Saturday, February 23, 2008



Great Quotes of Paul Gauguin:

“Art is either plagiarism or revolution.” 3
“I shut my eyes in order to see.” 3
“To me, barbarism is a rejuvenation.” 3
-Paul Gauguin

Gauguin: Engraving an “Impression” on Art History

Abstract: A Legacy Too Large to Summarize

Paul Gauguin was a young child when his father died while on his trip to Peru. And in his teen years, having been adopted by a rich man, Gauguin’s interest in art escalated. He began painting soon after his bank crashed, and was in touch with van Gogh and other renowned artists of the era. Despite the success in his life, and after exhibiting with the Impressionists in 1886, Gauguin renounced “the abominable error of naturalism.” With the young painter Émile Bernard, Gauguin sought a simpler truth and purer aesthetic in art; turning away from the sophisticated, urban art world of Paris, he instead looked for inspiration in rural communities with more traditional values. Copying the pure, flat color, heavy outline, and decorative quality of medieval stained glass and manuscript illumination, the two artists explored the expressive potential of pure color and line, Gauguin especially using exotic and sensuous color harmonies to create poetic images of the Tahitians among whom he would eventually live. Arriving in Paris in 1886, the Dutch painter van Gogh quickly adapted Impressionist techniques and color to express his acutely felt emotions. He transformed the contrasting short brushstrokes of Impressionism into curving, vibrant lines of color, exaggerated even beyond Impressionist brilliance, that convey his emotionally charged and ecstatic responses to the natural landscape. After living a colorful fifty-five years, he tragically died in Tahiti itself and was buried there.

About Paul Gauguin: A Colorful Artist of His Era

Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (1848-1903) was born in Paris on June 7, 1848 and is thought of as being a very influential painter of the Postimpressionist period1.

Postimpressionism was born in France during the late 1800s as a novel technique of expressing oneself more freely through uses of color and shape. This form of painting was contrary to the old system of using “the objective naturalism of impressionism” that was commonly seen during the old era (information paraphrased from www.thefreedictionary.com). Post-Impressionism in Western painting, was a movement in France that represented both an extension of Impressionism and a rejection of that style's inherent limitations.

The term Post-Impressionism was coined by the English art critic Roger Fry for the work of such late 19th-century painters as Paul Cézanne, Georges Seurat, Paul Gauguin, Vincent van Gogh, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, and others. All of these painters except van Gogh were French, and most of them began as Impressionists; each of them abandoning the style, later in order to form his own highly personal art. Impressionism was based, in its strictest sense, on the objective recording of nature in terms of the fugitive effects of color and light. The Post-Impressionists rejected this limited aim in favor of more ambitious expression, admitting their debt, however, to the pure, brilliant colors of Impressionism, its freedom from traditional subject matter, and its technique of defining form with short brushstrokes of broken color. The work of these painters formed a basis for several contemporary trends and for early 20th-century modernism.

There are important distinctions between Impressionists and Post-Impressionists. The Post-Impressionists often exhibited together, but, unlike the Impressionists, who began as a close-knit, convivial group, they painted mainly alone. Cézanne painted in isolation at Aix-en-Provence in southern France; and his solitude was matched by that of Paul Gauguin, who in 1891 moved to Tahiti, and of van Gogh, who painted in the countryside at the French city of Arles. Both Gauguin and van Gogh rejected the indifferent objectivity of Impressionism in favor of a more personal, spiritual expression. In general, Post-Impressionism led away from a naturalistic approach and toward the two major movements of early 20th-century art that superseded it: Cubism and Fauvism, which sought to evoke emotion through color and line.

In 1849, when Gauguin, only a toddler, had to move from France into Peru because of his father’s political acts as a journalist, Gauguin, his parents and his sister were headed for Peru, where his great grandfather’s side lived. His father died along the way, which must have been a tragedy for his whole family. In the end, the three individuals reached Lima, the capital of Peru, and stayed there with Gauguin’s great grand-uncle and his family1.

When Gauguin was only seventeen, he joined the French merchant navy and had to voyage around the world for nearly half a decade. When his mother died in 1867, Gauguin lived with his rich guardian, named Gustave Arosa, who had many pieces of art. Some of the important pieces of art he owned included some that were even painted by Eugѐne Delacroix. Delacroix was a French Romantic artist, whose uses of color were very important for the rise of Postimpressionist and Impressionist artwork. By studying these artworks of Delacroix, Gauguin’s interest in art mounted. Gauguin became so interested in the beauty of art that he became an amateur painter himself and collected other impressionist artwork. In 1873, Gauguin married a woman from Denmark, with whom he would have five children over the next decade3. When he attended the Impressionist’s first exhibition, Gauguin was strongly influenced by the Impressionist works and this reinstated his wanting to become an artist. He was a stockbroker at the time, but when his bank was going through financial difficulties, Gauguin was able to paint full time1.

Gauguin was heavily influenced by many impressionists, such as van Gogh, Degan, and Seurat, but was most influenced Pissarro. Later on, Gauguin began to paint in his very own innovative style, primitive form, which he painted in Tahiti. After working shortly in Panama, Gauguin returned to France, and in 1888, Gauguin decided to jointly paint with Vincent van Gogh in Arles, France. Although they painted together prolifically in the beginning, their relationship lasted only nine weeks, during which both Gauguin and van Gogh were depressed, and Gauguin even attempted suicide. The relationship deteriorated severely, which finally ended when van Gogh pursued Gauguin with a razor, but accidentally cut his own lower left ear lobe. Vincent van Gogh was admitted to a hospital shortly after, and Gauguin, after informing van Gogh’s brother (Theo), moved out3.

Gauguin returned to Paris in December and his break from Impressionism came when he painted “Vision after the Sermon”. In this momentous painting, Gauguin illustrated the internal feelings of the subjects. This new form of painting was termed “Symbolism”. Here, he used a lot of color (red for the ground), but emphasized the people in the painting. Women are seen praying as Jacob wrestles with an Angel. By drawing mint-green wings on the angel, this area becomes the primary focus, with the other attention being diverted to the conventional peasant women wearing conservative clothes.

Even though this time was highly productive for Gauguin, he became very depressed and sought a tropical paradise where he could live on “fish and fruit”3. He, like van Gogh, was deeply upset by the materialism and industrialization of Europe during the technological revolution era. He loved “honest” people, peasants and villagers because of their “immaterialism”. After abandoning his family, he moved to Tahiti’s remote area in 1891, where he painted in a primitive form which included expressive colors. This was a completely new way to paint the nineteenth century and Gauguin painted some of the most beautiful pictures of Polynesian scenes and people, which were highly ranked during the time.

“Primitivism” is less an aesthetic movement than a sensibility or cultural attitude that has informed diverse aspects of Modern art. It refers to Modern art that alludes to specific stylistic elements of tribal objects and other non-Western art forms. With roots in late-19th-century Romanticism’s fascination with foreign civilizations and distant lands, particularly with what were considered to be naive, less-developed cultures, it also designates the “primitive” as a myth of paradise lost for late-19th- and 20th-century culture. Behind this captivation with the “other” was a belief in the intrinsic goodness of all humankind, a conviction inspired by French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s notion of the Noble Savage. At the same time, however, industrialized Western culture evoked the “primitive” as a sign on which to map what it had socially and psychologically repressed: desire and sexual abandon. The problematic nature of “primitivism” can be illustrated by the example of Paul Gauguin, who spurned his own culture to join that of an “uncivilized” yet more “ingenuous” people. Although he sought spiritual inspiration in Tahiti, he showed a more earthy preoccupation with Tahitian women, often depicting them nude. This eroticization of the “primitive” was amplified in the work of the German Expressionist group Die Brücke and in Pablo Picasso’s proto-Cubist paintings, particularly Les Demoiselles d’Avignon (1907).

The influence of tribal craze on Modern painters and sculptors, such as Constantin Brancusi, Alberto Giacometti, Henri Matisse, and Pablo Picasso, has been the subject of much art-historical and critical debate. While the formal impact of ritual objects on these artists is undeniable, recent attempts to locate affinities between the “primitive” and the Modern have been perceived as suspect because they evince a certain ethnocentrism, which is defined as one culture seeing its point of view as superior compared to others cultures. Therefore, primitive is a term that implies another meaning.

Two of Gauguin’s most famous paintings employing primitivism, "Fatata te Miti”, meaning "By the Sea" and "Ia Orana Maria", meaning “Ave Maria” depicted certain cultural aspects of Polynesian Tahitan life. “Fatata te Miti” is a beautiful bright painting depicting polyneisians crossing a colorful river in the nightime, obviously hiunting. The use of color in the water and the colorful leaves immersed inside truly represent the beauty of primitve form painting. He uses bold colors such as red, yellow-green, blue and red-brown to draw attention to the subjects and the water.

“Ia Orana Maria”, Gauguin painted in bold colors, which were used to describe the tropical beauty of Tahitian lifestyle. The apparel the women are wearing are colored in bright red and yellow, and the fruits at the bottom on the canvas seem to be tropical (mangoes, papayas, watermelons, etc.). This painting caught my eye because of the colorful people and objects in it. The exotic woman, who is sm iling, is standing in front of the colorful and wondefrfulkly designed clothes being dried on a rope, and the people praying on the edge, gives me a sensation of what polynesian life really is like. More paintings, including Under the Pandanus and Femmes de Tahiti (meaning “Tahitian Women”) also employ bright colors and primitive form, both including tropical scenes.

When it came to Gauguin’s relationship with the natives of Tahiti, Gauguin was very happy with their “humanness” and often sided with the native people when clashing with the colonial rule and the church because they were westernizing Tahiti. This frustrated Gauguin very much, and that is why he loved painting natural scenes of Tahiti.

However, even then, Gauguin sadly became addicted to drugs and alcohol, and died of a heart attack in French Polynesia’s Hiva Oa Island in the Marquesas. His death was on May 9, 1903, which will be a sad marker in history as the loss of one of the greatest painters in the modern era.

Literature Cited: Bibliography of the Fruitful Resources

1Crew, Robin. “Paul Gauguin Post-Impressionist Artist.” www.lucidcafe.com. 25 Aug
2007. LucidCafé Library. 06 02 2008 .

2Pioch, Nicolas. “Delacroix, Eugène” www.ibiblio.org. 04 August 2002.
Webmuseum, Paris. 06 02 2008
<>.

3 “Paul Gauguin: From Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia” www.wikipedia.org. 05 Feb
2008. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 06 Feb 2008.
<>.

Friday, February 15, 2008

"A Vue" by Joshua Mosley



Cory Malone
Feb. 15, 2008

The featured exhibit at the Fort Worth Modern this month is the Joshua Mosley collection, which includes a mixed media animation entitled "A Vue". "A Vue" is a seven and a half minute video presentation shot in high definition digital photography using stop motion animation. The reason I found this piece so interesting is that it encompasses several different art forms into one. The puppets were sculpted and created by Mosley as well as the the bronze statue that is used in the story, and he hand painted the ink-wash painted background environments. When you consider the presentation also includes the story writing, filming and use of stop motion photography as well as a musical score by Abby Schneider it covers a wide range of artistic abilities. The lines are used in the work to define objects and shapes, especially in the backgrounds used, and the lines of motion the characters use. The shapes are very three dimensional and volumetric, the video presentation itself is flat ofcourse but the artist did a very good job of creating a 3 dimensional world. Everything is well lit and bright but the colors in the backgrounds are often washed out and faded, maybe with the intention of creating a sad or dull tone. The emphasis is always on the puppet characters and they really stand out from the washed out background environments, and the short film seems to follow different rythms to create seperate intensities of emotion. The video presentation is 2-dimensional, but the artistic work is almost more about the 3-dimensional puppets that were sculpted by the artist. The medium appears to be some kind of molded silicone or latex, but the faces are very detailed and lifelike. The use of stop motion animation may have been limiting in that it is difficult to create

LAGO VISTO GALLERY Dallas, Texas Exhibition: “Val Curry: Mr. Ambivalent” Engagement Prototype B


Charlotte London
Feb. 15, 2008

The exhibition includes sculptures and drawings by artist, Val Curry. It was a unique display of strong masculine projects. Wow, what a great one man show. The testosterone was definitely flowing over the entire Gallery. The majority of the sculptures were assemblage sculpture of plastic solders, toys, fasteners, bondo and tennis shoes. The exhibit also included drawings by the artist which were in the same theme as the sculptures. He is apparently an all American boy who loves his country. The artist included just a hint of humor in the green tennis shoe exhibit. The green tennis shoe exhibit is the only exhibit paint in this hue. Your attention is definitely drawn to this section of the exhibit. Perhaps after viewing such a display of testosterone the mood need to be lifted just a bit.
The artist made very strong points by strategically placing objects in a vertical direction for added emphasis. At first glance the objects point upward which suggested to me that power moves higher and higher in chaotic situations. As the figures rise to the top there are fewer and fewer objects. Wow, this sounds like the world we live today. Perhaps the artist was looking for answers by seeking out a high source.
The plastic green toy soldiers are a warm color which is a good contrast against cobalt blue cool hues. The artist used flat paint on all the smooth and rough surfaces. The use of paint seems to soften the rough objects but makes more visual the smooth objects. The use of a glossy paint would have certainly changed the emphasis of objects. The matte finish gave all the object power in the exhibit. The soldiers appear to be randomly placed over the entire sculpture of which most are horizontal. This rhythmical placement draws attention to the toy blue action figures. The arm movements of the toy soldiers give action to the entire piece. The base of the sculpture is a geometric rectangular shape which rises approximately 4-5 inches. Two rectangular boxes are stacked on top of each other and are not painted. Perhaps the artist did not want to capture the base but the natural hue does stand out in the piece. The action figures are placed on the left and right sides of the sculpture which creates sense of balance.
The body of the sculpture was produced with toy soldiers, toy figures and objects in blue, green and gray. The artist created a considerable amount of negative space within the sculpture with the placement of the objects. I wonder if the negative space was intentional or created from the mere placement of the objects. It appears the additive process was a major factor in this creation. The negative space now becomes apart of the creation. The sculpture narrows from the body to the top of the sculpture.
The overhead artificial light casts a shadow onto the wall behind the object which gives a pronounced emphasis on the object.

Perspectives of Art: An Emotional Phenomenon


Johar Manzar
Art Appreciation
Dr. Gibney
15 February 2008


I looked for a painting form the University of Texas at Arlington Fine Art Gallery, and found a painting that struck me as both interesting and a work that fell in with my senses. I chose, “It Never Occurred To Me It Wasn’t The Beginning”, painted by Kelli Vance. This painting was an oil based painting that was painted in 2007.
Looking at this painting, I see a woman, sitting down as if she was exhausted, or weeping. She seems to be ready to faint and looks quite brokenhearted. Her blue satin party dress and blue shoes along with her styled hair indicate she was at a party or something of the sort. After examining, reading and looking at Kelli Vance’s other pieces of artwork, (http://www.joanwichgallery.com/artists/graphics/vance/index.html) I can say that she is centering her paintings on two women, and one man. According to what I can perceive, the two women are both being dated by one man, and both of the women, one of whom shown here, found out. I think this painting is about the betrayal she felt after finding out.
This woman has detergent falling down from the brush she was using to clean with and has latex cleaning gloves on her hands. The sink is overflowing, and the fridge is open, representing some sort of sadness or disorder. Lines in this painting are used to define objects, not to signal a direction, and most of them are straight, thin and long. Since the subject has her head down, we are unable to find an implied gazing line, which tries to show what she is looking at. However, the hands and body position, along with her hair, place a vertical axis centerpiece for the focus to land upon. The lines are used to border objects and to create the implication of depth and reality into the picture. The most important lines I see are on the woman’s dress. These lines describe the crumpled up dress and give the perspective that she is sitting down, sad and lonely. Furthermore, the lines on the cabinet give the cabinets realness, and the light blue lines describe the water falling down from the sink. The other line that catches my eye is the detergent falling down from the brush, which has blue colored soap suds. The lines on the oak wood floor, which are perpendicular to most of the other lines in the painting, express a sense of quietness by bringing the focus down to her lower body, which describes the feelings of despair and hopelessness.
I see many flat geometric squares and rectangles in this drawing, found on the cupboards, the fridge, the inner tag of the shoe, the blue furry rug, the oak wood segments on the floor, the sink and the shape of the toaster. As you can see, most of them are found on the middle-ground. The most important shape that was most easily seen was the cupboard right beside the almost fallen woman. After the cupboard, I see the fridge, and then the floor. I then look at the appliances, like the toaster. When I look at the toaster, I see blue diamonds, which are actually decorations. What intrigued me was that the toaster decorations looked like handles, and because they were pulled down, I thought that there was bread inside being toasted. In reality, however, the diamonds look as if used for bringing attention to the toaster and the blender right beside it. These shapes look like they are placed in the background, as a place to explain what the subject is doing, or previously was doing. In terms of space and perspective, Kelli strongly imparts the three dimensional view into this painting. She does this by creating wrinkles on her dress, drawing almost real bends and curves of the body and hair, and creates layering of the objects and subject in a real way.
The source of lighting comes from the fridge, which imparts shadows correctly placed and a perfect way to impart focus on the subject. Without the fridge’s open door artificial lighting, the room would have been dark, as indicated by the area not lighted by the fridge. The light is brightest inside the fridge, as it is almost pure off white. The only problem with the shadows is that some are lighter and some are darker, as indicated by the blender and the toaster. Despite their being together, the blender’s shadow is much lighter, and the toaster’s shadow is darker. The artist shows a shadow by the difference in color. By using shadows, the artist sets the focus towards the woman, because her largely unaffected blue dress is the brightest blue in the whole painting. These shadows also emphasize the woman because it makes the wrinkles and dress’s texture appear more realistic.
The artist definitely chose a lot of blue in the painting, and made this painting feel immersed in cool colors and calmness. This color, often associated with silence, perfectly sets the setting for this scene and activity. This color complimented her brown hair and the yellow latex gloves very well. She used a certain degree of complementary colors by using cyan and yellow-brownish-orange, almost on opposite sides of the color wheel. Blue was generally used in places where the artist wanted to create focus, such as the rug, the woman’s dress, the shoes, the toaster, the detergent, the brush, etc. The opposite of atmospheric perspective is used, because it looks like the cupboards, warm in hue, are in the background whereas the cool cyan is in the foreground. The texture of the woman’s dress is smooth and silky, as it looks like it is made of satin. The gloves, wall, and the floor look glossy, as do the shoes lying on the floor. The rug appears fluffy and soft, whereas the toaster looks metallic. By using satin for the woman’s dress, it looks like she just arrived from a party. Her brown hair is also silky and smooth and it is quite helpful to note that it flips a little on the bottom. The actual texture is rough and spotted with tiny one millimeter wide polyps.
The artist employs balance by placing an equal number of objects colored on one side of the picture as on the other. However, one side has it scattered throughout the appliances and the left side of the dress, whereas the right side has it mainly on the bottom side. The right side has much more lighting and darkness (on the far right) at the same time. The left side has a medium lighted medium throughout.
The artist heavily uses emphasis by the beauty and brightness of the cyan. There seems to be a repetition of the same color of blue over and over again, trying to bring focus on different parts of the painting, such as the dress, detergent, toaster, shoes, etc. The first object that my eye is drawn to is the dress, bringing about thought to crying face, which then brings attention to the bright yellow latex gloves, thereby focusing attention to the detergent and then the overflowing sink. We then notice the shoes, which look as if thrown and out of order. As you continue to look at the picture, you feel an increasing emotion of sorrow or a reminder of a past event. I noticed that as I looked to it, my head tilted to the left side, as if I tried to understand why the woman was crying. By looking at the scene, it feels as if the woman, who was on a date, found out that her boyfriend was cheating on her (because of another painting I found painted by Kelli) and so she rushed home, threw her shoes on the floor in frustration, tried to vent her sadness out by cleaning her house, but eventually was overtaken with grief and sat down to cry as she felt helpless and isolated.
Since this painting was in oil, it was durable, but took very long time to dry. However, because it was easily smudged, this was harder to paint with. This oil painting gives a glossy and shiny appearance and gives me a greater view of the depth within. The artist was most likely able to make long brushstrokes and blend the colors in each other easily, leading to the greatly enhanced depth perception. Since it was painted in 2007, I believe it looks no different than it looked while being painted. The texture is rough, causing the artist to control the oil medium more easily and allowing for easier perception of depth. The practice of painting on oil requires great practice, and with such great skill and beauty that is seen in this painting, Kelli must be a great professional. This artwork looks bigger than life size, but still employs the same proportions of objects to person, etc. I think this is a very consoling art where one can start to feel the sorrow of betrayal through someone else, that is, the woman in the painting. I think this gives one a sense of companionship and understanding if one has undergone such an experience oneself.

Appreciating Art: A Message Through Pictures


Gohar Manzar
Art Appreciation 1301
Professor Debra Gibney
15 February 2008


When searching for a painting, I chose “Apples”, which was made of plastic, rubber, automotive paint, and was sculpted by Betsy Odom. I found this piece of work in the University of Texas at Arlington’s Fine Art museum, where I found it hard to choose between so many effectively moving and interesting works of art. I thought this sculpture, made in 2007, to be unique for its three dimensions and message, which according to me, related to the environment and pollution.
In this painting, I see nine black apples surrounded by black glossy liquid (actually plastic). Upon closer inspection, I find that these apples are bruised and seem to be covered in this “liquid”. After reading the work’s name, I think that the “liquid” must be car gasoline, and suppose that the message this painting is trying to send is environmental in nature. These apples seem to have fallen from a tree, randomly placed and positioned on top of car oil spills and droplets.
The apples make a “Z” or square-ish pattern in their placing, and I believe this is to show that the apples feel down from one tree. Sine this is three dimensional, I don’t see a line specifically, but only curvy borders, which are defining the oil spills. The oil spills take the form of a round contour because of the scientific principles of surface tension, so the artist utilized this fact to make his artwork look more authentic and real. There are lines on the apples themselves, which indicate that they were bruised and tortured as they fell down and became covered in the oil. The apples are also almost round, just like apples really are. Most of the shapes in this artwork are organic in nature because the artist wanted depth and realness. These figures are detailed, as seen by the top of the apple’s branch hooks and the bruises and bumps which were sculpted. These apples are life size and can fit into the palm of a hand, just like a real one would. I noticed that most of the apples were placed on the oil drops and that there was not a single apple which did not have any gasoline under it.
The lighting in this painting gives the apples and the gasoline a much shiner look than without, making the gasoline look genuine, but the apples a little fake. However, because of the yellow, dim and multiple lights around this sculpture, I can infer that Betsy Odom intentionally did this to the apples because she tried to make us notice that the apples, with highlights of green and purple because of the lighting, are covered in some sort of glossy material. I think Betsy wants us to find out that the apples are covered in automobile oil. Therefore, by the lights used near this structure, she employs the use of emphasis for the apples. The shadows are quite distorted and give a sense of fakeness in this sculpture because the oil should not have this dark of a shadow unless it was opaque, which oil really isn’t.
I saw that the color the artist predominantly used in this sculpture were dark shades of black. I think Betsy chose this hue because of the filthy feeling it gives the viewer. Especially after figuring out that the “round” objects are apples, I get a sort of obligation to wash the fruits and to keep them delicious and fresh. Betsy tried to use the black color also because gasoline is originally black in the real world. Therefore, she tried to make her message real in substance so that we could understand what the apples were immersed in. After figuring that the “liquid” stuff surrounding the apples and under them is gasoline, I can actually smell the gas, giving me a feeling of nausea and a disliking of over-polluted cities. I then realize how pollution can affect the environment adversely. The color is one of the most important elements in this artwork, since it generates a feeling of uncleanness and abhorrence towards automotive waste. This psychological method of convincing the viewer is integral for the art to convey its message. The texture of this sculpture is plastic, smooth and shiny. But from appearance, the gasoline appears liquid and the apples appear to be made of glass.
By placing an equal amount of gasoline on each side of the sculpture, the artwork appears balanced. However, there are a few more apples on one side of the sculpture than on the other, which I think is utilized to bring attention to the apples. Interestingly, it seems as though the apples on the left side are more bruised, whereas the right side are more slashed.
By placing this black sculpture over the white stand, one seems to notice the sculpture more than any other sculpture in the room, giving a primary emphasis to the sculpture itself! But within the painting, most of the attention clearly lands on the apples, which, because of the lighting, have a CD-like multicolored effect. This painting’s focus is mainly on the right because of the many apples on this side, but it still has many foci for the eye to rest upon. By making the apples glossier and grayer than the pure black gasoline, one seems to notice the apples even further.
The apples are positioned in many places, and since they are mostly on their sides or upside-down, one may feel a tension. That is described above. By using the color black over and over again, one may further feel like cleaning up this mess and to take action against pollution. Evidently, the rhythm is the most influential factor causing the psychological effects described above.
By being forced to create two dimensional sculpture, the artist is obviously limited by space, as she is unable to show the various causes of pollution that could be painted in a two dimensional system. This sculpture was done in rubber, oil and automotive paint, which might have been quick enough to dry and control. Since the sculpture was black overall and has no other colors or details to paint, I think that this sculpture was not very hard to paint. I think that Betsy had to subtract and carve from the blobs of rubber in order to create the apples, therefore, a subtractive process. I believe the artist used a knife or a peeler to create the apples and oil spills, and then used spray automotive paint to give the mediums a black color. Then, I think she painted the apples with glossy oil, which she let to dry. The hardest part of this piece of work was to effectively show the message to the viewer and to make it as convincing as possible. I believe that this structure would be fit for an environmental agency room, and would very well represent the passions of many environmentalists and “green” people. It seems to be a decoration for an office or apartment, house, etc. That is what most art is, an effective message and argument, not through words, but through hands. A picture is, after all, more than a thousand words.

Jeff's Museum Visit


Jeff Lloyd
Feb. 15, 2008

Today I went to the Modern Art Museum in Fort Worth. All of the exhibits were not open due to new exhibits being brought in. I enjoyed my visit to the museum. The way the museum is laid out and the design of the building was very impressive to me. The areas that over looked the water garden and were very cool.

One of my favorite artists of all time is Pablo Picasso and the Modern Art Museum had one of his painting in it’s permanent collection. I had never seen his “Femme couchee listant” until today. It is a very interesting piece.

The lines out line the shape of the woman and the object that are around her. Lines are thick around the body of the woman making her appear to be the important subject.

The shapes in the work are geometric. The shapes come together to form the body and figure of the woman. The shapes are flat and don’t show a lot of volume.

The space is filled up in the center of the piece. The space around the woman is the background and is very plain. The artist creates depth by making the background around the figure darker.

The light looks like it is directly above the woman. The shadows are depicted by sold black on the woman but there are shades of gray shadowing the objects and the background. The couch is the only object that shows a gradiance.

The color is black, white and grays. The black and white, to me gives me the feeling that the mood is calm and relaxing.

The art principal of balance is produced by the shadows on the woman not fading with grays but the sudden white on the top side of her body to the black on the bottom side. The balance of lines are asymmetrical. Black and white are used to show opposites.

Your eye is drawn to the woman because she is the brightest part and the white colors put emphasis on here to stand out from everything else.

I did not see much rhythm in this piece because all of the shapes are so different.

The media was two dimensional on a canvas that was large in size in my opinion.

This piece is a painting done with black and white oil paints. Oils are slow drying paints that enable you to correct mishaps when they happen. The lines were smooth and the look of the paint was flat. The painting was in good condition and I am not aware if Picasso made any changes to this piece later.

I enjoyed my visit to the Modern Art Museum and after taking some note on the Picasso piece I wandered through the rest of the exhibits. I took some pictures of some pieces that I liked and took a couple cool pictures with the Vortex piece that was outside the museum.

Thursday, February 7, 2008

Welcome

Welcome to the Spring 2008 Gauguin Blog!