©R.O. Blechman
In his 2008 parody of Freedom from Fear by Norman Rockwell, created for Thoughts on Democracy, an exhibition inspired by Norman Rockwell’s Four Freedoms at Wolfsonian FIU[1], Blechman’s reworking of a Rockwell image acknowledges some of the challenges that assail the contemporary every man: foreclosure, stolen identity, recession, bad cholesterol, terrorist attack, and taxes, as opposed to those detailed in Rockwell’s World War II era painting: bombings, kill, horror, hit. To communicate the immensity of these issues, Blechman’s father figure looks out of the picture frame at those of us viewing it, while Rockwell’s father gazes down at his children. Rockwell couched his Four Freedoms illustrations in personal and private terms. Blechman’s decision to pose the father figure looking back at the audience broadens the realm of personal fear into every man’s fear.
[1] The Wolfsonian FIU challenged 60 artists and designers to create contemporary responses to Norman Rockwell’s 1943 Four Freedoms paintings.
