African Art

Cheri Samba, J'aime la couleur, 2003, 206 x 296.7 cm, Acrylic and glitter on canvas, ã Chéri Samba. Courtesy-C.A.A.C. - The Pigozzi Collection, Geneva. Photo : Patrick Gries.

www.artdaily.com/.../2007/08/30/Cheri-Samba.jpg

Cheri Samba is one of the most popular African artists of his time. Samba was born in 1956 in the Democratic Republic of Congo and was the son of a blacksmith. At just 16 years old, Cheri moved to the capital of Kinto M’Vuila to find work there as a sign painter. This was at a time of revolution involving the Civil Rights Movement and Martin Luther King Jr. Almost all of his works of art have to do with Africa and the modern world and he is a very well-known contemporary artist. He is also known to involve many bits of text in his paintings, probably to talk to his audience in a more direct fashion.

The english translation of this painting's title says, I love color. It would make sense for color is an obivious element in this painting. It seems as if Samba is trying to depict an artist who enjoys painting by the looks of his facial expression and the paint brush in his mouth. I do not know why the boy's skin is in a spiral shape, but maybe it is supposed to show a feeling of joyfulness and sillyness. Maybe the skin is spiraled so you can see more of the blue sky in the backround. Also, on the end of his paintbrush there is a plate filled with objects such as a conch shell. This could have to do with the variety of color in nature. This painting could be considered either imatationalism or emotionalism, depending on how you see it because their is a boy being featured, but he is also displaying a lot of emotion.

I beileve that this painting was created to show the artist's creative ideas involving color. I think it was made so that the viewer has a feeling of how much passion he feels towards the effects of color in painting and how much he enjoys using color in his own works. Also I think that his painting displays happiness and is meant to create a positive feeling in the viewer. I like this painting because of that. With so many paintings about sadness and depressing things, a joyful piece is nice once in while. I also enjoy this painting because it has a bold representation of color and I think that color is an important element of art. Anyways, the mysteries behind this vibrant painting could only be solved by Cheri Samba himself.

Jewish-American Art

Leonard Baskin is a sucessuful person in many different professions. He is a skilled book illustrator, printmaker, graphic artist, writer, teacher and most importantly, a sculptor. He was born right before the Great Depression and World War II, otherwise known as the Holocaust. He was born as the son of a Rabbi and was taught at a Jewish Religous School throughout his childhood. He had his first sculpture exhibition at just seventeen years old and studied abroad for many years. He died at the age of 77, most well-known for his bas relief for the Franklin D. Roosevelt Memorial and the sculpture on your left. The Jewish religon was obivious in many of Baskin's works throughout his entire career.

This sculpture has to do with one of the most important events in Jewish history. It is a Holocaust memorial set up in Ann Arbor, Michigan which displays a person most likely crying.
This sculpture is a great example of emotionalism trying to get you to feel the sadness associated with the Holocaust. The sculpture is also black, maybe to give you a feeling of the coldness of that horrible tragedy. This probably has to do with the fact that Baskin was a teenager when the Holocaust occured and probably effected him greatly, especially because of the fact that his father was a Rabbi. I think this sculpture truly captures the sadness of this event which Jewish people around the world will hopefully never forget.





Leonard Baskin, Holocaust Memorial, Ann Arbor, Michigan


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:LBAAHol2.jpg

Emotionalism

M.C. Escher is probably one of the most interesting artists I have ever seen. Born in the Netherlands in 1898 he was a sickly child and placed in a special school at age seven. He was never much of a student and even failed the second grade, but he always excelled in artwork. He also took lessons in carpentry and piano for a while during his childhood. He was in love with the country, Italy, and had always admired the landscape there. He experienced both World Wars and was actually forced to move back to the Netherlands because of World War II.

This painting uses the idea that Escher is famous for, The Droste Effect. This is where a picture seems to go on forever, getting smaller and smaller, like placing two mirrors in front of each other. In this picture, the subject of the painting is actually an art gallery, or a print gallery. This painting is extremely complicated, maybe because of the fact that he uses geometry in a lot of his works. Also this painting is a great example of emotionalism with the painting so confusing that it brings out a wide variety of feelings. Some people might have a sense of crazyiness, confusion or even sillyness. Everybody views art in their own way depending on their ideas and opinions. This paticular painting is an optical illusion, asking you, "Are you inside, or outside?" What do you think?

Credit: M.C. Escher's "Print Gallery" (c) 2004 The M. C. Escher Company - The Netherlands. All rights reserved. Used by permission

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.claymath.org/gallery/escher.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.claymath.org/gallery/escher.php&h=650&w=649&sz=174&hl=en&start=2&sig2=la2HOsGKqHp72zQWzwK53g&tbnid=w3ilzNqmlTwoLM:&tbnh=137&tbnw=137&ei=3-QRSIW5IobiepiX5awC&prev=/images%3Fq%3DM.C%2BEscher%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Den

Needle Tower

Needle Tower by Kenneth Snelson (1968)
cerezo.pntic.mec.es/mgarc144/05_needle_tower_...


Kenneth Snelson is well-known for his sculptures that involve tensegrity. He has popularized the idea of tensegrity, a combination of tension and integrity, to create some of the most amazing structures in the world including the Needle Tower. He is a contemporary sculptor and photographer and his work has been featured in many art exhibits all over the world. He was born in 1927 in Oregon, only a few years before World War II. He currently resides in New York City where he was recently assigned to work on the antenna for the new Freedom Tower.
The Needle Tower was created in 1968 and is probably Snelson's most recognized piece. It is built around his famous idea of tensegrity and is created of large metal poles and metal wires which are actually quite stable. He also has studied the atom which may be the reason why many of his sculptures are so intricate like this one. This sculpture stands out as formalism because the thing that is featured in this sculpture are lines in a complicated pattern. It seems as if the poles are meant to make the sculpture look strong and sturdy. The blue background lets the simple lines stand out stong and tall. If they were in front of a multiple-color background, they might not look as powerful. I also wonder about the six-pointed star that appears in the sculpture which could also be called a Jewish Star. Maybe he did this because he was Jewish or maybe it was unintentional. Maybe it had to do with the fact that he was born around the time of the Holocaust, and he did this in remembrance of the six-million Jews who died in that war.

An Unusual Style

Jackson Pollock, Blue Poles: Number II, 1952, enamel and aluminum paint with glass on canvas, 82 7/8" x 15' 11 5/8"
http://www.roland-collection.com/rolandcollection/images/stills/34-482B.gif

Jackson Pollock is what you could consider a "Ground Breaking" artist. Though Mr. Pollock had a short life, only 44 years old when he died, he experienced events such as World War II. He was born and raised in Arizona and California where he helped his dad at a job on the north rim of the Grand Canyon. There, it was thought that he developed a long-term compulsive fear. He was a high-school drop-out, but later went on to study art at a place called Art Students League, where he met a man named Thomas Hart Benton who was thought to be a major influence on Pollack's life. He was also influenced by various people such as El Greco and Diego Rivera. Unfortunatly, Pollock was an unrelenting drinker which greatly affected his artwork and essentially dominated his life.

This painting was originally bought for the highest price of any modern artwork of its time. It is now thought to be between about $100-$150 million dolars. It is similar to most Pollock paintings except for the fact that eight blue poles have been dripped down the canvas. This work of art could be considered formalism because it is made up of lines, but could also be emotionalism because the painting was possibly created to give the viewer a specific feeling. The feeling could be anything depending on how you view this piece.

I think Jackson Pollock's work is misunderstood by many, myself included, but it would would be very interesting to learn about the first modern artist to be taken seriously in Europe

The Three Musicans

Pablo Picasso could be considered the most popular artist ever to come from Spain. He was born in 1881 as the son of an art teacher and was a prodigy even when he was just a young boy. The artist experienced the Spanish Civil War and then moved to Paris. In Paris he met with another well-known artist named Henry Matisse, which he developed a lasting friendship with. He was known to be a very sarcastic and superstitious man, but was the ruler of Western art in the 20th century. He is also recognized for his blue and rose periods of artwork.

This picture is extremely famous, featuring three musicans; one playing a clarinet, one a guitar and the other holding sheet music. Also if you look closely you can also see a dog underneath the musicans. Two of the musicans featured were a part of an Italian theater that Picasso enjoyed. The jigsaw like painting gives it a Cuban feel, one that is seen often in Picasso's paintings. This painting is a fantastic example of imatationalism, with the three muscians the main focus of the painting. They make the characters stand out by changing the outfits from the ordinary brown backround. Overall, it looks as if this is a skilled and wise trio of musicans.

Painting Title: Three Musicians 1921Oil on canvas - 200.7 x 222.9 cmPablo Picasso: Cubist Paintings / Mid CareerFamous Spanish artist - 20th Century Painter

www.artquotes.net/.../picasso_3musicians.jpg

Faith Ringgold Credit Lines

Faith Ringgold (American) b. 1930,

The Sunflower Quilting Bee at Arles,

1991 Acrylic on canvas, tie dyed,

pieced fabric border, 74 x 80 inches, Private Collection

http://www.msanzalonecreativearts.blogspot.com/

We know that much of Faith Ringgold's childhood and early adulthood was probably wrecked by war and poverty. During her first years of life the U.S. fell into the Great Depression. A record amount of people were unemployed and many families were struggling to aquire basic needs. Next, while being raised in Harlem, World War II began. Also, because the fact that Faith wsas African-American, her family was probably discriminated against for many years. In fact, some of Mrs. Ringgold's works were affected by the civil rights movement in the 60's. We know that as an adult Faith was an author and artist and created many popular stories such as Tar Beach. Futhermore, we know that Faith and her daughter were founders of the National Black Feminist Organization.

But, Faith is most well-known for her quilt works that were passed down to her from her great-great grandmother. Her work is known to be rich and inspiring and is painted with vibrant colors. in this paticular painting, we see a group of African-American women prouldly displaying their sunflower quilt. This probably has to do with the fact that Faith was very active in promoting women and African-American rights. The African-American women shown in that picture are eight freedom fighters such as Coretta Scott King and Harriet Tubman.

In this quilt we not only see a group of women, but also an artist named Vincent Van Goah. Most likely the fact that Van Goah uses sunflowers in many of his works is the reason behind why he is featured in the quilt. Also the sunflowers inside the quilt inside the picture are surrounded by diamond shaped objects that are similar to Van Goah's Starry Night.

Because Faith is an author too, along with being an artist, it might have some effect on her pictures or vice versa. For example, maybe she sees the world in words instead of pictures and therefore uses something like character dialouge in her quilts. All in all, Faith Ringgold proves to be a very optimistic and strong-willed artist in The Sunflower Quilting Bee at Arles.