Paradigm Palmer

Lynched by Seymour Lipton is a piece indicative of its time. It portrays a black man tied at the hands and ankles laying on the ground in a grotesque and lifeless position. The choice to use mahogany as the medium for this piece allowed for Lipton to give an abrasive texture to the man’s skin which, again, emphasizes brutality. It is interesting to see a white artist depict the horrors of racism in 1933 an idea, i’m sure, that was not popular. Racism towards blacks in the US was rationalized by eugenics. Instead of admitting the economic need for slaves people attempted to excuse slavery because it was “the natural order”, they were “inferior,” etc. Due to the rise in a feeling of superiority, anti-miscegenation laws arose thus prohibiting interracial marriage and/or sexual relations. It was a way to keep the white white and the black black. Truly horrifying because this extended the degree of racism. In Hispanic American these laws did not exist so the once defining line of race became hazy. I chose this peace because it focused on a social problem which I believe is still the focus of much art today including music artists. Other pieces I saw did not focus on social problems but rather focused on aspects of religion, myth, and the natural world.

The next piece is title Circle of Stefan Lochner. This is a religious music piece from the mid-15th century. It uses a music score that has some aspects of the standard one we know today but it is fundamentally different as well. This piece reflects the importance of music in religion. As I have mentioned in previous blogs, music has a way of communicating on a deeper level than spoken word.

These to art piece show a shift in focus from abstract religious concepts to very real social problems which continues to be displayed in art to this day. Most likely, this is because of the increase in freedom of expression.

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