Respond

Professor and Class, 
For this discuss post, I have chosen to discuss option three which entails choosing a work of art that represents a real-life event. I have chosen the work of art titled Ash Road by Michael Mulhern. This work of art is a painting that was created by a person that lived in an apartment building near the Twin Towers during the events of 9/11. As all of us know on September 11th, 2001 the Twin Towers in New York were struck by airplanes and resulted in a tragedy. As you can see in the image of the painting I attached below, the painting has a lot of gray coloring and it is difficulty to make out any distinct images in the painting. This is because the artist wanted to represent what it was like during 9/11 and all the smoke and ash that was around that area (Guardian News and Media, 2016). It is very interesting and moving to see a representation of this event from somebody who experienced the event firsthand. I believe that the artist depicted the event correctly throughout their work of art because they actually lived the events and were able to illustrate that throughout their work. The artist does not really make changes to the event throughout their work of art and I think the painting is able to tell a story without being too busy and taking away from being thought provoking about the event that took place. Michael Mulhern says that he watched from his ninth floor studio as the building collapse and the amount of debris and smoke take over the town (Edwards, 2021). The artists statement and interview definitely matches up with his work and the chaos and smoke covered town is accurately represented in his painting. As we learned during week one of this course, many pieces of art from different genres provoke thought and are able to tell a story and it is definitely coming full circle this week (Martin & Jacobus, 2018). 9/11 Museum Holds First Art Exhibition (Guardian News and Media, 2016) References Edwards, E. (2021). After Witnessing 9/11 from His Studio, Michael Mulhern Incorporated It Into His Work. National September 11 Memorial & Museum. Retrieved from https://www.911memorial.org/connect/blog/after-witnessing-911-his-studio-michael-mulhern-incorporated-it-his-work. Guardian News and Media. (2016). Artistic responses to the 9/11 terrorist attacks – in pictures. The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/gallery/2016/sep/02/september-11-art-photos. Martin, F. D., & Jacobus, L. A. (2018). The humanities through the arts. New York: McGraw-Hill Education