I've just discovered the brilliant social and political sculptor, Edward Kienholz.
Edward Kienholz was born in Washington state in 1927. As a young man he moved to Los Angeles and became a part of the up and coming avant-garde movement of the West coast. He had no formal training as an artist, but utilized his skills in construction to create sculptural pieces and installations. He moved to Idaho and continued to work, addressing controversial subjects such as abortion ( The Illegal Operation, 1962), substandard mental health programs (State Hospital 1966), and American war profiteering (Portable War Memorial, 1968). He was no stranger to censorship, as his Backseat Dodge, '38, was claimed obscene and shown with its racy contents behind closed doors.
Ed uses detritus to build up his works. His pieces include eerie lighting and haunting music to create a full atmosphere for his tableaux of unabashed honesty. The installation I most reacted to, though I have never viewed his works in person, was Five Car Stud. It depicts a scene of a black man being assaulted by a group of grotesque looking white men, while his white female companion watches, terrified, from the truck her man was pulled out of. This scene of violence is one of the most graphic representations of a hate crime I have ever viewed. It is more horrifying than many of the crime and death photos I have run across in research. The nightmarish composition shocks the viewer into the realization that this sort of irrational savagery still occurs and we cannot turn a blind eye on it. Edward Kienholz's bravery in exposing the bestial side of life is inspiring.
Ed uses detritus to build up his works. His pieces include eerie lighting and haunting music to create a full atmosphere for his tableaux of unabashed honesty. The installation I most reacted to, though I have never viewed his works in person, was Five Car Stud. It depicts a scene of a black man being assaulted by a group of grotesque looking white men, while his white female companion watches, terrified, from the truck her man was pulled out of. This scene of violence is one of the most graphic representations of a hate crime I have ever viewed. It is more horrifying than many of the crime and death photos I have run across in research. The nightmarish composition shocks the viewer into the realization that this sort of irrational savagery still occurs and we cannot turn a blind eye on it. Edward Kienholz's bravery in exposing the bestial side of life is inspiring.