The image chosen for this essay is “Him” by Maurizio Cattelan. There are two images that shows the sculpture’s back and front. On the other hand, the other image depicting the placement of the sculpture portrays the actual meaning behind the creation of the sculpture. Typically, an individual will initially approach that sculpture thinking it is a innocent boy kneeling down, possibly praying or asking for forgiveness. This is expressed by the boy’s posture and arching of the back. But, the second figure surprises the viewer as it reveals sculpture of Adolf Hitler in a miniature body form. It is a part of the artist, Cattelan's style. Cattelan likes to put the sculpture in an empty room or environment where the face of the sculpture always
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Initially with the unveil of the art work, the audience saw a young innocent boy and because a child is a child and they immediately assume there is no other hidden meaning to it. Once the truth was revealed that Hitler was behind the disguise of a young boy, that audiences shifts to people who were traumatized by the event. In the end, the sudden surprise caused a commotion of controversies towards the artist and the sculpture because the hidden meaning behind the artwork was not interpreted properly. Audiences who suffered from the historical event have only seen the little picture without focusing on the meaning that evil prevail everywhere and anywhere we exist. Simon Wiesenthal Center, Jewish Advocacy group stated that the placement of the art work in the Warsaw was "a senseless provocation which insults the memory of the Nazis' Jewish victims" (Jones, 2014). Moreover, the installation of the sculpture in the Warsaw Ghetto insultes the Jewish as a vengeful act of disturbing the memories caused by the Nazis’. Such small interpretations also caused the certain audience to question the artist being a Italian and developing a work at art that dictates the Second World War and The Holocaust. Being an italian and installing a Sculpture of Hitler on a polish land, made people question the integrity of the artist due to the historical events that took place where Italy and Germany were allies in the war. …show more content…
When a viewer is drawn towards the sculpture little by little focus is drawn into “his eerie schoolboy attire, freshly shorn raven hair, and slightly scuffed boots cast the boy out of the present day and into era circa 1935” (Friedlander, 2016). It was ironic to view a grown man; Hitler, in the presence of a child’s body. However, when a young form of Hitler is kneeling down, it gives a sense of power to stand over and look down on the most powerful leader of the 20th century. These fixed elements gives a sense of shift in power from Hitler to us. Hitler's sculpture that was placed in one of the isolated alleys in Warsaw Ghetto can be a metaphoric representation of how Jews were isolated from their home and deported with no mode of escape from the ruler, Hitler.
The sculptor of Hitler is a great revolution of what an image or art can do when brought in the presence of public eye. This image develops curiosity among viewers to ask themselves questions and to try interpret the hidden meaning behind the work of art. Ultimately, the artist ways of seeing shows that evil is present everywhere even without our
Initially with the unveil of the art work, the audience saw a young innocent boy and because a child is a child and they immediately assume there is no other hidden meaning to it. Once the truth was revealed that Hitler was behind the disguise of a young boy, that audiences shifts to people who were traumatized by the event. In the end, the sudden surprise caused a commotion of controversies towards the artist and the sculpture because the hidden meaning behind the artwork was not interpreted properly. Audiences who suffered from the historical event have only seen the little picture without focusing on the meaning that evil prevail everywhere and anywhere we exist. Simon Wiesenthal Center, Jewish Advocacy group stated that the placement of the art work in the Warsaw was "a senseless provocation which insults the memory of the Nazis' Jewish victims" (Jones, 2014). Moreover, the installation of the sculpture in the Warsaw Ghetto insultes the Jewish as a vengeful act of disturbing the memories caused by the Nazis’. Such small interpretations also caused the certain audience to question the artist being a Italian and developing a work at art that dictates the Second World War and The Holocaust. Being an italian and installing a Sculpture of Hitler on a polish land, made people question the integrity of the artist due to the historical events that took place where Italy and Germany were allies in the war. …show more content…
When a viewer is drawn towards the sculpture little by little focus is drawn into “his eerie schoolboy attire, freshly shorn raven hair, and slightly scuffed boots cast the boy out of the present day and into era circa 1935” (Friedlander, 2016). It was ironic to view a grown man; Hitler, in the presence of a child’s body. However, when a young form of Hitler is kneeling down, it gives a sense of power to stand over and look down on the most powerful leader of the 20th century. These fixed elements gives a sense of shift in power from Hitler to us. Hitler's sculpture that was placed in one of the isolated alleys in Warsaw Ghetto can be a metaphoric representation of how Jews were isolated from their home and deported with no mode of escape from the ruler, Hitler.
The sculptor of Hitler is a great revolution of what an image or art can do when brought in the presence of public eye. This image develops curiosity among viewers to ask themselves questions and to try interpret the hidden meaning behind the work of art. Ultimately, the artist ways of seeing shows that evil is present everywhere even without our