Welcome to Summer Painting! This blog will be host to information, articles, videos and side discussions that relate to class. You are required to respond to at least two posts per week with comments, discussion.
Glen Brown "To Wit, Wise Humor"
Beatrice Milhazes "Sinfonia Nordestina" 2008
Peter Doig "Concrete Hut" 1994
Karin Davie "Symptomania" 2008
Beatrice Milhazes "Sinfonia Nordestina" 2008 is my favorite painting out of the group of paintings posted. I truly enjoy the colors used. The way the circles, swirls, and patterning is presented keeps the viewers eye continuously moving throughout the painting.
ReplyDeleteKarin Davie "Symptomania" 2008 looks like tentacles to me or some sort of inside of the body chromosomes. The best element of this painting is the lime green placed behind or in between the swirls.
*Cassie Bundy*
Glen Brown's painting, for me, is the most interesting among the ones above. It combines historical commentary, with impressionist style, and subversive charm - a look that is somewhat unique in my eyes. Beatrice Milhazes' piece contains a design style that is pleasing but seems a little ubalanced and stiff. Peter Doig's work is a good painting but does not hold anything interesting for me as far as content. And Karin Davie's piece, although again interesting in the use of its abstract extended shape and comtemporary colors, is too unsettling with the combination of yellow green and pinks (which evoke the thought of intestines, and bile).
ReplyDeleteBut all four presented side by side offer an interesting contrast and compare in terms of painting styles and method of expression.
-Max
I agree, Max, I think of Mihazes' work as very graphic also. Although, in interviews she discusses the sources of the paintings' imagery as gathered from her native Rio de Janeiro - from patterns, wallpapers and the surrounding culture of the city.
DeleteI like Karin Davie's "Symptomania" for the same reasons you find it unsettling - the fleshy color of the less saturated peach against the verdant green. Lots of Color Theory/spatial manipulation plus the added bonus of a little grossout versus beauty.
-Tiffany
I really like Beatrice Milhazes "Sinfonia Nordestina" because of the layers of shapes she puts together. The shapes on top of shapes creates great depth. I think it's interesting how she explored different depths by having the background on the left side be a solid, cool color, while the background on the right side includes more shapes. Those shapes were rectangles while the more promonent shapes were circles and more organic, which I thought created great contrast. I also liked how when some of the shapes overlap one another, you can see how the two colors mix and create another one. I looked at a couple of her other paintings that had the similar ideas behind them. From looking at this particular painting and some others, I found I that I really like the intense, saturated colors she used. I think that is something that catches a viewer's attention right away before looking at what else goes on in the artwork.
ReplyDelete~Melissa
I love how the colours in the Mihazes and in the Doig are used to contain a sense of warfare or strife, however the war is among almost identical looking objects; there is no certain line of whom is on what side of the war, although the war in the Doig seems to be against nature, and in the Mihases seems to be for "fair play". I also find their use of circles fairly brave and unique: the sense of grandeur and loss is usually caused by horizontal circles, such as in Moonet's Waterlillies or Friedrich's moons. In the Davie and the Doig, the same sense of loss is conveyed through vertical, looking or tilted circles. I also find Glen Brown's painting very funny and unsexist. His portrayal of an almost nude flanked by flowers does not show her to be less in worth or more in nudity than the natural shape of the flowers, however her smile is so pretty that she is unquestionably deserving of the gift, whereas in other paintings throughout world history the worth of women has been questioned, such as in Virginia's and in Klimt's, where women are praised respectively as flat and simple in genetalia, but very naked in experience, or complex but evil and fully clothed. I find that for four paintings all which have a half circle as the central objects, these paintings are very interesting in difference and manner.
ReplyDeleteGreat observation of Glen Brown overturning some of the original context for the subject matter. But - sign your name so I know who you are!
Delete-Tiffany
Glen Browns work has a lot of brushstrokes and the colors and the way she made this piece reminds me of Vincent Van Gogh I like this piece a lot I also admire Peter Doig's the Concrete Hut. He paints a lot of trees and uses earth tones and I use this in my paintings a lot so I like this piece a lot.He also does a lot of crosshatching also. -Deb Sousa
ReplyDeleteI forgot to note for everyone: You have to know that while the Glen Brown painting APPEARS to have thick paint texture, that is an illusion. He actually PAINTS the globby thickness (impasto) of the paint - the paintings are completely flat. They have no texture.
ReplyDelete-Tiffany
Brown and Davie are the two that I was drawn to. Max called Davie's painting "unsettling," and I think that's true of Brown's too. I didn't think anything could be more cloying than those French Girl-on-Swing-with-Provocative-Petticoat paintings (17th century?), but Brown managed to dial that up a notch at first look. My initial response was "Why on earth . . . ?" The squirminess of the brush strokes overwhelmed the painting so much that it took a minute for me to actually look at the woman. When I did I was surprised. She looks kind of drugged and the shadow on her left eye is bruise-like. If that's her right hand we see in the lower right, her finger looks broken. And is she wearing anything under that shawl? It is a deeply unsettling image. Barbara
ReplyDeleteThe first piece is my favorite of the four, in part because the long, curving strokes of paint are reminiscent of many of Van Gogh’s works. The different colors seem to swirl around the figure, like the rainbow effect created when oil gets in a puddle of water. This creates the sense of being amid a sort of chemical reaction of the light source on the woman’s flesh, and it implies a motion/transience of the light that is characteristic of the Impressionist movement. The background sky, however, is handled more smoothly and realistically rather than painterly, maybe to create a distinction between human flesh and the heavens, which would make the flesh out to be imperfect, barely held together, and in process.
ReplyDeleteBeatrice Milhazes’ piece is interesting because it combats very perfect circles and systematic patterns with organic shapes and designs. The color palette also ranges from earthy neutrals to bold hot pinks and yellows. Sinfonia Nordestina translates to Northeastern Symphony in Portuguese, and I think the artist is successful in the attempt to draw a parallel to music.
Peter Doig’s piece creates a similar juxtaposition between organic and manmade material, but his takes a more literal approach. The building in the background looks like Bauhaus architecture because of its “pure” color scheme and emphasis on functionality rather than ornamentation. The windows in the building are very systematic compared to the natural growth of trees covering most of it. The composition puts the viewer is “on the outside looking in,” making commentary on the movement, possibly to say that it has an manufactured, cold and “distant” feel to it.
The final piece looks like a lot of worms on a neon green plate to me. The title “Symptomania” offers a lot of insight to what the artist may have been thinking; this could be meant to look exactly as my first reaction would have called it: a combination of the abstraction of worms (something associated with being slimy and dirty) and hints of a color associated with toxic radiation, meant to mimic the sense of paranoia for “symptoms”/sickness in our society. The painting technique is interesting to me; I imagine the foreground paint is pretty thick, and the brush handling on some of the curves is very artfully handled.
Shelby Van Cleef
It is astonishing how an artist develops a work of art into a finished piece like the four paintings above. It makes you wonder how many trails and errors led them to their choice of style or aesthetics. It never seizes to amaze me how each individual has a unique style and subject choice due to one’s background and origins. That is the beauty of art and what defines it which can be shown exemplified in these four paintings.
ReplyDeleteGlen Brown’s “To Wit, Wise Humor” contains a style that is uncommon yet refreshing when compared to other contemporary paintings. It contained a liquid like stroke which is similar to the liquefy effect on Photoshop or if not exactly identical. It has a format similar to a tondo , where all the impact and focal point manifests from the central axis or in this case the oval shape. My favorite aspect about the painting was the colorful swirl like effects that was present in the figures hands. That effect seemed so complex especially when dealing with paint; you wonder how long it took Glen Brown to complete that section.
Beatrice Milhazes “Sinfonia Nordestina” at first glance can be interpreted as a digital work, perhaps done on Illustrator. But in fact is a painting, therefore it creates a stronger likeness for the overall work of art. Painting solids with gradient like transparency is no easy task. I can guarantee that Beatrice took careful time working with each circle and patterns as well as planning its placement and size.
Peter Doig “Concrete Hut” was a common stylized work in my opinion. A portrayal of a landscape with abstract characteristics intertwined is very common and broad in this era. Well most work I’ve seen thus far contained this type of quality so my last statement may be more opinionated rather than factual. On the brighter side, this paintings title has meaning which can be seen when viewing the work. When you think “Concrete”, psychology will kick in and generate images of barren secluded areas such as that presented as well as dull dark colors. When you envision a “Hut”, there is a sense of warmth and safety, which is depicted with the use of yellows and white.
Karin Davie “Symptomania” was the most abstract work of all. I’m guessing the painting shines light on symptoms? Preferably how they grow and always return when dealing with health issues. The green backdrop can represent vitality or growth in life while the foreground represents all the trials and tribulations. Which in essence “Symptomania” became a metaphor for?
Overall I genuinely believe these four paintings had some sort of graphical roots, they contained effects that are eminent in graphic design or digital artworks which has been a rapidly growing medium as supposed to painting traditionally in this generation as well as the future.
-Tsultrim Tenzin
I enjoyed Beatrice Milhazes piece the most out of all of them. I liked the combination of patterns placed near each other. The patterns complemented each other in texture; meaning some of the edges were sharp and others were soft. There is several different focus points within the piece making it visually appealing to the eye. Generally you focus moves toward the right where there is a cluster of patterns. The painting also has a sharpness to the color making it look as if it was digitally printed. Overall I found this piece to be very visually appealing, fun, and pattern based.
ReplyDelete-Matt McGill