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Virginia Commonwealth University
Thin Blue Line • Public Art Defacement • Police Intimidation • Black Lives Matter
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Art & Oppression: “Thin Blue Line”, Kade Mcgrail
Art & Oppression: “Thin Blue Line”, Kade Mcgrail
AUCTUS: The Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Scholarship
In 2005, a sculpture titled “Thin Blue Line” was installed on the side of Richmond’s new Police Department Headquarters. The piece is made of metal bands woven together to resemble a giant face that looms a story above the road below it. Considering Richmond’s past use of public art as expressions of power, alongside the political evolution of the term “thin blue line,” this article seeks to deconstruct what this work conveys to its community and how it is received by its community. The aesthetic tradition both the piece and the artist evoke is Italian Futurism—a movement proven to be …