Two for One Option

Just to forewarn every one, I am very sorry for how many pictures there are, there are quite a bit of pictures and that is why the post looks so long, but it really is not that long. Hope you all enjoy the pictures, they are all my own photographs, manipulations, and drawings. Also any words written are my own, I do not believe I have any famous quotes in there, they should all be ones that I alone though of and wrote down. ~Dani G

 Though I am not an amazing artist, I still consider myself a new artist that is exploring different types of media, from computer art and photography to drawing and painting. Now, before I took this art history class (my first one) I never really observed artists or anything of that matter, I mean I knew some of the paintings, who they were done, by and what they were called, but never really knew anything else. So I don't really know what artist really influences me, because its mostly poetry and stories that influence my drawings. I mean some works of art that I can say influenced me or that I can see my art/ doodles/ and drawings tying into are the photos I manipulated. Those manipulated pictures of mine can maybe be referenced to Andy Warhol, because of how his Marilyn Monroe picture looked. Also, my photos can be referenced to Barbara Kruger because in her photo Untitled (Your Gaze Hits the Side of My Face) she has words in her photo, like I do in mine. I know that some of my drawings are not the most famous kind of drawings within the artistic world; like anime: many of my drawings are anime inspired. In reality I am believe I fit in with the artistic times of now, contemporary art. Though my art is not "cutting edge" like Andy Warhol, or "risky and different" like Roy Lichtenstein, it is still contemporary in the form it takes.

In all honesty, I mostly enjoyed learning about contemporary art, like Chihuly, and post modern artists like Van Gogh. The contemporary period draws me because that is the time I live in, so in tern it is the period i gotta compete against when I try to get my art out in the world. I also like the post impressionism period because  it was very different. Vincent Van Gogh  created very different works of art in displaying the sky, buildings, the night, and night life. Van Gogh's  The Starry Night captures my interest with how the brush strokes are and the colors used to explain the landscape underneath the moon and stars. Nineteenth century artist James Abbott McNeill Whistler was very intriguing to say. His art piece Nocturne in Black and Gold, the Falling Rocket almost looks like a simplistic painting until closely looked at. Once looked at you can almost see what appears to sparks coming down from the sky (like a rocket). This is very interesting to see that this painting can be brought to life by the texture that is shown and the changes in color that is shown.

To say it all, I very much enjoyed this class and the learning environment provided. This was the best online class I have taken, and I thank you my peers, and you my professor, for making it a very welcoming class where I can learn new things, as well as other people's opinion and thoughts.

Good luck to everyone on the final and on future endeavors! Hopefully I will see someone's name in a museum one day :)

~Dani G.

Roy Lichtenstein

Look Mickey- 1961

According to Google, pop art is " art based on modern popular culture and mass media." Roy Lichtenstein was well known for his "pop art" and his main focus was on comic books and how the images within the comic books were displayed. The two figures, Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse, were both major icons in America. Look Mickey was "inspired by a bubble gun wrapper Lichtenstein's son had given Lichtenstein was around thirty-seven." Look Mickey was also brought to life when "Lichtenstein wanted a place in the forefront of mainstream art, and win [that place] with something radically different." By using  Benday Dots, Lichtenstein created a piece that looks like it was simply painted on to the canvas. However according to Google, Benday Dots are " part of the printing process, that is similar to pointillism." Unlike comic books Lichtenstein's dots were very close together giving the artwork a cleaner look. Where as in comic books, the dots were a little bigger and were able to be seen.

In all honesty, Roy Lichtenstein is an inspirational man. By realizing the original artwork he was doing was going unnoticed, he radically changed his art in order to be noticed. With his artwork Look Mickey he did just that; get noticed. Taking a risk by using Benday dots as well as two popular Disney characters, created a work that would not be missed.

Comic Books, like books, evoke emotion because of what the reader/ viewer is looking at and witnessing, while reading what is being said. Going along with that, the picture above does the same thing; evoke feeling. Now, this picture might not be played out to see what happens next to the famous Donald Duck, but it still brings in a little giggle or two because of how it is depicted.

Lichtenstein was very nervous about how Look Mickey would be perceived by audiences and so he himself chuckled at the artwork. I mean who cannot relate to that, I can, when I am nervous, I try to laugh off the insecurities of what I am nervous about.

Trying to be radically different is very risky, especially when using two family/ children icons is very testing on the emotions. However, Roy Lichtenstein made a great leap of faith.



Source:
http://www.jstor.org.ezp.lib.cwu.edu/stable/3109436?seq=6&Search=yes&searchText=Look&searchText=Mickey&list=show&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3D%2528ca%253ALook%2BAND%2Bca%253AMickey%2529%26gw%3Djcp%26acc%3Don%26prq%3D%2528ca%253ALook%2BOR%2Bca%253AMickey%2529%26Search%3DSearch%26hp%3D25%26wc%3Don&prevSearch=&item=5&ttl=5&returnArticleService=showFullText&resultsServiceName=null

Dada and the Surrealism of New Life

Hannah Hoch: Cut With The DADA Kitchen Knife Through The Last Weimar Beer-Belly Cultural Epoch in Germany: 1919

Once the Great War had started, it left a destructive path in the European area. Many artists and poets left to escape the destruction the war was creating, and in turn started a new artistic movement because of the war; Dada. Dada was essentially "created to address the slaughter and moral question of war" (Stockstad 1037) as well as "mocked the senselessness of rational though and even the foundations of modern society because of how thoughtlessly life was discarded in the trenches" (Stockstad 1037). Dada was also the "apparent collapse of bourgeois cultural values (a collapse displayed by the barbarism and destruction of war" (Powerpoint Lecture 8). However, with the Dada movement started a  new era of art. This art mocked and ridiculed other art as well as society and government, no topic was off limits. In the image above, Dadaist Hannah Hoch was very active with the "women's movement." Hoch was also the one female amongst the primarily male Berlin Dada group. Her artwork took words and images for other magazines, posters, and photos in order to convey a message. This message was an angry message that criticized society and government for not seeing women for their real potential and instead seeing women "as merely conjuring up beer and sandwiches" (Stockstand 1039).

In all honesty this is art, just a very different almost abstract for of art. The images the compose her art work show guns, and a very depressing state of work conditions and life and display words like "die" within it. This is art because this type of art, Dada, was composed of mocking how society saw things. Her collage incorporates an angry tone that is easily conveyed, yet the pictures all show different images, leaving the viewer to see the full picture of what Hoch was angry about. In many pictures on the collage their are female bodies, but they are portrayed with a males face. This shows a degrading demeanor for men, and also shows society that women can men can be the same, though they do not look it.

Salvador Dali, The Phenomenon of Ecstasy, 14 December 1933

 Surrealism is the "dissent from and critique of the stabilized bourgeois order (and values) in the 1920s and 1930s" (PowerPoint Lecture 8). In Salvador Dali's art piece, he composes his art of images based primarily on a sexual nature. By doing this, he went against what bourgeois values were. This almost pornographic looking artwork shows people in a sexual nature, including the ears. In turn, this image created a basically behind the scenes of life. Though their are images of ears and sculptures, they still produce a seductive look at the image. A value of bourgeois was that private life was indeed private, however to depict essentially some one's private life disbanded the values that were once upheld.

Honestly, the image to many could be repulsive and offending because it essentially shows the sexual life of man. Though, during this time one's sexual side was very private, and it is understandable how many could be offended and maybe embarrassed by seeing Dali's art work. Though in today's society, people are more comfortable when seeing sexual images, since it is displayed in all medias, so seeing this image was okay for me. However, times have changes and in the 20s and 30s people were more conservative about their sexuality and what they did and looked like in the bedroom.

The Pollock Formula

 Upon looking at the picture "The Yellow Christ" one can see that it is very different from a tradition painting of the crucifixion. The difference between the pictures is that the one shown above strays away from traditional and instead is Avant-Garde.  To analyze how "The Yellow Christ" is in fact Avant-Garde, this blog post will examine the three criterion of Griselda Pollock's formula.

The three criterion of Pollock's formula (shown on page 167 of The Challenge of Avant-Garde are:

1. reference: "one had to produce work that showed an awareness of what was already going on,"
2. deference: "defer to the latest and most radical developments," and
3. difference: "be involved in establishing difference that had to be both legible in terms of current aesthetics and criticism, and a definite advance on the current position."

While examining the first criteria for Pollock's formula, it can be established that "The Yellow Christ" follows it. Gauguin's piece resembles part of what Avant-Garde was, impressionistic. The painting is close to a monochromatic background (despite the sky) which makes the background less noticeable, and helps draw attention to the foreground. Also, throughout the whole canvas their is not definitive detail in terms of eyes or the leaves on trees. The brushstrokes are more, almost to say, sketchy. However, the main focal point of the piece is Christ on the cross. In scale he is larger compared to the women that are around him. This is what many impressionists, or Avant-Garde pieces focused on, thus showing that the painting above follows the first criteria of Pollock's formula.

As for the second criteria of the formula, "The Yellow Christ" follows the most recent movement of impressionism. Though the brushstrokes aren't as controlled they are still not detailed and smooth. As well, impressionists used certain color schemes to evoke emotional responses of the pieces, or to even symbolize emotional responses. Withing the painting "The Yellow Christ" the colors are more like the colors of fall season. As well, the sky is not bright and illuminating, but instead it is almost portrayed like the sun is setting. Using the colors of fall (of dying) and of the sun setting (darkness), it sets a dismal mood for the painting. As for the foreground, the faces of the women and of Christs are not joyful but saddened, showing that it is a saddened moment in the painting. With how the painting was done, it Gauguin followed the second criteria in Pollock's formula.

Now, the last criteria of Pollock's formula. Gauguin's painting was very different which is what Pollock's third criteria required. Gauguin, depicted a natural everyday setting however, he evoked the religious ties to that setting creating an emotional response by the viewer. By combining the beauty of the background as well as a religious icon he created the aesthetics of the painting. Painting this evoked a spiritual tie and response to Christ being crucified, as well as evoked a saddened feeling because (though the background was beautiful) it signified death, which was then portrayed by Christ on the Cross.

By figuring out the Gauguin's painting followed Pollock's formula we are conclude that Gauguin's painting is Avant-Garde, and very well done.