeling themselves. From the product of art, people can start drawing excitement, purpose as well as encouragement about the real thing being expressed. Through a piece of art, the artist can communicate a purpose, an emotion or an idea in their work. In this research paper, I compare two pieces of artwork; Madonna and child with the saints by Giovanni Bellini and Madonna and child with the two angels done by Fra Filippo Lippi.
