I visited the Byzantine Bembe: New York by Manny Vega exhibit. It was full of beautiful mosaics, murals, and pen-and-ink drawings, displaying the culture of East Harlem through visual storytelling. The artworks that caught my eye in the exhibit were Salvador Sanchez, 2020 and Macho Time, 2020. Although these are two separate artworks, I believe they belong together. These art pieces are based on the real boxers, Salvador Sanchez and Hector Camacho. They never fought but they were famous boxers during the 1980s. It can be assumed that Manny Vega had a liking for these fighters to make art pieces of them. Both of these artworks are Vega’s pen-and-ink drawings.…

Stuart Hall’s essay, The Spectacle of the Other, discusses how a dominant group will represent another group through stereotypes. These stereotypes are often harmful and misleading to society as a whole. Puccini’s opera, Madama Butterfly, creates the image of the Orient in binary opposition to the Occident by portraying Eastern women as exotic and obedient. Puccini reinforces the idea that the West dominates the more passive East through characters like Cio-Cio San and Pinkerton. This power dynamic is seen when Cio-Cio San formally abandons her religion to comply with Pinkerton and get married. This was my first time seeing an opera and I was surprised by the extravagance of the…

The musical Suffs on Broadway approaches the representation of the women’s suffrage movement through captivating visuals, humor, and an all-female cast. The most exciting scene from the musical was when the suffragists were marching, led by the actor playing Inez Milholland. She was wearing gold armor and riding a horse. The scene was very flashy and powerful. There was a lot of humor used throughout the show. Interestingly enough, most jokes were still relevant and relatable to modern women. There was a lot of laughter and agreement throughout the audience. One comment that most of the audience related to was, ‘When women get married, they sign their lives away.’ Another…

Hamilton is one of the most popular musicals on Broadway. Its impact represents American history in a new way by utilizing a diverse cast and hip-hop music. People often associate musicals with upper-class white people, but Hamilton disproves this narrative by appealing to a wider audience of ages and backgrounds. It made Broadway shows more accessible and relatable to all. The song, My Shot, sung by Alexander Hamilton demonstrates his ambition to make a name for himself. When he says, “I’m not going to throw away my shot,” it represents the concept of throwing away an opportunity. His refusal to throw away this opportunity displays his drive to become an…

An artwork on display that caught my attention was the billboard with “America,” written on it. All of the letters were crossed out except “me”. The background of the billboard is a plain grey. The letters are glowing yellow with a black border. Black x’s cross out the letters. In my opinion, this art piece goes against the aesthetic of the High Line. It is elementary compared to the abundance of nature and unique architecture of the High Line. The buildings around the billboard have windows that are almost like bubbles. There are also trees surrounding it. The billboard has similarities to an advertisement that would be seen driving on…

The first two things I noticed were the lion and the person sleeping. The lion is male because it has a mane of hair around its neck. The person sleeping has dark skin and is wearing orange and green-striped clothes. The person is also resting on an orange and green-striped pillow. They are also sleeping beside a guitar and an orange vase. Their gender is unclear. It can be assumed that they are a Gypsy due to the title of the artwork. They seem to be in the desert because of the sand but it also looks like they are surrounded by water. I am not sure what the white…