Michael Ray Charles - Essay Example

Agumentative Essay/Michael Ray Charles INTRODUCTION: In this paper I will argue that Michael Ray Charles is one of the best realism painters of all time. He focused on the reality of the African American characters. Further, he presented real life situations in a subtle way as an artist. Furthermore, he was unafraid of the consequences of his convictions. In addition, He became famous for his realism -based works of art. In response, the comments of opponents stating that his use of African American characters overshadow art is unfounded.

This paragraph will be further discussed below. BODY: He focused on the reality of the African American characters. He had worked in the early 1990s to address political and social issues. He concentrated his artistic talents in 1993 to the painting of racial issues. His paintings included characters African American characters like mammies, coons, and even sambos. This type of painting precipitated from the infusion of irony and wit on racism issues. His paintings showed old fashioned themes.

His popularity as a realism painter resulted to the solo display of his paintings in exhibitions in Art Museum of the University of Houston in Texas, Moody Gallery in Houston, Tony Shafrazi Gallery in New York and even far way Galerie Hans Mayer in Dusseldorf, Germany(Heller and Pettit,205). Further, he presented real life situations in a subtle way as an artist. The appendix shows that Michael Ray Charles is currently the Studio Art Professor, MFA handling Drawing Painting Subject in the College of Fine Arts in University of Texas at Austin.

His paintings display racism as a reality. He paints pictures in a comedic way. He is popularly known for his use of African Americans to humiliate situations and postures of his time. Mammy, as shown in the appendix, symbolizes an African American woman taking soothing care of a white child(Wallace -Sanders, 143). Furthermore, he was unafraid of the consequences of his convictions. Some sectors believe that Michael Ray Charles’s paintings should be censored from elementary students due to the strong race themes.

A person viewing his paintings ought to have the intellectual capacity and maturity to comprehend what is the story behind each of his paintings. Some sectors of American society object to the exhibition of Michael Ray Charles’ paintings because it demeans them especially when the topic of the classroom teacher is racism. Eisner and Day saw many fistfights inside a racially mixed classroom between 1960s and 1970s when teachers would show films to youngsters of lynching in the South(Eisner & Day, 741).

Michael Ray Charles had abused stereotypes from advertisements and magazines that often kept both whites and African Americans on the edge of their seats(Freeland,85). In addition, He became famous for his realism -based works of art. Realism fanatics, like Michael Ray Charles, do their best to contribute to a change in society(Lachman et al, 889). A realism painter uses common sense for he is part of the society he lives in. The realist painter is an embodied living, finite being that has the capacity to accept the world for what it is and now what it should be(Haddock,79).

In response, the comments of opponents stating that his use of African American characters overshadow art are unfounded. It is truly incorrect that all African Americans are deconstructionists vigorously facing the imprisoning effects of racism. Michael Ray Charles only shows the realism of the Jim Crow laws of segregation(Perry,113). For, all of Michael Ray Charles’ paintings qualify as art in its purest form for they have linguistic meanings that touch the hearts and minds of its viewers(Hagberg,1).

CONCLUSION: The above discussion shows that Michael Ray Charles is one of the best realism painters of all time. An artist can choose his characters. He was able to bring reality to the viewers. He was not afraid to suffer for his boldness. All his works have proven themselves to be masterfully and unquestionably crafted. Conclusively, Michael Ray Charles is one of the best realism painters of all time. Cited Works Heller, S., Pettit, E. Design Dialogues, N.Y., Allworth Communications, 1998 Eisner, E., Day, M., Handbook of Research and Policy in Art Education, , Lawrence Erlbaum, 2004 Wallace -Sanders, K.

, Mammy, A Century of Race, Gender and Southern Memory, Michigan, University of Michigan Press, 2008 Freeland, C., But is it Art?, An Introduction to Art Theory, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2002 Perry, G., Difference and Excess in Contemporary Art, Oxford,Blackwell Publishing, 2004 Hagberg, G., “Art as Languages”, N.Y.,Cornell University Press, 1998 JOURNALS Lachman et al., “Realism and Illusion in Americans’ Temporal Views of Their Life Satisfaction: Age Differences in Reconstructing the Past and Anticipating the Future”, Psychological Science, Vol 19, No. 9, (2008), pp.

889 -897 Haddoc, A., “McDowell and Idealism”, Inquiry, Vol 51, No. 1,(2008), pp 79 -96 N.Y. Routledge WEBSITES: Books A Million, retrieved Oct 25, 2008, http://www.press.umich.edu/titleDetailDesc.do;jsessionid=503D77BA30911B987FB2E170CF4F39E1?id=170676 Michael Ray Charles, retrieved Oct 25, 2008 http://www.npg.si.edu/cexh/artnews/charles.htm Studio Art, retrieved Oct 25, 2008 http://www.finearts.utexas.edu/aah/studio_art/faculty/charles.cfm APPENDIX Books a Million, http://www.press.umich.

edu/titleDetailDesc.do;jsessionid=503D77BA30911B987FB2E170CF4F39E1?id=170676 Michael Ray Charles http://www.npg.si.edu/cexh/artnews/charles.htm Latest known position: Studio Art Professor, MFA –Drawing and Painting College of Fine Arts, University of Texas at Austin http://www.finearts.utexas.edu/aah/studio_art/faculty/charles.cfm