06/01/2020
“America the Great”
Today, I am angry. You will never study this piece of art or see this painting in your textbooks because it is too confrontational and blunt.
Jasper Johns made “Flag” in 1954. He had the privilege to create an American flag and was celebrated for it. Yet, black artists were also creating flags with a more powerful story behind it and were arrested for desecrating the American flag. Johns included newspaper scraps but steered clear of headlines, national or political news. Jasper Johns made “Flag” in 1954 and got it WRONG. His flag represented the abstract idea of patriotism and the most sterile potent symbol in American history.
I used his same technique and redesigned the flag that is better suited for the nation that it represents - White Supremacy, Racism, Hate, American Privileged.
I salute the thousands of protesters taking on the streets of this country and other parts of the world. Your blood, voice, tears, and sweat are your weapons. Do not let looters take away your attention from what we are trying to accomplish. If you are more upset about the skies being filled with smoke and walls with paint and not enraged on how and why we got here, then YOU ARE EXPOSING YOURSELF.
If you are not protesting, I encourage you to have a conversation discussing the ongoing problems affecting our society by calling or texting your friends, to donate, sign petitions, and more importantly to Vote!
I’m not a teacher, a police officer, a politician, but I am a citizen of this country and an artist. As an artist, it is my job to expose, accuse, and demand change.To further ask questions, challenge principals and in that aspect I have failed. But I’ll do better. We all need to do better. Even when it’s not trending. Today, I’m angry. But tomorrow there’s hope. @ United States