Roché
Rabie
If You Knew Me. If You Knew Yourself. You Would Not Kill Me.
The image on the left is part of John Keanes' series: If You Knew Me. If You Knew Yourself. You Would Not Kill Me.
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Introduction
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This piece is the third part of John Keanes series If you Knew me, if you Knew Yourself painted in from March 2015-September 2016. All of the pieces have the same title, and are painted with oil paint on cotton duck or linen. If you Knew me, if you Knew Yourself (3) is 100 x 100 cm which is one of the smallest paintings in the series.
I decided to analyse John Keanes work as it provides a raw and uncut view into what life was like during the Rwandan Genocide. For my project I would like to do something relating to child assault (verbal, physical and/or sexual) and by showing the viewer the message in a subtle way lessens the likelihood of people being offended. This piece inspired me to have a deeper meaning to my piece as at first glance this painting seems to be of blue and white shirt, however when you look closely you see that the shirt is very creased and placed in an awkward position. This could allude to the fact that whoever wore this shirt could have been badly injured or killed.
Visual Response
My first reaction to this work was shock. This is because the shirt seemed to be a child's shirt and the way it was creased and the contrast between the background and shirt alluded that the child was no longer there.
The first word that came into my mind was grief, because if this something had happened to the child who owned the shirt, their parents or family would be looking for them.
At first glance this painting seems to be of blue and white shirt, however when you look closely you see that the shirt is very creased and placed in an awkward position. This could allude to the fact that whoever wore this shirt could have been badly injured or killed.
The right side of the painting draws my attention first at is much lighter than the right side and shows more detail of the shirt.
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Emotional Response
This piece makes one feel downhearted as people often connote children with innocence and purity. By seeing this image with the allusion that the child may have died one becomes quite melancholic as this child had a much shorter life than they were supposed to.
Memory or Experience
This piece reminds me of the National September 11 Memorial in Manhattan, New York. At first glance the memorial seems to be two waterfalls however once you get closer you see all the names of people who died engraved onto the sides. This is similar to the painting because as mentioned before at first glance the painting seems simple however once you look closer, you see the deeper meaning.
The Artist
John Keane is a British artist born in Harpenden, Hertfordshire, England on 12 September 1954. His artwork focuses on military, social and political issues in the world. He has been appointed by the Imperial War Museum, Greenpeace Organization and Mo Mowlan (former Secretary of State for Northern Ireland) to name a few.
The painting series If you Knew me, if you Knew Yourself was not commissioned by anyone but rather inspired after Keane travelled to Rwanda.
"In March 2015 during my time as Artist in Residence at the School of International Relations, St Andrews University, I travelled to Rwanda with a group of staff and students examining the genocide that took place there in 1994. Between April and July that year approximately 800,000 people are estimated to have been slaughtered, mostly by hand, over the course of 100 days. These paintings emerged from that visit. The title came from a banner draped across the altar in one of the churches I visited where around 5000 people had been massacred."
If you Knew me, if you Knew Yourself (3) shows a glimpse of the social history during the war by providing visual evidence of what lay scattered in the streets, buildings and houses during the genocide. Although Keane was alive while the genocide happened, by visiting the memorials in Rwanda, he was able to see how badly the country was affected and how severe the social injustice was at the time. The year that Keane painted the series was 21 years after the genocide and could be significant as 21 can represent the harmony of creation, which is contrasting to the genocide.
Ideas & Intentions
In this painting I believe that Keane is trying to express the pain that the people of Rwanda experienced after the genocide. By using children's clothes he conveys the message that everyone was affected by this event and people did not have mercy on anyone, even children. This shows how brutal and savage-like people became and that even though we were not affected by it we should have at least felt empathy for these people that were being mercilessly slaughtered.
Formal Elements
Subject Matter
The focal point of this piece is a white and blue striped shirt. This is because Keane painted it to strongly contrast the black background. He chose a clothing piece as in many of the memorials one will see clothes next to the bones of victims of the genocide. Since the shirt as quite small one perceives that it was an item of clothing belonging to a child that may have been killed or lost during the genocide.
Composition
At first glance the painting seems to be symmetrical, however when you look closely you realize that there are two different patterns on the shirt (1 stripe on the left and 3 stripes on the right). This relates to the history of the genocide as the Hutus made up the majority of the population and were killing the Tutsis, which were the minority if the population in Rwanda. On the left side of the painting the shirt begins to fade out were as on the right side the lines are more defined and could be alluding to how the Tutsi population was deteriorating.
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Materials/Techniques/ Processes
Keane used oil paint on an cotton duck canvas. He didn't use many special techniques besides shading and streaking (white paint strips across canvas) to give it a older quality. This also makes it seem like an old movie, which could allude to the fact that many people didn't accept that the genocide happened as from the view of other countries it seemed to brutal to be real. This also relates to survivors as many people hoped that it would turn out to nightmare instead of a brutal reality.
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Mood/Atmosphere/ Environment
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Melancholic
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Griefful
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Contrasting
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Riveting
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Agony
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Mourning
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Innocence
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Solitariness
​Colour
In the painting Keane only utilises 3 colors; blue, white and black. I believe he used these colors in a symbolic way to reveal more about society's views on the genocide. White usually means purity, youth and cleanliness which is the opposite of the events that occurred, this could symbolise the views on people in Rwanda before the genocide. Blue can be used to symbolise trust, loyalty, wisdom, confidence, intelligence, faith, truth, and heaven, which relates to the genocide as many believed that the Tutsis lacked these qualities and would not go to heaven as they had opposite beliefs. Lastly the color black is seen as the color of death as it is worn to funerals and used to describe scary and unhuman beings or thoughts. By using contrasting colors the shirt stands out and draws one's eyes to notice the finer details, conveying more of Keanes message. This also creates a mood of mixed emotions as blue and white are seen as happy colors, where as black is seen as depressing and melancholic. ​
Concluding Response
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I decided to look at this piece as it was thought provoking and unique. While analysing this piece I realised that it was not what I thought it was at first glance. I like to think of this piece as a caterpillar as at first it seemed very simple, but once you unravel the layers of meaning you were left with a beautiful piece that displayed the brutal truth about the Rwandan genocide. By using contrasting meanings in the painting Keane may be alluding to what society believes about the genocide and what really happened. This relates to my piece as I would like mine to have a deep meaning showing society's views about rape vs. what it really is. I want to poke out stereotypes behind rape culture and show how they impact rape survivors, but I also want my piece to be simple like Keanes. I admired the simplicity in this piece but also how Keane ensured that people would try to understand more about it to convey his message to as many people as possible. The most important thing that I learnt through researching this piece is that one cannot begin to comprehend the severity of someone's situation without being in the same place as they are. Although Keane did not experience the genocide himself he was able to see the effects it had on life afterwards and the path of destruction that was left behind and represent these emotions through his paintings.
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If you Knew me, if you Knew Yourself (3) has inspired me to use a collage of images to portray contrasting views on rape culture to provide people with a balanced view on this social problem.