Understanding the Artist
Feb 26, 2016
Understanding the Artist
Emotional Art
Rene Magritte1898 –1967Belgian Surrealist artist
‘Art for me is not an end in itself, but a means of evoking that mystery’
Witty and thought-provoking images
Challenges viewers perceptions of realityOrdinary objects in an unusual context
Giving new meanings to familiar things
evoke mystery poetic imagery
contradiction ordinary objects in unfamiliar spaces
reality and illusion
The Empire of light 1950-1954
Le Beau MondeOil on canvas 1962
Personal Values
Franz Marc1880 –1916 German Painter & Printmaker Expressionist Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider) movement
Characterized by bright primary colour
Use of colour and futurist method futurism and cubism woodcut and lithography
portrays animals, usually in natural settings Increasingly stark and abstract in nature
stark simplicity profound sense of emotion
BLUE used for masculinity & spirituality YELLOW represented feminine joyRED encased the sound of violence
Tiger 1912
The Fate of the Animals 1901
Die großen blauen Pferde (The Large Blue Horses)
1911
Salvador Dali1904 –1989
Spanish Surrealist painter
striking and bizarre influence of Renaissance masters highly imaginative
film, sculpture, and photography eccentric manner and attention-grabbing indulging in unusual and grandiose behaviour
classical and modernist techniquesaccessing the subconscious extraordinary universe
personal obsessions and fantasies
The Persistence of MemoryOil on canvas
1931
• Theory of "softness" and "hardness",
• The soft watches are an unconscious symbol of the relativity of space and time. They are inspired not by the theory of relativity, but by the surrealist perception of a Camembert cheese melting in the sun
• The strange "monster" that Dalí used in several period pieces represented himself – an abstract form was a self-portrait, reappearing frequently in his work
• Dalí often used ants in his paintings as a symbol for death
• The fading figure in the middle of the picture, often appears in dreams where the dreamer cannot pinpoint the creature's exact form and composition
• The creature has one closed eye with several eyelashes, suggesting the creature is also in a dream state.
• It may refer to a dream that Dalí himself had experienced
• The clocks symbolize the passing of time as one experiences it in sleep. • Dali uses images more likely to be found in dreams than in waking consciousness.
Swan Reflecting Elephants1937
Frida Kahlo1907 – 1958Mexico CityPainter / self portraits
"I paint myself because I am so often alone and because I am the subject I know best”
Began painting after she was severely injured in a bus accident.
Self portraits suggestions of pain Surrealist Graphic Personal
Christian and Jewish themes are often depicted in her work
symbolic portrayals of physical and psychological wounds She painted to occupy her time during her temporary illness
Drawn from personal experiences, marriage / her miscarriages / numerous operations
symbolic monkey portrayed as tender and protective symbols
“I painted my own reality." Influenced by indigenous Mexican culture, Bright colours, dramatic symbolism and primitive style
classic religious Mexican tradition with surrealism
What The Water Gave Me
Environmental Artist
Damien Hirst1965
Young British ArtistContemporary British artist
“I believe that art is more powerful than money”
Life Death Existence
Dead animalsdirect and challenging
Beauty question our awareness and convictions
glimmer of hope
4 important things in lifefear, life, death, reason, faith, love, hate
iconography of science and religion
‘Mother and child, Divided’Cow, formaldehyde, vitrine1993
‘For the Love of God’
Damien HirstHuman Skull, platinum, dimonds2007
£50,000,0008,601 diamonds £15,000,000 worth of diamondsPlatinum human skull
“The Physical Impossibility of Death in the mind of Someone Living”Tiger shark, formaldehyde, vitrine1991£50,000
‘a portrait of the artist touching the earth’
Richard Long1945BritishLandscape artist
Relationship with the landscapephotographs, maps, drawings and sculptures
lines or circles Gathers natural materialsarranging objects
concern for the planets condition Impermanencetime, distance, geography and measurement
action of walking in a natural landscape
Circular outlines, circular spirals, solid circles and concentric ringsgeometric mobility, lightness and freedom.
Simple creative acts of walking and markingplace, locality, time, distance and measurement.
raw materials and the human scale
.
‘Small White Pebble Circle’Marbled pebbles40 x 2000 x 2000 mm1987
‘the whole work should look balanced and circular’
‘South Bank Circle’
Delabole slate100 x 1997 x 1997 mm1991
A LINE IN SCOTLANDCUL MOR 1981
WHITE RIVER LINE
BRAZIL 1994
Andy Warhol1928 - 1987AmericanPop artist
"I love Los Angeles. I love Hollywood. They're so beautiful. Everything's plastic, but I love plastic. I want to be plastic.”
relationship between artistic expression, celebrity culture and advertisement mass-produced images from American
popular cultureconsumerismsilkscreens, films, sculpture
POP ART Fascination with Super-stars
appreciation for intense Hollywood glamour
Controversial artistcomic, decorative, and whimsical
open embrace of market cultureHollywood celebrities reproductions based on advertisements Bohemian
Campbell's Soup Cans1962
MarilynSilkscreen1967
Brillo Soap Pads Box 1964silkscreen ink on synthetic polymer paint on wood
SculptorBritish1956
“I think it’s incredibly brave to be working with flowers and leaves and petals. But I have to: I can’t edit the materials I work with. My remit is to work with nature as a whole.”
Andy Goldsworthy
Ephemeral sculptures made from elements of nature,
rocks, leaves, icicles brightly-coloured flowers, mud, pinecones, snow, stone, twigs, and thorns
Intensity Each work grows, stays, decays
looks into the heart of natureExplores and experiments The seasons and weather determine the materials
Relies on what nature will give himnatural materials Energy from nature
‘Stone Egg’
‘Yellow and Gold leaves around a hole’