The political art that I have chosen is of Rosie the Riveter saying “We Can Do It!”. The context behind the art is that it encouraged women to work in factories and shipyards during World War II while men were serving. It was uncommon to see a woman working a job and being outside the house not doing housework such as cleaning, cooking, etc. This poster stood as a source of inspiration to women who believed societal standards and listened to the ingrained beliefs in their head telling them they cannot do anything more. Seeing a woman with a serious face and muscles while also wearing makeup and being put together proved to the public that women can balance their lifestyles. They can be both feminine and masculine in proportion and there is nothing wrong with that. This poster was important because it highlighted that there is no cookie cutter or perfect mold of how a woman should be or act. It was a pivotal piece of artwork that pushed women outside of their comfort zones. Today, this picture of Rosie the Riveter still resonates with people, especially with women who want to work in a predominantly male industry. There will always be a disparity between men’s abilities and women’s abilities, but having artwork like this reminds society that women are just as capable, if not more, of doing the same thing as men. The next time a company wants to hire a man for a leadership role, maybe they should consider the woman instead of eliminating her from the running immediately.

This piece of artwork painted in 1865, during the American civil war, depicts a rather emotional scene of a Confederate soldier accompanying a Union soldier during his death. The history of the piece, also indicted by part of the title “recognition”, is that upon the death of the opposing Union soldier, the Confederate soldier recognizes that he had killed his own brother. Thus, this deeper story serves to advocate that the Civil War was truly immoral, and no national problem is so important to bring people’s lives against each other. Nonetheless, even though the art was a protest account of a war many years ago, the theme of war being against humanity still resonates with many to speak against disputes happening today.

       The “Tank Man” photograph is a piece of protest art that was taken in the 1990s that I find to be a historical piece of protest art. This photograph stood for the significance of what a singular person can accomplish in a protest, especially as someone who stood for his rights against the Chinese military’s orders by simply blocking their way in killing more civilians. This is proven in the photograph, as shown with the man having no weapons or any political status standing in front a huge row of tanks, even knowing the legal consequences he could face with the tank’s potential in eliminating him. This photograph captures the tension of that scenery when Deng Xiaoping initially carried out his execution orders through the numerous civil opposition that was against the Chinese Community Party’s political philosophy at that time. 

       It’s such a historical piece of art because there are very few pieces of art that have been captured of the Tiananmen Square Massacre, as a result of the Chinese government censoring and even removing any records that people have kept of this tragic event. It’s been heavily talked about in class about how historical art is a very important treasure in highlighting an artist’s mood and message, when he/she captures a particular historical event in his/her own perspective. The Deng Xiaoping administration wanted to destroy any evidence of the Tiananmen Square Massacre event occurring by targeting an enemy that was so large at that time: The media. Even with many of the photographs wiped from the reporters’ devices, many photographs and other forms of art (Eyewitness testimonies) still exist to shine light to the rest of the world of this tragic Chinese event in history. Although dictatorship had a profound effect on the Chinese citizens who’ve been forced to be silent after the event, I find it fascinating that there are still artists present that find ways to protect their form of art in an effort to get their voices heard.

The work shown above was made to show how black men were viewed by the rest of society.  They are mostly associated with gangs, violence, and guns, which is depicted by the image on the left.  In addition to this, the image shows a smaller person behind the gun, which can show that the gang violence is being passed down from generation to generation.  In reality, they are just like everyone else.  The picture on the right shows a black man reading a book with what could be his son.  He is shown to be more loving and welcoming.  In both images, the main figure has a heart on their chest.  The way the heart was drawn on the left shows violence, while the one on the left depicts a more loving nature.  In the end, the artist just wanted to show that a black man is the same as any other man.

This political protest art was created in response to the fatal shooting of Walter Scott by a police officer. A banner with the same style from 1920 to 1938 read “A Man was Lynched Yesterday” and was placed in order to confront nearby residents with the regularity of murders. Dread placed it up again because he believed that the banner was still necessary in present day, as he thought the police were playing the role of lynching. They were killing suspects without confirming their guilt and didn’t take necessary actions that resulted in some of them dying when it could’ve been easily prevented. Today, this piece of art resonates with the corrupt officers that abuse their powers and only look at their own benefit.