Thursday, February 21, 2013

LBJ On Display


16 x 8 Oil on Belgian Linen Board

"LBJ" by Marisol Escobar (1967) at the MoMA.  This was certainly a show stopper!  At first, you pass by it and suddenly stop and think: "That looks a lot like LBJ."  Then you really look at it and realize he's holding his wife, Lady Bird, and two daughters in his hand.  They look quite a bit like birds...i.e. "Lady Bird."  The structure is coffin-like.  I did a little research and found out that Escobar might have used the coffin effect due to the way Johnson got the presidency, and perhaps was a statement about the Vietnam War.  All in all, I found it fascinating and a pretty strong statement.

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