I think the three monuments create a very interesting contrast and commentary on each other. The Bracero Monument is a celebration of an under represented and essential portion of the US's history compared to the giant war memorials of generals that litter parks and public spaces throughout the country. By contrast, Rumors of War and Fons Americanus are both critiques and condemnations of the memorials that they are emulating. Rumors of War also celebrates and uplifts black culture, but when considered with the context of its intended home in Richmond, Virginia, the critique is more overt than the celebration. The medium of monumentary already comes with a very loaded history, especially in the American South, with monuments often being an expression of power rather than a celebration or memorial. Kehinde Wiley's monument plays with that history in a very interesting way. Rumors of War celebrates modern black culture by representing it front and center in a huge publicly displayed statue and by using the historic narrative of power to re-frame where the power truely lies.
While reading some of the monuments pieces I felt as if each of them had something that they needed to prove. For example, for the Tate piece felt the need to expose what history has done to people. Each level exposed how much each person was taken advantage of in service of someone else. For the rumors of war piece exposed the whole idealism of the past resurrecting a past historical leader to make sure that the event does not happen again. The Bracero monument exposed all of the work that the people of that time had done in order to make sure that not another person is taken advantage of again. But truth be told, all of these monuments have come with some sort of backlash. The bracero monument had gotten criticism for stating that the braceros were free to do what they wished. From what the article had stated that was not the truth. It was merely one persons interpretation of what a bracero was, b...
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