Self-Portrait

I visited the Albright-Knox and Burchfield again and found it hard to find self-portraits.  Of course, the Albright-Knox has Frida Kahlo's self-portrait (see below) and I did find a self-portrait by Lars Gustaf Sellstedt at the Burchfield.  Although I did not see any others on these trips to the museums, I remembered seeing a self-portrait at the Albright in the past by Chuck Close, which I was able to find online.  The one by Chuck Close is probably my favorite because of the overall composition that gives a mosaic effect.  However, I really felt a connection with the Frida Kahlo self-portrait since we spoke about it in class.

Creating my own self-portrait was a lot harder than I thought it would be.  I ended up doing four different ones using different media.  My final project is a mixture of oil pastel and marker because I thought it was the most successful compared to my attempts with pencil and watercolor.  It was challenging to draw myself because I do not think it resembles me very much, but overall I tried to make it lighthearted and fun because I don't ever want to take myself too seriously.  However, I do think that the piece represents me since I created it and was able to focus on what makes me unique.  The main elements and principles I employed were color, unity, and texture.  I did enjoy the project and am pretty happy with my final artwork, especially since it was my first attempt at a self-portrait!  Here is an original picture of myself and my finished self portrait:

 

Art Criticism

For my art criticism article, I chose to review Kelly O’Keefe’s exhibit, “Cool Blues.”  I selected this particular exhibit out of all the others because I thought it was very well done and that it was a unique idea that I was interested in.  In writing the critique, I faced the challenge of how to be critical enough, especially since I thought the exhibit was so well put together.  However, I did come up with some constructive criticism in the end to improve upon the exhibit by imagining myself actually experiencing the exhibit.  I liked critiquing my peers’ work because I do not always get to see what everyone else is doing for their projects and it was fun to see what directions everyone took with the projects.  I would definitely be interested in hearing what people had to say about my personal art Curation project.  I would rate my finished article a 10 because I had a lot of interest in the exhibit I was critiquing, yet I tried to remain unbiased in order to give an objective review.  This project was probably my favorite project of the semester, I really enjoyed it!

Reflection

My expectations for this course were that I would learn about art history and techniques and also reconnect with my artistic side.  I would say that I learned more about art history than actual techniques and styles, but I definitely never thought I would know this much about elements and principles!  I do think I got back in touch with my creative side this semester, and I am very thankful that I made time for it!

This course reinforced my previous definition of art as "any visual expression."  There are so many different types of art, cultures, and people, that almost anything can be seen as art.

In the beginning of the semester, my favorite artist was my friend Mandie, who does amazing work in ceramics.  However, my favorite visual artist is definitely now Charles Burchfield - I have been to the Burchfield Penney Art Museum many times, and each time I learn something new about him that makes me appreciate him even more.  I especially can relate to his feelings about nature.

After this course, I have to admit that taking an online class is a lot more work than I thought it would be.  I originally thought I would be able to do it on my own time, but it is really hard for me to make time to do it - I probably would have done better just going to school for a class.  Nevertheless, I am glad I experienced it and now I know more about myself and my preferences!

Week 16 Videos

Greenberg on Art Criticism 
In this video, Greenburg relates art criticism to music criticism, pointing out that music is easier to critique due to the way musicians emote their music and that a score is used.  On the other hand, art is harder to be subjective about when it comes to criticism.  I will definitely keep these perspectives in mind for my project.
 
Greenberg on Pollock 
This video focused on the artwork of Jackson Pollock.  Interestingly, Pollock rejected the easel, yet used it throughout his career.  The video also explained the techniques utilized by Pollock, which oftentimes result in an artwork that isn't easy on the eyes.  This video related to art criticism in that it gave a whole picture on the artist, yet critiqued specific elements of his works.


The Critics: The Story from the Inside Page 
This video took an interesting angle of art criticism by comparing critics to reporters.  For example, music reporters might report on how the audience reacts to a concert, just as an art critic takes in the big picture beyond the artwork, including how the artwork affects the viewer.  It will be important for me to incorporate these ideas into my self-portrait project.

An Introduction to the Italian Renaissance
This video was different from any we have viewed throughout the semester because it involved a skit.  The main message of the film was that all art inspires more art.  This relates to the project in that it reminds us to look to other artists for inspiration, motivation, and ideas.

The Colonial Encounter: Views of Non-Western Art and Culture
This video touches on sexual exploitation of indigenous women and other topics of views of non-western art and culture.  As an anthropologist, I appreciated the tools segment that shared the view that tools can be considered an art form just as much as a traditional paintings and pottery.

Jackson Pollock 
This video introduced concepts of art criticism by discussing Pollock, considered a master, yet also used to describe a low point in modern art.  The film included a detailed discussion of the work "Lavender Mist," a controversial abstract painting.  This video inspired me to consider doing something more abstract for my self-portrait.

My Exhibit: Back to Nature

Like many of my peers, I am intersted in art in nature.  For my exhibit I took the angle of how art can reconnect us with nature and entitled it "Back to Nature."  My undergaduate research has focused on the growing disconnection between humans and nature and I did a first-hand study in Australia of how aboriginal peoples live more closely with the natural world and how we can incorporate this back into modern society.

I found it very exciting to be working through art to convey this message through which I formerly have only been able to reference other studies, journal articles, books, etc.  I tried to use very interactive pieces and also have a variety of media, from sculpture to large installations to paintings to videos.  I also tried to include a range of ideas that are related to the theme of reconnecting humans with nature through art.

It was not very hard for me to find 25 works that related to my theme.  The hardest part for me was arranging them in a way that would benefit and make sense to the viewer, but I am very happy with the final product!  I actually am now wishing this was a real exhibit I could go visit!

Week 13: From Modern to Postmodern

Isamu Noguchi: The Sculpture of SpacesI chose to watch this video because I am interested in the idea of spaces because of my goal to enter the field of urban planning.  I agree with his idea that the earth itself will someday be the subject of sculpture.  Furthermore, as he points out, civilizations have been doing this since the beginning of time, such as the Aztecs.  I thought it was interesting that Noguchi started off by designing stage sets – like a miniature world.  My favorite work featured in the video was his water sculpture; it is interesting how water can also define space.  Although this video was a little dry without music, I enjoyed it because it brought a different dimension to sculpture besides what we learned from the book.

Hockney on PhotographyI watched this video because I am interested in photography and think it is a very accessible art form.  The part I found most interesting to learn about is the void between the photographer and the subject.  I also enjoyed Hockney’s Polaroid collages, which are actually more like mosaics.  I really liked this film because it allowed me to understand what was going on inside the artist’s mind while he was creating the art or how he planned it, which you often do not get to hear about.  In fact, this video discussed the artist’s entire life, which was interesting to relate to his artwork.  I think this video most related to what we learned about photography earlier in the semester when learning about the history of art.

Abstract Expressionism and Pop: Art of the 50s and 60sI chose to watch this video because I thought the title was interesting.  As it turns out, the video did help me to understand abstract art on a deeper level than was provided by the book.  I liked the explanation that the point of abstract art is to “think and feel what the painting is.”  This video was different than many that we have watched this semester – it just showed images of the paintings and other pictures and did not include any people talking besides the narrators.  However, it did help me to understand and appreciate abstract art more.  The video focused on six works and the artists.  “C&O” by Kline is one abstract art this video focused on and it was emphasized that this artist used color to imply ambiguity.  “Mountains and Sea” is by an American artist, Helen Frankenthaler.   The narrator pointed out that works such as this make you question what a painting is.  De Koonig’s “Morning: The Spring.”  In abstract art like this, nothing is identifiable.  However, after the narrator’s explanations, I agree that this work may represent natural elements such as plants and water.  Jasper John’s “Flag” does not seem abstract at first – it just looks like a regular American flag.  The artist wanted tomake us look hard at his subject as if we were seeing a flag for the first time, making us question its significance.  This work is probably my favorite out of the group after I realized that it is mainly composed of newspaper.  “The Texan” by Andy Warhol is a work by Warhol I have never seen before.  It includes many images of the one man (who is in fact another artist).  I learned that pop art, such as Andy Warhol’s, was the first to embrace the rhythms and textures of city life.   The video also explains how “Girl with Hair Ribbon” by Lichtenstein conveys surprise and seduction. 

Uncertainty: Modernity and ArtI watched this video because it seemed like I would be able to relate to the art in it more since it focuses on modernity.  It turned out to be my favorite video from this week.  The video suggested that art can tell us about ourselves; it started by discussing Greek statues, which mainly referenced divinity and “knowing thyself.”  I agreed with the narrator’s suggestion that “modern art is contemporary society’s version of the Delphic Oracles.”  The main point of this video is that uncertainty is the underlying message of modern art – everything is always changing.  I thought this video was very well done and fast moving, which really kept my attention.  Also, it used examples of many different works to expand on what we learned about modern art from the book.

Burchfield Penney Art Center

This week I visited the Burchfield and the “An Overabundance of Detail” exhibit really captured my interest.  The title of the exhibit fit the theme very well, as many of the works in the collection seemed simple, yet had exceptional detail with a closer look. 

This particular gallery had only white walls and the lighting consisted of small spotlights on the ceiling as well as a boxed in skylight.  The interior architecture of the space was very minimal – there was basically just the wood floor, a glass door, and the plastic pedestals for the artwork which were encased in glass.  There was space to walk around each pedestal in order to see every side of the art pieces.  The movement of the viewer therefore was meandering amongst these artworks, as well as looking at the pieces which were mounted on the wall.  However, the movement was generally from the front of the gallery to the back.
The floor plan of the Burchfield Penney can be found here:
http://www.burchfieldpenney.org/pdf/BPAC_Floor_Plan.pdf

The artworks were organized randomly in this meandering fashion, all at least 5 feet from each other.  There were multiple works from each featured artist, so there were many similarities of the pieces overall, but most of the works by the same artists were not placed next to each other.  All of the works also shared the similarity of simplicity and immense detail.  However, they did differ in the media and techniques used to achieve this, as well as their overall meanings.  Most of the works were three dimensional and therefore not framed, but all works were labeled with a white card detailing the title, artist, year, and media used.

One of the first works that caught my eye was “I Glow for You” by Felice Koenig.  This 2010, 3 foot by 3 foot work consisted of layers of acrylic paint on canvas to achieve a glossy and textured look.   It consisted of many white, red, pink, and yellow dots.  I would consider this work to be representational and possibly include modified images of eyes or cells.  Koenig’s theory behind her artwork is that the use of patterning can actually make a viewer pay attention to the details.  This work exemplifies the elements and principles of texture, color, rhythm, and harmony.  The yellow dots in “I Glow for You” reminded me of octopus eyes, while the pinkish elements reminded me of human insides.  This was very fitting as Koenig’s concept in her artwork is the vulnerability of the body.  Therefore, I interpreted this piece to be about the beauty of the human body, or seeing beauty in small details.

Another artwork I chose to analyze was “Vessel #87 (Span)” by Dennis Nahabetian.  This work is about 1 foot by three quarters of a foot and was made of copper, bronze, and pigment and is dated 2008.  This piece was representational as it contained a modified image of a bridge.  The principles and elements utilized b y Nahabetian include form, line, and rhythm.  This work actually reminded me of a blueprint as well as a bridge.  Therefore, I think this work goes beyond being a decorative vessel to an object that speaks of the attention to detail required in any art.

Finally, I focused on “Untitled 2010” by Carolyn Panzica, a sugar string on sugar base work measuring about 1.5 square feet.  This work actually looked like a cake, with diagonal lines (some flat, some wavy).  Colors used were red, yellow, blue, and green.  The principles and elements involved in this piece were line, form, color, proportion, texture, and movement.  Besides a cake, this work also reminded me of architecture and I related it to how when I become an urban planner, I will have to work with the environment (such as the sun, fire, water, and plant life that the colors may represent).  

Before I decided to study urban planning, I was very interested in architecture.  Therefore, I enjoyed taking this perspetive of analyzing a space and how it was designed to guide the gallery guests through their viewing experience.  I think the Burchfield is very well done and therefore I liked the atmosphere at this gallery moreso than at the Albright-Knox.  I also am very happy that the Burchfield is LEED Certified!