9. Elizabeth Murray

St. Marks (From the METROPOLITAN SERIES)

"Bop" 

Elizabeth Murray was an abstract painter who utilized bold colors and varying shapes. Her style of painting connects all of her work but no two pieces are the same. Murray’s works feature both prominent shapes and lines. Some of her work crosses over into the realm of sculptor because painting is protruding from the wall. There are no shortage of colors in her work, in fact in most of her paintings there seems to be at least one hue of every color. Her work reminds me of puzzle pieces that don’t fit together but are arranged in a certain way what are appealing to the eye.

I enjoy her work because it’s different and exciting. There is no hidden meaning it is simply there for enjoyment, which I appreciate.  At first some of her piece seem a bit overwhelming but they do indeed keep the viewers eye moving. Murray does pay attention to negative space and what interesting is that even her negative space holds great shape. Her work reminds me of some of Picasso’s work and I think she drew inspiration from him as a painter. The scale of some of her works is also quite impressive some of her painting/sculptors fill entire walls. I also appreciate the fact that she uses layers of paint to give her painting depth and detail. Overall, I think Elizabeth Murray’s work is great because she isn’t afraid to used color and create something bold. I can tell that she creates paintings that not only she will enjoy but others will enjoy as well. 

The artist with her painting
"The Sun and the Moon"

'like a museum'- final project blog entry

I chose to visit the Birds of Prey to examine the qualities of the displays that they featured. One that I was particularly drawn to was a vitrine(s), in the Falconry exhibit, that incased a number of Falcon helmets/hoods that are used in training the Falcons. The display was simple, it featured a few cases with shelves of these helmets that were evenly spaced. I appreciated that they weren’t over crowed so they didn’t take away from the artifacts, which in this case were quite detailed. In front of each helmet was a rectangular piece of white paper that had black text explain the origin of the helmet. Behind the helmets were also titles that were made with big enough text to easily read but were not distracting. Overall, I feel the display was inviting and appealing to the eye.

my drawing of it

The grouping made perfect sense was very easy to follow. There was no question that it fit into the exhibit and there was plenty of information leading up to where these were placed in the exhibit. The relationship between the display and exhibit was flawless, there was history and information on Falconry and then it lead to the finer details, like the helmets. Not only that but also this display did a fine job at enhancing the exhibit because they are such vital artifacts.

 

I don’t recall seeing anything on the display that stated who curated it but when returned home I looked it up on their website and found the information. There were two curators for this exhibit John R. Swift and Emeritus, S. Kent Carnie. I was made privilege to this information through the website, it may have been presented in the exhibit but I didn’t see it. Overall I was very pleased with the display not only were the artifacts interesting but the display was clean and not overwhelming. There was a good information that enhanced the display but was presented in a way that didn’t take away from what my attention should be focused on. 

8. Margaret Kilgallen

Mission School Movement

I came across Margaret Kilgallen on the Art 21 website, she specialized in printmaking; an area that I don’t know much about but have always appreciated. Her work features these interesting figures both male and female that have prominent features and very expressive faces. Kilgallen’s prints also feature text that reminds me of typeface that would be seen on posters advertising a carnival or circus. Her prints are done with a lot of warm colors but have hints of cool colors that add to the depth of her work but is also appealing to the eye. Some of her work is large-scale installations that are in museums or even on the sides of buildings, which I find so great.

"To Friend + Foe Installation"

 I really enjoy her work and the more I look at it the more I want a piece for my room. I appreciate that her work is simple and clean and has great line quality. Beyond that is has a playful quality and I enjoy the cartoon side of it.  Another aspect of her work that I love is some of her work, although is one piece, is made up of a collection of varying size pieces but comes together as one. Kilgallen has a great eye for placement and does a good job at taking space into consideration, both negative and positive. Her work inspires me to learn more about printmaking and I will continue to look at her work. She is quite talented at what she does and I appreciate all aspects of her work.

 

7. Duane Hansen

"Children"

Duane Hansen is a contemporary sculptor whose work would fall under the realm of Kitsh. Until this class I never knew what Kitsh was and now that I have an understanding I can better appreciate Hansen’s work. He creates narratives with his work and most of his sculptors consist of humans that are created with vinyl. His sculptures look freakishly real and they remind me of the sculptures seen in wax museums. Hansen’s sculptures feature “everyday people” every thing from tourists, construction workers, or even a woman shopping. What is so great about his work is that he is really good about making these sculptures/people look as if they are in their natural state, which makes them seem so realistic.

I appreciate Hansen’s work because his craftsmanship is pretty amazing, especially the life like quality he gives his sculptures. I do think is work is pretty tacky but that is basically the point of Kitsh so he achieves that very well. Until now I have never thought of these sculptures as art I guess because I am so used to thinking in terms of marble sculptures of Greek goddesses and what not, but this is art just the same. Hansen’s execution is great and his stories are told quite clearly. Overall I think Hansen’s work is brilliant and definitely paints a clearer picture of what Kitsh is.

6. Jason Rogenes

Jason Rogenes is a conceptual artist that specializes in sculpture, I particularly remember him from one of this lectures because his work is so unique. His choice of medium to work with is Styrofoam, which right away sets him apart from other artists. Rogenes uses Styrofoam that is used in packaging and creates large-scale sculptures that are sometimes stories tall. Not only is he recycling but also he presents a different view of Styrofoam. They way that Rogenes showcases Styrofoam shows off this great form, shape, and lines, both concave and convex, that the viewer may have never noticed before.

"Stargazer 5.10"

"Transpondor 3.03"

He also adds a whole other dimension to his work by lighting these sculptures from the inside and they transform into these futuristic looking structures. I also appreciate the fact that the viewer can look at his work from different angles and each time the sculptures take on different forms. I really love his work not only because it’s interesting but also the clean lines and varying shapes attract my eye. Plus, the scale of his work is mind blowing. His work makes me think more about the products that are thrown away daily, like Styrofoam. Rogenes has a great eye for detail in the way that  he constructs these sculptures. I have great respect for his work and hope to see more from him in the future. 

5. Philip Guston

"Multiplied"

"Painter III"

Philip Guston was a well-known abstract painter. Through researching him I found that he helped to lead a transition from Abstract expressionism to Neo-expressionism in painting. This movement meant leaving “pure abstract” and transitioning more into cartoonish versions of assorted personal symbols and objects. This “cartoonish” aspect indeed shows through in his works, a cartoon that caught me eye in is work is a white hooded figure that, I believe, is meant to represent the KKK. I don’t know much about painting but I did take a notice to his brush strokes that were very prominent and bold in his earlier works. I also noticed that the he uses a lot of red in his work or shades of red in his later works; which is a color that holds a lot emotion.

oil on canvas

"The Studio"

Over all I think his work his interesting, there are pieces that are really enjoyed but others I don’t much care for. I do like the cartoon aspect of his work I enjoy the fact that it feels more playful. Guston’s early works that are seen as “pure abstract” I can appreciate because I find it abstract art difficult to execute. Some of his early works; however, I don’t care much for because they don’t strike an emotion in me. His work at time feels random and sometimes I don’t even understand the message he trying to get across but I like that he keeps my eye constantly moving through certain works. Philip Guston’s paintings are ones I have never much looked into before; I can definitely see the transition from his early works to the later works. His work seems to speak of certain controversial issues but pokes fun at it.

Yinka Shonibare VS. Tim Hawkison

Tim Hawkinson

Yinka Shonibare

As a class we were asked to write a blog comparing the artists Tim Hawkinson and Yinka Shonibare who both use the “body” in their work. After going back and looking at their work I can tell there are big differences in their work but what connects them is their fascination with the human body. Hawkinson focuses more, I’d say, on how the body works both as a whole and as separate entities, for instance eyes, hands, fingers, mouth, ect. He also likes to take a single body part and exaggerate it, either by multiplying it or making it at a very large scale. Something that Hawkinson said in his Art 21 piece that I believe really expresses his work was, “it’s about our body’s experiences with the world”. His work is really great and makes us view the body in a different and maybe odd way.

Yinka Shonibare

"Blastula"
Tim Hawkinson

Yinka Shonibare’s work is more about keeping the body in its normal state but instead dressing it up. He does a lot of work with fabric and has a very large color pallet. One thing that Shonibare mentioned about his work is that he is fascinated by the notion of “class”. He does an excellent job a portraying this notion by dressing up the body in exquisite costumes and putting them in a settings that we may see in society or have seen from history. One thing that I noticed is that he is great at making the body look like it is in motion. His work makes the viewer think more about standards that we hold certain people to in society and everyday life events. Both artists create works but speak very differently about the human body. 

Eliza Fernand

Performance piece / erupting volcano

Fabric and quilt work

mediums that were dipped in slip and fired

I really enjoyed listening to Eliza Fernand speak about her work in class last Tuesday. Her artwork is very different from anything I have seen before but I loved it. I thought it was great how a majority of her work deals with performance pieces but the items used in those performances were made by her. Fabric is a medium that is used a lot in her work and recently Fernand has started making quilts. Quilts are something that I have always loved and found beauty in artistic wise, which makes me appreciate her work even more. Her quilts reminded me of a show that I went to at the Boise Art Museum and it was the work of The Gees Bend Quilters. These quilters were a group of older women from the south that took up quilting as a hobby and made tons of quilts that are now shown in art museums nation wide. Even the simplest of patterns, like the “log cabin” that Fernand talked mentioned, are so beautiful and unique to each quilter.

Gees Bend Quilts

Another aspect of Frenand’s were that I appreciated was her experimenting with different mediums and dipping them in slip and then firing them. I really enjoyed the yarn puffballs that she created by do this process; it transformed them into these awesome little figures that held such interesting shape. Something that is so great about her work is her experimentation with bringing two areas of art together into one. Eliza is definitely an artist that I’m going to follow and I’m interested to see what she will do in her future works. 

Sugar Skulls

Decorated sugar skulls

molding sugar skulls

Since yesterday was Halloween I thought it would be fun and appropriate to blog about something that pertains to this holiday. In the Hispanic culture the day after Halloween is known as “Dia de Los Muertos” or Day of the Dead, and there are a lot of creative works in preparation for this day. I have always loved the decorated sugar skulls that are used in celebration for this holiday, and to me they are little pieces of art. I decided to do a little research on how they are constructed and the meaning behind them.

A drawing that I liked of a sugar skull

I found out that Italian missionaries brought sugar art to the New World in the 17th century. Sugar skulls are seen as traditional folk art from Southern Mexico. These sugar skulls represented a departed soul, the name is written on the forehead and the skull is then placed on a gravestone or home ofrenda to pay tribute to the return of the spirit. The main purpose of sugar skulls is to decorate the altars and tombs but is sometimes eaten. Sugar/ chocolate skulls are made in molds and then decorated by hand. I love that there are really no limits to how creative you want to be when decorating sugar skulls and there is no limit of how much color either. From the pictures I have looked at swirl and floral type patterns are very popular in terms of decoration. I think traditions like these are really beautiful and allow families to be creative but also commemorate someone who has passed that was important.