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This week I visited the Yale Art Gallery. I have been to this gallery several times, and was shocked to find a piece that was so captivating that I was exhausted after I reflected on it. The piece that I chose to focus on was entitled “Drug Addict” created in 1974 by Duane Hanson. This piece was captivating, and I will focus more closely on it later in the paper.
Duane Hanson was born in 1925 and died in 1996 at the age of 71. He was an American artist, born in Minnesota, but spent the duration of his life in southern Florida. Hanson‘s art career began to gain attention when he started creating figures grouped in tableaux. Many of his pieces featured controversial themes like, police brutality and abortion, and highlighted issues that arose from the riots of 1960. Beginning in the 1960s, Hanson’s sculptures began to be more lifelike. His works, which were cast from actual people, were made of fiberglass and then reinforced with fiber resin. They were then painted to create complexions, blemishes, and other body marks. Hanson’s works were so shockingly lifelike that they received a strong response from critics. His work is grouped in the pop art and hyperrealism genres, and has been compared to 19th century French realists such as Honore Daumier and Jean Francois Millet.
The piece, “Drug Addict” was mesmorizing. The life size creation of a young heroin addict shooting up was shocking real. Only as I moved closer to the figure could I see that the figure before was not flesh. The positioning of the figure added to its realism. The figure was sitting upright leaning against the hard cold cement wall of the gallery and sitting on the black marble floor. The head was cocked upward with a slightly opened mouth. The eyes were closed. In one hand the figure held a syringe. The other hand was empty; however, just above the elbow was a fabric belt that was wrapped around the arm. The figure looked like it had just shot up. To add to the effect, a dirty metal spoon, matches, and a piece of paper laid in between the figures legs on the floor. The man wore real clothes. They were dirty and tattered. The shirt up off the figure in an easy way. The pants and shoes fit. The complexion was pale. The skin was dirty and was not clean shaven. The beginnings of a beard and mustache were taking shape. There were moles on the face and by the mouth. I could see the raised veins in the arms, and noticed track marks on both forearms. The hair looked real and the placing of the eyelashes were so deliberate, not a single one looked out of place.
Since I work with families effected by addiction all day, this piece hit close to home. The expression of false satisfaction was glearingly true. I found myself saddened by what I was witnessing. Many of the children that I advocate for in court see this. They see their parents shooting up, or if their parents are aware enough of their young ones, they hide themselves in the bathroom, and sit on a floor simlar to the one I was standing on. The cement wall and cold black marble added to the reality of this piece. Drugs are cold. The effects of drugs are cold. There is nothing pretty about drugs. There is nothing nice. When looking at the figure, I could appreciate the perfect imperfections. Our skin is not normally airbrushed, like we see in the magazines. It is blotchy and has marks. Furthermore, the positioning of our body is not stiff like a mannequin. The artist did an amazing job by creating the realistic way a person sits. I was floored!
Many of the other pieces in that section in the Yale Art Gallery were great. There were digital creations that were displayed on televisions, videos that were in conjunction with physical pieces, ones built of furniture, and manipulated photography series. The other sections in the gallery highlighted asian and african art, other types of pop art, and european art. The african art section was quite intriguing. The masks, made mostly of wood, were elaborate in their carvings and in the additions of fabric or straw. If I could highlight other pieces in the musuem, I would certainly highlight a mask from that section.
Duane Hanson was born in 1925 and died in 1996 at the age of 71. He was an American artist, born in Minnesota, but spent the duration of his life in southern Florida. Hanson‘s art career began to gain attention when he started creating figures grouped in tableaux. Many of his pieces featured controversial themes like, police brutality and abortion, and highlighted issues that arose from the riots of 1960. Beginning in the 1960s, Hanson’s sculptures began to be more lifelike. His works, which were cast from actual people, were made of fiberglass and then reinforced with fiber resin. They were then painted to create complexions, blemishes, and other body marks. Hanson’s works were so shockingly lifelike that they received a strong response from critics. His work is grouped in the pop art and hyperrealism genres, and has been compared to 19th century French realists such as Honore Daumier and Jean Francois Millet.
The piece, “Drug Addict” was mesmorizing. The life size creation of a young heroin addict shooting up was shocking real. Only as I moved closer to the figure could I see that the figure before was not flesh. The positioning of the figure added to its realism. The figure was sitting upright leaning against the hard cold cement wall of the gallery and sitting on the black marble floor. The head was cocked upward with a slightly opened mouth. The eyes were closed. In one hand the figure held a syringe. The other hand was empty; however, just above the elbow was a fabric belt that was wrapped around the arm. The figure looked like it had just shot up. To add to the effect, a dirty metal spoon, matches, and a piece of paper laid in between the figures legs on the floor. The man wore real clothes. They were dirty and tattered. The shirt up off the figure in an easy way. The pants and shoes fit. The complexion was pale. The skin was dirty and was not clean shaven. The beginnings of a beard and mustache were taking shape. There were moles on the face and by the mouth. I could see the raised veins in the arms, and noticed track marks on both forearms. The hair looked real and the placing of the eyelashes were so deliberate, not a single one looked out of place.
Since I work with families effected by addiction all day, this piece hit close to home. The expression of false satisfaction was glearingly true. I found myself saddened by what I was witnessing. Many of the children that I advocate for in court see this. They see their parents shooting up, or if their parents are aware enough of their young ones, they hide themselves in the bathroom, and sit on a floor simlar to the one I was standing on. The cement wall and cold black marble added to the reality of this piece. Drugs are cold. The effects of drugs are cold. There is nothing pretty about drugs. There is nothing nice. When looking at the figure, I could appreciate the perfect imperfections. Our skin is not normally airbrushed, like we see in the magazines. It is blotchy and has marks. Furthermore, the positioning of our body is not stiff like a mannequin. The artist did an amazing job by creating the realistic way a person sits. I was floored!
Many of the other pieces in that section in the Yale Art Gallery were great. There were digital creations that were displayed on televisions, videos that were in conjunction with physical pieces, ones built of furniture, and manipulated photography series. The other sections in the gallery highlighted asian and african art, other types of pop art, and european art. The african art section was quite intriguing. The masks, made mostly of wood, were elaborate in their carvings and in the additions of fabric or straw. If I could highlight other pieces in the musuem, I would certainly highlight a mask from that section.
Well done...
ReplyDeleteI could tell that you are definitely moved by Duane Hanson's sculpture. All too often we see art as something that is separate... out there. You kept referring to the fact that you were personally moved and engaged and that it hit close to home.
This type of work is certainly a far cry from the lovely marble sculptures of William Reinhart you found at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In neo- classicism,the artist seeks perfection, and the noble. In Hanson's work on the other hand, we see quite the opposite. Human nature is debased life that is not worth living.
In its defense though, Hanson shines the spotlight on our own popular culture, and through his careful observation allows us to reflect on who we are as a people.
I loved reading about your close visual observation of the piece.