The Great Strike: Lawrence 1912 1978

Editor: Today we're looking at "The Great Strike: Lawrence 1912," a mixed-media painting from 1978 by Ralph Fasanella. There's so much to take in, visually. It feels like a birds-eye view of a bustling city during a protest, and the use of text integrated into the buildings is really striking. What do you see in this piece, considering its historical context? Curator: Well, Fasanella clearly connects to the history of social realism and folk art traditions, doesn't he? Consider the moment he is painting *about.* This is not the strike itself, but rather the memory of it, nearly seventy years removed from the event. What is gained, and lost, in representing the 1912 strike in 1978? Editor: So, it's not a direct depiction but a reflection? I guess it makes me wonder about the power dynamics at play – who gets to represent history, and how? The newspapers in the painting almost seem to shout slogans or biases. Curator: Exactly! Notice how the newspapers are integrated. They are not separate from the architecture; they become it! They narrate dominant ideologies and the public consumption of the event. But even in the painting’s naivety, there is something disruptive about this embedding. How does it reflect on the institutional shaping of history through media? Editor: I see your point. By integrating the text into the very fabric of the city, he is highlighting how institutions are deeply embedded in this event. It's more than just showing a strike; it is revealing the very ways we consume history! Thanks for bringing that to my attention. Curator: Absolutely! And by confronting this one event's place in history and our *perception* of it, we may perhaps encourage more historically inclusive or class-aware perspectives in the viewers.