Harvey B. Grantt Center for African-American Arts+Culture.
Woman Washing Clothes by Charles H. Alston, oil on pastel on paper, 30.5"x20.5" ca. 1970.
In this drawing, I was surprised to find bold black outlines. Most artists try to avoid even thin black outlines to let objects in the drawings or paintings become three-dimensional. However, in this drawing, Alston did not have a problem making the woman and the pot three-dimensional. The black bold lines also made the subjects pop from the background. The pop effect worked well, because the woman's skin color is the same as the background.
My Mother Told Me I am Chinese; painting lesson, Maria Magdalena, polaroid prints.
I think this artwork grabbed every viewer's attention. First of all, it was bigger than life-size, and second of all, it was realistic looking, which makes you want to relate to the subject in the work. The artwork also gave me the feeling of unity between two ethnicities/races: African-American and Chinese. I also love the meaning behind the white pigment that is spread all over the African-American girl's skin. It gives the viewer a message that the girl is trying to be convinced that she is Chinese because her mother told her so.
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