Man 

Sue Coe created this disturbing image to protest the meat industry, using watercolor and gouache on paper. Coe belongs to a tradition of socially engaged artists who confront issues like animal rights, labor exploitation, and political oppression. This piece is a critique of the treatment of animals in factory farms. Coe is explicitly commenting on the social structures of her time. The cultural references are clear: the skeletal cows chained, and a single man standing upright near the exit, presumably a worker. The drawing emphasizes the brutal reality of industrial farming, stripping away any romantic notions of rural life. To fully understand Coe’s work, we might research the history of animal rights movements, or delve into the economic policies that incentivize factory farming. Art like this demands that we consider the ethical implications of our choices, and the systems that perpetuate injustice.