I remember various works of student art that I saw at school and that caught my interest. Let me share some of the ones that I remember, why not leave some record of these anonymous old works that would otherwise be completely lost to posterity.
In Grade One (1985/6 shool year), another class had these big drawings displayed in the hallway, made as if on a template, where Mickey Mouse’s head was placed on a big muscular human body. One was styled as Superman, another as a Rambo-like figure with a bare torso, stitches across at least one bicep, and holding something like a two-man saw behind his head.
In Grade 8, we had an afternoon where students from local high schools came to sell us on their school, in part by showing their artwork. One of these was a poster or book cover that showed a man shrouded in a dark cape and a large hat, holding a fairy-like young woman with green hair in his arms. It bore the caption “The Prince of Darkness”. I have researched works bearing this title, and have not found anything in the popular media bearing this title that would connect to this image. I therefore believe that this was an original student work, and don’t know the story behind it.
Also in Grade 8, I was in the school choir. On or about Earth Day, we went to a choir festival at another middle school, which was held in that school’s combined cafeteria / auditorium. There was a big environmentally-themed mural, which included the rather odd illustration of a cartoonish-looking moose. As I remember, he wore overalls and smoked a cigarette from which the smoke enveloped a globe. Nearby was a bald eagle that looked dead.
In Grade 9, in my homeroom / Latin classroom, there were various Classics-themed paintings made by students. One painting showed a grove somewhere in Ancient Greece, with a statue-like man in the middle. Around him were dancing these naked women, whose pale white skin and purple hair made them look ghostly, even more so as their facial features did not seem to be borne out too clearly. Grape vines grew all around, including on the sail of a ship in the distance. I asked my teacher what the picture represented, and she said it was the god of wine Bacchus (his Roman name. His original Greek name was Dionysus). The women would have been “maenads” or “bacchantes”, his worshippers. This picture was done in quite a spooky way, but it was an excellent composition, rather reminiscent of Surrealist paintings from the 20th century. It sparked an interest in that Greek god in me (fun fact: Alexander the Great’s mother was a Dionysus worshipper, and she apparently frightened her husband by bringing snakes into the marital bed).
Do you remember any interesting pieces done by some of your schoolmates?