As the general “I” I would like to state that the general “we,” upon being confronted with those artworks inspired by Consumerism are left in a disconcerting state of uncertainty. A world built around the conventional imagery of product advertisements, cultist celebrity followers, and everyday consumption practices, consumerist art is inherently rooted in present social context, mirroring the dominant cultural values and making comments on the world we live in. While painting “A Girl For Sale” I found myself inadvertently applying a borderline excessive amount of references to contemporary modern day media as well as those brutally eminent authorities, in particular one undignified demagogue and his unsettling red tie, and their mindless followers that carry out orders in an automaton like state. The intended purpose behind “A Girl For Sale” was to create an interpretive and personal form of not so rose tinted goggles; the purpose was to share my views on Today’s world. Today’s world is where everything is accessible, the general we, have failed to realize that we, the human race will be the bringers of our own mass destruction. Humans have and always will have basic survival needs such as food, and shelter but as society has grown wealthier and less feral our appetites have evolved, we have become hyper focused on acquiring material possessions for reasons other than survival, this results in the consumption where humans have made the consuming a necessity in their action of outstripping resources available to meet the needs of the world’s demand. Any form of art that deals with consumerist imagery cannot be interpreted outside of the given context, but what and where is the message? Now that we have established where and why we desire this power it’s time to question how we have it or more accurately how we show it. What shows off power like ownership? Ownership of a seemingly humiliated girl who both hides her face in shame like a child being shuffled from one horridly venal and horribly weak person to the next. The dehumanizing and antagonizing punishment of being prescribed the role of some narrow-minded, avaricious pig’s pet. Men hang around this hidden girl in a variety of colors one farther down in the corner with a light blue shade and hazy eyes the sickly man represents the weak link in a chain of tormentors, a man with remaining conscience but no real authoritative power or true desire to risk any form of loss. Despite the blue man's knowledge it is wrong he is too weak willed to deter anyone from their commodifying ways. This girl in a sea of powerful faces represented by bold colors feels dull, soulless, and powerless. To these men she is not a girl, she is not someone's daughter or friend, she is a material object for them to consume, they fetishizes her body in order to distance the viewer from the subject. She is stripped of her lively colors and harsh brush strokes because she is stripped of her name, of her life, and of her person entirely. Ultimately it seems that not only material items but also the general we, has become a commodity to be bought and sold, meaning that consumerism has not only intertwined itself with all aspects of American culture but has also managed to devour and spit out the very thing that created it.
About the artist: Rosie Pertofsky, the artist of "A Girl For Sale" is a sixteen year old girl born and raised in Los Angeles, California. She's been painting and drawing since she was a child and has never before presented her work to the world. Rosie paints to showcase the immortals of capitalism and the price of humanity that are often lost in society as well as general expression of herself. She hopes that her work can inspire her audience to leave their comfort zone through art.
