“Art is not meant to decorate rooms. It is an offensive weapon in the defense of the enemy”—Pablo Picasso
Taking Pablo Picasso’s maxim as his motto, Michael D’Antuono is an artist of the modern era. He creates controversial art intending to spark emotion and provoke public discourse. During the last decade, a number of D’Antuono’s works have garnered significant public attention: The Truth, which features the crucifixion of president Barack Obama; Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, which alludes to the issue of pedophilia in the Catholic church; and most recently, A Tale of Two Hoodies, which references the tragic death of Trayvon Martin, an African American boy who was shot and killed by George Zimmerman, who justified his violent act under the Florida Stand Your Ground law. Created in the wake of this violence, D’Antuono’s painting addresses national and historic issues of race relations in America. A Tale of Two Hoodies symbolizes the travesty of racially profiling innocent children and the effect of racism in law enforcement and the judicial system (Source 1).
“The response is every bit as important and as the art,” confesses D’Anuono (Source 1). The paintings are always created with the public in mind, as he attempts to ruthlessly put the issue in blank terms right in front of the audience so that they may not continue to ignore it but become conscious of the problem as well as inspired to make changes in the system. A Tale of Two Hoodies presents the issue many African American men face — being labeled as suspicious for nothing more than the color of their skin. After 230 years of American history, the American Public seems to have formed a profile of what danger looks like, regardless of the actual actions of the man; he is declared guilty by his physical appearance (Source 2).
On the night of his death, Trayvon Martin was described by George Zimmerman as exhibiting suspicious behavior; the profile of Martin fit Zimmerman’s definition of a dangerous man and he acted upon his instinct. The Florida Stand Your Ground Law allowed Zimmerman to justify his killing of an unarmed boy simply because he felt threatened. Martin’s life was taken not because he was walking home in the rain, not because he had only skittles and an iced tea in his pockets, not because he was wearing a hoodie, but because he was black while doing it (Source 3).
Trayvon Martin’s injustice did not end with his death; even after his heart stopped beating, he was judged by the American Public. The media showed him as a dangerous African American teen, and blamed him for walking home while “looking suspicious.” Critics believe Martin should have submitted to Zimmeman’s orders instead of defending himself on the fateful night of his murder. Yet, Zimmerman was not looked at under as much of an analytical light. No one questions what he was wearing that night nor what he posted on social media nor what his high school transcript was like. Instead, the American media looked for blame in the victim and forgot who actually committed the crime. As Syreeta McFadden noted, “Only in America can a dead black boy go on trial for his own murder” (Source 2).
President Obama attested to this social injustice himself. During his address to the union about the Verdict Through the Prism of African-American Experience, Harvard educated Obama, shared his experiences of being followed when shopping in a department store, walking across the street and hearing the locks click on the doors of cars, getting on an elevator and a woman clutching her purse nervously and holding her breath until she had a chance to get off. All of these things happen to African American men everyday simply because of racial profiling (Source 4).
The issue of racial profiling didn’t happen overnight; rather comes from centuries of systemic racism. D’Antuono exposes this complex history with two key symbols of racism in America: the Confederate flag and a Ku Klux Klan (KKK) hood. The center of the image, the Confederate flag appears under a torn US flag. The iconic image, firmly and emphatically stood for slavery and white supremacy from its birth (Source 5); D’Antuono’s message of the double faces of American society is evident. America has two flags—the one that’s flown high and the one beneath the surface of the US flag. In America all men are not believed to be created equal and justice is not served to all, under the surface of the honorable red, white and blue the social injustice is a critical and crippling issue for the nation.
Another iconic image that firmly and emphatically stood for white supremacy from its birth is the KKK hood. The KKK has a long history of violence, is the most infamous – and oldest – of American hate groups (Source 6). Unlike the flag—which lurks beneath the surface of the other flag, the KKK hood conceals the identity of the police officer’s face, suggesting that police openly practice racism. In today’s society, policemen openly discriminate and racially profile. D’Antuono makes a strong statement about the prejudices within the police force with intentions of sparking change in society.
D’Antuono put these symbols in the present picture because although these have been taken down and banned physically from our modern society, their metal residues still remain. America continues to be full of racism and many still believe in white supremacy. The problem is not in the flags or hoods themselves but rather the mindset of the American people. America did not acquire a racist mindset over night so it cannot be healed overnight, we may hope for a better future with artist like D’Antuono and many others who work everyday to one day see a better America with justice for all.
MPO
Sources
1 – “A Tale Of Two Hoodies (racism) – Art And Response.” Art And Response. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 July 2015.
2 – “How America Profiled Trayvon Martin and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.” Saloncom RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 July 2015.
3 – “A Place Where We Are Everything.” The Rumpusnet A Place Where We Are Everything Comments. N.p., 23 Mar. 2012. Web. 16 July 2015.
4 – “Transcript: Obama Speaks of Verdict Through the Prism of African-American Experience.” The New York Times. The New York Times, 19 July 2013. Web. 16 July 2015.
5 – “The Confederate Flag Was Always Racist.” POLITICO Magazine. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 July 2015.
6 – “Ku Klux Klan.” History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 16 July 2015.