Aunrico Gatson

The other at day Tyler Aunrico Gatson gave a lecture on his own art which was mainly video and sculpture with a little bit of painting. His videos were the most interesting part. In his videos, in general actually, his art is made from scenes in history. There is a lot of art inspired by the civil rights movement. His videos reminded me of a kaleidoscope and its movement was made up of video clips from different movements and protests. The soundtrack that went along with the videos made me think of the gallery that we saw in tyler just a week before. I did a little more research on Gatson and saw some new art he did not show us and those, too, had a lot to do with civil and rights more specifically with black history and civil rights.
I feel like I was just introduced to a new world of exhibits because twice in a week I saw two people use video projections as a piece of sculpture. This is not really anything I could see myself getting into but it is an interesting way to set a mood in an exhibit using sound and video. The way people interpret art with audio in the background is completely different then if the viewer was not influenced by any sounds.

Exhibit Response

The other day my drawing class went down to an exhibit in Tyler. It was one artist and she filled up all 3 rooms. One with photography and small sculptures the other had nothing other than a table with a tub in it and a ying-yang flag on the wall the third room was a projection on the wall of a man speaking a man and woman kissing and dancing.           

When I first walked into the exhibit I was really intrigued by the things laying on the floor, probably because they were the first things I saw. I was most attracted to the room with the tub and the ying-yang flag. I like the pieces that are not as obvious as to what they are. I walked through the exhibit several times before I made a connection to anything. There were a lot of minor repetitions throughout the whole exhibit. Like in one photograph of marble and the marble tiles on the table. The ashtray and the ash that sat on top of a row of cylinder blocks. The majority of the work was black and white and a lot of it was very industrial made with cinder blocks and poles. Between the cinder blocks, marble, and steel poles you can see a lot of the material is very concrete and hard. There was a hand in a position suggesting it was holding something small. Then there was an ashtray right next to it.

I would really like to hear an explanation of the whole exhibit but I think it is saying something about relationships and breakups, potentially homosexual ones. I am saying this because when you first walk in there is a row of objects starting with a frame, which could represent a memory. The other hints are the images of 2 women and the video. Also, the reference to smoking, which is often associated with stress, could suggest something is happening in the artist’s life. What really confirmed it all is on the wall in the first room are the symbols “I,” a heart, “U,” and, “4E”. = I love you forever.. The “I” and “U” were lying on the floor and the rest were sitting against the wall. This could represent some type of falling or imperfection.

All together the exhibit was very interesting and made, I think, the whole class think.

1st Half of the Semester

Most of it atleast...

Blind Contour

Contour

Remixed

All "Black" Still Life

All "Black" Still Life Remade

Inside/Outside Drawing

Some Class Work

Inside/Outside #2

And here we are again..

So in the first place when I was walking around the PMA I came across some paintings that were new and old to me. I stopped at Van Gogh's "Sunflowers" and decided to do my homework assignment on that piece. I did not really consider why I did it too much. Looking back now I am curious. But like I said before this piece is very familiar to me. It is a painting I have seen before. I am not really familiar with the significance of the Sunflowers but I do know about Van Gogh. He himself was a sad man and his painting especially this one have a lot of muddy colors. Typically this is not something I would like but I think there is a parallel to be drawn between the painting and Van Gogh. This painting makes me think of my childhood. In elementary school, at my catholic grade school, I can remember learning about this man and viewing this painting. Maybe that is what made me stop, the fact that this painting is making me think of something. I can say more than, "this is a good painting." Looking at the other paintings in room, now that I'm thinking about it, I feel connected to this painting more than the rest. I appreciate the history of them all I just don't know the stories. The last time I saw this painting I had some negative things to say about the craft and the amount of skill but my perspective has changed now that I am taking a second look.