The Museum of the City of New York
When I visited the museum, the painting that caught my eye was, “Howard the Duck” by Lee Quinones. The painting, which was originally painted at a basketball court, contains bright and animated details. About half of the painting is red which may have purposely been done to attract attention to the painting. Also, the red color may symbolize how graffiti art was viewed as destructive, since red can be considered a color of angst. In the top left corner of the painting, Lee included a quote that states, “Graffiti is a[n] art and if art is a crime, let God forgive all.” Lee may have created this work to convey the idea that graffiti is art, not vandalism. Graffiti was such a controversial issue in the 1980’s and Lee wanted to create a more artistic piece to show that those who created art were simply expressing themselves. Lee even signed the painting the way El Greco would have signed one of his own works.
Lee has created a work that is abstract. The image of Howard the Duck immerging from the trash expresses how great artists were immerging from Harlem and other neighborhoods during the height of graffiti art. It is unfortunate however, how these artists had to hide in the shadows and could never take credit for their work because it was illegal. However, I believe that graffiti art is a realer type of art rather than the paintings created by Renaissance painters. Renaissance painters certainly had talent, but I believe there was to a certain extent, a lack of expressiveness and creativity in their works mainly because many of their works were commissioned. Graffiti artists created their works to express their views on social issues in New York during the 1970’s and 1980’s work. This art was their only release.