The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance.
― Aristotle
Art allows its viewers to understand what words cannot express. Artists who are using their art to depict social stigmas are expressing their thoughts and emotions in a piece of paper. It sounds amazing right? what message does it convey? Sometimes I think how the colour tones and hypnotising illustration on canvases can reflect matters starting from social concern and mental health. Don’t you think it’s creating magic by adding color to the walls of our heart and soul?
In today’s generation, it’s not easy to procure a significant emotional aura of connection with numerous social stigmas faced globally.
Thinking about how Art comes into the picture? To reflect carefully, Art can engage an intimate connection with your body and soul and can make you feel the world.
Presently social realism in Art is deemed to be influential but originally it first marked its presence in America in 1930 which structured the basic administration of American culture in numerous illustrations which are now rendered by various artists across the globe.
So in fact it has been enacted as a form of catalyst to project responses on issues of racism, political violence, Women’s safety and climate change etc.
Today we bring you across six artists from around the world who procure art as a medium to perceive a social change in our society.
- HUNGER
Wondering what exactly is Hunger? This piece of art is a collection of hand-beaded structured skeletons and pictures of the children suffering from malnourishment collated in threading of a human face, looking away in another direction, which personifies as the symbol of glance of the issue at hand.
This raging and mind-shattering representation was stimulated by Joyce J. Scott in 1991. He delicately pictures the famine problem in Africa which was very prevalent during the 1980s and 1990s.
Joyce is an African American artist narrating stories of racism, sexism, classism and other divergent issues. For spectators who desire to see this viewing, you can consider it at the Mint Museum.
- In Love We Trust
Did you know that fashion can also be discerned as art, which further dictates social stigmas? One of the finest French designers of all time Franco Moschino envisioned the height of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Europe in his legendary couture collection.
He gauged the cause of the gay men who were afflicted by the virus at that time. The In love we Trust jacket pacifies the indulgence of creativity fused with political and humanitarian aspects; communication designers take on the patriarchal symbol which is fabled with a cow symbol to allocate the cows right alongside a red heart which regards no explanation.
- Chongo Brothers
Diego Romero, an artist from Cochiti, Mexico, pins down the intellectual picturisation of ancient Mimbres poetry in an American comic book, belonging to the 20 century.
The artist on sculpted pots flows in the direction of a contemporary Native American influence with the variates of social standing such as alcoholism and poverty.
The pot exemplifies the Chongo brother from the folktale of Mimbres, displaying a satirical story of two twin brothers who got their nickname as Chongo, a traditional bun hairstyle of that time. Thus the piece of art is popularly known as the Chongo brothers.
- Let’s Sing an Old Song
Let’s sing an old song is a collective series of Art captured by the artist Soumya Sankar Bose a 28-year-old documentary photographer based from West Bengal, India. His photography aspires to emphasise topics that are considered to be taboo in our society. Making his viewers stop and think.
His collection of photos Let’s sing an old song focuses on the life struggles of the Jatra Artists who are labouring to perceive a daily economic allowance to survive. Earlier Jatra showcases were very popular in different areas of India but slowly they died down, one of the reasons why Soumya aims to bring back the enlightening element in society.
He also uses his photography to interpret topics such as anxiety and discomfort through the picturization of a gas Mask, a man engulfed by the sea and then a tiger roaming in the wild.
Another series by the name Full Moon accounts for the struggles LGBTQA community, putting light on their psychological and social turmoil.
- Breaking Away
Breaking Away is a channel started by Jasjyoth Singh Hans, from Delhi, India. He advocates through social media to speak of issues of social relevance like body positivity, bullying and homosexuality.
He illustrates his opinion on these topics through his detailed doodles, presenting women bowing down to norms laid down by hierarchy, perceiving femininity.
His art inspiration has a lot to do with his own life, as he was bullied for being oversized, to which he took his grounding as an aspiring intellect to resonate body positivity in society.
- Hopes And Dreams
Sheela supports the changing political scene of India, and the state of ladies as workers, their wellbeing issues, and sexual viciousness and crimes.
One of her most popular works featuring the state of ladies workers is Tell him of my Pain, which portrays ladies in the Indian zest and material industry and their concealment because of male-controlled society which she strung through a three-dimensional craftsmanship piece.
Darkroom, another work by Sheela, is an establishment sculpted of a two-meter tall cottage made of rusted tar drums. This portrays the engineering of life in ghettos in India and the hardship faced by agricultural nations.
What a soulful ride of motivation and awareness to make the hair on your arms rise cold with shivers right?
Do let us know in the comments which one of the art pieces moved your soul the most.