Oh, the building with the Lion Paws

I found my trip to the Palmer Museum of Art to be a good change of pace from yet another class period.  I did enjoy my time walking around the museum, and I was interested in a few pieces like; the sun burst made of used shoes, and the “Cotton Choppers”.  However, I do not see myself ever going again, I am just not a museum-goer.  

“Cotton Choppers”, is an oil painting on a canvas. It was created in 1965 by an African American named Benny Andrews.  Andrews grew up in Georgia while segregation was still prominent (New Georgia Encyclopedia).  Benny was in the Air Force during the Korean War and later used the G.I Bill of Rights to attend The Art Institute in Chicago (New Georgia Encyclopedia). Andrews graduated with a bachelor of fine arts degree (New Georgia Encyclopedia).

The setting of this painting is a strip of farming land. The landscape looks dry and desolate. In the center of the piece is an African American man wearing a white shirt and blue overalls. He is carrying a hoe and appears to be exhausted. The land is mostly made up of light brown soil with rows of green crops sprouting from it. There is an African American woman wearing a purple dress walking toward the man in the center of the piece. She too is carrying a hoe in her arms and appears to barely be able to lift it. There is one more African American man in this painting, who is way off in the distance. He appears to be bending over and using his hoe to move the soil. There is also a tree in between two rows of crops. This very much stood out to me because at first I did not notice it all. It just does not seem like it should be in this piece because it does not fit the landscape.

The people in this piece are not very detailed. Their facial features are somewhat blurry and faded. I believe the setting in the painting is during slavery, even though it was painted after slavery was abolished. I feel that the faces’ of the figures in the painting are faded to show the dehumanization African Americans faced during slavery, which is Andrews’ message. To their owners, slaves were nothing but free labor. I feel when looking through the eyes a slave owner; they do not see the facial details of their workers. After doing a little research I found that it was in Andrews’ style to emphasize gesture and expression (New Georgia Encyclopedia). Which may explain the lack of detail in the figures’ faces, but that is not how I interpreted the painting at first.

The gestures of the figures in the painting I feel evoke emotion from the viewers. The man in the center of the piece appears to be absolutely exhausted. The landscape seems to go on forever, which this poor man has to work on. As the viewer I felt sorry for the man and just felt like there was no hope for him. Than you see this poor women walking toward the man in the center of the painting, who looks equally as exhausted. She is dragging her hoe in both arms, barely able to lift it.  I also feel sorry for this women and I feel that she is unjustly mistreated. The “random” tree in the painting also helped portray the figures’ feelings of hopelessness. A tree normally provides shade, which would be extremely comforting for these workers. But this tree is very slim with small thin branches, and does not create any shade.

http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-1042