http://www.malaquiasmontoya.com/gallery-paintings.html
An Immigrant’s Dream, the American Response is a painting by Malaquias Montoya, a famous California artist most known for his Chicano artwork. Somethings to note about this piece in particular are, starting from the top and working our way down to the bottom, is the red dripping down from the top as it looks like blood, next is the title of the piece up top, underneath said title is barbed wire wrapped around the individuals head (barbed wire is common imagery in Montoya’s artwork), on the barbed wire is a tag/label that reads “undocumented”, lastly is quite obviously the individual being bound in the American flag. I believe An Immigrant’s Dream, the American Response qualifies as art because it fit’s into Tolstoy’s standards as follows:
- “On the greater or lesser individuality of the feeling transmitted,” (line #30). This specific piece from Montoya gives off a feeling of pain and suffering, but not pain that you can feel it’s one that you see, almost like watching someone else fall or get hurt. This art is, for lack of a better word, strong; this can be inferred because somehow without even seeing a face or any actual person the agony and sorrow felt by the subject is translated to the observer. Personally, I’ve never seen art that has moved me in such a way where I am physically uncomfortable and almost scared to look at it, yet at the same time I am unable to take my eyes away because I want to see and understand more.
2. “On the greater of lesser clearness with which the feeling is transmitted,”( line #30). Malaquias Montoya is best known for his controversial art pieces that contain reoccurring imagery of barbed wire. After studying his work and knowing him personally it can be inferred that the barbed wire in Montoya’s pieces are used to convey involuntary silencing and restraint in turn stripping the subjects away from their own free will. In this specific art piece the sentence on top reads “the immigrants dream, the American response” this tied in with the imagery of a person bound with the American flag, with barbed wire around their head, and the tag “undocumented” on it leads me to believe that this person no longer has any control and is reduced down to only being a title with a little too much control. There is no special way to look at this painting to know all of this information (besides the barbed wire piece), all of these images are put in plain sight and act as a four piece puzzle that leads to the second hand feeling of anguish.
3. “On the sincerity of the artist, I.e., on the greater of lesser force with which the artist himself feels the emotion he transmits,” (line #30). Malaquias Montoya is a man from New Mexico who was raised in California in family of farm laborers. Malaquias has always focused his art as being a form of protest, “depicting the resistance and strength of humanity in the face of injustice and the necessity to unite behind that struggle,” (malaquiasmontoya.com). Montoya has a deep root in fighting for justice and has always been a figure that feels strongly for the people without a voice as he himself was born into a silenced community.
I would say that I do agree with Tolstoy’s definition and view on what art is, but what I do have to say is that it is kind of hard to understand the sincerity of an artist if you don’t know the artist’s backstory. I believe that interpretation of art can change from person to person based on their own paths, therefore to me this is art even if it is kind of hard to put into three categories. One thing for certain is all art carries emotion and some artwork present’s its feelings stronger than others. This strength in emotion can have a direct effect on it’s infection “The stronger the infection, the better is the art as art, speaking now apart from its subject matter, i.e., not considering the quality of the feelings it transmits,” (line #29).
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sources: http://www.malaquiasmontoya.com/malaquias-montoya-about.html http://web.csulb.edu/~jvancamp/361r14.html
Lauren's blog :) 
“it is kind of hard to understand the sincerity of an artist if you don’t know the artist’s backstory.” I appreciate that you said this because this can relate to many more things. A lot of things can be misread, misinterpreted, and straight up trashed on because people don’t know about the person who made it. Great analysis and explanation on your topic!
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I still think it’s so cool that you personally know the artist, and that you were able to ask a question to help deepen your interpretation of the piece. I feel like art is often disregarded because people cannot understand the background and depth, however if everyone were to have the chance to ask artists questions art would be much better interpreted by everyone. But this is impossible, and because of this I agree with your closing statement that its hard to fit all art into three categories, because it is difficult to define all art.
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