The artists in this article have demonstrated that if art doesn’t change society, it definitely has a very strong impact upon it. Kara Walker and Willie Cole both used their art to show the history and heritage of African Americans in two very different but affective ways. Willie Cole used various brands of irons surrounding an ironing board to represent the numerous tribes that came from Africa on slave ships to the United States. Kara Walker uses a much different means of art to represent slavery in the United States. Walker uses large black cutouts on white backgrounds that give a simple and playful yet disturbing picture of the life of slaves and other African Americans.
Other artists use their art to commentate on the society of today. Jacques Lipchitz used the old Greek myth of Prometheus and the vulture as a starting point, but showed Prometheus strangling the vulture, demonstrating that democracy would triumph over fascism, giving his art a political angle. Adrian Piper and Jana Sterbak both challenged the role of gender and race in society. Adrian Piper, an African American woman often mistaken to be white, constantly challenged the public to realize their position and role in society in her art. Sterbak challenges the idea of perfect women in society with her work Vanitas: Flesh Dress for an Albino Anorectic. The meat that makes the dress eventually dries and wrinkles just as human skin but also sends a message to women with eating disorders, for whom the dress was made. Although art may not completely change society, it can drastically change the way the public thinks or feels. While these artists and their works may not have caused revolutions, they may have made people jump into action to change the world around them for the better.