Mike Kelley

Monica Vazquez

HUA 101

Professor Harmon

December 3, 2013

MoMA PS1: Mike Kelley

     In Mike Kelley’s art we see a variety of pieces that are out of the ordinary, some are very confusing and some disturbing. The piece that I chose is simple yet I found it very interesting. When you view the actually glass bottle it is big and dark. Inside we view what is depicted as a small city or town that is made of wax or something resembling this.

On the side the same glass bottle is being viewed from a frame, except when you move part of the image disappears. If you’re standing in the middle you can see the complete image but if you move away on either side a part of the image disappears. When Mike Kelley constructed this piece, maybe he was representing a point of view from his life. As vulnerable humans sometimes we choose to see certain things and ignore what hurts us or what we don’t want to see as real. When I saw this I thought about the times we constantly live in a state of mind where we only see what we want and pretend that the rest isn’t really there. We try to hide it, and if we do it long enough eventually we begin to believe it is really gone.

Roy Lichtenstein and Vincent Van Gogh

Monica Vazquez

HUA 101

Professor Harmon

November 22, 2013

MoMA Artwork

     Roy Lichtenstein was an American artist who was an abstract expressionist. In his painting Girl with Ball Lichtenstein uses pop art. He begins by recreating a picture that was used as an advertisement for the Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania and remakes it into a painting that makes it look like it is from a comic book. The original image is in black and white, but Roy Lichtenstein recreates this image and as he does this he intensifies the colors. He creates brighter yellows; the ball becomes bright red with white stripes. The woman he is creating seems to be creating more sex appeal than the girl from the original Pocono’s advertisement. Lichtenstein is able to recreate a completely new version of the original photograph, and in 1961 he is not only creating art but he is challenging what are seen as the “norms” of art during that time period.

     Post-Impressionist artist painted with intellect and their eye yet the also gave their artwork a lot of emotion. In Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh he uses complementary colors to create similar repetitive circular and round-looking patterns to create what seems to be a beautiful scenery when seen from a far. Post impressionism is shaped by impressionist artist, but unlike them, post-impressionist artist including Van Gogh likes to go beyond what they see. In Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh few colors are used, yet the variations of a single color gives the painting a sense of emotion when looking at the sweeping brushstrokes created in this painting. The thick brushstrokes all come together to create the imagine for a small village early morning just before sunrise.  Even though this art piece was created in 1889, all the emotion we get from viewing this painting remains the same.

Artwork - Brooklyn Bridge

Hennessey Youngman

Monica Vazquez

HUA 101.1301

Professor Harmon

November 22, 2013

Hennessey Youngman Art Thoughtz on Institutional Critique

     The youtube vlogger Hennessey Youngman is a young man with a perspective that’s different than most artists. He appears to be a young thug who talks in slag yet his insights and critiques are presented in an interesting way. In his video institutional critique he uses slang and curse words to express his feelings on the subject. By using slang young adults who also talk with slang or are more "ghetto" understand what he’s saying from a point of view they can relate too. He uses irony, humor and exaggeration which make us more open to what he is saying while critiquing certain institutions. By using satire we focus on what he’s saying in a way that keeps us interested and his slang makes him seem truthful because we know this is how he really is, he isn't just painting a picture for us of what he wants us to believe.

Marina Abramovic

Monica Vazquez

HUA 101.1301

Professor Harmon

November 11, 2013

Postwar Modern Movements

Choose an artist from the Art 21 website- http://www.pbs.org/art21/. Watch the artist interview and write a summary about their work on your blog: discuss themes, process, etc. in their work.

Marina Abramovic is a Yugoslavian artist who is a both a painter and a performer. Abramovic began her artistic career as a painter when she was a child. When she was the age of  twelve she had her first art exhibition. As a painter she was very into the colors blue and green, and she was also fascinated by truck accidents. During a period of her career she would go to the scenes of different truck accidents and she’d pictures so she could later paint about them. After that she then started drawing about the sky especially clouds, she found a certain attraction in painting clouds. In her twenties she began performing, she believes performance is a tool. Through the early stages of her performance career she begins performing with scenes that were violent and tough. After doing this she then begins to focus her performance on mental peace and extended time. She focuses on time because she thinks, “art should become longer as life gets shorter”. She believes she has is a performer but she is also a teacher, she wants to teach other artist so she can transfer knowledge to the younger generation. She wants to remain a legend and in order to achieve this she has to focus on making her art last and making the art of others last as well.

Dada Artwork

Between World Wars

Monica Vazquez

HUA 101.1301

Professor Harmon

November 6, 2013

Dada Artwork

1. Describe a Dada Artwork. What world event influenced this style? How?

Dada artwork is art that was created by pieces cheap uncollectable material put together to create an art piece whose purpose is to be radical and to see things in a new perspective. The Mona Lisa with the mustache is unconventional. It breaks all the rules of art and has its viewers respond to a message of accepting what is out of place and looking at in from a different point of view. The dada artwork started in protest after world war one, it was used criticized society through its rebellious art. These pieces are out of the ordinary, they are not cohesive, and they ridiculed conventional rule. By making something that is out of the ordinary in a time where things are ruled by chaos, they begin to understand artwork that is outspoken and different.

2. Describe the work of Jacob Lawrence in the video. What were this artist's influences?

The work of Jacob Lawrence is an artist who talks about migration and labor of southern African Americans. Some of Jacob Lawrence’s influences are Goya, African American history, and the Harlem Renaissance. His paintings were also inspired by Matisse; he uses patterns and flat space similar to the work of French Modernists.

Impressionism and Post Impressionism

Monica Vazquez

HUA 101.1301

Professor Harmon

November 1, 2013

Impressionism and Post Impressionism

Describe the difference between these two styles and explain how European colonization changes art in this time period.

During the period of Impressionism artwork begins to change, instead of sticking to the romanticism and academic doctrines, artist began to paint based on what they saw in contemporary life. In 1874 they began painting outdoors. The artist started painting based on what they saw outside and it was mostly in constantly changing conditions. Some pieces of art are based on direct observation, and some pieces of art have many paintings where the artists are capturing different points of view while drawing the same scenery. During the Impressionist period the artists would use small dabs of pure color placing them close to each other so when the art piece is seen from far away you capture one complete image when the artist is done with his individual brush strokes. By doing this the artists capture a vibrancy that cannot be captured by mixing colors alone.

In 1885 the post impressionism period begins. While the impressionist period was about capturing the moment and sketching immediately, artist from the post-impressionist time period wanted to add personal expression and spiritual content. Artist like Seurat wanted to systemize the optical color mixing of impression, and at the same time he wanted to create a solid and form organization with simplified shapes. This method of painting is known as pointillism. The post-impressionist artist not only wanted to see nature, but they wanted to see passed it, they wanted to make their feelings and thoughts visible.

European colonization gave many artist new inspirations. One of the inspirations in this time period was the Native American female ghost-dance dresses. The Native Americans draw birds, an eagle, a pipe and a woman in their dresses. The birds are said to represent messengers to the spirit world, and the women believe this ghost-dance dress is supposed to protect from gun shots that were being fired from the Europeans during a massacre in South Dakota.

MET - Renaissance and Baroque Art

Monica Vazquez

HUA 101.1301

Professor Harmon

October 25, 2013

Renaissance- Baroque Galleries



     Mars and Venus United by Love created by renaissance artist Paolo Veronese is displayed today in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. This Italian Renaissance painting was completed in the 1570’s and the medium used is oil on canvas. The painting of Mars and Venus United by Love is 81 inches long by 63 inches wide. During the renaissance you begin to see warmer colors added to the paintings, the background begins to appear as if there was space, and Venus has some facial expression unlike the other serious artworks previously done. Mars and Venus United by Love appear to be more realistic and it focuses on mythology instead of holy images from bible.  Venus appears to have a small smile on her face; it looks like she is happy to be with her lover and cupid.  Things appear to be bigger in the foreground then they are in the background. The sky’s horizon point can be seen on the left side of the painting, making it look more realistic than most of the previous artworks that did not capture space.

 



     The painting of Samson Captured by the Philistines was an art piece done by an artist of the baroque period, Giovanni Francesco Barbieri who was known as Guercino. The art piece of Samson Captured by the Philistines dates back 1619, Guercino’s medium was also oil on canvas. Art in the baroque period is asymmetrical, very dramatic and has contrast in light and dark. All of these features are also found in Samson Captured by the Philistines, most of the light is focused on Samson’s back. Although we cannot see Samson’s face, as his back is to us in the center of the painting his emotions are clear to us as we see him try to fight off the Philistines. Delilah also has some light focused on her but as we reach the top right side of the painting, the Philistines are darken making the top much darker, taking the in the contrasting dark part of the painting. The top left side of the painting has dark clouds, suggesting a dramatic intense atmosphere, one in which we can see the deceit and betrayal Delilah has brought on to him.

 

Simon Schama’s Rembrandt

Monica Vazquez

Professor Harmon

HUA 101.1301

October 25, 2013

Simon Schama’s Rembrandt

1. Describe the portrait of the fur merchant. Why is he “the business man’s hero”? 

     The portrait of the fur merchant is portrait of the merchant wearing one of his own fur coats. In the painting his fur coat is captured very detailed, each hair of his coat looks very realistic, almost as if were a real coat and not a painting. The look on the merchant’s eyes is described as sharp and his features are very clearly detailed. His head is tilted slightly and the shadow behind it makes him appear thoughtful. The bags under his eyes make him look tired, it looks so realistic that we can imagine this is exactly what he looked like.

     A reason he can be the business man’s hero is because of the way he is captured. He is captured like a hardworking man who has deprived himself of sleep in order to produce work to be proud of. He’s portrait captures him as a working man, yet he proud to show off his fur coat which he has worked so hard to make. By capturing him this way Rembrandt creates “the businessman’s hero” in his portrait.

2. What is the mood of the portrait of the 83 year old woman?

      In the portrait of the 83 year old woman, Rembrandt projects the mood of melancholy and vulnerability. Her droopy eyelids and her sad eyes soften the face of this 83 year old woman. “She awaits to meet the accountant in the sky,” she looks uncertain of something, almost as if she fears that her time of death is near. 

3. What is Rembrandt communicating in his painting of Sampson& Delilah?

Sampson and Delilah is a portrait of love and betrayal. While most artist paint him nude, he dresses him, making him more vulnerable and sensitive. The knot on his waist is a representation of him and his lover, almost as if it is tying them together. The man in the back is coming for Sampson while Delilah holds him. Together the piece shows both tender love and brutal betrayal