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Anger
ca. 1959-1963
66 x 65 in. (167.64 x 165.1 cm)
Wally Hedrick (Pasadena, California, 1928 - 2003, Bodega Bay, California)
Visual Politics: The Art of Engagement, November 20, 2005 - March 5, 2006, New Wing, First Floor, Gibson Family Gallery and Plaza Gallery, San José Museum of Art. Circulated to: Katzen Art Center at American University, Washington, DC, April 9-July 29, 2006.
Visual Politics: The Art of Engagement (2005-2006)
Having served in the Korean War from 1950-51, Wally Hedrick was especially attuned to the political events taking place in Southeast Asia prior to the Vietnam War. This painting is widely documented by scholars as the first painting by an American artist to address the conflict in Vietnam. Its subject refers to the anti-Communist regime of President Ngo Dinh Diem in South Vietnam and Chinese Nationalist Leader Chiang Kai-shek who was driven out of China by Mao Tse-tung. Diem’s regime is represented by a large phallus that plunges into a heart, lips, or vagina suggesting a giant explosion.
The title of the work alludes to Madame Ngo Dinh Nhu, the de facto First Lady of South Vietnam, who sanctioned the suicide of a protesting Buddhist monk after he lit himself on fire and died while meditating in a public square in Saigon. Photographs of the event were widely distributed, to which Madame Nhu responded that she “would clap hands at seeing the sight of another monk barbequed.”
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Wally Hedrick
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Anger
Painting
ca. 1959-196366 x 65 in. (167.64 x 165.1 cm)
Wally Hedrick (Pasadena, California, 1928 - 2003, Bodega Bay, California)
Object Type: Painting
Medium and Support: Oil on canvas
Credit Line: Museum purchase with funds contributed by the Collection Committee
Accession Number: 2005.04
Exhibition
Visual Politics: The Art of Engagement, November 20, 2005 - March 5, 2006, New Wing, First Floor, Gibson Family Gallery and Plaza Gallery, San José Museum of Art. Circulated to: Katzen Art Center at American University, Washington, DC, April 9-July 29, 2006.
SJMA Label Text
Visual Politics: The Art of Engagement (2005-2006)
Having served in the Korean War from 1950-51, Wally Hedrick was especially attuned to the political events taking place in Southeast Asia prior to the Vietnam War. This painting is widely documented by scholars as the first painting by an American artist to address the conflict in Vietnam. Its subject refers to the anti-Communist regime of President Ngo Dinh Diem in South Vietnam and Chinese Nationalist Leader Chiang Kai-shek who was driven out of China by Mao Tse-tung. Diem’s regime is represented by a large phallus that plunges into a heart, lips, or vagina suggesting a giant explosion.
The title of the work alludes to Madame Ngo Dinh Nhu, the de facto First Lady of South Vietnam, who sanctioned the suicide of a protesting Buddhist monk after he lit himself on fire and died while meditating in a public square in Saigon. Photographs of the event were widely distributed, to which Madame Nhu responded that she “would clap hands at seeing the sight of another monk barbequed.”
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Exhibition List
This object was included in the following exhibitions: - Visual Politics: The Art of Engagement , 11/20/2005 - 7/29/2006
Dimensions
- Image Dimensions: 66 x 65 in. (167.64 x 165.1 cm)
Bibliography List
This object has the following bibliographic references: - Art of Engagement: Visual Politics in California and Beyond. Art of Engagement: Visual Politics in California and Beyond San Jose Museum of Art and University of California Press. Berkeley California, 2006
Page Number: 40
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