Blog Post #2: Palmer Museum Visit

The piece of art I chose is named Affirmative Active, and was painted by Jerry Kearns in 1987. Kearns used acrylic on canvas, and chose to display this artistic method on an enormous canvas.

The piece displays a very large women, who is colored in black and white, and it set in front of a large colorful city landscape. She is shown doing manual labor, and a very determined expression on her face. The artist uses pop art to convey the message of "women's right to equal pay for equal work."

What really caught my eye of this piece, was that it really represented women's rights, and equal pay for equal work which was a major issue in the United States during in the 1960's. The rhetorical situation is clearly stated to be women's empowerment. The piece really seems to be in conversation with this movement because the message is blatantly aware, which reveals a very strong message. In the painting, the woman is wearing heels and a dress, which is typically something a woman in this age would wear around the house. I believe that it is significant that she is wearing this because it portrays the message that women can do anything men can do, regardless if that means just running the household or not.

This piece really connected with my emotions mostly because I am a woman, and women's rights is a cause that is very important to me. The piece makes such a bold statement about women's equality because the artist chose to display the woman in black in white in front of a large city landscape which is full of hot colors, like red and yellow. While looking at the piece it looks like the woman is dominating the city she is in front of. The woman also seems to be bigger than us, which shows her superiority. Her facial expression shows strength and determination, to reveal that women are tough, just like men are.

It was interesting that the artist chose to make his piece Pop Art. After some research I found that the Pop Art era for art was actually much earlier than 1987 when Kearns created it. Her clothes were also most likely from the Pop Art age, which brings up an interesting question. Why was Kearns trying to make his piece seem older than it was? I believe he did so to really revisit and emphasize the importance of women's equality, and the message that women work just as hard as men and deserve that recognition. Just like the artist named it, the woman is affirming and is performing an action just as a man would.

The claim that the piece is making is women's empowerment and equal pay for equal work. Even though during this time period, most women were stay at home mothers, they still worked just as hard as men, and deserve the same recognition that men do. This claim is very persuasive to me, because such a determined women is revealed in a dominating stance in front of an entire city, which really reveals strength for all women. Even today, some women feel inequality in the work place, as well as in everyday life, so although this piece was made in the 80's, its purpose is still relevant today.

This was my first time at the Palmer Museum, and I was pleasantly impressed. Living so close to Washington D.C., I have many experiences of visiting museums, and the Palmer. although smaller, really displayed a wide range of work. I can imagine myself going back, but next time maybe with a guide to really explain some of the pieces of work. I chose a piece that was pretty obvious of its purpose, but I think it would be interesting to hear the story behind some of the pieces of art that were more difficult to understand. I really liked how this museum had a lot of work ranging from pop art, landscapes, ceramics, photography to even 19th century work. It really displayed a lot of work that would be appealing to a wide range of people, which I think makes a museum very successful!