Monday, September 14, 2009

Workers - Art


Workers is a monochromatic, abstract painting with very simple lines. The simple lines of the painting are very strong and suggest movement. In this way, the painting emulates the simple, strong characteristics of its subject – the common worker. The lines of the painting are slanted and crossed, like a worker bending under the weight of his labor. The image of the oppressed industrial worker has been a prevalent subject in art since the Industrial Revolution. The worker’s importance to industry and his plight in the face of industrial mistreatment and overwork are primary concerns addressed in modern art.

By choosing a monochromatic color scheme in yellow, the artist creates a strong impression of heat and energy. Yellow is the color of heat and light, and this choice of color suggests that workers, the painting’s subject, are a source of energy and sustenance in today’s society. Workers are a sustaining force, important to industrial society, yet the painting also suggests underlying problems in the industrial system. Here and there, the yellow is tinged with a brown color, suggesting a system tainted by corruption and mistreatment of workers. In the world of the painting, workers have a conflicted role; they are both important contributors to society and an undervalued, mistreated class of people.

©1998-2009 Claretta Taylor Webb. All Rights Reserved

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

bonjour à Vous, en France, chez les travailleurs, ouvriers et dans les syndicats qui les défendent, la couleur Jaune est la couleur donnée aux casseurs de grèves, c'est à dire aux personnes qui viennent remplacer les grévistes,ou qui sont du coté des patrons, bonne journée

Unknown said...

approximate translation of thige: "good morning to You, in France, at the workers, workers and in the labour unions which defend them, Yellow colour is the colour given to the scrap merchants of strikes, that is to the persons who come to replace the strikers, or who are of the quoting of the bosses, good day"