Political Prints (Caroline McCrady)

Political Prints 

Caroline McCrady

I really enjoyed visiting the Political Prints exhibit at the UI Museum of Art. I found this exhibit to be pretty relevant to major issues of todays culture, such as the black lives matter movement. Many of the pieces of art were in response to the 1960's civil rights movement, specifically the efforts of influential African Americans of that time such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. Not only was the Civil Rights Act of 1964 of significance for African Americans and other ethnicities, it does have an impact on me because it prohibits discrimination based on sex therefore, expanding the rights of women nation-wide. 

Birmingham Race Riot (Warhol)

While at the museum I took notice of several photographs taken by Andy Warhol. It was stated that Warhol took a series of photographs of the gruesome reality of minorities during the 1960's. The image to the left is a photo that was was taken during the Birmingham Race Riot where police dogs violently attacked an unarmed African-American while a crowd of people stood around and watched unbothered by the brutality of the event. I believe that Warhol's photos were pivotal when it comes to the success of the civil rights movement because people around the nation were then able to see the brutality that they may not have been able to see otherwise. I think it is pretty cool that art is able to show people what is happening in other places of the world. Seeing pictures of the event rather than reading about it has a more significant impact on an audience. The photo to the below is another Andy Warhol classic that shows the chair that two Soviet spies were killed in during the 1950's. In the 60's capital punishment was outlawed after killing two more prisoners bringing this photo to a great significance. 

Electric Chair (Warhol) 

Picture of me at exhibit