Maya Lin - references

wexarts.org
Ivorypress.com
Public-art.umich.edu
Smithsonianmag.com
Art21.com
Mayalin.com

Exit Through The Gift Shop

Art is a way to express yourself. Many people express themselves in different ways. In the film “exit through the gift shop” there’s street artists who collect and use random objects to add to their artwork. They want their work to be unique. A street artist is not accepted in the society very well because it can be illegal but this is a way to express yourself and it can be art. Art is various and can be different in many ways anything can be turned into art. Graffiti and graphic art is a unique way to express yourself and get creativity on a wall, billboard, or train. An example from the movie is when they showed clips where they show the graffiti on the walls. It shows creativity and passion as well. I also like the part in the movie where they interview an artist and asked him “is this your job?” he simply answered, “no it's my passion.” This shows the drive that artist have about their work. It is very difficult to get a vision in your head and make it live on a big open space that may or may not be a blank wall can be different textures such as brick, concrete or metal. Art is art no matter the type of art it is.

Feminist, Performance, and video Art (Museum)

Bicycle Wheel by Marcel Duchamp

This Dada artwork was made by Marcel Duchamp. His artwork was created because he was experimenting and wanted to see what can be considered as art. Using a bicycle wheel, stool, and fork to create a “nonfunctional machine” as his artwork. This piece is unique and the bicycle wheel is distracting views from everything else which is exactly what the artist wanted. He used the bicycle wheel as a distraction in his artwork. He replaced the bicycle wheel from 1913 which was lost but he used a replacement. This piece was his first work that raised fundamental questions about art making and its definition. The artwork is made of a common object altered by being merged with another common object to create a masterpiece. Marcel was happy with his work’s appearance because according to Marcel the bicycle wheel gave an illusion that it was turning.

Ladybug by Joan Mitchell

This artwork is an example of abstract expressionism. Joan Mitchell challenged her New York school about her paintings but she also saw her paintings as dealing with nature with the outer world rather than the inner world. She didn’t really express herself too much in her work. If it was a work of landscaping that is exactly what the painting was. The freedom in her artwork is controlled because she wanted it to be more abstract. This painting has a lot of colors, lines, and movement. Joan is also known as an “action” artist. This painting shows colors that can be mixed well together with liquid drops but has a flatness with empty parts on the edges of the painting. The white patches are more pigmented and have intensity and texture also. This painting has a variety of colors that Joan used such as greens, blues, reds and brown etc. This artwork looks energetic and full of life with overlapping strokes all over the painting.

Daniel Gordon

                              Daniel Gordon                                           

Daniel Gordon is an artist that uses photography. He uses a variety of pictures and objects to create a work while using photography to capture it. Daniel was interested in making art that imitates real life objects. He would print out colorful fruits and other objects that are not the usual color. I saw a lot of use of lines and abstract art in his work as well. He soon lost interest in trying to imitate real life and started working on his still lifes. His still lifes has vibrant colors and different objects made into a collage. He captured the still life in photography also. He used layers of abstract shapes to start working on his humorous art and created a humorous portrait. He also uses patterns with colors, lines, and shapes to create his works.  Daniel Gordon wanted to always have new ideas so he would explore a variety of things to spark an idea and capture it on his camera for the world to see.

Dada Photomontage

Impressionism/ Post-Impressionism

Impressionism is the impressions of what the eyes see, not just what the mind knows. Artists paint landscapes and ordinary scenes such as outdoors in varied seasons, times of day, and atmospheric surroundings. The post-impressionists see impressionism in a different way. Some do sketches and others use color and composition.

Pandora - Odilon Redon (French, Bordeaux-Paris)

Date: 1914, oil on canvas    size: 56 ½ x 24 ½ in (143.5x62.2 cm)

This painting represents the mythic beauties such as Venus, Andromeda, and Pandora. This painting depicts Pandora who is the woman fashioned from clay by the god Vulcan and sent to earth by Jupiter. She has a graceful postured with flowers. Pandora’s box is also shown in the painting which holds all evil inside. This painting also has bright reds, yellows and greens which is also balanced in color. the focal point is Pandora with the lightest color of yellow for purity with the white background. 

Irises – Vincent Van Gogh (Dutch, Zundert)

Date: 1890, oil on canvas   Size: 29x36 ¼ in (73.7x92.1 cm)

A bouquet of flowers which has a harmonious and soft effect by placing the violet flowers with the pink back ground with red pigments fading. the flowers are a nice blue with green that balance out with the foreground of the painting. theres also a linear perspective which is the green surface depicting a table maybe. This painting was also owned by his mother until she passed in 1907. 

Renaissance and Baroque Artwork

Archangel Gabriel; The virgin Annunciate

Artist: Gerard David, Netherlandish, Oudewater Ca. Bruges

Date: Ca. 1510        Size: oil on oak panel, 34x11 1/8 in (86.4x28.3 cm)

The two Annunciation panels are the depictions of the passion which decorated the reverses and originally formed the movable wings of an altarpiece. When wings were closed, the Archangel Gabriel and Virgin Annunciate were shown but when they were open on feast days, Christ carrying the cross and display the resurrection depicting the lamentation. The deep translucent colors and sensitive integration of figures and so much passion shown with use of space, expressions in the face and the gestures in their hands. The color of her hair shows a softer side other than the greys. I also noticed symmetry in this painting which is dividing the two figures with symmetrical balance using different objects.

Portrait of a Man

Artist: Velazquez, Spanish, Seville Madrid

Date: Ca. 1630-35      Size: oil on canvas, 27x21 ¾ in (68.6x55.2cm)

 This portrait is from the figure who gazes out from the far right, depicting the famous military successes. The figure in the painting is an informal portrait, not a highly-finished work and the head is more finished then the body and the background. He has layers of dark colors and the expression of the face is quite serious. X-radiography is used to see the rest of the painting. It has a special color that should be viewed through the x-radiography.

Design Principles

Artists unify their work using different patterns and colors to create variety. Many Artists use unity and variety to create a balance between the two elements. Artists also use directional forces which is used to lead the viewer’s eyes to a certain area or object in the artwork. Artists use Symmetrical and Asymmetrical to also balance their work. Symmetrical is when both sides of the artwork are the exact same in size and color. Asymmetrical is when one side is different than the other but is still well balanced.

This painting below is an example of how artists unify their work. As you view the painting you can see the artist used a little atmospheric perception at the bottom of the painting. There’s townhouses on the bottom left corner and the artist used the beauty of the sunset to set the mood of the painting. Using blues and yellows this artist create a balanced painting with asymmetrical balance also. This artist uses scale very well also with the half-faced figure which seems to be the sun rays and It looks like the sunrays are surrounding the figure in the focal point.

Artists create Asymmetrical balance by simply making one side of the painting different than the other but balancing it with the same colors and similar patterns used. For example, I have this painting called “strong falls” by Larry Seiler. He uses Asymmetrical balance very well because you can see one side of the painting is a huge rock surrounded by the water which also shows a sense of motion almost like the water is swishing back and forth. On the other side, it is slightly different but still balanced with the colors of the rock visible but the water is over the rocks on this side. He has the focal point in the center of the painting. The artist set up the focal point with a visual path that circles it which makes it almost unnoticeable.

Scale in artwork refers to the proportion of ratio which define the size relationships. Using scale in artwork can make a big difference in the story they are telling. Scale changes the perspective of the viewers by creating an illusion of size relationships between objects and figures. Depending on the size of the object in the painting, it can be overwhelming, interesting or even humorous to look at. In this painting of the giant baby, this artist used scale to change what people see normally. A baby is usually much smaller than the average human but in this painting the baby is bigger that the young woman in the background. The baby also has marks or maybe the illusion of blood after giving birth on the face and body which makes it feel realistic. The hair on the baby’s head also looks very realistic in the artwork.