Black and White 

This artwork, "Black and White" by Scott Fraser, presents a still life tableau of a chair, strewn with paper airplanes, and two posed figures holding aloft similar aircraft. Fraser, a contemporary American artist, often uses hyperrealism to explore themes of cultural history. Here, the contrast between the black and white figures immediately brings racial division to mind. The paper airplanes introduce an element of childhood, suggesting that racial divisions are learned. The use of sheet music for the airplanes adds another layer of meaning. Is the artist commenting on the cultural appropriation of music? Is he using the material to imply that culture can be used for purposes of both communication and conflict, or is it simply a reflection of the artist’s social milieu? As historians, we might look to the artist’s other works, as well as the cultural climate of the United States at the time the artwork was made, to understand its deeper meanings. Art, in this view, is a product of its time and place, and its meaning is always contingent on its social and institutional context.