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"The American People Series #18: The Flag is Bleeding" by Faith Ringgold (1967)


Type: Gallery Image | Not Vetted


This textile-based work, incorporating the American flag with imagery and text, critiques U.S. militarism and racial injustice during the Vietnam War era.

A textile-based painting that incorporates the American Flag to critique U.S. militarism and racial justice during the Vietnam War era. The piece features the distorted U.S. flag, with its stripes appearing as both bars and wounds, symbolizing the nation’s fractured ideals of freedom and democracy. In front of the flag stands a Black man, a white woman, and a white man which represents different racial and social identities. The Black man holds a knife, his hand bleeding into the flag’s red stripes, symbolizing the violence and sacrifice endured by African Americans in the fight for equality. Ringgold’s bold, graphic style and vivid colors immediately capture the viewer's attention which heighten the emotional and political response to the work.

Featured in Exhibit


Abstract Expressionism to Pop Art: Responding to Societal Change

Date


1967

Artist




Copyright
© https://www.nga.gov/press/acquisitions/2021/ringgold.html

Vetted?
No
Submitted by Lucia Krautheim on Fri, 11/22/2024 - 10:46

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