Art

In this first example, depicted is a past painting of a shark attack. John Singleton Copley created this painting in 1778. According to the National Gallery of Art website, this image is representative of an event that occurred a couple years before. Brook Watson, 14 year old boy, was attacked by a shark. His crewmates are seen trying to rescue him. In the second example, Damien Hirst depicts a modern piece of art with this sculpture of a tiger shark that was created in 1991. While explaining the context of this art piece itself, he says that he wants to exemplify death and fear. Presenting the shark in an environment outside of its own natural habitat, he wanted the audience to see that while death is avoided, there actually is no way to do so. Something that these two pieces of artwork have in common is that they ultimately present the shark in a negative light. It is obviously shown in the past art piece, but it is a little subtle when it comes to the modern art piece. In Copley’s art, the shark is viewed as the villain. Given the detail that the other crewmembers are focusing their attention to the shark and are trying to save the boy, these are signs that the shark is the main focus of the painting and is the antagonist. However, in Hirst’s sculpture, I would have never understood his intentions with the art piece if I had not read his description for it. He wanted to instill fear to his audience and add a shock value to his piece. Putting the shark in this context, it makes it more relatable to the audience. For example, the audience gets a sense of the size of the shark, therefore understanding the power that sharks may have over humans.