Illustrate a Story



I chose W. Perry's and E. Gregory's story. It was quite impotant for me to illustrate an upbeat, happy narrative. The two friends have traveled to over 125 countries together. The collage I've created is composed of ten different layers. Each layer symbolizes a part of the ladies' story. The background is a photo of a beach in Fiji (one of the places the two have visited). The building in the upper left corner is the Parliament of the Republic of South Africa, which was also mentioned in the narrative. The beautiful building placed on the beach, is the infamous Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood. I decided to include it in the collage as a representation of Saint Petersburg, Russia. The stone on the beach is a piece of the Berlin Wall. The plane and the insane amount of luggage are self-explanatory. The piles of ice and the adorable penguins symbolize the friends' future trips, as they joke about visiting Antarctica next. Last but not least, the two little girls dressed in pink embody Perry's and Gregory's close friendship.

Brooklyn Museum Reaction

            Numerous artists' works had been featured in the exhibition Youth and Beauty: Art of the American Twenties . However Aaron Doughlas' "Congo" caught my attention. As I was looking at the exhibition, I kept in mind its' name. Subsequently as soon as I noticed Doughlas' work, I thought of jazz. After all, the 1920s were known as the jazz age. In my opinion, "Congo" depicts cultural identity. During this time period, jazz was heavily used for entertainment purposes. Very few didn't enjoy the music and dance.
            I was quite excited to see another Sandford Biggers exhibition. Once again, the work that stuck out to me was "Cheshire". To me personally, it symbolized the toothy grin of the Cheshire cat from Alice in Wonderland. Taking into account the name of Biggers' exhibit however, points to the work symbolizing more than that. Sweet Funk- An Introspective might be interpreted as Sandford's view on jazz, or the state of depression/ fear; depending on how one chooses to define "funk". In my opinion, the artwork might be bringing up the stereotype of African Americans' smiles. If that's the case, Biggers' bold message could very easily bring out fear, sadness and worry amongst some people. Funk also describes a type of music that relates to jazz, which brings us right back to cultural identity.
            The Latino List definitely depicts a cultural identity. Timothy Greenfield's exhibition included over twenty photographs of celebrities from Hispanic descent. One of my favorite works was the photo of Eva Longoria. I think she's extremely beautiful as well as talented beyond belief. 
           All three works I've discussed represent, in one way or another, cultural identities. Whether it's as obvious as including photos of individuals who share the same ethnic background, or as subtle as portraying a simple dance; the similar identity between the three exhibitions cannot be denied.