Verified Document

Art Is A Contextual Product Essay

Art - A Product of Its Context Introduction

Exploring by visual means is a versatile process of collecting facts about the world. The context from which one does so and their personal factors influence such a dynamic exploration process. Art and context are inseparable. The meaning is derived from the information that accompanies a piece of art. Thus far, aspects such s the title of a piece of art, the authenticity and historical facts also add to the meaning. The mentioned factors determine one’s evaluation of a piece of art and their sensitivity to the same (Brieber).

Sun mad – 1981 by Ester Hernandez

Figure 1. Sun Mad (1982) (Adopted from Bain, 28-29.)

The skeleton of Hernandez demonstrates the deadly effects of pesticides while strongly locating the text in the Mexican traditional making of print that dates back to the day of Jose’ Posada. The skull signifies a Mexican society that is portrayed satirically at the close of the 19th C. A lot of the Mexican artists have borrowed heavily from Posada’s work. The work has increasingly become the signature image connected with the Day of the Dead occasion marked across the globe (Bain, 28-29).

The sun Mad is strongly connected with the life of Hernandez. He is a native of Dinuba in the Californian rural, and born in 1944. Hernandez was born in the day of the Great Depression in the world. His parents are immigrants from Mexico to California. They came to the US to work on grape farms (Bain, 28-29). She changed her interests to the visual arts in the course of her studies. She worked closely with Chicano artists that were emerging. She moved on to work with the team of female artists referred to as Mujeras Muralistas. They developed murals in large scale. They sought to portray the life of the ordinary Mexican in the Mission District of San Francisco.

The Mexican Americans also sought to push for political and social change following the activities of the civil rights groups in the 50s and the 60s. Such injustices as restrictions on voting, skewed labor practices and discrimination in housing were among the common problems that Mexican Americans...

Hernandez conspicuously featured in the activities of the United Farm Workers of America – UFWA. This involvement, coupled with her activities in the Berkeley community that was politically volatile in the 70s re-emphasized her identity in the sociopolitical arena and her focus on activism. UFWA marshaled its supporters to stage a series of strikes that were successful. They boycotted against the practices of the American grape growers, demanding for improved employment terms and wages (Bain, 28-29). The resistance activities helped to put the issue of labor rights on critical discussion tables in America’s power boardrooms.
It was such a backdrop that made Hernandez to realize that the pesticides applied in the grape farms had poisoned the water sources of the town after they had leached into the ground. She felt a strong urge to speak out in defense of her own rights and that of friends and family. She created Sun Mad to do it for them. She picked on a private cooperative called the SunMaid Growers of California (Bain, 28-29) as her target informed by the fact that the raisin grapes that were harvested in her backyard were taken there.

The Scream, painted by Norwegian artist Edvard Munch in 1893.

Figure 2. The Scream - 1893 by Edvard Munch (Adopted from Friedlaender and Friedlaender, 2000)

The Scream, done in 1893, is a 19th C painting created in the peculiar transitional historical moment. It is often referred to as the fin de siècle. The painting of the sexless by Munch crafted a twisted creature that had a fatal face. It has its mouth and eyes wide open in a horrifying stance. It conjured a vision that got hold of him as he strolled with two of his friends in his youthful years at sunset. He later recounts that the air changed to blood and his comrades’ faces turned to what he calls a garnish yellow white color. He heard a vibration in his ears and describes it as an endless scream course piercing through nature (“Art Analysis”)

In Edward Munch’s accounts, the most harrowing event in his life was the untimely and premature death of his mom…

Sources used in this document:

Works cited

“Art Analysis: Meaning of The Scream by Edvard Munch.” edvardmunch.org, 2011. Web.

Bain, Rowan. "Ester Hernandez: Sun Mad." Art in Print 3.6 (2014): 28-29. Web.

Brieber, David et al. “Art in time and space: context modulates the relation between art experience and viewing time” PloS one vol. 9,6 e99019. 3 Jun. 2014, web.

Friedlaender, Gary E., and Linda K. Friedlaender. "Edvard Munch and The Scream: A Cry for Help." Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research® 476.2 (2018): 200-202. Web.

Lemke, Sieglinde. "The Icon: Dorothea Lange’s Migrant Mother." Inequality, Poverty and Precarity in Contemporary American Culture. Palgrave Macmillan, New York, 2016. 85-105. Web.

Phelan, Ben. The Story of the "Migrant Mother". PBS.org (2014). Web.


Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

Renaissance Art
Words: 1399 Length: 5 Document Type: Essay

Art As Baxandall points out, "a fifteenth century painting is a product of a social relationship," (p. 1). That social relationship was carefully forged and affected by a confluence of interests including those that are commercial, cultural, religious, and perceptual or aesthetic in nature. The relationship between client and artist was one constrained by social convention, legal tradition, and also the expedience of broader interests. Money has played a long-underestimated role

Understanding and Evaluating Art
Words: 1610 Length: 6 Document Type: Term Paper

Art The Wikipedia web site defines "art" as a "generic term for any product of the creative impulse," while Encarta Encyclopedia considered this concept as "the product of human creativity in which materials are shaped or selected to convey an idea, emotion, or visually interesting form." These definitions are related in the study of eight web sites, all of which center on the subject of (various forms of) art: The Hubbard

Interactive Art Is an Artistic
Words: 3548 Length: 12 Document Type: Essay

Interactive art usually contains computers, sensors, and other devices that allow the art and the user to interact with each other. Video and computer games have brought a different set of artists to the field. The tools have changed as well with the advent of voice analyzers, robotics, actuators, LED's, and etc. Is the line between real reality and virtual reality getting blurred? Virtual describes the animated form and how closely

Day of the Dead Skeleton Calavera Art
Words: 3182 Length: 10 Document Type: Research Paper

Dead Skeleton (Calavera) Art Anthropology is the study of objects in terms of their positioning and existence. It is an ethnographic approach for tracing things or people. Through the concept of 'follow the thing', it is possible to study varying aspects of an art object through different contexts. This helps in the finding out of initial perceptions about an object through ethnographic study. It also helps in the study of

The Art and Science of Persuasion Psychology
Words: 2305 Length: 8 Document Type: Essay

Psychology: The Art and Science of PersuasionMarketing activities are the aptest way to communicate with the customers the products and services a company offers and fulfill their demands. It is a way of contacting consumers by reading their minds about how they want their desired products to be; for that, customer satisfaction remains a priority (Babu, 2014). This paper explores one of the six fundamental principles of Cialdini and displays

God and Science the Art of Philosophy,
Words: 1214 Length: 4 Document Type: Essay

God and Science The art of philosophy, demonstrated throughout history in all its arguments, present certain obstacles and contextual distortion for the state of humanity. There is no doubt it is worthwhile then, to examine some of the most troubling and difficult philosophical issues of the day. The idea of God and its role in humanity and its science will probably never be settled however the discussion itself helps create new

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now