Saturday, October 20, 2007

ICA - Dumas and Bourgeois





The image at the top is called Spiral Women by artist Louise Bourgeois. It is bronze with a black slate disc at the bottom. Bourgeois was born in Paris in 1911 and in her early career as an artist she was an engraver and painter. From the 1940's on she mainly did sculptural work out of bronze, fabric, and wood. She was influence by the surrealists and memories of her childhood.

The next image is titled The Messengers by artist Marlene Dumas. Dumas is from South Africa and now resides in Amsterdam. She is well know for painting "explicit" watercolor nudes of adults and children. Two other paintings in this piece are missing and i was unable to find images of them on the web. Below is a sketch i did of the third skeleton image and the spiral woman.









In viewing the two works i notice lots of similarities and differences in their use of shape. Both images are plastic because the have depth. Dumas Has lots of implied shape in her work (positive and negative space not intentionally created by the artist). Bourgeois' uses biomorphic shapes (organic). The way each artist organized shape helped them both achieve great emotional effects.

Both works use the figure as subject matter. For Bourgeois it is more abstract and is the outside of the figure. Dumas depicts the actual inside skeletal parts of the figure with also images of children who are not skeletons.

Both paintings are inspired from very personal experiences, thoughts, and feelings. Dumas did her painting while pregnant. She said the painting was about fear of bringing another being into the world. Thus, the inspiration was derived from thoughts having to do with the future. Bourgeois's sculpture inspiration came from her childhood memories. They are both similar in that both works are derived from an internal personal experience individual to each artist. Each work has an emotionality and mystery to it. Each piece makes the viewer think about what it may be about.

The spiral and the skeleton have great spacial aspects. The spiral goes on and on forever and the image of a skeleton reminds one of oncoming death.

The way each artist used scale is interesting. Bourgeois hangs her spiral woman in mid-air about 5 feet above a black disc. The space between the disc and the spiral woman is simple but powerful. Because the spiral woman is so much smaller than the large black disc she stands out more. The color of the spiral woman also contrasts with the disc causing it to come to life more. The circle shape of the disc has harmony and unity with the circular pattern of the spiral women. The Messengers are all painted on large rectangular canvas. Dumas has 4 separate paintings lined up in a row to view. The first three are of a skeleton and the last is of a naked female child. The images are life size unlike Louise's Spiral Woman.

The Focal point in the Messengers are the skeletons. Unlike Louise's open presentation the skeletons are boxed in with long vertical and horizontal lines on the left and right side of the canvas. This creates a certain tension that forces the eyes gaze back to the skeleton.

Both artists have similar use of curvular shapes in their pieces. One can see strange rings around the skeletons arms and legs. These curvy shapes can be seen in the ribcage of the skeletons. The use of curvy shapes helps both artists create harmony in each work.

The formal elements are also very similar in that both lead the eye in an up and down motion. In the Spiral Woman one starts attending to the spiral and the eyes gaze eventually drops down to the disc and then back up to the spiral. The Messengers is similar as the eyes gaze is forced to view the work in the up and down motion because of the rectangle canvas it was created on.

space

According to Art Fundamentals space is "the interval or measurable distance, between points or images." In the photo below i have created the illusion of space through motion and linear perspective.


I love the form of this image. I didn't notice the american flag until after i got the image uploaded onto my computer. The flag really makes you pause to look at it. My eye is first drawn to the focal point which is the 14th street sign. The vertical rectangular shape of the pole the sign is on contrasts with the yellow rectangular line. My eye goes down the green pole and then up the yellow line. Once to the top i view the lights to the right. These lights point to the train. My attention to the train and the red lights on it lead me to the flag.

The motion in this image is due to my manipulation of the shutter speed on my camera. The effects of this can be seen in the blurs of the people getting off the subway and wonderful long lines of red light coming off the subway. Motion can also be seen in the reflection of the fluroscent lights on the train coming from the ceiling.

Linear perspective is seen on the yellow line. This line helps give the overall image a sense of space. The subway and the walkway also recead into space and gets smaller. The small scale of the line further in the distance suggests space.

I had so much fun playing around with the shutter speed. It was great that i just happend to be in New York where their is lots and lots of movement and space. Here are a few more images.



This image is great in that you can see my friends four arms. What motion is captured as she throws up her heap of leaves.



This image above has the illusion of depth and is thus plastic.



This image has lots of transparency. Bright lights and heavy shadows create a wild impression. In my opinion the form in this image is not successful in creating harmony. Variety yes but it is all so jumbles that it is hard to appreciate.



This image shows the elapsing of time. Here my friend is facing me and also has her back to me.

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Shape and Space



The image above is an oil painting i did on wood for the shape project. This image has lots of biomorphic or irregular shapes. Subjective shape can also be seen in this image. For example in the area highlighted below it kind of looks like the shape of bunny ears. Visual dominance is also seen in the stark contrast of the black and orange. This contrasts helps the iguana become the focal point.





Shape is an area that stands out in space because of a difference in value, texture, and color. Shape and color are used in pictures to help create a sense of space. Below you will find some artists i have selected to further show this point.



Above is an image by Ron Davis titled Five Block Row. This image was striking to me right away. It got my attention and kept my attention. Here Ron uses a very simple shape: the cube. The cube is the most primitive shape. The cube is one of the most basic building blocks used in second life. This image is successful because of Ron's use of color and value. The color and value in this picture control the direction and duration of the observers attention. The darkest shadow on the right and the cube next to it are clearly the focal points. The viewers eye starts at this point and scans up and toward the right to the following cubes. This scanning process is easy on the viewers eye because of Ron's use of linear perspective. The wonderful colors Ron has added to each side of the cubes has further the viewers ability to recognize the various planes.

Andrew Wyeth is know to paint space in nature. His paintings are often charged with emotion. The objects he paints are often left to stand as psychological and metaphorical significance. As a child Andrew had whooping cough and because of this had a weak body that got sick often. Below is his tempera painting called Northern Point.



In this painting the focal point is the rod on the roof with the ball. I am not sure what this is. My eye is immediately attracted to it. My eye is also brought back to it after i scan the edge of the land that hits the ocean on the right hand side. It is almost as if the land is pointing at the rod on the roof. Space is created in this painting because the rod is so close and the land so far away. Space is also created in this painting between the difference in value of color. Everything in the foreground is a dark value where the rest is light value.

The next image i have choosen is a painting by Bo Bartlett. I love this painting! The horizon line in this painting helps the viewers eye find the focal point which is Bo himself. the wonderful curve of the whale bone (?) he holds keeps our eyes in the sky and makes the viewer continuously encounter the vast sense of space. Our eyes start on the horizon holding a few seconds and go onto the figure to the bone the sky and back to the horizon. The force of duration and direction are strong here.