Self-Portrait

My first inspiration I chose Self Portrait on a Paper Bag by Joe Monica consists of line and shapes that create the features of the face. The technique that the artist used was very interesting. If you magnified one area you would lose the features of the face and only have a design.

My second inspiration piece is Camera picta (Camera degli sposi), Pilaster; Self Portrait by Andrea Mantegna. I like how the artist becomes one with the artwork. He is one with nature because he is part of a plant stem.

My third inspiration piece is Self-Portrait by Andy Warhol. I chose this one because of the vibrant colors that creates the piece to have energy. Also, I like the screenprint process Warhol uses.

I used computer software to create the effects and printed it on canvas. Then I added acrylic paint to the canvas. These are two mediums I like to create with. I used the acrylic to emphasize the features that I like, which is my hair, eyelashes, and lips. 

The challenges I had with this project were how I was going to represent myself. I thought of painting myself, photograph, and working with my reflection. I just had my 20 year reunion last weekend and I decided to play with the image that was taken on that day and my senior portrait. I worked this idea over and over. I chose to split my face in half because the other half will be created as I go on with life also I believe I’m more confident that back in school so I made the face close-up. I put my senior portrait to represent my eye because that person is still part of my soul.

I used line in the eyelashes and to accent the hair. Color is used in my hair and my lips. The image in my eye seems to pull your attention in first and then your eyes look at the whole.

I did not like this project because I had a hard time representing myself. It’s not my favorite but I’m satisfied with it. I had so many options started and really didn’t like any of them. So this is my final image.

Reflections of AED 200

Vega-Nor, Victor Vasarely, acrylic on canvas, 1969

My expectation of this course was to learn to analyze art. I believe I have learned a lot but still it is difficult not to discuss your preferences while analyzing. Also, I was hoping this class was going to ease me back into school mode and I believe it has but still intimidated to go back in a few weeks. Writing papers is what scares me the most. My last three years at UB were all studio classes so it has been a long time. Art is a creative process that uses the elements and principles of design. My favorite artist is still Victor Vasarely. His use of color, shape, and lines is amazing to create the optical illusion on canvas. The online course was a lot of work but I would definitely do it again. I proved to myself I could stay focused and not fall behind.

Reflection on Art Criticism Article

I chose Debbie Russell’s exhibit How Bizarre…How Bizarre out of four exhibits I looked at. Surrealism is a favorite of mine because I like the thought of the unconscious creating these works. The mind is a very intriguing in the psychological aspect of it. My biggest obstacle of this article was just getting started. I knew once I started I would finish in a reasonable time. Critiquing my peers doesn’t bother me. If you are an art student you get accustom to the process and you take the input to make the project better or take that information to the next project. You cannot look at it as a negative comment. I would like to see what my peers said about my exhibit. I would rate my article an 8. I think I gave the reader a good insight into the exhibit but I’m no Clement Greenberg either. I did not like this project at all. I don’t know if it’s because it is the last week or because I hate writing papers. Once I wrote it I did feel better about it and glad it is done.

Art Criticism Videos

Lavender Mist, Jackson Pollock, oil on canvas, oil, enamel and aluminum on canvas, 1950

I chose Greenberg on Pollock: An Interview by T.J. Clark. Pollock created his first drip painting in the summer of 1947. When he received the Guggenheim Award, he said he was making art that lies between the easel and murals. Greenberg believed Pollock expressed himself very well and never listen to the critics. What Pollock meant by easel art is the typical contained artwork; it stops at the edges of the canvas. Pollock would find his edges once he stretched the canvas. Greenberg said Pollock’s work wasn’t Dionysian work because there are all kinds of order and the only demand on art is good art. Greenberg said it is Apollonian art because it had an open, lyrical and achieved feeling. Pollock would reject some paintings because they were not pleasing to the eye. Sometimes he would fix them and others he left. Artists felt isolated in art and the world as a whole. They didn’t get the celebrity status as they wished for but Pollock wasn’t going to sell himself out either. He produced about one painting a year. In his last year of life he came to some conclusions, he wasn’t going to become an art school painter, he didn’t look at Impressionists enough, and he always wanted a romantic death, which he got.

The next video I watched was Greenberg on Art Criticism: An Interview by T.J. Clark. Greenberg was quoted as saying “writing about visual art is much tougher than writing about literature or music.” He would reread Tovay so he could refocus and be relevant to the piece and not add his opinion. He said his preferences do come out but he tries to hold them in. He accepts art when it is good. He believes that you don’t need art history just receptive to be a critical. After WWII, there was an art boom and abstract paintings were not private anymore but the public had the respect to enjoy the art even if they didn’t understand it. Greenberg believes art cannot be good unless the artist has a lot of world experience. In modern art, certain artists proved themselves but not the classification as a whole. He believes value of judgment comes first.

Pavilion of Algeria

The last video was The Colonial Encounter: Views of Non-Western Art and Culture. The Paris 1900 World Fair lasted 8 months and had 15 million visitors. The colonial exhibit showed nationalism but colonies of France did not get the same treatment. For each country represented they used famous monuments of that country. Dahome did not look like that; their structures were made out of thatch, straw, and mud. They showed them as barbarians with pictures of violence against each other so who said they wouldn’t treat outsiders that way. Now the Algerian exhibit consisted of two palaces. France colonized Algeria longer than Dahome. At their exhibit, you could dine and taste wines. They had a street market were you could buy artifacts or souvenirs. Arab women were depicted as promiscuous because of their belly dancing. Now African men and women were displayed in cages with animals with no clothes on. Europeans justified it because they believed it was being used as a scientific and artistic study. If you look at the women’s faces they didn’t want to be shown like that. Trocadero Museum was the heart of the colonial exhibit and emphasized racial differences. Today, former French colonies are independent but are still linked to the West by politics and economy. Exhibits within the museum had no cultural information on them so viewers look at it as art not cultural objects. The up side of it is as being displayed as art in Western collections, descendants can appreciate the original object.

All three videos relate to the art criticism project. Clement Greenberg was a famous critic in his day. I enjoyed knowing he still had difficulty separating his preferences from critiquing a work of art. Also, that he told Pollock not to listen to the critics but he was one. The Colonial Encounter video shows us how curators of exhibits can influence the public by the way they display it. The films were interesting. They do help a little more to understand how to critique our peers. I’ve been critiqued many times on my work but this seems different and more difficult.

Snapshot Reflections Journal

To create this project, I first decided on a theme, which is Photorealism. I researched on the internet for artists and made a list of them that peaked my interest. I downloaded about 50 works and had to decide how am I going to weed my selection down more. I went into Photoshop and made contact sheets of the images. I looked them over and decided on the theme of reflection in Photorealism. I cut each image out and placed them in the order I wanted them seen. Then I got all the information I needed on the artwork and began my Powerpoint file. I put the artwork information and image into each slide. Next, I started my interpretation of each one and while working on that picked my fonts and colors. After that was done how could I step it up a little, so I added animation and sound clips. Hope you enjoy my exhibit.

Lowbrow Art, Tate Modern, Native American Bones, and George Eastman House Video Review

Rose, Mark Ryden, oil on panel, 2003

 The video The Lowdown on Lowbrow: West Coast Pop Art discussed lowbrow art. Lowbrow art was used to categorize all the rest of the art. It was a reaction to highbrow art. It consisted of naked girls, hot rods, popular culture, pin-up, space age, and rock-n-roll. Some of the first of the artists of lowbrow are Ed Roth, Robert Williams, and Von Dutch because it began with the car culture. Lowbrow artists didn’t have galleries that would show their art so it became a social scene. They would plan parties and show their work at the parties. The work was narrative there was something going on, ready to go on, or happening in the present. There was no artist statements or training. It was more open to women artists than any other movement. Since it began on the Pacific Coast it owed nothing to Europe and its art. To create lowbrow art you didn’t need permission; if you wanted to do it then you do it. People got more acquainted with the art through the covers of records and CDs. It is not considered lowbrow anymore, it is called Pop Surrealism and there is more than 1,000 artists.

In the video In the video Displaying Modern Art: The Tate Approach shows how the Tate modern displays their art and might be the reason why the have had over 4 million visitors. The museum influences the way we look at art. Tate does not show its art in chronological order as the MOMA does instead they break the art up into 4 sections. The one section is landscape, matter, environment, next is nude, action, body, then still life, object, real life, and last one is history, memory, society. The rooms within the sections are self-contained. The presentation of the art allows viewers to have no knowledge of art and it should be used as entertainment. Themes are suppose to be challenged with some of the work that is placed in them. Also, they are set up this way so the viewers will not get bored it is like channel surfing on the TV.

The video Bones of Contention: Native American Archaeology is about the debate of archeologists digging up the Native Americans burial grounds. The government eventually passed a law in 1990 to return the bones to the tribes. In 1985, the Smithsonian had 18,000 Native American bones. It is a slow process but now they have to measure the skulls and determine which tribe the bones go to. Lakota Sioux reject the theories of evolution and migration and they believe they were created. Great Plains Omaha Indians want their bones to be analyzed for cultural and medical reasons before returning the bones to the tribe. Native Americans spread their history orally. In the early 20th century, Native American children were sent to boarding schools so they would lose their identities. Dr. Reinhardt has to restore pride with sharing his research with today’s Native Americans. Archeologists are not solely responsible for telling the past they need to share the job with many people.

The last video I watched was George Eastman House: Picture Perfect that discussed George Eastman and his home that is now a museum. George Eastman is the father of popular photography and inventor of motion picture film. In 1900, the Brownie camera made photography very accessible to everyone. Ansel Adams’ first camera was a second hand Brownie. In the museum there is a Cinematographe, which the Lumiere brothers created in 1894. It looked like a box but it took and played movies. Eastman and Edison created flexible, rolled 35mm film that changed movie industry. When they went to restore the house, Eastman had all lot of photos of it so they could replica it as close as possible. In 1996, the Eastman house created the first school in North America for restoring, preserving, and archiving motion pictures. The museum creates access to its collection by publication, exhibition, and online.

I believe the videos of Lowbrow Art, Tate Modern, and Eastman House do relate to the art exhibition. They all discussed the different ways that you could show art. Lowbrow art was shown at parties, Tate Modern uses themes, and the Eastman House has exhibit rooms but also exhibits the technology that was used to create the art. The Native American Archeology video had more to deal with a political issue. It reminded me of the debate over the Pantheon Sculptures.

I enjoyed the Lowbrow Art and the Eastman House videos. I enjoy that kind of art but didn’t know the name of it. I have been to the Eastman House several times. Tate Modern was a little dry after awhile. The Native American Archeology is another government issue that hopefully gets all the bones to the correct tribes. The Tate Modern video does help me keep in mind that you want the viewer to be excited and not lose interest. Also, the Lowbrow art video helps to imagine a space that doesn’t have to be white walls and sterile. It definitely could be a party space and you use the art to decorate.

Abstract Expressionism & Pop Art

I chose Abstract Expressionism and Pop: Art of the ‘50s and ‘60s because the artists in abstract expressionism applied color to let the viewer feel emotion. Pop art is interesting because it deals with everyday things in the commercial market as an art form. 

Franz Kline C & O deals with the space between the viewer and the painting. The color and form gives the painting impact and ambiguity. Colors float in no define space letting your imagination take control. Kline began his abstract paintings in only black and white but later added color. The act of creating the work was as important as the final piece.

Splotches and drops of color and forms cover the canvas Mountains and Sea by Helen Frankenthaler. The forms have life of their own. This painting was the first that she laid on the ground to create it. The way she applied the paint with a rag let the color sink in like a stain and not sit on the surface of the canvas. This technique caused unique colors to appear and it gave the artist no control. Whatever happens happens. This work was the first step for her into the spiritual and traditions that molded her. 

Willem de Kooning Morning: The Springs consists of marks that would be left by ice skates. The abstract forms are ones we recognize as plant shapes, light, and falling water. As de Kooning works on the piece he reduces and eliminates where he sees fit.

Jasper Johns Flag is as if we are seeing the US flag for the first time. Johns uses what is found in real world as in letters, numbers, and targets. The image is seductive and pulls you in, is a real flag or an abstract one. The painting has many layers of newspaper and paint, which has blobs and drips and the viewer, sees the many layers but can see it as a whole. It is a bold, simple, and symbolic piece.

Andy Warhol The Texan: Portrait of Robert Rauschenberg was like a son paying homage to his father. There are 28 images of Rauschenberg arranged in four lines. The feeling you get from the image is of a wanted poster. Warhol implemented the ideas but his associates executed them. He created this in his studio he called the Art Factory. The studio created 1,000 images a year. There is no individuality; Warhol creates his work so you don’t know where artificial stops and reality begins.

Roy Lichtenstein Girl with Hair Ribbon surprises and seduces you. He creates a mechanical coloring style like comic books. When we get closer to the painting the details take on a life of their own and you loose sight of the whole. The details are either dots or the white forms that between the dots. Lichtenstein used comic strips for inspiration on love and war, which stirs emotion and passion. The images use traditional ways to depict feelings by the way he draws the eyes. 

 The other video I chose is Andy Warhol: Images of an Image. Screenprinting is very enjoyable for me and I enjoy how he pushes the ideas. Warhol interests me because of his mind. He seemed so odd but then you wonder why he does what he does. He created Ten Lizes in 1963. It consisted of ten faces of Elizabeth Taylor but they were all the same. This idea was like an assembly line there was no distinction from the first one to the last one. The work does force the viewer to move because the white paint reflects differently and each image has a little different look. Repeating the motif causes you to feel dizzy and the image to invade everything. Warhol became an icon himself with his art, movies, and magazine. He would use a Polaroid camera and would take portraits of his friends and reproduce them as a print. He was making the celebrity a commodity, which is what society does and he was making it high art.

The in-depth discussions of paintings help to understand the abstract expressionism and pop art better. The more we see and hear about it the more the brain contains the information. Again I did not like the format of the Abstract Expressionism and Pop: Art of the ‘50s and ‘60s. It cut your attention off every time it went to a different artist. The information was good though. Andy Warhol: Images of an Image was great. I liked to see the artist view of the paintings or prints. I never knew about the Art Factory before so that just adds to my thoughts about Warhol that he very flamboyant and a little off.