We have studied this sculpture in class and this is what some of my 14-year-old pupils think:

Emilie : "This is a picture. On this photo I can see a sculpture of an American woman pushing a shopping cart full of junk food. This sculpture looks real. The sculptor is Duane Hanson.

Supermarket Lady by Duane HANSON, 1969-70

The woman isn't elegant, she is overweight. She is unattractive. She doesn't seem cheerful. She isn't smiling. She is middle-aged, maybe she is in her forties.  She is wearing a pink top, a blue skirt and light blue slippers. She has got  a yellow necklace, a bracelet and a black handbag. She has got curlers in her hair and she has a yellow scarf on her head. She is smoking a cigarette.

In her trolley there is so much bad food. For example, there is chocolate, sugar, cans, cakes but she doesn't buy fruits and vegetables ! I think she rarely does the cooking. Maybe she is a couch potato.

Duane Hanson wanted to denounce mass consumption in the USA in the 60's.

I like this sculputure because it is realistic, but I don't like it because the woman is ugly. So, I don't know if I like this sculpture or not."

Théo : " Duane Hanson was a Pop art artist. He wanted to criticize overconsumption and the consumer society."

Alice : "Duane Hanson was an American sculptor. He was born in 1925 and he died in 1996."

Paul : "The woman is unattractive. She is pushing a trolley full of fatty food in a supermarket."

Mathilde H. : "The woman is horrible. She is chubby."

Clarice : "The sculpture seems real."

Mathilde L. : "The full-scale sculpture is 1,66 m tall. The woman always eats fast food and she never eats healthy food. She should go on a diet or she should do sport !"

Justine : "I don't like this sculpture because it is not beautiful."

These texts were written by the pupils without any help. They didn't use the internet nor their notebooks.

To learn more about Duane Hanson, click here.

To discover more sculptures by Duane Hanson, click here.