Jacinta Bunnell…a Medal for Honesty
by Jay Blotcher
“It was hard for me to justify making art until I made activist art,” Jacinta Bunnell explains, standing in her Rosendale apartment, surrounded by artwork that covers the bright green walls. While the term “activist art” refers to the political content of her work, it equally refers to the active role that art plays in every aspect of her life. Whether creating a Christmas postcard with neighbors that slaps at the Bush administration and hustling evangelists, conducting art workshops for children or cavorting as a tutu-ed sprite in the Woodstock Film Festival’s promotional short last autumn, Jacinta Shirley Bunnell’s life remains indivisible from her artwork.
A gallery show of Bunnell’s recent artwork, including paintings and collage work, will be displayed throughout May at Bagel Benders in Kingston.
If the notion of activist art summons up images of message-heavy manifestos reeking of self-righteousness, take heart. Bunnell is best known for a series of coloring books for children. “Girls will be boys will be girls” (co-authored with Irit Reinheimer, Soft Skull Press, 2004) and “Girls are not Chicks” (co-authored with Julie Novak, girlsnotchicks.com, 2007) flirt with brilliance by raising powerful issues in a format typically known for touchy-feely irrelevance.
Following the Marshall McLuhan dictum that “the medium is the message,” these coloring books are designed to entice children before everyday prejudices have congealed in their minds. The books proffer messages about respecting diversity and advocate defiance of the gender and sexual roles that strait-jacket our country. At worst, Bunnell’s books are capable of fomenting personal sanity and self-expression. Dangerous concepts these days. CONTINUE... |
