Jose Melena
Drug Abuse Exhibition
Picture #1
Summary:
This is a drawing on a
rock of a young African boy who resembles the famous American comedian, Chris
Rock, as a teenager. The boy is inhaling a drug substance through a smoking
pipe. It appears to be crack cocaine. His faced expression shows discomfort and
pain. The boy has his eyes closed, the side of the mouth shows anguish. He has
a flat top style haircut. He is wearing a white collared shirt with an American
flag printed on. The artist behind this street art is street artist Jamie
Scanlon also known as JPS he is from the United Kingdom. Jaime (JPS) was
inspired by the famous street artist Banksy after visiting one of his
well-known museum exhibitions. Jaime (JPS) gave up alcohol and drugs for street
art. On his street art work “Chris Rock Smoking Rock on a Rock”, he illustrates
drug abuse on young teenagers.
Analysis:
I think the street artist
JPS is illustrating how young kids start to do drugs in an early age. Kids get
influence by the celebrities who show the drugs in the music or the videos they
create. I consider that the artist somewhat shows his side of the story also,
because he became addicted to drugs in an early age. The flag printed on the
shirt resembles the fact that many Americans become more and more addicted to
drugs early in there teenagers years through the influence of movies, music,
celebrities and social media. The face on the boy’s shows him not wanting to
consume the drug rather shows how teenagers later in life regret the decision
of using drugs.
Picture #2
Summarize:
This street art is done
by famous street artist Banksy. The art shows a police officer more precisely a
United Kingdom officer. The officer is wearing a uniform with a radio
communicator. He has a hat with checkered squares on it. The officer face
resembles suspicion and alerting. He has one eye looking while the other eye is
covered. The officer is on the ground holding some type of cigarette or rolled
up paper. There’s some type of line on the ground that the officer is
investigating. Also there’s a number on the police officer uniform that looks
like the number 3.
Analysis:
The street art done by
Banksy appears to be an officer investigating some type of substance. Instead
of investigating it appears that the officer is snorting some type of drug that
resembles cocaine. I think that Banksy shows how corrupted the police can be
and what would be the outcome of their corruption. The officer in the art shows
him looking nervous as if someone has caught him doing something that he is not
supposed to be doing.
Picture #3
Summary:
In this image there’s a
gold statute of a man on his knees. The statue is gold with a black box around
it. In front of the box there’s a message that says Hollywood’s Best Party. The
gold statue is on his knee’s holding a rolled up paper on one hand while the
other hand is resting on the floor. The gold statue is naked with no clothes or
any type of private parts. The floor on which the statue is kneeing down is red
like red carpet. Also there’s two types of powder lines on the floor with a
credit card on the floor. The credit card that’s on the floor is silver. This
street art is done by Los Angeles street artist Plastic Jesus.
Analysis:
From my point of view,
the gold statue resembles that of an Academy award Oscar statue. I think the
message behind the art is describing on how Hollywood celebrities have become
so dependent on drugs. Also it shows Hollywood’s hidden problem of drug
addiction that affects hundreds of people in the showbiz industry. The drug
addiction of celebrities is largely ignored until the death of a high profile
or A list celebrity. Such well-known celebrities who have become drug addicts
are celebrities like Lindsey Lohan, Drew Barrymore, Misha Barton, Mary-Kate
Olsen, and Charlie Sheen etc... Celebrities that have passed away because of
their drug addiction include people like the late Heath Ledger, Philip Seymour
Hoffman, Brittany Murphy, River Phoenix and the list goes on a on. I think
Plastic Jesus is showing throughout his art the hidden world of celebrities in
the showbiz industry.
Picture#4
Summarize:
There’s an image of a
gold man statue. The statue has no face expressions. . The statue is naked with
no private parts also there are no clothes on the statue. The statue can been
seen from head to feet. The statue is standing on a stand with a description
below the statues feet that reads Hollywood’s Best Kept Secret. In the left arm
of the statue there’s a strap that is close-fitting to his upper arm. The left
arm of the statue has a closed fist. In the right hand the statue is holding a
syringe pointing it at the lower part of the left arm. The street art is done
by Los Angeles street artist Plastic Jesus.
Analysis:
I believe the message
behind this street art can be related to the drug addiction Hollywood
celebrities and the showbiz industry have. Many Hollywood celebrities suffer
from drug addictions related problems. Where the drug addiction is kept a
secret by the celebrities and the industry. I think many celebrities are
dependent on drugs because of all of the work and stress from their jobs but
also from all of the influence of drugs in music videos and movies. Also I
think many of celebrities become addicted to drugs because of all the parties
they attend and all of the travel that they have to deal with. Drugs become
some type of relaxing ion or a calming feeling that celebrities depend on.
Furthermore continuing their drug addictions.
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