Tuesday, November 6, 2018
Cristina Duara
Cristina Duara is a Spanish illustrator from Barcelona, Spain. Growing up, Cristiana's parents pushed her to get a degree in fine art if she were to get a career in drawing. She realized after the first year that art school was not for her because it was "stupid". Her work tends to lay out several components of a centralized idea in a brightly colored and bold fashion. The lines she uses are deliberate and complemented by the surrealist/cubist nature of her work. Cristiana's work leaves much of its content up to interpretation as many of the things she portrays are very archetypal. I enjoy her work very much because this combination of cubism and a psychological element create a somewhat absurd propaganda-esque feeling to her work.
BLOG 9: Alex Gamsu Jenkins
Alex Gamsu Jenkins is an English illustrator from South London. His work is filled with absurdist and surrealist themes that normally serve as a way to further express the strangeness of the situation depicted. I love Jenkins's use of the abstraction in terms of the human figure, his "characters" are silly looking humanoid creatures portrayed in precarious situations. I believe that this purposeful abstraction allows for the onlooker to "other" one's self from the figures in the illustration and realize how strange the things we do really are.
Thursday, October 25, 2018
Maps in Art
Shannon rankin is an American artist from California, however, she attended Maine College of Art in the nineties and still resides in Maine to this day. Rankin’s subject matter centers around human anatomy and it’s connection with maps and geographical phenomenon
Matthew Cusick is an American artist who uses small paper fragments of maps in his work. Collage is a common theme in his pieces, which he uses in a very expressionist fashion. “Their palette is deliberate and symbolic, acting as a cognitive mechanism to help us internalize the external.”
Ingrid Dabringer is an artist who has lived in many different places, making her familiar with maps. By the time she was 13, she had lived in Indonesia, Lebanon, Canada, Mexico, Ecuador, the United States and Austria. Dabringer’s work is centered around visual interpretations in maps and finding whimsical imagery hidden within the landscape. Although she is still active, not much is published on the internet regarding Dabringer’s personal life.
Monday, October 22, 2018
Towards a Concrete Utopia
After the Tito-Stalin split in 1948, former Yugoslavia was expelled from the Soviet Union and left to govern itself, as it had become largely independent post-WWII. This gives the context for Towards a Concrete Utopia, an art exhibit containing sketches, drawings, photos and models of Yugoslav architecture from 1948 to 1992. Much Yugoslav architecture had been inspired by the brutalism and soviet aesthetics as well as the need for space efficient housing. Elements of futurist/modernist design can are incorporated while the building still serves a utilitarian purpose. This is how much architecture in socialist countries differed from that of capitalist countries: structures were typically more efficient as their design was based on need rather than making something seem luxurious.
I chose this exhibit for my write up because my Grandparents immigrated to the United States from the Soviet Union. Although they came from Ukraine and not Yugoslavia, I still feel it interests me because the exhibit shows the Yugoslav adaptation of an aesthetic shared by a large part of Eastern Europe. I very much enjoy the the idea of utilitarianism in architecture on grounds of sustainability and believe efficient and comfortable housing should be universally available.
My personal opinion: I admire every piece in this exhibit because infrastructure is crucial to the functioning of any community and every artist included has contributed to that. I love brutalist architecture and enjoy that Yugoslavia created their own brand of it. As the Soviet Union was extremely ethnically diverse, it is inevitable that variations of a style would arise.
I chose this exhibit for my write up because my Grandparents immigrated to the United States from the Soviet Union. Although they came from Ukraine and not Yugoslavia, I still feel it interests me because the exhibit shows the Yugoslav adaptation of an aesthetic shared by a large part of Eastern Europe. I very much enjoy the the idea of utilitarianism in architecture on grounds of sustainability and believe efficient and comfortable housing should be universally available.
My personal opinion: I admire every piece in this exhibit because infrastructure is crucial to the functioning of any community and every artist included has contributed to that. I love brutalist architecture and enjoy that Yugoslavia created their own brand of it. As the Soviet Union was extremely ethnically diverse, it is inevitable that variations of a style would arise.
Banksy
Banksy is an English street artist whose identity remains unconfirmed, however, he is arguably one of the most famous artists in his trade. Banksy began making art at 14 and was expelled from school in his hometown in Easton, Bristol, United Kingdom. He is known for his stencil graffiti that is often somehow worked into the cityscape. There are many theories regarding who banksy actually is but it is crucial that his identity remains unknown to the public because graffiti is illegal. The range of Banksy's subject matter is so wide that it wouldn't really fit a genre, however, much of his work centers around a general commentary on the law and social norms. There is an undeniable truth to his work often conveyed through harsh but sometimes humorous depictions of reality.
A recent controversy surrounding Banksy arose on October 2nd, 2018, at Sotheby's art auction in New York. A piece of his titled Girl With Balloon was sold for $1.4 million. Soon after, the painting self-destructed, as Banksy had implanted a shredder in the frame. The mechanism malfunctioned and only shredded the painting half way but the dramatic effect was still there. I think this is an interesting statement on the value we put on love and how fragile and based on nothing our concept of value really is. He also pissed a lot of stupidly wealthy people which is always a good time.
A recent controversy surrounding Banksy arose on October 2nd, 2018, at Sotheby's art auction in New York. A piece of his titled Girl With Balloon was sold for $1.4 million. Soon after, the painting self-destructed, as Banksy had implanted a shredder in the frame. The mechanism malfunctioned and only shredded the painting half way but the dramatic effect was still there. I think this is an interesting statement on the value we put on love and how fragile and based on nothing our concept of value really is. He also pissed a lot of stupidly wealthy people which is always a good time.
Wednesday, October 10, 2018
BELIN
Miguel Ángel Belinchón or more commonly referred to by his pseudonym, BELIN, is a self-proclaimed postneocubist hailing from Linares, Jaén, Spain. Belin was born on September 26th, 1979. As a child he had always been interested in art but began taking it seriously after attending Jaén High School. He started teaching himself to use spray paint in 1995 to do murals, grafitti and other paintings. Belin's unique style takes great influence from Pablo Picasso. He tends to depict normal people in normal situations using abstract, cubist aesthetics. Personally, I very much admire the ability to achieve such precise portrayals spray paint as I find it somewhat hard to control. There is a sense of realism in his work that is made to feel almost vulgar due to Belin's absurdist nature.
Wednesday, October 3, 2018
Pictures of Charley
These are some of the favorite pictures on my phone of the man, the myth, the legend, Charley Baker
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