when women pursue justice
is a fabulous mural on the side of building in bed stuy. it's bright, it's beautiful, it recently won a mural prize, it features a diverse cast of characters: angela davis, harriet tubman, elizabeth cady stanton, dolores huerta, audre lorde, many more. all of the women stood for something, this mural equates what they stood for with justice, but the most interesting part about it is that all of these women all stood for different things. justice, it appears, is a many-faceted thing.
the photo above is from imagingphotographics.com. the mural was a project of artmakers nyc, and it was completed a little over a year ago, in october 2005. brava for public art! this mural, in more ways than one, places itself in a longstanding tradition of visual resistance. it's not just decoration, making things look pretty. this is also public memory, because i certainly don't recall reading about angela davis or audre lorde in the history books in school, and it might be easy to forget what contributions they have made in their respective fields. many artists collaborated on the mural, and they picked the women they wanted to represent, so i would shy away from saying that the piece has a singular message. but the women who painted this also stood for something, and i admire that. the closeup below is from the artmakers website
Labels: brooklyn, never forgetting, visual arts
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