Blog 8 Non-Western

Fernando Botero, The Orchestra, 1991, Oil on canvas
78¾ x 67¾ in.

I found this painting to be very amusing and interesting.  It looks as if they are performing at a festive event, as you can see the lights eluminating in the background.  I love how each member has a different expression.  The guitar player looks uncomfortable and nervous, while the drummer looks a bit confused.  The other 2 members look as if they are enjoying themselves and the instruments they are playing.  I just think the painting is very amusing and I love the detail that Botero puts into his work.  I also love how Botero’s work is different.  In our society, men and women are portrayed if they are good looking and slim, and Botero goes against society.  The Orchestra is a humourous piece of art put together by a great artist. 

Botero is a Columbian artist who’s work is known to be laden with satirical and political commentary.  This is one of many works in which Botero uses rounded, larger figures painted in bright colors to create sensuousness.  In this painting Botero goes against what our society idolizes, slenderness.  Botero’s works are often humorous and satirical and they include individual or family portraits, nudity, still lifes, and equestrian figures.  If you read Botero’s quote below, you can see what Botero values and attempts to create in his works. 

“I believe that it is important to create something in which the painting functions within free, imaginative, innovative parameters. It is not a matter of creating the kind of beauty that fits into the classical canons. The purpose, rather, is to reach a stage at which it has become possible to surprise and be surprised. It is a matter of finding something that, in the midst of exuberance and distortion, conveys peace and equilibrium.”

http://www.boterosa.org/photogallery/index.html

http://www.artknowledgenews.com/Fernando_Botero.html

http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Fernando_Botero.aspx

Blog 7 – Non Western

Jose Clemente Orozco, Man of Fire, 1938-1939, Hospicio Cabanas, Guadalajara

This is a piece from Mexican artist Jose Clemente Orozco that I find very interesting.  Orozco painted very clear and detailed, as if it were a camera taking pictures.  He was influenced by the famous Mexican artists Jose Posada.  Man of Fire was possibly the greatest achievement in Orozco’s career and I liked it the most out of all his works.  I was able to understand the symbolism and theme of the painting.  I really appreciate the talent in this painting and I love the detail and the meaning. 

In this painting, Orozco’s image is a metaphor for social struggle while also combining with the essense of the ideal.  Orozco does a great job illustrating an accurate account of man’s personal suffering without overpowering it with emotion.  Orozco’s detail really brings out the meaning in Man of Fire and that makes it intriguing for the viewers.

http://www.wfu.edu/history/StudentWork/fysprojects/kmason/Orozco.htm

Postmodern – Art Exhibit

The theme for my virtual exhibit is The Seasons of Life.  I decided to go with this theme because I love the four seasons and each season is unique.  All of the works in the exhibit are connected to one of the seasons.  I have chosen Julian Beever and Andy Goldsworthy as the artists and have selected three works from each of them. 

 Julian Beever is a British artist known for creating optical illusions through street drawings.  He is a chalk-artist who draws on pavement surfaces and has worked in the US and numerous countries all over Europe.  In addition to his street drawings, he also paints murals, oil paintings, and creates collages.  For my theme The Seasons of Life I chose a few of Beever’s oil paintings that fit in with my theme. 

 Andy Goldsworthy is an innovative British artist who creates his works by using natural materials such as snow, ice, leaves, clay, etc.  In addition to being a well known environmental artist who will use his bare hands, teeth, and saliva to help put together his works, he is also a photographer and sculptor.  Goldsworthy likes to express his travels through nature and capture his creations on camera. 

  

Julian Beever, Spring on the Campsite, Could not find date, Mons Belgium

Julian Beever’s Spring on the Campsite is one of his many oil paintings.  This painting has a spring feeling to it and makes you want to be out there sitting on the chairs enjoying the weather.  It connects to my theme The Seasons of Life because it portrays springtime and the beauty of the spring season.  Beever gives a great depiction of what a great season spring is.  I love this painting because of the detail and the setting.  I love when all the snow is gone and the weather gets warmer and this painting makes me want to be there. 

 

Julian Beever, Michaelmas daisies in sunshine, Could not find date

 I believe this painting connects with summer because the flowers are blooming and the sun is shining.  This painting by Beever is a great depiction of the beauty of summer which is one of The Seasons of Life.  I like the setting of this painting.  I enjoy the daises in the front but I like the yard in the back with the trees in the background.  I wish I could be relaxing in a yard like this on a nice summer day. 

 

Julian Beever, Watermill in the Spring, Could not find date, Mons Belium

Beever’s Watermill in the Spring is another great depiction of springtime.  This connects with my theme because of the season it portrays.  I really like this work by Beever because of the view it presents.  It feels as if a person is looking in on this great house and yard and wanting to be there.  You can see people working in the background and I like the faded look of the house and the beauty of the yard.  The clear blue sky makes for a great setting and a perfect day at a great house. 

 

 Andy Goldsworthy, Icicle Star, joined with saliva, Could not find date

This work by Goldsworthy connects with my theme The Seasons of Life in that it portrays winter with the Icicle Star and the snowy background.  Winter is a great season and Goldsworthy did an amazing job with this work.  He used saliva to help keep this together and I find this work stunning.  I can’t imagine how much time it took him to do this but it is amazing. 

 

Andy Goldsworthy, Autumn Cherry Leaves, Could not find date

 This connects with my theme of the seasons because the autumn cherry leaves represent the fall season.  It is very simple but it is a great depiction of the beauty of the fall season.  The leaves are changing color and falling on the ground and Goldsworthy does a great job putting this piece together. 

 

 Andy Goldsworthy, Snow Circles, December 19, 1987, Izumi-Mura, Japan

 This last work is my favorite.  The snow circles represent the winter season and fall in line with my theme of the seasons of life.  It could be viewed as very simple but Goldsworthy does a great job with all the snow circles and drawing the viewer’s attention to the circles.  It makes the eye look at the circles and wonder what’s behind it.  Snow is the natural material he uses and he does a great job making this out of nothing.  Snow Circles is a great depiction of the beauty of winter. 

 Works Cited:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Goldsworthy

http://www.morning-earth.org/artistnaturalists/an_goldsworthy.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_Beever

http://users.skynet.be/J.Beever/pave.htm

http://www.rwc.uc.edu/artcomm/web/w2005_2006/maria_Goldsworthy/TEST/index.html

Hans Arp’s Automatic Drawing

Jean (Hans) Arp, Automatic Drawing, 1917-1918 inscribed 1916, France. 

Hans Arp was a pioneer of abstract art and was one of the founders of the Dada movement.  Born in Germany, Arp was a French sculptor, collagist, printmaker and poet.  Dada was a name meant to imitate a child’s first words, sounding like yes, yes.  The Dada art movement was formed around WWI and before WWII.  The Dada artists believed that traditions created the war, and because of that tradition should be rejected.  Dada artists attempted to break every mold that tradition had created.  Some of the art relied on chants, and interesting relief sculptures were created.  There were some very unique works that were created, one of them being Arp’s Automatic Drawing.  Arp created this piece by using ink and pencil on paper. 

This is a unique drawing and I don’t really know what to make of it.  I do not love the drawing and really don’t understand it, but that may be in part to my lack of art knowledge.  This drawing from Arp was however influenced by WWI. 

Avant-garde had a big impact on the art world with its radical abstraction, but after WWI there was a greater sense in the art world for experimentation and rejection of traditional styles of art.  Pioneers of the post WWI era were no longer concerned with depicting reality.  Hans Arp’s Automatic Drawing was one of his many works that were influenced by the WWI.  After WWI, Arp renewed his contacts with the avant-garde in Germany, France and Italy and worked to spread Dada.  WWI had a big influence on art, and Arp felt that Dad represented the reconciliation of man with nature and also the incorporation of art into life.   Arp believed that Dada was a moral revolution, and his work Automatic Drawing was part of that revolution Arp believed in.  Arp believed that if tradition was responsible for the war, then tradition should not be respected.  He quoted “Repelled by the slaughter-house of the world war, we turned to art. We searched for an elementary art that would, we thought, save mankind from the furious madness of these times.”

 It is clear that Hans Arp was influenced by WWI and one of his works was his Automatic Drawing.  Like I said earlier, I don’t really care for this drawing and do not find it appealing, but I do like the story behind it.  Hans Arp was one of the founders of the Dada movement which was influenced by WWI.  I was attracted to this drawing not because of my aesthetic reaction but rather because of the background and how it came to be.