Socialist Realism remains a controversial art form: is it art? Is it propaganda? Is it real life, or does the fact that it was commissioned render it entirely devoid of emotional worth? The article I had to read for the most recent connect reading, titled "Return to the Worker's Paradise" and published in ARTnews, discussed the recent upswing in popularity of Socialist Realism. Once written off as kitsch at best, macabrely ironic portrayals of an idyllic life in the face of terrible repression at worst, Socialist Realism has recently been embraced by the young, Russian elite in the former Soviet Union. The article discussed this trend and emphasized the history of Socialist Realism and Russian art in conjunction with the changes in the political sphere. In this article, I was most surprised by the very severe juxtaposition of the art work itself and the realities behind it. For example, an Isaak Brodsky painting shows a beautifully executed painting, with a stunning composition and brilliant use of color; however, the painting was commissioned at the height of Stalin's reign of terror, and the artist potentially could have been in grave danger had any high-ranking officials disliked his finished work. While the first article discussed the resurgence of a long past genre of art, the second article presented a very modern artistic issue: a photographer from West Hollywood one day discovered that an image he had created was being used by the terrorist organization ISIS on Twitter as a means to gain a larger following. His original photograph showed a plastic princess doll surrounded my missiles in a war zone to promote anti-war sentiment; ISIS appropriated the image for the antithetical purpose. And, although ISIS is purportedly worth "over $2 billion," the artist Brian McCarty has no means to receive compensation for this copyright infringement. The articles are especially interesting in contrast. The former describes art created for a very specific political message. The latter describes art stolen for the opposite political message. Ironically, the latter issue would never have been a problem during the age Socialist Realism: while Soviet Realism and Western Abstraction may have been components in an aesthetic proxy war, the lack of technology never escalated this conflict, whereas in the modern era ISIS can weaponize even the most peaceful image for its social-media proxy war. This quarter, we took a walking field trip to a gallery to see an exhibit by an artist named Steve Hedberg, a Richmond artist whose art has transformed from photorealistic to abstract to his current abstracted landscapes. He paints Richmond as well as fictitious cities. Thematically, his art really reminded me of Collin's and Audrey's. I was really attracted to the dramatic and vibrant use of color and abstract shapes. He was especially skilled at painting clouds and sky, which I find difficult, to say the least. Additionally, I enjoyed seeing art by a professional artist of recognizable landmarks from my home. Overall, I was very impressed with his work, and found the exhibit to be very complete. Another artist we saw on this trip was Charlotte Culot, who does Mixed Media abstract expressionist style artwork. I had very mixed feelings on these: while I was very attracted to her monochromatic work (which reminded me of Rothko), I found some of her edgier work with complementary color schemes to be visually unappealing.
Process: After a week long period of artist's block, I finally found a composition I liked and did a drawing last class period in chalk pastels
One of the artists I found while researching this Awareness section was Mary Heebner, a Californian contemporary artist. She does paintings, drawings, and installations, but I was most taken by her figurative art work. Her portraits and figurative work take inspiration from Classical Greek sculpture and artwork. She is also inspired by the magic of place and of structure in all things. I found this interesting because I try to abstract my work and portray women as objects, like she did. Another artist that I found that I was astonished to not have heard of before was Golucho. He is a Spanish artist who considers himself to be a "new" realist. I appreciate how he uses extremely delicate detail and then lets the edges remain loose and textural. Most of his art is figurative, but a he also dabbled in some beautiful portraiture and still lifes which look like Old Master or Baroque paintings.
We were assigned two readings for this Marking Period's Connect Post. The first, titled "WHEN MODERN ART MET MODERN WARFARE," described many different exhibits with the theme of War throughout galleries and museums worldwide, with a focus on the Great War (WWI). The article also, interestingly, addressed the connections between various wars and the regional art movements they inspired. For example, in Great Britain, following WWI there was a rejection of Modernism, because it was connected with the Germans. Contrastingly, in Germany, as a way to deny their guilt or avoid the economic devastation they faced, German artists turned to the beginnings of Expressionist art (2).
The second article, from the New York Times, "Horror Is a Constant, as Artists Depict War," details the pervasive, unchanging, purely human imagery of warfare and suffering. Beginning with the Napoleonic Wars and the evoking imagery of Goya's "Disasters of War," the article described the shift from heroic portrayals of war to contemporary images of the pain that inevitably follows, juxtaposing the striking artwork and memorabilia. The mixture of classic art and photography showed a shift between propaganda-style artwork created for the governments and true representations of the violence and atrocities of modern warfare (e.g. WWII and the Vietnam War. Both articles brought up the complicated issue of distinguishing art from (photo)journalism. While the first reading stated, somewhat definitely, that "It’s not photojournalism" (6), the Ms. Dorléac in the New York Times Article said that "a documentary photo or a journalistic photo is art when one is completely taken in by it and, at the same time, one is transported by it. The artist helps us to understand the world. It is of little import whether he does sculpture or painting. The same is true of a press photograph."(4) Personally, I strongly believe that photography can be art, or that evocative images can, over time, become so important to a culture that they are transformed into art. The readings also inspired the question of whether or not an artist's reaction to war is the same as that of a soldier. Additionally, the reading begged the question whether or not war was consistently as traumatic, or whether modern warfare techniques worsened the effects. The two readings both addressed the theme of War and the prevalence of that theme in artwork, although the first had a focus on World War I and multiple exhibits and the second focused on the horrors of war within one specific exhibit. Both readings were interesting; however, I preferred the New York Times article because it broke the third wall and brought up issues of both war but also the lines between art and reporting; as both a wannabe journalist and a wannabe artist, this was particularly fascinating. I also felt that the first article was weak because it did not provide a perspective or much new information besides mentioning a number of different exhibits on the topic. Hoss Haley: YIELD
Earlier this year, in October, we took a walking field trip on a swelteringly hot day to the Visual Arts Center to see an exhibit by Hoss Haley titled "YIELD," a title which is significant: "yielding" is both what metal does under force, and what the artist does when they let go of themselves to create their work. Haley uses discarded metal, whether cheap or fancy, scrounged from the junk yard. When there is limited metal, he uses washing machines, driers, cars, and more. Haley's art is both commissioned and personal. I did not like most of Haley's art. While I deeply admired his message and his use of found objects, the art itself did not speak to me; this probably is related to my hatred of sculpture. However, I was extremely impressed with his technical use of metal, which he made to resemble inner tubes, balls, and in one piece (to me) wood. I would primarily like to ask Hoss Haley about his perspective on using found metal rather than the best material. eL Seed is a French-Tunisian graffiti artist who does his artwork using traditional Arabic calligraphy (which he calls calligraffiti). His work was inspired by the 2011 Tunisian Revolution, and he creates his art throughout the streets of Paris. He is best known for (his most controversial work) painting calligraphy on a mosque in Tunisia during Ramadan to protest the tension between religious sects.
His work interested me, especially because of Alix's presentation last class and our unit on protest art. I have mixed feelings, because I appreciate his work visually and like his message; however, I still have the dilemma with whether graffiti is art or vandalism. Conrad Roset is an artist I discovered, surprisingly, through Instagram this summer. He is a Spanish artist who mainly draws and paints; his subject matter is primarily the female figure. Roset works both in the visual arts and also in the design field, for corporations such as Zara.
I love his artwork. This work is the work I strive to do. His use of color and of light and of line is simply stunning; it has a looseness I adore. My one complaint is that he lacks content, but in my opinion figurative art can be beautiful in itself. |
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June 2017
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