Graphic Art

These two works of art were made by a graphic artist named Gabriel Lactman.

Tom's shoes- Neon Aqua Fade

Transmission- acrylic on canvas

Get creative with your trash

All of the sculptures below were created with recycled materials. The skull was made from aluminum and kitchen materials, the bridge was made from recycled coke cans, and the 21 foot robot sculpture was made from Styrofoam.

Art for India

The picture below was made by some of the 20 artists that took place in Art for India. Art for India is a fundraiser for Rise Up India, a foundation that works to aid schools in the poorest parts of India.

http://riseupindia.wordpress.com/art-for-india-fundraiser/

Ouch

This is a picture of Elaine Davidson, a former Brazilian nurse. In 2001, she got into the Guinness Book of Records as the most pierced woman in the world with 720 piercings, 192 of those were on her face. She has a total of 3902 tattoos and body piercings, weighing 6 pounds in all. Elaine is a black belt in judo and lives in Edinburgh, Scotland. She is a fortune teller and owner of a piercing/ tattoo boutique, Tropical Rainbow.

knitting's not just for grandmas

This video is by a French-Canadian group Les peaux des lievres. The song is called Tricot machine. The video was animated using over 700 knitted pieces. Enjoy.

Anybody can be an artist

I thought that this guy was cool and he reminded me of another person i saw playing tupperware containers and other box-type things in Cambridge.

Fear the Turtle

My sister is graduating from the University of Maryland today, so I decided to do a Terps- themed post.

These are pictures of art-terrapins that are in different parts of downtown Silver Spring.

Disco Turtle


Wisdom of Einstein Turtle


Life in the Bay Turtle

Feng Shui

Feng Shui is all about balance. The balance of yin and yang is very important to the whole aura of a room. Yin is dark or calming colors such as blue and green and purple hues. Rooms with too much yin are dark and sparsely furnished. Yang is bright and exciting colors like reds, oranges, pinks, and yellows. Rooms with too much Yang can be overwhelming, cluttered, and cause headaches. However, when one balances the two forces they acheive the balance of energy and calm that they are internally craving. There are other aspects to feng shui, such as paying attention to proper lighting, materials used in the room, and directions that furniture is facing, and the general flow of a room or house. The room pictured below is an example of a room that follows the rules of feng shui.

Tatted up

Mehendi is an ancient Indian body art. The intricate designs are shown in the picture below. These henna, or Mehendi tattoos are done at special rituals and ceremonies, especially weddings. Before weddings women get their hands and feet covered with these designs. The art of Mehendi dates back about 5,000 years ago. It is considered good luck in India, the Middle East, and North Africa.

Warhol Shreds

In 2007, Burton Snowboards and the Andy Warhol Foundation debuted their new line of soft and hard goods by Burton.

Why Warhol?
“Andy Warhol's irreverent attitude towards art, fashion, music and life in general embodies what snowboarding and Burton is all about. The Foundation gave us access to a tremendous selection of Andy’s work and encouraged us to explore his art to create something truly unique… something that Andy himself would be proud of.” Greg Dacyshyn, Creative Director of Product at Burton.

Warhol was actually a skiier, but its ok. Snowboarding hadn't really happened yet.

2007

1. B

2. B

3. A

4. A

5. C

6. A

7. A

8. B

9. A

10. C

11. B

12. C

13. A

14. A

15. B

16. D

17. C

18. A

19. B

20. D

21. C

22. B

23. D

24. D

25. C

26. D

27. B

28. A

29. C

1. The painting “The Third of May 1808” by Francisco Goya communicates hostility through portraying the horror of the French invasion of Spain. The painting depicts a man waiting to be shot, with dead men on the side and another line of men waiting to be shot after. The light is spotlighting the man with his arms outstretched, while shadowing the line of French soldiers that are ready to shoot. The light symbolizes good and evil. The men who are being victimized are good and the French soldiers are the evil.
The Stele Palate of Narmer shows the glorification of violence as opposed to the raw truth that Goya portrays. It shows Narmer as the glorious ruler; he is two times bigger than everyone else. He and his army are marching over the enemy.

2. It is similar to a Greek temple with its general style i.e. the columns and the similar roof and built with the same materials. However, Greek temples can be accessed by all sides, while Roman temples can only be accessed through the front doorway.

3. The artist is William Hogarth. The first painting is of two men of nobility meeting to arrange a marriage between their two children. It is satirical in that Hogarth is making fun of societal standards in England. The men are arranging marriages for their children in order to gain and/or maintain their standings in society and to have more money. Hogarth capitalizes on the fact that they had relatively no concern for their child’s desires or happiness and that society preached to place importance on materialistic things. The second painting is satirical in that he makes fun of their bad taste and he makes fun of the rococo style.

4. Kruger uses appropriation in that she uses an image that was already produced by another artist, but she uses it in a different way that is contradictory to the text that she uses. The image is of a passive face, yet the text confronts the viewer with confusing inconsistency because it is almost combative. Kruger’s art challenges the viewer to think more about the submissive façade the statue is showing.

5. It is the Bayeux Tapestry and it was commissioned by Duke William of Normandy. He commissioned the tapestry to show how powerful he is and to document the battle against the English army.

6. The statue is in the Neoclassic style. The position and form of the figure Venus are expressing the artist’s admiration for the perfection of the gods.

7. The window is in the Gothic style and the medium used is stained glass. Stained glass was used because it let in light and the Gothic period was all about light and finding hope through God.

8. Michelangelo painted the ceiling during the Renaissance. The ceiling exemplified Vasari’s claims in that it brought light to the Renaissance that was lacking in the Middle Ages. It encompassed the meaning of Renaissance- “rebirth”.

9. The Coliseum in Rome was built before 1800C.E. It uses the Roman arch in order to build such a huge structure for that time period. The arch allowed them to disperse the weight of each level so that there could be more levels. The Coliseum also used the advancements made in plumbing to make a series of tunnels so that they could flood the floor and reenact naval battles.
Nam June Paik is an artist that uses televisions and other electric technologies to create his art. “Prebell Man” is a sculpture that he created using a variety of mediums, but television screens were a main part of it. It makes his art come alive and allows the viewer to participate in it.

pluralism

Pluralism in art is the validation of many different varieties of artistic styles and methods as all constituting "art".

Jonas Burgert "Second Day Nothing"

"Living Flowers: Ikebana and Contemporary Art”
by Sogetsu
The show presents examples of ikebana, the traditional Japanese art of flower arranging

Sudley Castle

2008

1. Both wall paintings are from
(D) Pompeii

2. The wall painting on the right was located in a
(B) home

3. The wall painting on the left is probably related to
A) a mystery cult

4. The illusion of depth in both paintings is created
by all of the following EXCEPT
(C) marbleized panels

5. The two figures in the slide on the right are
(C) a married couple


6. When did the wall painting on the left come to
public attention?
(B) During eighteenth-century archaeological
excavations


7. The objects held by the figures in the slide on the
right refer to
(D) literacy


8. The painting was created in
(C) Italy

9. The painting was created between
(B) 1501 and 1550

10. The style of the painting is
(A) Early Renaissance

11. The painting was commissioned for a
(A) chapel in a church

12. The artist is
(D) Pontormo

13. The iconography relates to
(B) the New Testament

14. The painting style is characterized by
(A) exaggeration of space and color

15. The chair’s designer was associated with
(D) De Stijl

16. The chair’s design evokes
(D) kinetic energy

17. The chair was designed to
(A) reflect the formal concerns of its maker

18. The art movement represented by the chair
promoted all of the following EXCEPT
(B) clean, abstract forms


19. The chair is made of
(D) plywood

20. The chair is often compared to the painting of
(D) Piet Mondrian

21. The designer of the chair was
(B) Dutch

22. The building is
(D) Hagia Sophia in Istanbul

23. The building was constructed in the
(A) sixth century

24. The patron of the building was

(B) Justinian


25. The building combines
(A) a basilican plan with a central plan

26. An important structural innovation of the building
is the use of
(A) pendentives

27. The architects of the structure were also
(D) mathematicians

28. The original interior decoration primarily featured
(C) mosaics

Select and fully identify two works of art that depict one or more women. The works must come from two different cultures, one of which must be from beyond the European tradition. Explain how each work reveals its culture’s attitudes about women. (30 minutes)

The Venus of Willendorf sculpture was made during the Stone Age and unearthed in present day Austria. It presents woman as significant because she has the ability to reproduce. Her over emphasized vulva, naval, and breasts are all symbols of fertility. Her face is covered with what may be a braided headdress. This sculpture is representative of the importance that the culture who created it puts on reproduction and the continuing of the human race. It expresses the culture’s subjective view of women. They were not given worth for their talents, intellect, or character. The way that the woman’s face is covered in the sculpture proves that they were not valued for the content of their mind. It was covered because they did not deem a woman’s intellect as important or significant. They were given worth for their ability to reproduce, because the culture deemed that offspring was all a woman could add to society.
Manet’s Olympia is a painting made in France in the 1800s. It depicts a nude prostitute waiting for her client and her black servant. This painting portrays women in two ways. The first being a servant, a caretaker shown by the black woman. She is an example of how the culture of France at that time viewed women as housekeepers who were good for embroidery and cleaning and tending to the children. However, that woman is often overshadowed by the other woman, the prostitute, Olympia. She presents sexuality in a different light. She does not have the same pure, peaceful aura about her that previous nude female subjects have had. She faces the audience with a hard stare, she is surrounded by fine things-symbols of wealth and pleasure, yet she seems to have control over the situation and over the man because of her hand which firmly protects her vagina. This is one of the first works to ever portray women as being independent or capable of original thought. The culture of France was rigidly opposed to this work, which shows how they were reluctant to view women as intellectual beings or even as potentially independent beings.


Name the specific art-historical style of the original. How is the theme of death treated and why? (5 minutes)

The original art-historical style of the original is Hellenistic. The theme of death is treated as dramatic because the artists wanted to portray dying in battle as heroic. They wanted the viewer to have great admiration for the dying soldier. They also wanted the viewer to appreciate the pain that the soldier went through to bring glory to his people.

3. The slides show two views of the same fresco cycle in the Palazzo Pubblico in Siena.
Identify the artist. Explain how the subject and meaning of the fresco cycle relate to its location. (10 minutes)

The artist of these frescoes is Ambrogio Lorenzetti. Both frescoes depict the city of Siena as peaceful and well-run. They do this because they want people to think of Siena as a place where vituous men rule and all people are happy and prosperous.

4. Attribute the painting to an artist you have studied. Justify your attribution by identifying and discussing specific characteristics seen in the painting. (10 minutes)

The painting is by Vincent Van Gogh. It has the saturated, almost sickly yellow hue that he is known for as well as noticeable brushstrokes. The sickly yellow is representative of his feelings about the world, and his brushstrokes add movement to his painting.

5. The slides show a plan and an interior view of Charlemagne’s Palatine Chapel in Aachen, circa 800 C.E. The building contains deliberate references to earlier architecture.
Name at least one earlier architectural period referenced in the Palatine Chapel. Identify one significant way in which the Palatine Chapel reinterprets architectural elements of that earlier period and explain why. (10 minutes)

The Palatine Chapel is from the Byzantine period with strong influences of the Romanesque period. San Vitale in Ravenna has the same Romanesque look. Both were built in a fortress- like style and they both feature the Roman arch repeatedly.

6. Both the 1950 painting shown in the slide and the quotation below are by the same artist.
“My painting does not come from the easel. . . . I prefer to tack the unstretched canvas to the hard wall or the floor. . . . 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. . . . When I am in my painting, I’m not aware of what I’m doing. . . . I have no fears about making changes, destroying the image, etc., because the painting has a life of its own. I try to let it come through.”
Identify the artist. How does the painting reflect the artist’s description of his process? In your answer, make specific references to both the quotation and the painting. (10 minutes)

Jackson Pollock is the artist of this piece. It reflects his process in that the art itself is spontaneous and flowing. The paint splatter effect is best achieved through dripping the paint on "the unstretched canvas to the hard wood floor." Through walking around the painting, Pollock is able to fill the entire painting with the watery paint.

7. Identify the art-historical period of the sculpture. What key characteristics support your placement of the work in the period you have identified? (5 minutes)

The art historical period of this work is Romanesque. The sculpture was made from wood and then painted. The figure is not realistic looking and it's clothing does not have the folds that clothing usually has when being worn.

8. The Baroque painting shown includes portrayals of both its patron and its artist.
Name the artist. Explain how the painting served the aims of both the artist and the patron. (10 minutes)

The artist of this painting is Diego Velazquez. He serves aims of both himself and the patron through showing both in his painting. Diego makes himself and the princess the subject of the painting while only showing the king and queen in a small mirror at the opposite side of the room.

9. Art since the 1960s encompasses a wide variety of approaches.
Address this variety of approaches through the careful choice and detailed discussion of two works of art made between 1960 and the present. The two works must be by different artists OR in different media.
Be sure to fully identify each work. (30 minutes)

Joseph Beuys created a piece named Homogeneous Infiltration for Piano. It is a piano covered in felt with a red cross on the side of it. The piece has a very simple meaning: music can heal. However, this meaning can be furthered when put into the context of the 1960s. They were a time of impersonal warfare and a time where people hated other people half a world away that they had never met. Joseph Beuys’ work challenges people to look inward and find the answers to conflicts rather than act in a rash and cowardly manner.
“Prebell Man” is a work built by Nam June Paik. It represents the idea that art is a way for people to communicate with each other. So often technology is seen as “the end to creativity”, but it’s the opposite. Nam June Paik proves that technology opens up more outlets for people to express themselves and communicate with one another. He himself used technology in an original way that expressed the ideas he had.
Both of these works are conversation pieces. They both challenge people to choose creativity and originality in their lives rather than accept the mundane cycle. They present ideas in ways that are more though provoking than words because it requires that the viewer finds the meaning for themselves.

Empire

Empire is a film produced and directed by Andy Warhol in 1964. The film is 485 minutes of real-time coverage of the Empire State building in New York City.

Pop goes the weasel

Both Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein are classified as "pop" artists, but their individual artworks are very different while both having the same playful colorings. Both artists recreate images that are from photographs or comic books or everyday objects. Roy Lichtenstein draws inspiration from comics, recreating them in full size paintings on canvas. He uses Benday Dots to recreate certain colors in the image as though it were a photographic reproduction. However, from far away it seems as though he uses flat color. Warhol often recreated everyday objects and photographs into paintings. He played with color, using a silk screen to reproduce the image onto canvas and then he painted over it with the color(s) that he wanted.

The Car of My Dreams

This car was designed by Blake More, a dancer/writer/artist from the Los Angeles area. The car's name is Eartha Karr, a 1978 Mercedes 300CD running on Bio diesel.

I also thought that this car was interesting. A wrought-iron company owner, Joe Gomez of San Antonio, TX, built it. His reasoning behind it: "One day when I was in bed, I dreamt that I was building a wrought iron car. I woke up, ran to the kitchen and got some paper, and started sketching. My wife thought I was crazy . . . . Everything on this car is handmade, nothing is factory. It took me a little bit better than nine months. The reason I chose the Volkswagen is because the motor's in back -- otherwise I'd have all the fumes in front." The car brought more customers to Gomez's wrought-iron company than he could handle, and he soon retired.

\

Harlem Renaissance

They're all my favorite

I spent about 5 minutes trying to figure out which artist's work I like best, but it's like choosing between Zevon and Clapton. They're all different, but my favorites in their own way. So I'll just explain why I like each one. I like Pollock's works because he never tried to make his art fit into any category, he just did it. He didn't focus on conveying some complicated message through his work. Especially in his later work he just let the art flow through him instead of carefully executing what was in his head. I like de Kooning for the colors that he uses and how he expresses emotions rather than concrete things (they all do that, but I like the way he does). I like his originality and the movement that he expresses through his art. I like Kline because he expresses the complexity of simplicity so effortlessly, but sometimes he expresses just how simple everything that we make complicated is (if that makes sense). The thing that I like most about all of the artists is that their art contradicts many of the things that society emphasizes like money and stature.

because music is art

Enjoy.

not here

a land far away
with boats and sun
everywhere is home
nothing is tired
people stop talking

air and sun play together
far away is here

wait says the mother
work before play
vegetables

i like fruit

i am tired
move move move says the general
bang bang write write

dont do that

Term Paper

Annie Battista

March 28, 2009

AP Art History

The word “sacred”, as defined by Encarta Dictionaries, means “worthy of or regarded with religious veneration, worship, and respect” or “not to be challenged or disrespected.” A portrait of a pope could easily be categorized into the categories of a “sacred” or “religious” work. However, what if that pope uses his power wrongly? Is a portrait of him still sacred, or is it profane? Profanity is defined as “not connected with or used for religious matters” or “showing disrespect for God, any deity, or religion.” In order to answer the question, “Are the portraits of Pope Innocent X sacred or profane?”, one must first address the sacredness of the pope himself.

The truth is Pope Innocent X was not sacred or religious, at least in deed. He contradicted the very teachings that he preached. He was conceited, vengeful, selfish, dishonest and materialistic. He used his power as a religious leader to punish Francesco Barberini, whom he had a personal animosity for. He destroyed the entire city of Castro, killing hundreds of innocent citizens while doing so, just to further his revenge on the Barberini family. Guido Reni’s painting, The Archangel Michael, (fig.1) was painting in response to Innocent’s vengeful destruction of Castro. The archangel is stomping on the head of Satan, who has the unmistakable facial features of Pope Innocent X.

Reni’s work was not the only portrayal of Pope Innocent X. Diego Velazquez’s Portrait of Pope Innocent X (fig. 2) was painted in 1650. At first glance, this portrait could come across as being a standard depiction of a Catholic religious leader. However, it is anything but that. Velazquez portrayed Pope Innocent as he really is: callous and powerful. People who saw the painting feared that the pope would punish him for portraying the pope as grimacing. The irony of it all is that the Pope gave Velazquez special favor for his work and had it hung in his official visitor’s waiting room. Francis Bacon said of Velazquez’s work that he “found the perfect balance between the ideal illustration which he was required to produce and the overwhelming emotion he aroused in the spectator. This painting illustrates the great power that art is capable of. It was done in the most subtle of ways, but Velazquez forces the viewer to see who the subject of the painting really is. It forces the viewer to acknowledge that the pope should not be considered sacred simply because of his title, but he should be judged upon the content of his character. “Velazquez found a way to “stick his thumb in the eye” of the papacy and Bacon found a way to shove that thumb in even further. Velazquez inspired Bacon’s whole series of “Screaming Popes”.

Perhaps it was Francis Bacon’s tumultuous childhood that made him into the type of artist that he became. He was born October 28, 1909 in Dublin, Ireland to Winnie and Eddy Bacon. They were a well-to-do family and lived in beautiful homes. Francis was a sickly child, having asthma and intense allergies to dogs and horses. The family shifted houses often between Ireland and England, leaving Francis with a feeling of displacement. He was a painfully shy child, but he found comfort in the realm of femininity. He enjoyed dressing up as a woman, which enraged his father. In 1926 his father kicked him out of the after finding Francis admiring himself in a mirror wearing his mothers underwear. He lived of a small allowance from his mother, but sometimes that still was not enough. However, it is in this time that Bacon truly began coming into his own as a person. It may be because he felt a connection with the harsh nature of the streets after being treated so judgmentally by his father. Whatever the reason, Bacon has always been attracted to “profane” or cruel things. He was especially influenced by Nicholas Poussin’s Massacre of the Innocents. (fig. 3) That painting illustrates the mass infanticide committed by King Herod in the village of Bethlehem during the birth of Christ. Francis Bacon may have identified with that painting because of his strained relationship with his father. His dark paintings reflect the darkness and suppressed nature of his childhood.

The earliest surviving work in his “Screaming Heads” series is Head IV (fig. 4). It captures all of the silent angst of his childhood. His true personality was suppressed by his father so he was forced to express himself in secrecy. The screaming head of a pope seems to really connect with Francis. Popes are supposed to fit into one category and they have to follow so many rules set for them by tradition. Francis was just a boy, but his father was constantly pressuring him to be someone he was not- a typical Irish/English boy. Francis was too eclectic for that. This painting illustrates all the suppressed angst that is built up in him. Why is he “abnormal”? Why is the world so cruel and judgmental? The screaming head in the painting is enclosed in what seems to be a glass cage. In a way, this illustration of the pope is the illustration of the whole world. People are born to be different from one another, but society has deemed that conformity and “normalcy” are the best and only acceptable ways of living.

Francis’ Second Version of “Study for a Red Pope 1962” (fig. 5) depicts the image of Pope Innocent X and a window with a business man in it. Both the pope and the business man have the same sort of distortion to their faces, which symbolizes their similarities. The business man is looking into the portrait of the pope and seeing that they are the same. Though the subjects of the painting are from different eras, they are both effective representations of hypocrisy and materialism and power.

Perhaps Bacon’s most striking painting of the whole series is his work Study after Velazquez’s Pope Innocent X. (fig. 6) He seats the Pope in a cage of shadows and strips him of his humanity as though saying, “This man is not worth the status of a human.” Instead he portrays Innocent as a ghost-like, skeletal being trapped in his hypocrisy and addiction to power. He portrayed Innocent as being parallel to his title of Pope, as being the definition of profane: showing disrespect to God. Francis Bacon’s paintings are more than the portrayal of one man’s corruption: they are the portrayal of society’s corruption. His paintings of popes that lived hundreds of years ago are still prevalent in today’s society. Bacon was always amazed at the capacity that human beings have to tolerate and generate cruelty and his work reflected that. His paintings leave you feeling uneasy and shaken. Is it because of the eerie hue of the painting? Or is it the screaming of the pope? Or maybe even the flagrant disregard for religious protocol? Perhaps it is all of those reasons, but perhaps it is that the paintings challenge the viewer to see themselves in Pope Innocent. It challenges them to see the hypocrisy in their own lives, which is something that people rarely even think they have. They think that by going to church or sending their kids to religious schools they are better than others, or that will assure them a spot in heaven. However, they, like Pope Innocent X, hardly live up to what they are preaching. They teach their children to be patient and understanding, as long as they are not running late and someone cuts them off. To keep promises, yet the divorce rate in this country is steadily rising. One of the first things someone learns as a child is to share, but somewhere along the line people learned that it is better to have nice things from Pottery Barn and Ralph Lauren than to share with those less fortunate. They learned that success is measured by granite countertops, high ceilings and stainless steel appliances. Francis Bacon’s portraits challenge humankind to be genuine in word and deed, to view life as more than just a series of graduations, paychecks, and anniversaries until you die. To view every day as something more powerful than a list of things that are written down in a day planner to do, because the most wonderful things in life can never be planned. Bacon challenges the viewer to view their faith as more than just a label that they give themselves, to view it as the way that they live their life.

These paintings are sacred; that does not mean that the man portrayed in the painting is sacred, but that the purpose of the paintings is sacred. They force people into the uncomfortable situation of looking at themselves and finding that they are not too far off from the unholy pope. The paintings serve as a warning to those we view it to not become what they see and a challenge to be better, more genuine. These paintings and the life of Francis Bacon prove that from something profane can come the most shockingly honest portrayal of truth.

Works Cited

"Diego Velázquez." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation Inc.. 29 Mar 2009 .

"Massacre of the Innocents." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation Inc.. 29 Mar 2009 .

"Francis Bacon (painter)." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation Inc.. 29 Mar 2009 .

"Francis Bacon Art Gallery." 29 Mar 2009 .

Fig.1 The Archangel Michael by Guido Reni

Fig. 2 Portrait of Pope Innocent X by Diego Velazquez

Fig. 3 Massacre of the Innocents by Nicholas Poussin

Fig. 4 Head IV by Francis Bacon

Fig. 5 Second Version of "Study of a Red Pope 1962" by Francis Bacon

Fig. 6 Study After Velazquez' Portrait of Pope Innocent X by Francis Bacon