Week 10 My art work this quarter

Untitled

Most of my work has some sort of landscape and space set in reality. This quarter I have been focusing on using texture and organic shapes to create drawings that will express how we see the world and interact with it. For example in this piece the landscape in the background becomes broken into segments. Because of the form in the fore ground with its abstract central form the potential issues are hidden.

Although I have a primary interest in existing sceneries is driven by a desire to record the world as realistically as possible I find myself attracted to modern art. It is works like Aaron Douglas’s ‘Aspects of Negro Life: From Slavery Through Reconstruction’ (pg. 1064 Stokstad) that attract me the most. The use of color, texture, shape and form in his work reminds me of this layering affect in breaking up the overall form in segments that are one overall.

Aaron Douglas’s ‘Aspects of Negro Life: From Slavery Through Reconstruction’

Each space in this work is leading into another making his work a cohesive peace. It is overall a portion of reality mixed with a fantasy of the ease that would be created by the artist to “commemorate the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863”(pg. 1064 Stokstad).  This painting is both a commentary on a huge social change in the United States but it is also work of fantasy.

While his work was speaking to the thought pattern and jubilation that would have accompanied a political and social struggle, my work is just being to try to speak to how we need to observe and respect the natural world.  Color is a huge step for me in art and something that I am working on. I really appreciate how the warm colors of Douglas’ work bring the piece together while representing the feeling being expressed by the figures. We the viewer sees them dancing and playing music. From left to right they are marching from slavery to freedom, although the figures are layered in color making the figures seem to be fading into the past.

You can see the world in its entirety at work as a whole in Douglas’s painting. In my drawing you can see that parts of the world is exposed while others are forever hidden.  This is because although we can see the world as a whole in our daily lives we rarely if ever deal with it all at once.  The world is too big to do that. That does not mean that we should not try.

It is a modern thought that we should treat nature with the respect it deserves and learn to look at it in a new light. Nature and man both deserve freedom. For man freedom has come and is celebrated while for nature that time has yet to come.

Jackson Pollock mini research paper

Schapiro an art historian in the 1957 according to the article written by Barbara Jaffee called Jackson Pollock’s Industrial Expressionism, “asserted further that American Avant-Garde painting, i.e., Abstract impressionism, addressed this charge more vigorously than had any Avant-Garde art movement before it., by formulating techniques that wed intention more closely to expression. Among these, according to Schapiro, were spontaneity and an innovative use of line, exemplified by the allover, linear “signature” of Jackson Pollock’s poured canvases of the late 1940’s.” It is just these lines that are in the painting above by Pollack in ink that we have seen in acrylic paint in some of his more famous works.

Pollock was a man whom believed that art could be about nothing more than lines and segmented lines and the feeling of a work could be expressed with no need to add any other elements of traditional art. He was in fact creating a completely abstract work with little or no symbolism settled into reality. The view can almost but not quite see several characters in the lines and spots of ink on the paper. In the lower foreground it would appear that some animal has died a bloody death while two alien like beings battle over the corpse.

However, looking at this work also forces you to look at the idea that an artist can become one with their work. Pollock believed that he had this symbiotic existence with his work. In the article ‘Mythical Overtones in the work of Jackson Pollock he is quoted as saying, “It is only when I lose contact with the painting that the result is a mess. Otherwise there is pure harmony, an easy give and take, and the painting comes out well.” His works are layered one over another making changes as he goes along no thought given to the changes as if they matter not they will be covered and become part of the paintings internal organs you might say.

This ability to get so involved in the work was a way to let the mind go and process the work based entirely on the movements of the body and the lines on the canvas. Pollock was known to walk over the surface of his canvas while he was painting. Using the length of his arm rather than just his hand and wrist to create some of his major canvases and they were major. Our book by Stokstad reveals that another of Pollock’s’ paintings ‘Autumn Rhythm (number 30)’ was 8’ 9” x 17’ 3”. This is a huge work of art all made up of black and white lines on a canvas colored back ground.

Like this ink work on Japanese paper we are seeing a similar color or lack thereof scheme. Done just one year apart we can see that the artist is not held just to the large canvas alone. He is working in the realm of the small as well. There are splatters and drips in both to accompany the simple lines in every direction.  They both seem to have a narrative and yet there is no written word or clear symbols in these works. There is the emotional and physical expression on canvas that conveys the feelings of the artist at the moment in time when the art is being created.

Unlike other artists Pollock is not using recognizable images in his work. The work is timeless and can be numbered as no two are alike. The images discussed in this paper are examples that are without color, 2 or 3 dimensionality, realistic symbolism or it would seem a central focus. They are complete works that study movement. And it is movement that made these paintings possible.

In conclusion, I found the work of Pollock very interesting. The colored drip or poured paintings by this artist are a dazzle of stunning color. That being said I found that the lines and their overlapping presence gives a wonderful one dimensional perspective on what is art. These painting are ones that I could stare at for hours and do not believe that I could find the starting point for the very first or the ending point of the very last line. As striking as they are timeless these pieces will always be appreciated in the art world. Goes to show what lines in painting can do.

Works cited

Image

Untitled by Jackson Pollock. http://img.artknowledgenews.com/files2009b/Jackson_Pollock_Untitled.jpg

Articles

Jackson Pollock’s Industrial Expressionism. Barbara Jaffee.  JSTOR. http://www.jstor.org/stable/4134506?&Search=yes&searchText=jackson&searchText=pollock&list=hide&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3Ffilter%3Djid%253A10.2307%252Fj100093%26Query%3Djackson%2Bpollock%26Search.x%3D0%26Search.y%3D0%26wc%3Don&prevSearch=&item=2&ttl=328&returnArticleService=showFullText

Mythical Overtones in the Work of Jackson Pollock.Edward Levine and Jackson Pollock.Art Journal
Vol. 26, No. 4 (Summer, 1967), pp. 366-368+374(article consists of 4 pages).Published by: College Art Association.

Art History / Stokstad Marilyn and Michael W. Cothren; contributors, Fredrick M. Asher . . .[eg al.].—4^th ed.  Prentice Hall 2011. Pages 

Week 8 Duchamp

In the lecture it was discussed how the “readymades” by Duchamp were considered not art by critics throughout his lifetime and that he had to defend the works by explaining their conceptual significance. I found it very interesting the argument made that by taking the items and removing them from their natural environment or use he was creating art that required you to look at it in a different light. Does it really change just because you put it on the display table in a gallery or does it change because you cause it to no longer be useful?

Take for instance the “Fountain” (pg. 1038 Stokstad). It is the removal from the natural environment for this particular item that makes it so ridiculous and the uproar that it caused that makes it down right funny. Yes, this item could be put into the proper environment and it would no longer be a piece of art. It can be broken and easily replaced. In a sense it can died and be reborn. After all, the artist would be able to pick up another sign it and hand it over for a reasonable price it is essentially mass produced. And it is this mass production with little or no significant changes that brings its status as art into question.

He makes the argument that it is not about who made the item itself it is about how the artist deals with the item. It is the thought put into the piece, the time taken to choose a particular one, and how the artist treats the piece respectfully. It is this argument that seems to hold the most sway.  By giving the artist the right to exhibit the item that new thought placement and conceptualizing the idea of using it for something it was not intended he gave the viewer a new way to look at the world.

This piece has a sick form of humor and is surreal in such a way as to make us take a closer look at a part of life we would rather not deal with. We find it socially unacceptable to discuss our bodily functions. This piece was rejected just based on this reasoning alone and it opened up the discussion what is art, who decides what is art, and who is allowed to call themselves an artist. By exploring these questions something that we are doing even today we are becoming more and more educated about how much further art can go and in what directions can it be taken.  

In taking the risk of using readymade objects and forcing the art community to take a closer look at the world around them and why they make art. Duchamp opened our eyes to the concept of art being more than just about the work but about the idea that brought it into being. As funny as that may sound we are still looking and wondering if this is really art or if Duchamp was pulling one over on us. In my personal opinion I think that it is the artist that decides if a work is art. Also when it comes to readymade or found objects I think that the artist should be careful to consider the concept for the item as well as the idea they have in mind. It could come to pass that you will be fortunate and have your thoughts link up with the ideas of what makes us human and how do we live our lives or you could end up with people arguing over your work if it is conceptually art or not.

Week 6 Gauguin

For the purposes of this blog about Gauguin’s painting, “The Yellow Christ” we can begin by discussing reference, then deference, and finally difference. It could be argued that Gauguin spent a great deal of time exploring the status of the artist and making a comparison to the importance of the common man having the image of God in the form of his son.

Gauguin’s painting, “The Yellow Christ” is a balance of warm and cool colors and from the man leaving in the background the viewer gets the feeling that the artist is implying that Christ will never be taken down. We have three women in the fore ground surrounding the figure with heads bowed in prayer. There is no blood, no gore. The viewer is able to see the symbolic wounds without the guilt of seeing the suffering as in many other works of Christ’s crucifixion. In this field of warm yellows and reds our figures are dressed in whites and blues providing a cooling effect. Reflected in the background in the greens and purples of the hills this is only a temporary feeling however. As there is a great deal more warmth than these hits of cool colors can balance.

By painting himself as the main figure of this work Gauguin is referring to one of the most important moment in Christian beliefs and using himself according to our text as the model. Gauguin is known for his use of his own image in his work and this is a very modern concept. By placing himself as Christ in human form he is implying that he is a, “superior being underpinned the notion of the artist as a courageous ‘independent’ struggling against a philistine public.” This was once a condition of the avant-garde artist.

We have the deference to the impressionist artists in the quick strokes, bright colors, and lack of anatomical correctness that was seen in realist works. The landscape in the background is only minimally in formed and the colors seem to bleed one into another. Aurier discussed the concept of ‘Decorative’ which talks about the distortion of the background in a work. It can be argued that this system of values has a greater quality to add distance in this work. Taking the otherwise flattened form of Christ on the cross and giving him weight.

The main difference is that Gauguin is trying to express a depth of feeling for the romantic side of religion. Where we can leave the blood and gore behind and focus on the gift given to us in this act. We have the opportunity to walk away and the artist expresses this in the distance of the field where we see the man climbing over the wall as if to say I do not care or cannot be bothered.

We are reminded in reference to our connection with the almighty, the deference in using impressionist styles, and the difference of the decorative space created in the background that modern artists are interested in proving why we should pay attention to their work.