The Challenge of Politically Themed Work

     During the month of February I have been studying the work of Doris Salcedo. She is a Columbian artist whose work has focused on the political situation in Columbia. During years of civil unrest countless individuals have "disappeared" through the action of the government and the military. Salcedo has created installations that  memorialize those who vanished with no words to their families and with no information about where and how they died and where their remains are buried.
     Salcedo has taken this horrific subject matter and created visually eloquent metaphors that honor the memory of these individuals, as well as a universal sense of loss we all must face when a loved one dies.
     As I studied Salcedo's work I am struck by the challenge of addressing political themes in art. It is no small task to evoke sadness and commemoration without descending to a voyeuristic exploitation of the violence or a didactic lesson on political injustice. Studying her work as well as reading "Of What We Cannot Speak" by Mieka Bal has opened my eyes to how important political art is, but also how easily it can become propaganda or simple opinion.
     It is a daunting task to take my concerns about life in America and create a piece of art that speaks volumes in a glance and/or stimulates thoughtful discussion. I will continue to study Doris Salcedo's work and other political art in order to discover how to synthesize ideas and events in a similarly poetic manner.

                       Doris Salcedo, "Atrabiliarios," detail, 1992-93. Shoes, animal fiber, and surgical thread.

                  Alexander and Bonin, New York.

 In this piece "shoes of disappeared people (mostly women but also a few men) are buried in niches in the gallery wall, and half hidden in by animal skins roughly stitched to the wall".  Mieka Bal, from Doris Salcedo Plegaria Muda, p. 82

                 Doris Salcedo, "Plegaria Muda", detail, 2008-2010. Wood, mineral compound, metal and                            grass. Alexander and Bonin, New York.

     "Plegaria Muda seeks to confront us with repressed, unfathomed grief, and with violent death when it is reduced to its total insignificance and forms part of a silenced reality as a strategy of war.

     It is also a response to a particular event that took place in Columbia between 2003 and 2009 in which approximately 1500 young people from deprived areas were murdered by the Columbian army for no apparent reason. It was clear,  however, that the Columbian government had implemented a system of incentives and rewards for the army if they could prove that a greater number of guerrillas had been killed in combat"  Doris Salcedo from Doris Salcedo Plageria Muda, p. 25.