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The role of media in modern life
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Art has always been used to portray a message, American art is no different. Throughout the years American art has been created for many different reasons, including parody and satire. One such example is the painting The Surrender by Joseph Griffith. Although it contains jumbled imagery and may convey a mixed message, The Surrender's main message is that American culture is idolized by the youth of today and that American as a whole is waging war on cultures and religions it doesn’t understand. At first glance the painting contains images of American television and movie icons on the left and various Muslims on the right. The left imagery includes Fonzie, Robocop, Mr. T and Waldo, many of whom were idolized during their TV and movie
Furthermore, painted are weeping women surrounded by deceased girls holding lifeless infants behind the military figure. A smog or gas seems to engulf them along with dead children. Even more, a third painting shows children from all over the world giving weapons to a German boy who is molding them into an uncertain object, showing there is no longer a need for weapons in a New World. In addition, the military man is dead with 2 doves above him, signifying such peace that has been brought. The final image is of a man in the middle, signifying Jesus.
This piece is acrylic, oilstick, and spray paint on wood panel that is 186.1 centimeters in height and 125.1 centimeters in width. This piece features a human-like figure in the center that is mostly half red and half black. This figure has a gray head with one yellow eye and one light gray eye and above its head is a black halo. The background consists of patches of various colors such as light blue, black, dark red, light green, beige, turquoise, pink, and yellow. On the bottle left corner there is a figure drawn that looks like a fish and has a strip of mustard yellow painted through it. Also towards the bottom right of the artwork, there is some drawn on letters that almost look like words but are messily painted over with a desert sand color. This piece is my favorite because I find it aesthetically pleasing. There is a lot going on in this piece that makes looking at it genuinely interesting. The colors that Basquiat choses for the background go very well together and overall compliment the figure in the center. I like how incredibly expressive this piece is and it makes me want to buy a canvas and start painting that I desire. I also like how the human-like figure is drawn. One could see what looks like an outlined ribcage on the figure, which makes me believe that the head is actually a skull. Upon further research I learned that Basquiat was
Imagine pondering into a reconstruction of reality through only the visual sense. Without tasting, smelling, touching, or hearing, it may be hard to find oneself in an alternate universe through a piece of art work, which was the artist’s intended purpose. The eyes serve a much higher purpose than to view an object, the absorptions of electromagnetic waves allows for one to endeavor on a journey and enter a world of no limitation. During the 15th century, specifically the Early Renaissance, Flemish altarpieces swept Europe with their strong attention to details. Works of altarpieces were able to encompass significant details that the audience may typically only pay a cursory glance. The size of altarpieces was its most obvious feat but also its most important. Artists, such as Jan van Eyck, Melchior Broederlam, and Robert Campin, contributed to the vast growth of the Early Renaissance by enhancing visual effects with the use of pious symbols. Jan van Eyck embodied the “rebirth” later labeled as the Renaissance by employing his method of oils at such a level that he was once credited for being the inventor of oil painting. Although van Eyck, Broederlam, and Campin each contributed to the rise of the Early Renaissance, van Eyck’s altarpiece Adoration of the Mystic Lamb epitomized the artworks produced during this time period by vividly incorporating symbols to reconstruct the teachings of Christianity.
Throughout the course of history, art has changed in vast number of ways. Dating back to the Pre-Colombian era of art, you are able to find sculptors, mounds and other artwork on Native American culture. Native Americans believed in pantheism which is the worship of nature. Native Americans were seen as savages because they lived in nature, they worshipped nature, wore off clothing that didn’t cover their bodies fully. They performed ceremonies that have seemed peculiar to explorers during the exploration of the New World such Christopher Columbus. However, art has evolved in so many different ways imaginable. The use of colors, unique styles, reflections from lighting outdoors and the imagination of the artist can really put
Thomas Hart Benton was born in the familiar, small town of Neosho, Missouri. He was named after his granduncle, the famed and prominent pre-American Civil War senator. First Thomas Hart Benton studied at the Art Institute of Chicago and then lived in beautiful Paris for three years. When he came back he moved to New York City after 1912 he turned away from his usual style, modernism, and gradually developed a rugged naturalism that affirmed traditional rural values. By the 1930’s Benton was riding a tide of popular acclaim along with his fellow regionalist Grant Wood, who was responsible for American Gothic, and John Steuart Curry, who was responsible for The Tragic Prelude. The mural, America Today (1930-1931, The Equitable Life Assurance Society of the U.S., New York City), Thomas Hart Benton’s masterpiece, presented an optimistic portrayal of a vital country filled with earthy, muscular figures.
At one point, America had to undergo a major shift in the way it thought about art. Europe began this transformation way back in the late 19 century with the Impressionists, and similar later movements that focused less on the physical
The French revolution began in 1789 when citizens stormed the Bastille prison in Paris, for political and revolutionary reasons. Now while it may be called the French revolutions, this by no means was an isolated event. For many years, the French overthrew several constitutions and performed many executions and pretty much went to war with themselves and Europe. It was a mess. During this time, there were many radical changes to the way society functioned. These changes were influenced by the various ideals of the people of that time and in turn, those ideas began to take shape in the artwork of that time.
1. Since France was one of the victors of WWI, their mindset revolved around rebuilding destruction back to wholeness, in contrast to the German losers’ mindset of coming to terms with the destruction they faced during the war. While French Purist art focused on the wholeness of objects and celebrated French manufacturing, German New Objectivity art focused on creating sympathy for WWI veterans and anger towards enemies. Although France was one of the victors of WWI, their army still suffered many casualties and many of their cities were destroyed from war.
The artwork I chose for the art criticism project was ‘The Survivors’ by Kathe Kollwitz. The piece was created in 1923 in Berlin, Germany, where she resided with her husband. She and her husband resided in a poorer area, and it is believed to have contributed too much of her artwork style. ‘The Survivors’ is currently displayed in two museums, the MoMA and the Kathe Kollwitz Museum. In the piece there is a woman directly in the middle, with sunken in cheek bones is draped in a black cloak. Her arms are around three small children, who look very frightened. On each side of her body there are an additional four small children who convey sadness upon their innocent faces. Also, they are outstretching their arms as if they are begging for her to give them something. In the background, on the top left side, there are two elderly men with their heads down, looking as if they are very sad and
Photography had been around more than 20 years before the Civil War began. When pictures were taken, they showed colonels, bodies that were on the battlefield, even soldiers that were around the camp tent. A few photographers that will be discussed are Mathew Brady, Alexander Gardner, George Barnard and Timothy O’Sullivan. I will talk about how their photography affected the social and political arena as well as how photography in contemporary society provides the public with an up-close testimony to recent wars and global strife.
The boy and the man, presumably his father, in the center of the painting wear stereotypical American clothes for the period. The boy’s blue long sleeve shirt and khaki shorts could represent any America boy in the Forties due to their common nature. His father wears a grey jacket with white buttons down the front and on the pockets. His light grey pants fit with the current style and black shoes peak out from beneath them. For his hair, the father’s slicked back style meets the expectations that fashion in the forties has set. An older man stands behind the boy and father, looking into the main room from the pink back room. The old man dresses in dark grey pants similar to those of both other man within the scene. His white shirt has rolled sleeves and he appears without a jacket, unlike the rest of the men in the painting. Instead of loafers, he seems to be wearing tennis shoes that look similar to converse. While the older man does stand apart from the others in the painting, divided by style and room, he stills fits into the customary style of the forties within a different class structure. He seems to be of a lower status than the other people based on his clothing, but he still belongs within the context of the scene and does not feel out of place. Instead of representing the all-American middle and upper class, the older man represents a lower class that still fits into the painting of an idealized American scene. Finally the woman on the far left wears a yellow and blue plaid dress with matching blue shoes and a dark handbag. Her brown hair matches in style to the woman on the right, typical for the time period. Her knee length dress fits with the fashion of the time with a seemingly cinched waist due to the draping of the fabric and the high neckline conform to American style in the era. Each person within the scene dresses
Jones starts his article by a statement “liberal art is useless” then proceeds to prove it in the following pages. In his essay, Jones indulges in a philosophical discussion where he presents arguments and counter arguments in a dialogue style. His background in philosophy probably led him to adopt such a style that puts forth an argument before obliterating it by another until the final, desired argument is presented to the reader. The author tries to bolster his point by shooting down unwanted arguments and leaving the desired one stand out in victory. Jones invoked many anecdotes and few studies to prove his points. The overarching theme of his essay revolved around laying out the reasons for why liberal art is useless. The author attacked the common misconceptions or faulty answer usually shouted out by the mob whenever such a question is addressed.
Abstract Expressionism is considered a triumph in American Painting. It is still the most discussed and debated form of twentieth century American art, and still influences generations of artists. It used the cultural references of the tragic, the unconscious, the sublime and the primitive to create a unique and evocative style of painting that was unique in the art world.
Traveling back to the 1920’s African American Art was at its’s height. At the time there were two typical styles of art that were widely used, Folk Art and High Art. While both styles were different, artist of both sides had disagreements of which art style better represented Racial Pride.
Socially, nationalism was established in arts such as literature and painting. An American arts culture arose and American writers began to gain international recognition. Even magazines began to have American values and principles within them. Americans, heightening the nationalistic vibe, developed all kinds of publications for Americans, instead of having British publications. American paintings became popular as the Hudson River School of Painting was established. Within the American arts, the native landscapes were often a strong focal point.