Assignment #9: Museum of Modern Art

Abstract Expressionism

Abstract Expressionism came about during the 1940's and 1950’s. Artist of the time painted expressively, stylistically innovative and personal styles. Inspiration was gained from the motives and methods of Surrealism. A major artist in this movement was Jackson Pollock. He had a very unique style of painting; he created canvases with by laying them flat on the floor and just dripping paint on to them. By using this technique he was able to enter the space of the painting physically and psychologically. “On the floor I am more at ease, I feel nearer, more a part of the painting since this way I can walk around it, work from the four sides and literally be in the painting.” – Jackson Pollock  

His painting above: “One: Number 31” from 1950 incorporates his drip painting unique style/method. The colors in this painting seem to contrast with one another. He uses a tan canvas and drips paint in the shades white, black, and a darker tone of tan. The canvas measures 8’10” x 17’5 5/8”.

Pop Art

Pop Art was inspired by Neo Dada. Pop Art was a movement that wanted to challenge cultural assumptions. Pop artists created cool, mechanical images with techniques such as photographic screen printing and airbrush to achieve characteristics of mass produced imagery like advertising, food labels, and comic books. An example of this kind of art is Andy Warhol’s “Campbell’s Soup Can” of 1962. The picture displays thirty two canvases of Campbell Soup Cans sold by the Campbell Soup Company. The cans are aligned in 4 rows consisting of 8 cans in each, the can are place horizontally creating a pattern in placement. The way each canvas is aligned makes it seem like if the cans are actually being displayed on shelves at the grocery store or supermarket giving the customer numerous varieties of soups to choose from. The picture has a strong use of the color white and red. Each individual canvas measures 20 x 16”.

Robert Gober

Robert Gober’s Exhitbition at MOMA "The Heart is Not a Metaphor" includes more than fifty sinks that he created between 1983 and 1986. The sinks referred to part of the everyday world. The earliest sink sculptures were based on real sinks. One of the sinks was inspired by one in the artist’s childhood home. The sinks were built from wood, plaster, and wire lath. The sinks final touch was applying multiple coats of paint to mimic the appearance of the enamel. All sinks were plain white and lacked faucets and plumbing.

 

Assignment #8: Postmodern & Global Art

David Altmejd

                    “Sometimes I feel like there’s brains in my hands.” –David Altmejd

David Altmejd is a Canadian sculptor born in 1974. He mentions that he is Jewish and gay and his talent gave him confidence. When Altmejd creates sculptures he believes that there is no point in creating sketches because he does not see any difference between drawing his ideas on paper and just gluing pieces together. He states that 95% of his relationship with his work is work in progress. He likes the idea of trusting the work, trusting the material, and trusting that every little step will determine the next one.

Altmejd is not interested in language instead he is interested in venting language. He believes he can do this through art because art encourages the invention of language. As a kid Altmejd was fascinated by art because he could make exist whatever he wanted in the art world.

When making a sculpture he first deals with the material then he injects his sensibility in it to give it a certain “flavor” which determines what color he will chose to paint it. He is very attracted to pastel colors like lavender, pink and mint green and to cause a balance in color he uses dirt colors. Altmejd doesn’t want his sculptures to be just illustrations, he wants to try to build an object that is complex enough and that has enough layers, references and energy to make it feel like it is alive. But by making it feel alive he is not interested in representing life instead he is interested in making objects function like living things so that they will fell like they are alive. He wants the sculpture to develop the capacity of developing its own meaning.

The Vessel

Altmejd feels that in his piece The Vessel there is a religious feel to it. The Vessel has a symmetrical shape to it and it makes a strong reference to the body.

The Swarm

This piece Altmejd considers being more like a landscape and less of a body because it is not symmetrical. The shape floating in space makes it very soft. The softness is balanced out with its aggressive potential. 

The Watchers

This sculpture is an angel figure, but not necessarily with the features of a cliché angel that has wings. Instead Altmejd incorporates ears with winged like features. Altmejd is very interested in Orifices. A body filled with orifices has the purpose of hearing sound. The idea of senses is incorporated by adding ears and hands. The use of ears suggests that the body is ultra sensitive with sound and the use of ears suggests the sense of touch or feeling.  

Assignment #7: Dada Collage

Assignment #6: Early 20th Century

1.     Describe a dada artwork.     

The dada movement began in protest of World War I. The two syllable word dada was used to describe this movement because it was well suited for expressing the essence of attitude, not a style. Dada was a rebellious attitude rather than a cohesive style. It was a way of criticizing society through art. Dadaist who experienced the horror of WWI believed that the world no longer made sense therefore they rejected all accepted moral, social, political and aesthetic values.  Dada artwork was made with cheap noncollectable materials.

                                   

The art work above named ABCD by Raoul Hausmann is a self portrait. Below Hausmann’s face is an announcement of his performance of a phonetic poem. The letters VOCE (Italian for “voice”) appear inside an earlike ellipse. The letters ABCD, a prototypical poem, are clinched to his teeth. The tickets to the Kaiserjubilee in his hat indicate the empty formalities of the social milieu in which he functioned, while the intentionally provocative gynecological diagram alludes to the organic necessity of his art.

2.     What were the influences of Jacob Lawrence?

Jacob Lawrence was influenced by the Harlem Renaissance, African American history and European modernist. Lawrence’s art incorporated brilliant use of color, flat space and the use of pattern. Lawrence referred to his style as “dynamic cubism”.

                               

The art work above Pool Parlor by Jacob Lawrence portrays flat geometric shapes. There is exaggeration of the limbs and gestures. The Shoemaker also by Lawrence shows flatness of geometric shapes and incorporates cubism and vibrant colors.  

Assignment #5: Impressionism and Post Impressionism

Impressionism      

       

Impressionist opposed romantic ideals and instead portrayed contemporary life. They would paint outdoor to portray what the eye sees rather than what the mind knows. Impressionists painted landscapes and ordinary scenes. The canvases were painted quickly under shifting conditions, seasons and times of the day. Impressionist art was painted as what traditional painters might have made sketches.

The canvases By the Seashore and Girl with a Watering Can by Pierre-Auguste Renoir are great examples of impressionist art. Both paintings seem to be painted during the day and include a landscape. By the Seashore includes of landscape behind the girl of what appears to be a garden. A Girl with a Watering Can includes a landscape of the sea. Both paintings also seem to be painted by strokes. This means that close up the painting appears as separate strokes of paint but when seen from a distance the object becomes visible.

Post Impressionism

Post impressionist believed in the interpretation of nature. They wanted to incorporate not to see things, but to see through them at a point where it became significant and reality deeper than what superficial appearance gave. Characteristics of this kind of paintings are: bold simplified shapes, flat color areas, the strong use of line and color, linear rhythm, avoiding distraction cause by implied deep space, and flattening out depth of space.

In the canvas Starry Night Over the Rhone by Vincent van Gogh we see rhythmical linear strokes and a strong use of line and color.

Assignment #4: The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Baroque Art

Baroque Art shows great energy and feeling. There is a dramatic use of light, scale and balance. The baroque period includes the seventeenth century and most of the eighteenth century. In Italy Baroque was used to refer to art that arose around the 1600 and spread throughout Europe during the next two hundred years. An example of Baroque art is the painting to the left named The Denial of Saint Peter by Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio from Milan, Italy. The painting was painted around the year 1610. In the painting we see Peter being pointed at by one finger of the Roman soldier and two fingers of the woman. The woman is accusing Peter of being a follower of Jesus and Peter denies it three times. The three fingers can represent the number of times Peter denied Jesus. The dramatic use of light and darkness was Caravaggio’s formal element in this painting. He used the focus of light to show the subject of the painting which in this case is Peter. The light is focused on Peter mainly to show that he is guilty of what he is being accused of.

The Renaissance

The Renaissance was a time of discovery and rediscovery of the world and of human beings. The period began to take shape in the fourteenth century but reached its clear beginning in the early fifteenth century and came to an end in the early seventeenth century. During the Renaissance a new philosophical, literary and artistic movement called humanism began. Humanism is the philosophy or attitude concerned with the interests, achievements and capabilities of human beings rather than with the abstract concepts and problems of theology or science. It was a shift from religious to humankind. Humanism portrays feelings and human nature of human beings in humanistic art. An example of Renaissance art is the painting to the right named Madonna and Child by Filippino Lippi from Florence, Italy. This artwork was painted about 1483-84 for the wealthy Florentine banker Filippo Strozzi. Madonna can be said to represent Mary and the Child to represent baby Jesus. The artwork shows Madonna’s adoration and love for the child. In addition to the feelings portrayed a formal element would be the use of color, the richness of color brings out the emotion and refines the beauty of Madonna and the Child. In the artwork we also see depth of space, we are able to see a landscape of which is suggested to be the countryside around the Strozzi villa near Florence. 

Renaissance & Baroque Art

1.  What is humanism?

Humanism is the philosophy or attitude concerned with the interests, achievements and capabilities of human beings rather than with the abstract concepts and problems of theology or science. It was a shift from religious to humankind. Humanism portrays feelings and human nature of human beings in humanistic art.  

In the portrait above called The Three Graces by Peter Paul Rubens, Rubens draws three plus sized woman who portray the emotion of happiness. In addition he creates a sense of comfort amongst the three women while being naked. He portrays human nature by drawing all three women naked which defines their beauty physically.

2.  What are some of the qualities of Jan Van Eyck’s paintings?

Jan Van Eyck was the first Netherlandish painter to achieve international fame

He was a big user of visual symbolism.

In his portrait Giovanni Arnolfini and his Bride the use of color is used to highlight realism. The objects and things surrounding the couple are used for symbolism. The single lighted candle in the chandelier symbolizes the presence of Christ, the amber beads and the sunlight shining through them are symbols of purity, the dog symbolizes marital fidelity, the puffiness of her dress symbolizes her willingness for children and the color green symbolizes fertility.

3.  Describe the qualities of Baroque art in an artwork of your choice.

Baroque art shows great energy and feeling, a dramatic use of light, scale and balance.

In the portrait above called The Raising of the Cross by Peter Paul Rubens we see a dramatic use of light being used on Jesus. The light creates a focus on his pain and his willingness to give up his life. Realism is brought to the picture through dog on the bottom left of the portrait and the muscular men lifting the cross. There is balance in the picture with the use of color. The bright red is balanced out with the dark blue green and purple.