by Layla Grant-Simmonds
There are so many talented artists in LREI, with students specializing in mediums from painting to mixed media arts. Today, Senior Zane Walker’s art is going to be spotlighted. Zane Walker made a black and white Block Print titled Which(ever) Way the Wind Blows. Walker made this piece first by carving a linoleum block, afterwards he printed on a newsprint. This art piece was inspired by his grandparents, who were part of The Weather-men. The Weather-men was a revolutionary leftist pro-Black and communist organization. This group was created in the 70s, protesting using bombings, jailbreaks and riots. Walker was inspired by revolutionary movements, specifically those run by white and privileged people. As he made Which(ever) Way the Wind Blows he reflected on how people tended to respond to these types of protesters.
Looking at this without knowing the artist’s message, this print has what seems to be five policemen, one bystander and a man being arrested. The faces of all of the policemen are very straight and emotionless. Zane Walker formed all of the policemen’s facial expressions alike, potentially on purpose to convey a lack of empathy. One of the people in this painting, possibly another policeman, with their face cutoff seems to be violently holding down the man that is being arrested.The civilian is looking at the police, holding him back with a confused look on his face. Judging by the detail from the rest of Zane Walker’s piece, if he wanted to present him as guilty, he’d form his face like so. They would maybe have his eyebrows raised while looking up and to one side. Maybe even with his chin down and his lips tucked into his mouth. He may have been guilty but felt like the cause justified the means. He also didn’t look worried so perhaps was confident in the position he was in somehow. Maybe he felt powerful or in control of the situation.
Also, the person being arrested was holding a camera, possibly a professional photographer or person just documenting his life. Since the only thing on him is a camera, that might be why they’re arresting him. Perhaps they didn’t like what or where he was filming, or maybe something morbid or private. Also because of the fact that there were three to five policemen over him suggests that they felt very endangered by him. An alternate reasoning for this positioning could be that he was filming them being aggressive towards others, triggering the policemen.
The positioning of the policemen also gave the impression that they had lots of power over him. All three to five of them hovering over him, surrounding him. The accused man is in a very vulnerable position as well, giving him even less power in the situation which contradicts his rather confident facial expression. Simultaneously, the civilian who was trying to hold back the policemen’s facial expression conveyed distress. He could have just been a concerned bystander or the person’s friend. He has this look of aggression and anger, being forceful towards the police. This could be because he feels it’s unjust to arrest him, or maybe they were being hostile towards him before the other person.
The horizontal lines in the background also make this painting appear more chaotic and unraveled, adding to the aggressive scenery. Without the lines, this art piece may have been a bit more digestible. The black and white appears to represent the datedness of this setting, maybe during a time when physical newspapers were used more often at a time when people got their news delivered with black and white pictures. The color choice also makes the picture feel more historic, like a notable moment in history.
Overall Which(ever) Way the Wind Blows by Zane Walker is an incredibly detailed block print. It is impressive and well thought out, from the color choice, the media, and material choice and all the way down to the compositions of the forms in this block print. Zane Walker’s message came through his art. It may not have been so obvious that Walker was inspired by the revolutionary group The Weathe-Men. That’s okay though because that wasn’t the whole entire point of the art piece — it was white people protesting. It is very clear that white people were having encounters with the police, and the camera communicated that he was possibly documenting something controversial in some way. With the title and the short description, Walker was successful in his mission of spreading awareness or enlightening people on how police react with protesters, specifically white protesters, they treat them with more care and empathy than everyone else, especially Black and brown people. Go on and check out Zane Walker’s visual art and other LREI students’ visual art in the fifth-floor art room!
AMAZING WRITING