Sue Coe, English
Pig Escapes Slaughterhouse, early 21st century
This painting is a representation of a memory from the artist’s childhood, as the caption at the top explains. Sue Coe lived in a neighborhood with a slaughterhouse, and used to watch helplessly as pigs escaped and eventually were recaptured. The distraught and twisted faces of the animals and cramped conditions portray Coe’s firsthand perception of the cruelty carried out through the meat industry. The stillness of the mother and daughter contrasted with the fleeing pig at their feet can represent the helplessness she and many others feel when confronted with this cruelty. She has since created a series of works titled "Graphic Witness” exploring the grief she felt as a child, spreading awareness, and working to incite a change in conditions in the meat industry. Label by Jackson Schiminger