Contemporary art is the art created in the present time. Today, artists affected by the social context and personal experiences reproduce pieces of art that question or make a point about controversial issues in our society. A great example is the painting created in 2006 called Great Detonators (“Grandes Detonadores”) by the Mexican artist Acamonchi. The painting is located in the exhibition The Very large Array: San Diego/ Tijuana Artist in the Peter C. Farrell Gallery inside the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego (MCA). Acamonchi’s piece is a collage painting integrated by posters, stencils, and graffiti, which illustrate an obvious inspiration by the street art style. It is composed of cold colors such as blue, green, and aqua. Its multiple media consist of spray, paper, tape, acrylic, and oil. Moreover, the gallery is presented in big white walls and it has natural and artificial white light. The surface texture of the piece is a combination of corrugated, flat and in some parts smooth. The size is about 8 feet wide and 8 feet long, the condition is excellent, and the frame is made of wood. Furthermore, the painting the Great Detonators conveys ideas about mass produced waste, political awareness and urban chaos. Consequently, the artist Acamonchi uses this piece of art to express his opinion about important issues today during our contemporary times.
First of all, through the use of scale, Acamonchi communicated ideas regarding mass produced waste in his piece the
The title of the exhibition is called “Intersection: World Arts, Local Lives.” This exhibition opened on September 30, 2006. Some of the pieces displayed on this exhibition were not new, since Professor Brown had already gone over them. The exhibition contained a divination board, vessels, male and female figures, masks, headdresses, staffs, textiles, among others things. The art pieces were from different parts of the world. The exhibition is divided into four different sections, each with its own theme. The different themes were Art and Action, Art and Knowledge, Art and Power, and Art and Transformation. The art found in the museum seemed like it didn’t have any crack, dents, or breaks on them. Professor Brown showed the class some pictures of art pieces that had some broken
In the mission district, I saw a really impressive picture that is not related to Cinco de Myo but I want to write about it. The painting is drawn all over the wall. The name of the building is “Women’s Building.” I have never seen such a huge wall painting. The painting is a collaboration of seven women’s artists. It is drawn women who were active in the 20th century. The building will have been protecting diverse
The cultural activity that I observed was the art exibition in the Vincent Price Art Museum called The Making of Mexican Modernism. The exhibition has prints and paintings of various artists such as Jose Guadalupe Posada, Rufino Tamayo, Gustavo Montoya, Pablo O Higgins, Leopold Méndez, and many more. All of the artists paintings got influenced by history, folk cultures, and politics. These artists paintings contribute to the development of the modern Mexican culture identity. The Hombre en la ventana painting has a blocky figure of a person next to a window. Gustavo Montoyas painting is untitled but has a woman holding a ticket with her left hand. The women has her head covered with a rebozo and her hands are swollen. The painting on the side
At the Detroit Institute of Arts, Mexican artist Diego Rivera murals are displayed all over the walls. His brilliance and talent is captured on the east wall of the gallery, where five separate photos hang for all eyes to view. The wall is filled with bright and beautiful photos sharing a unique special story. In the top left and right corner of the east wall, heavier women with big round eyes, sit in the nude with their arms filled with grain and fruits. While in the middle of the wall is a long rectangle painting of a small white baby nestled and cradled in the centre of a plant, being surrounded by two plowshares. Diego Rivera paintings represent beginnings and new life. In addition the sunrise shines on the east wall to help show his
The portrayal and the representation of the Chicano Art Movements are entrenched by the Mexican-American artist who institute artistic personalities and identities in the United States. The plenteous amount of the artist is massively influenced by the immense Chicano Movement (El Movimiento) which, was established in the 1960’s. The influence of Chicano Art was due to the Mexican- Revolution philosophy, art of Pre-Columbia and indubitably European techniques of painting, cultural, social, political issues. The movement took a stand to fight against stereotypes of Mexican- Americans conducive and to resist typical social norms. The movement to concentrate on awareness of collective history, equal opportunity, grants and social mobility. Chicanos have used the movement in pursuit of expressing their cultural values. Ever since it first appeared in America the art of Chicanos has matured to illustrate common struggle and social issues in conjunction with uniting the youth of the Chicano people to their culture and history. Chicano Art is not only Mexican- American artwork; it further emphasizes and accentuates the histories of the Chicano people in a superb and sublime way of American art.
In the age of terror, Contemporary artist enagge in politics, transform public space to build community by
This piece was created during a time of political and social change. Increased political awareness and a focus on celebrity demanded art that was more
Post-war Japanese society is a world where High and Low art is blurred together by otaku, such as anime, and social class. However, Takashi Murakami straddles the line. Murakami spills a mix of Nihanga and Otaku into the canvases, plastic toys, handbags, shoes, etc; endorsing his own theory/style named “Superflat”. Using strategical subject matter such as popular Japanese comic figures combined with ukiyo-e(traditional Japanese block prints), and addressing these contrasting qualities to outside cultures; Murakami intensifies what Pop Art accomplished, art versus material. On other feelings, one could argue that “Superflat” isn’t a unique, Japan-identified style, that “Superflat” is a humiliation to the Contemporary Art world because of its commercialism. Lastly, that is a continuation of the already well developed Pop Art. On the supporting side, Murakami’s “Superflat” is a high-energy, cross-culture style that serves as a new way to represent the high and low of art that is considerably unique to Japan. To support this, Murakami’s past and present artwork will have to be established chronologically to illustrate how the timeline affects his work.
In order to discuss pop art I have chosen to examine the work and to some extent lives of Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol who were two of the main forces behind the American movement. I intend to reflect the attitudes of the public and artists in America at this time, while examining the growing popularity of pop art from its rocky, abstract expressionist start in the 1950s through the height of consumer culture in the 60s and 70s to the present day.
The piece I choose to critic is titled “Buscado por su madre” or “Wanted by his Mother” by Rafael Cauduro, no year. This piece is an Oil on Canvas painting that measured 48”x36” located at the Long Beaches MoLAA. The work is presented as one of a few Mexican artists that share an interest in their painting primarily figurative style, political in nature, that often narrated the history of Mexico or the indigenous culture. The painting is one of the first viewers see as they enter the Museum. It is at eye level and demonstrates a superb use of illusionistic realism that it creates the illusion of being real. The painting is of a old Missing poster of a man on a brick wall. What made it stand out in my eyes was the fact that it looked to be a three dimensional object on what looked like real bricks with the words wanted by mother on the top. Cauduro’s piece, in my eyes looked like he literally took a chunk out of a wall, and placed an old torn missing poster of a man on the front and put it out for display. Cauduro uses texture to represent the look of brick by applying thick strokes of paint creating a body of its own as and mimics the look and shape of brick. He also makes applies the same technique on the wanted poster by implying that it is old and torn by again layering his paint to create the
In Latin America, twentieth-century Mexican Muralism holds a unique place in society. The artists of the mural movement aimed to use art as a political tool to voice their opinions regarding the mexican revolution. The mural artists applied a leftist realism perspective to their work. According to Robin Adele Greeley author of “Mexican Muralism, A Critical History” he describes the movement as “central to envisioning both the distinctiveness of Mexican modernity and restructuring of Mexican society from the 1920’s onward as newly enfranchised groups of peasants, workers, and indigenous peoples grappled with the state and its intellectuals..”. This movement was critical in the essence of shaping Mexican history and culture.
“Painting today is pure intuition and luck and taking advantage of what happens when you splash the stuff down. “- Francis Bacon. However when I learnt more about history of art and the way each movement and happenings in the world inspired artist to make new works, I was able to see much more than just a canvas with random paints and sketches. The interesting part about this concept is that each piece of art could be interpreted in many different ways. In contemporary art there isn’t right and wrong, each of us view and find different meanings and connections with artworks.
Artworks have played an indelible work to the lives of humanity. The creative nature in Artists is a complex matter to define. The uncertainties in the intrinsic nature in art lay difficult aspects that can only be answered by values, themes and skills depicted in an artist artwork. Apart from playing the intricate psychological effect on humans, the artworks have been used as a tool of expression that has been revered and uniquely preserved for future generation. Among some of the most revered modern forms of artwork has included Chicano Art that had a core relationship to Las Carpas, Indigenismo, rascuachismo and other forms of performance art.
Any art medium can be utilized to tell a story or evoke emotion in a viewer. Artistry is unique in that it is purely visual and can be left to interpretation if the artist chooses to stay ambiguous in the message they are trying to convey. As an artist, I am always trying to analyze the meanings behind famous works of art, whether those meanings happen to be incidental or purposeful. So, when contemporary artist, Enrique Chagoya expressed his adoration for the social commentary expressed in Francisco Goya’s Los Caprichos sketches, I was intrigued.
Contemporary art represents what we see as individuals in society today, it does not follow the set rules of art. For instance, modern art looks and follows modernist theories, likewise, impressionisms which looks at our perception and understanding of a moment through light and color in contrasts to that of realism which represents subject matter accurately without any alteration or addition. On the other hand contemporary art does not have one conclusive or definitive view. Its view is versatile and flexible which reflects the diversity of the world today, themes of contemporary are notably about politics, globalization, social issues, migration and technology. In like manner, the theme I drew from Perera’s artworks which is diversity. Perera is Sri Lankan artist, who grew up and was raised in Scarborough and North York. I find her works diverse notably in the materials she chose. She uses laundry drying racks which are unconventional materials to create her VHT sculpture. She does not conform to the regular norms of using clay or plaster. I also found this as a reoccurring theme of contemporary art and the Migrating the Margins exhibition at the Art Gallery of