Delightrope 9 Analysis

Both of these artworks, “The Cotton Bowl” by Hank Willis Thomas, and “Tightrope 9” by Elias Sime, are located in the North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh, North Carolina. Thomas’ piece was donated to this museum by the North Carolina Museum of Art Contemporaries in 2012. Hank Willis Thomas’ piece was from his series Strange Fruit, and he notes that it is a “visual and conceptual explanation of the black body as spectacle and souvenir in the American popular culture.” Contrastly, Sime’s artwork was purchased with the funds of Mr. and Mrs. N Richard Miller in memory of Martin B. Rosenthal in 2015. The “Tightrope 9” is made from reclaimed electronic components on many panels. Both “The Cotton Bowl” and “Tightrope 9” are similar in size representing a powerful …show more content…
The man of the left is dressed as a farmer picking cotton while the man on the right is dressed as a football player. The background is pitchblack and the floor corresponds with their attire such as the farmer crouching on dirt while the football player is on the football field. Furthermore, this artwork was created by Hank Willis Thomas who was born in Plainfield, New Jersey in 1976, but now he works in Brooklyn, New York. His piece, “The Cotton Bowl,” was made in 2011 with Digital C-print. Moreover, the painting is presented on the print at a size of 50 x 73 in or 127 x 185.4 cm. In this artwork, the line in the middle represented as a yard line in a football field is a sharp line that can be interpreted as these two men being drastically different in attire, jobs, and physically and emotional feelings. Moreover, the football players side seems to have more color which may symbolize that they are given more attention and identity while a slave does not receive any of that. Even though they may look different, their form is similar in this digital c-print which can be interpreted as them being