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.

Sunflowers

            Here we have an image of a painting. I feel like this painting is one of those artworks that everyone has seen it before at some point like the Mona Lisa, or Starry Night. This painting just feels very familiar to me. I really enjoy the painting but it really makes me think. I am an art student, and someone who gets critiqued on her artwork almost everyday. I can look at this painting an imagine hanging it on the wall in the classroom during a crit. I feel like it would be ripped apart. But throw it on the wall at a museum and it’s viewed as flawless, perfection. I understand and appreciate the history behind the piece but I do feel like at times art school can be very contradicting. This picture of the sunflowers is painted with really muddy colors and yellow is usually a problematic color to begin with. We see no light source and the background is very flat. In the sunflowers there are brown circles except for one that has a bright red circle the pops out at us. The vase is outlined and again there are no shadows to suggest light. These are all things that I think would be considered problematic if it was taken out of context. This piece makes me reference a lot of things. I am really thinking right now. That in its self I think makes this piece so good. Something that can spark that much thought or something that can evoke any emotions is impressive. Now I am thinking about how the artist, Vincent van Gogh. From what I know he was a pretty tortured man. Torture… Sunflowers.  The ideas don’t go together but you have to see this painting in person. The sunflowers are not happy flowers. You need to see the brush strokes and direction and quality of the paint. The sunflowers appear tortured, they are wilting. The sunflower paintings could be a good metaphor to represent Van Gogh. I also know that this painting was not his only painting of sunflowers. If I remember correctly they are all wilted. This painting is actually really heavy. I believe it has a lot of emotion behind it. If Van Gogh is really going to remake all these paintings he must have some sort of connection to them. There must be some feeling of satisfaction after making them. I am suppose to come up with 700 words about this image but I have been sitting here looking at it for sometime now and I think I have said everything there is to be said about it. I'm sure others could go on and on about the piece or go in different directions but I am done :]

Edvard Munch

I always wished I knew more about artists. The other day Rubens suggested I looked at Edvard Munch's work. If he had told me to look at the guy who did the painting of the man screaming I would have known exactly who he was talking about. From now on I'm going to be a little more aware of what I am looking at.

My First Day of Drawing

"The point is, that every piece of art changes your whole perception of the rest of the world for the rest of your life. And It's not a joke! And if it doesn't, then it's not art, it's a commodity"
- Lawrence Weiner

I agree art evokes an emotion, it can make you think differently about something. However you respond to a piece is what determines its validity. If it effects you in anyway (yours mood, ideas, inspirations, etc.) it has changed you, and that is something that can not be taken back so it is correct in saying that that piece would be art vs. commodity.
3D Art, such as sculptures, and installations, has really influenced my idea of media. The options are endless and an artist should never limit themselves.