Blog Assignment #5: SUE COE

SUE COE Even though Sue Coe is not in education, she has contribute greatly to my field of study. She makes uncompromising demands. She demands to speak freely. She demands viewers go eye-to-eye with the equivalent of road kill. She demands unflinching openness in full view of painful contradictions. Coe opens up the areas of art that were not okay to teach, for example, when my parents were in school. Back then, people with an "open mind" were considered going against religion and society. Sue Coe helped to cut those strings, and open up the mind to new ideas that are now okay to draw and teach.

Sue Coe stands out in this field because she dedicates her art to influencing individuals to change the world. The subjects she has focused on include animal rights, the meat industry, racism, apartheid, the AIDS crisis, the Ku Klux Klan, and rape. Coe's work is also directed at oppressive working conditions. She creates politcal artwork that maybe not everone will agree with at times.

The thing that impressed me most about Sue Coe is her confidence. Sue Coe is a keen observer, a 'graphic witness' to realities more often overlooked or avoided. She created art based on subjects that she felt were not being adequately addressed by conventional news organizations. She was brave enough to contribute to each subject argument with her art.

Glancing at Coe’s work, she uses dominance in a unique way. Her elements seem to all come together to make one big element, therefore, being the dominant element. At first I did not understand why, but then I can see that she is trying to send a message. If she would make one thing bigger than the other, it may give off the message that one is more important than the other. Coe believes that each subject she uses is all important.
I have been very influencd not only by Sue Coe’s work, but her spunk also. I need to be more confiedent in my art work, even if I know it might cause controversies sometimes. I need to take more risks in my art, so that people remember who I am because of my risks. She creates artwork that isn't easily forgotten. That's her goal. She's spent decades depicting cruelties and foibles--not to shock but to educate, influence and, she hopes, inspire change.

Sue Coe may use rape, war, and death for her subjects, but her art pieces are colored with bright blues, greens, yellows, reds, and more. She uses emphasis on color. The irony that the viewer does not want to look at the piece beacause of the horrific subject, but Coe uses bright colors so that you almost HAVE to look at it. She also uses sketchier lines to address the human form. It makes the people look not so realistic therefor giving off the sense that the scene was made up.