UNION, UNION - 1956
A monochromatic depiction of police violence executed in shades of red ochre, Union Union was made for the new Retail Clerks International Union (REIU) building in Hollywood.
Van Sant received the commission while an MFA student at the LA County Art Institute (now Otis College of Art and Design), when he won a competition held among graduate art students in Los Angeles and vicinity.
In the center of the image, two mounted officers rain baton blows onto the bent backs of three men, one of whom is shoeless. A fourth man fights back. In the lower left, two hard-hatted miners work with pickaxes. Hands intrude into the frame above the miners. Beyond them, two roughly sketched figures point a cylindrical weapon at a third, who falls backwards.a
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Retail Clerks International Union (REIU)
Local 707 5955 Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles, California
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1957
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N/A
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Oil paint on canvas
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Unknown
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Unknown
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Retail Clerks International Union, Local 707
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Unknown. (The building still stands, but no longer houses REIU, Local 770. )
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TVS digital records.
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Van Sant received this commission while studying for his MFA at the Los Angeles County Art Institute (now Otis Art Institute), when he won a competition held among graduate art students in Los Angeles and vicinity. It was made for the REIU’s new building in Hollywood. The raw canvas visible in the photograph’s upper right edge and the unfinished appearance of some of the figures suggest that it may record a sketch or a grisaille stage in the work. Alternatively, unresolved aspects of the work may result from student inexperience.
