Essay on a Piece of Art--Rachel King

http://oseculoprodigioso.blogspot.com/2007_05_01_archive.html

I am choosing to write about James Rosenquist’s Vestigial Appendage (1962) taking up a good 72 x 93 ¼ in. in The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles. I was drawn to this canvas oil painting for many reasons. Initially, it was because it’s size and vibrant use of colors. Upon gazing at it for far beyond the time it took for my initial attraction, I started to develop a fondness for the overall message that was being pieced together through its multiple images.

There are six distinct elements/images that make up this piece. In the upper left, there is a greyscale image of a woman’s hand upon what looks like the nape of a neck. Directly to the right of it is a color image of an old-style Pepsi-Cola bottle cap with only the word Cola visible. In the approximate middle of the piece is an upside down, color image of a face only showing the nose and lips in an slightly upturned beckoning smile. The bottom half is comprised of an ambiguous red tint image including another feminine hand and a yellow box with white highlights and a transition to blue. Slightly overlapping both halves is a grey scale upside down image of a waist, hands and, slightly spread legs of a person.

I like the provocative feel to the piece though none of the images is blatantly vulgar in any way. I found I am usually drawn to pieces that are able to achieve this high level of sensuality with the use of seemingly G-rated images. This piece, to me, conveys the feel of 1950s diner days, a time where seduction had a more childlike, subtle quality. The playful choice of color adds to this childlike quality. Vestige (of the word vestigial) can be defined as “a mark, trace, or visible evidence of something that is no longer present or in existence” (dictionary.com). The artist is possibly describing this image as a hint at an era of subtlety that is no longer as present as it was we images were more censored.