Mike Kelley

This is Mike Kelley's artwork, More Love Hours Than Can Ever Be Repaid and The Wages of Sin, 1987.  On the 90 inches tall, and 119 inches wide canvas, he used a lot of handmade suffer animals and dolls to make works of art. For this piece, he
 put a collection of stuffed toys together so that they look like a big colorful painting. I believe that when he created this artwork, he imaged all the time people spent playing with the toys. Therefore, Kelley proposes through this artwork to people to remind about their childhood memory, and leads them to go back to the moment of innocent.  Furthermore, it makes me surprised again about unlimited creative art world. I understand again by Kelley's artwork that art is that find something new and express in one's new way.

Hennesse Youngman's YouTube Videos

In the Hennesse Youngman's Youtube Video that I watched, he states that people do not need to get graduated degree in order to be a successful artist. He criticizes current society, which manufactures people to think degree is required to become an artist. I was very impressed by what he was saying in the video. Even though his way of saying was very informal, I think he pointed exactly right. I don't think achieving high-degree is only way to success in art society. It might interrupt to have chances that experience various things that cannot experience at school.  

Moma

 

Abstract expressionism

This painting is Jackson Pollock’s Full Fathom Five. It is about 50inch tall and 30 inch width painting. Pollock painted this artwork in 1947 by using many novelty sources such as oil, tacks, buttons, key, coins, cigarettes, and matches. This painting is a great example of Abstract expressionism. It does not have any focal point, or image. It is without a recognizable subject that amorphous shapes filling all over the canvas. Furthermore, there is no negative or positive space that makes the painting feel not to have distinct subject of an image. This painting is made in 1947, which was during at the World War II. Therefore, I believe it represents his chaotic feeling about the war.

 

Cubism

A good example of Cubism art can be found in Pablo Picasso’s Woman with Pears. This is 36 inches tall and 27inches width. While the pears in the background are modeled in the round, he described Oliviers, the women, geometrically. Olivier’s head and bust are described as geometrical segments. It represents well the idea of cubism that to depict the world as it is and not as it seems. Furthermore, the painting more care about structure and space rather than color. It is very interesting point that he draw it as three-dimensional space on the two-dimensional surface.

Kimsooja

Kimsooja's artwork represents everyday actions transform to artistic performance and meditation moment. Her performance is usually using her own body and expresses her feeling and respond in artistic way. In the video, she is facing away from the camera and watching people, who are passing through her by just standing in the crowded way. We can find three different perspectives in there such as the camera of view, people who are watching her, and passing behind her. We literally see and respond through her in that video.

Furthermore, she always discovers artistic questions and answers from daily activities. One of examples is performance using the Bottari, which is Korean traditional bag to carry stuff. One day, she realized that her bottari looked totally different. She realized that it has worth to be used as three dimensional sculpture. Moreover, she realized meaning of bottari in more realistic artistic way, as it is social and cultural object. The bottari was very much routine to her family history, which has to move a lot to another place. I was very impressed by her artistic performance because I thought art is far away from my life. My prejudice of art was art has to be very extraordinary and something that cannot understand easily. However, Kim’s art lead me to realize art is very close in our life like meditation. Art can be anything that we feel and think in our daily life.

After WorldWar

1.Dada’s artwork Marcel Duchamp is a cheap postcard reproduction of Lenardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa onto which is drawn a moustache and beard in pencil.  In this picture, Mona Lisa does not look beautiful and noble any longer. She even looks very funny and ridiculed. Dada was influenced by World War I. In this ridiculous period, he realized that world is no longer make senses and non-sense makes sense. Therefore, his art works represent ridiculed conventional rules, criticized society, and broken away traditions.   He rejected common society values in his art work such as moral, social, and political.

2. African Americans mostly became subjects in Jacob Lawrence’s artwork.  In the Migration, people are holding weapons, and entwined dangerously black and white people in a train. It refers very directly about African American History. Furthermore, he uses various colors, flat base, and pattern in his works. It shows that he is influenced by European Modernists such as Goya.

Assignment #5

Impressionist art is a style in which the artist captures the image of an object as someone would see it. They paint the pictures with a lot of color and most of their pictures are outdoor scenes. Their pictures are very bright and vibrant. The artists like to capture their images without detail but with bold colors. Some of the greatest impressionist artists were Edgar Degas, and Claude Monet.

Post-impressionism is extended impressionism. Impressionists continued using vivid colors, think paint, and real subject matter. However, postimpressionism is more focus on personal experience of the painter. The painting does not just represent what they see thing, but see through it. Therefore, it allows to the painters free interpretation on their painting. Vincent van Gogh is one of famous post-impressionist artist.
 

Assignment #4

 

Venus and the Lute Player is one of remarkable art works which represent Renaissance period. This painting is created around 1565 to 1570 by Pieve di Cadore, who is from Venice, Italia. Its medium used is oil on canvas, and 65 inch long, 82 inch width. The Titian’s Venus is well into the Renaissance because Venus represents humanism, which is focusing on human natural more than religious themes. Her body is nude in detail described and it gives feel natural human body form. Not only does she look natural, but she is placed is a natural setting. She is leaning on the couch, and listing of the music. Furthermore, the painter used well the perspective in the background by using shadow and lights. Background is smaller and darker than person.  It helps to more focus on the Venus and, looks background is behind and back apart from the Venus. Moreover, using the shadows and light represents detail classical human form. Therefore, it helps to understand the painting's theme is celebrating love and music. Overall, this painting is a good example of Renaissance style of art work. 




This painting is Samson Captured by the Philistines by Guercino. He is an Italian artist and completed the painting in 1619. This is a 75 inch tall and 93 inch width oil on canvas painting.  This is a good example of representing Baroque style art, because it is very direct, obvious and dramatic. Guercino uses shadow and light to heighten the drama and meaning of his painting. He tries to draw the viewer in to participate in the scene by direct and obvious setting. In this paint, it exaggerates Samson's emotion and action by using the contrast between dark and light. It is not only to capture viewer's focus on Samson, but also to feel very dramatic.



 

Online responce for 5th week

1.Describe the portrait of the fur merchant. Why is he “the business man’s hero”? 

The portrait of the fur merchant’s model is an old man who is sitting down and wearing fur coats and hat. He is holding a paper, and his wearing fur falls down his body. The fur is described very detail, and realistic. When look at his eyes, he looks tired but intelligent. In the portraits, the fur merchant is regarded as the business man’s hero. This is because he is described as a hardworking man, who gets wealth. He looks tried as he could not get a sleep. However, his intellectual eyes and his hand, which is holding a paper, shows that he is very focusing on his work. Also, he is wearing fur all over on the body. It shows he is proud of his job, and in prosperity.

2. What is the mood of the portrait of the 83 year old woman?

The mood of the portrait of the 83 year old woman is gloom and sensitively nervous. In the portrait, her face is described in detail. Her knitted eyebrows represents that she is in bad mood and very sharp. Furthermore, her eyes look very tired and sad. It makes people feel the mood of the portrait is very melancholy.

3. What is Rembrandt communicating in his painting of Sampson& Delilah?

Most of artists describe the figure of Sampson as naked and strong figure. However, in the painting Sampson and Delilah, he wears clothing and looks very vulnerable. Even though he is holding a knife in his hand, he does not look angry, but sad. It shows that Rembrandt’s paint represents love and betrayal.

Online Response Assignment for 4th week

1. Why was the Medici family so important in the development of the Renaissance?
         Renaissance was a period that is a time of rebirth art and ideas of classical Greece and Rome. Medici family is significant in the development of the Renaissance. Wealth of Italian merchants of the Medici family aided artistic and intellectual developments by a flourishing economy. They supported arts and many artists such as Donatello.
2. Why was Donatello's David so revolutionary?
           First of all, unclothed subjects were rare in medical art and appear awkward. It was so revolutionary in that period, because Donatello’s David is wearing only hat and boots. The figure’s body is naturalistic. Furthermore, the sculpture its self represents sensuality. The nude became a symbol of human worth and divine perfection.
3. Describe this sculpture in detail.
           Donatello’s sculpture is a young shepherded of David. It is made by bronze and free standing sculpture. The sculpture of David is wearing only hat and boots. He is looking down, and his face is not so much appearing because his hat hides his face. One of his hands is holding a sword, and he is standing at an angle. It represents victory of the war.

Online lecture response for 3rd week

1.How does an artist create asymmetrical balance?

Symmetrical balance is the near or exact matching of left and right sides. On the other hand, asymmetrical balance is that left and right sides are not the same. An artist creates symmetrical balance by visual weight of colors and forms. It means that one can make a symmetrical balance to make different size of the form such as making a form larger than the other one. Furthermore, the asymmetrical balance also can be created by using the color. Warm colors are heavier than cool colors. The art work, which is Still Life with Apples and Grapes by Claude Monet, is a great example of asymmetry balance. The arranging of the fruits make a symmetrical balance in the picture. The apples near the center are bigger than apples in the edge.
 

2.Describe several ways used to unity an artwork.

 Unity is defined as the appearance of condition of oneness. This means in design that feeling that all the elements in a work belong together. An artist can make people feel an art work is unity by using similar color tone or same patterns of shapes. The picture below is "Girl Before a Mirror" by Picasso. This art work makes people feel a sense of unity. This is because the girls are in similar shape, and uses analogous colors.

 

3.How is scale change the meaning of an artwork?

 Scale is defined as the size relation of one thing to another. Depending on the scale, the meaning of an artwork can be changed. An artist can make an artwork more exaggerated. The Picture below is Chicago's newest piece of large-scale public art. It makes the piece similar scale with behind buildings. Therefore, the piece of public art is more emphasized and looks more exaggerated.

  

Assignment #2

Greek and Egypt are well known regions, where have established an advanced civilization for a long time. Therefore, two countries were high developed in art. Art works are very valuable to understand each of the countries culture, because particular qualities of each country’s art indicate well characteristics of their culture.

                                                        

Ancient Egyptian’s arts have several distinctive qualities of their art. To define the qualities of the art in three parts is religious, symbolic, and geometrical. Egyptians were highly focused on their religion because they considered afterlife is important. Therefore, Egyptian arts were influenced by the belief about afterlife. Another defining quality of Egyptian arts is symbolism. They represented often symbolically about their God, kings and queens. Moreover, their arts are geometricized. Therefore, most of their art works are perfectly balanced. The “statue of the Goddess Sakhmet”shows well those quantities of Egyptian art. This statue is 210cm in height and about 50cm in width. It is made by Granodiorite, which is a kind of stone. The statue has lion head in human form, and it is sitting in the chair. The lioness head symbolizes the goddess Sakhmet, who is represented the force of violence and unexpected disaster. Her lion head represents well the symbol of her characters such as danger and potential of violence. Furthermore, it has geometrically same and balanced right and left side except that she is holding something on her hand.

The Greek focuses on the importance of individual. Furthermore, human potential and achievement was considered very significant value in the period of time. Therefore, the Greek pursuits the perfection of naturalistic images of the human figure in art. The Greek honored individual achievement by creating numerous life-size nude mal and clothed female figures. “Marble statue of a woman” is one of clothed female figure Greek sculptures. It is 180cm in height and made by stone. This sculpture is very elaborate and detailed. Therefore, the drapery of the cloth and the face is well represented the naturalistic human figure.

 

Assignment #1

            In general, art expresses culture and societies of the age because art embodies ideas of people who were living through out time. Therefore, art functions specificity in society such as to impart information or ideas, and for worship and rituals. I found two great pieces of artworks to indicate the examples of the specific functions of society in the Metropolitan Museum.

In the Arts of Africa section, I found a Headdress Effigy, which is named Harelga in Africa. The artwork  is 180 inch in height and made by bamboo. This looks long and has a big head. This artwork was especially used for dancing ceremonies for the Chachet Baining people for religious meanings. The statue appeared during the day dance, and an annual harvest ritual. At the climax of the dance, the Herelga was carried out to the dancing ground, and a person served as bases for the effigies. Using the bamboo poles, other men then lifted the Harelga atop the dancer's head into a position as close to vertical as possible. This art work expresses that Chachet baining people considered dancing is an important part of their life. Also, it shows they had great respect for their ancestors and daily life. Furthermore, Herelga is assumed to be only used by men because it is excessively heavy for women to carry out. Therefore, it represents that masculinism was one of the parts of their culture. My first impression for this artwork was familiar, because it looks similar with the Korean traditional totem pole, which is for frighten away ghosts and bed things and villages boundaries to standing  at the edge of the villages. I was suppressed Harelga was used for dancing, and the people had to carry this heavy sculpture  out.

The second art work, I found in the America section, is a ceramic sculpture, Jalisco Ballplayers. This is from Ancient Mexico. The sculpture is small, which is 50cm in height and 33cm in width. It is a human figure, which is sitting and holding a ball. Playing with a rubber ball was an important male activity. The ceramic sculpture of Jalisco was found in the family tombs, and those families were in the upper class in their society. This Jalisco sculpture indicates that people had lived in an affluent society because people had enjoyed sports, and not only focused on survival. Moreover, playing rubber ball was not a game that could be played alone. This was a group game. Therefore, we can understand that people in that period were in a collective society.