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…