Henri Matisse

The above image was painted by Andre Derain when he and his fellow "fauve" decided to paint portraits of each other in 1905. The style he used was called "fauvism".  As you can see he used non realistic colors and applied them in small separate brush strokes. It was another technique to show off light and shade. If you're wondering who the "fauve" or "wild beast" in the picture is, it was the person who pushed "fauvism" to the forefront, Mr. Henri Matisse. Although fauvism had a short lived life in the beginning of the twentieth century, it was pivotal to the rise of expressionism in the last century.

Let me rewind back a little bit and make sense of everything I just mentioned. In 1905, Henri Matisse and his associates exhibited their work at the Salon de Automne. Without a sense of naturalism or reference to realistic colors, two of Matisse's work of arts drew a lot of attention. His fellow "fauves" and him received that name because  a critic referred to their work as something like "wild beasts". Matisse was also rewarded with the criticism, " A pot of paint has been flung in the face of the public", by critic Camille Mauclair. His famous piece(shown below), "Woman with a Hat" received most of the attacks.

No one might have known then, but it was actually, in today's term's, good press. A year before this incident, Matisse wasn't getting recognized, but in 1905 he definitely got was he was bargaining for. Henri Matisse's life was out of the box like his art work.  Born on December 31st, 1869, he wasn't someone that started doing art as a little boy and grew up into the artist he was. He had actually studied law in Paris and was on his way to becoming a lawyer when he was hit with appendicitis. During his recovery from the illness his mother gave him some art supplies. He saw art it as a sort of paradise and decided to go back to Paris to study it. Although he didn't get a good reception at first, he, along with his close friend and rival Pablo Picasso became one of the pioneers of modern art. His aggressive strokes and bold use of color might have earn him much criticism, but it definitely set him apart from the other artists of his time. Even though Fauvism didn't last  around more than a decade, you can see Matisse's influence in many artist's work from the past and present. I would even like to say future for that matter. It took a few decades before receiving public acceptance and  creative freedom, but his influence from color and light carried him to continue to be innovative and creative all types of different works of art.

Unlike his friend Picasso's imaginative influences, Matisse painted mostly about nature, but what set his work apart from the other ways art was being done was how unrealistic his work was. He wasn't afraid to paint for the colors rather than the technical aspects of painting. He was also finding new ways and techniques to put an image together. For example, he created the style called  "pointillism", where he would use bright, unmixed colors and create a picture with dots or strokes. With a mind like Matisse's of course he couldn't just limit himself to only painting. He also worked with lithographs, and sculpted. Here's one of his lithograph pieces he did in 1954 before he passed away.

                                                This piece was called the Creole Dancer!

Before this artist research on Henri Matisse, I can honestly say I had only came across his name once before, but now I feel if I come across his work I'll be able to place a bet that it's his work. I don't think art today would be art as we know it if it wasn't for him. I think that if he never existed or  never did art that today we would live in a world where art had rules and guidelines. Today we can be expressive and create what we feel because of past artists such as Mr. Matisse. I understand why he is considered the most important French artist of the twentieth century because he broke the norm with how he painted. He might have suffered the consequences of being different in a time where everyone was setting the foundation to creativity, but he was a big part of the puzzle and the art world would be a half empty cup without him. I feel as if my research on Henri Matisse has only begun.

Bomb It!

In lecture 2.2, we watched a documentary called, "Bomb It." Was really interesting.  It took me into the world of graffiti. It was a global view about the different styles of graffiti and the cultural influences and how they came be. I thought it was very straight-forward presentation of how the world of graffiti is there in our eyes even when we're not paying attention. I never realized how much meaning there was to all the graffiti I've seen myself and better yet the meaning of graffiti in different parts if the world. Every region has it's own meaning but what is intriguing are the stories behind the artists. It seems that for as long as graffiti has existed there's been a war filled with different battles, whether about race, politics, or just an individual's identity in the world.

In Europe, the colored youth from areas such as Berlin and Amsterdam were pretty intent with the idea that there was a lot of racism in Europe and that the white people were in places like Paris, separated from them. They felt they didn't have much to identify with and weren't being heard because they were a minority.  Their graffiti in a way was their identity and  it was their way of being heard. Their motto is, " I tag, therefore I am". I think that a very strong statement. I think that rather than fighting against the so called "racism" that they live around, the youth are taking the easy way out. It's the twenty first century and the youth that do graffiti in Europe aren't grasping on the fact that there are so many other ways to be heard today rather than doing graffiti. I understand that they are standing up for what they believe in, but using the excuse of racism just to rebel is starting to get old in my opinion. They are very blunt with the statement, " I tag, therefore I am." Yes, tagging is literally making a mark, but in this century, to actually be on record and to BE has to be done through technology. Long from now when we're all gone, eventually those markings will most likely be gone also.

When we traveled to Cape Town, South Africa in the film, the graffiti done there was more about social awareness. I never knew that it really started with the revolution while Nelson Mandela was in prison! I totally concur with this reason to do graffiti. The artist's in South Africa are more politically and mentally aware than the youth in Europe. Their pieces spoke of messages that their society should pay attention to and I'm all for it! One thing that was similar about  the artists in South Africa and the artists in Europe was self identity. On the other hand, the artists in South Africa that felt they needed something to identify with were the "colored" or the mixed race. I couldn't imagine being caught in the middle of  being white or black but feeling invisible. This is another reason for graffiti that I don't mind also. Although there was racial separation, I didn't think doing something as a group is helping the situation, but rather adding to the problem by creating more separation.

I noticed that in Sao Paolo, Brazil there was a bigger range in variety of graffiti styles. Not only did they embrace the hip hop styles from America, but a lot of the artists took their styles to a different level by creating pieces based on their culture. I love that they were inventive and approached the graffiti with many different ways  to get paint on walls and rarely limiting themselves to just spray paint. One Brazilian artist that I was really impressed with was Nina Pandolfo. I remember her mentioning that in Brazil, "the children had nothing to call their own." I love that something like that inlfuenced her to paint childlike art. I could only imagine how fascinated those kids become when they see her work up close. Not only was she influenced the children, now other people are becoming influenced by her work.

Here's a castle in Scotland painted with her style along with other artists from Sao Paulo such as Os Gemeos and Nunca. I was really amazed by this image!

Another thing I learned from the documentary was how Los Angeles has influenced so many parts of the world when it comes to graffiti, yet still the graffiti world in Los Angeles is so chaotic. Graffiti is every where here in Southern California. They're thousands of reasons the artists here do their work but what's crazy is the amount of hypocrisy going on from  people saying taggers are actually criminals not artists, to corporations taking advantage of the art of graffiti buy covering up as much space of buildings, public transportation, etc. To me I dont think people should be pointing the finger because both sides are at fault for all the "visual pollution" going on.

One last thing I would like to mention is that yes graffiti can be intruding and direspectful, but it is truly art when done in the correct way. For example, this is an image that made me finally respect graffiti for what it could be when people really use their brains for creativity, not war.

I never would have thought it up myself, but painting images of buildings on an actual building is just genius!!!! Here's another image! =]

Now, that is how you BOMB IT!

Glad Art is here Bloggers!

So I had to conform after seeing the class roster and realizing that  almost everyone in class was on wordpress or something else while I was being stubborn and trying to stick to tumblr! Lol! Anywho. I did post up on my tumblr yesterday about the lecture in class and I hope Glenn saw it so he knows that I’m not late with my post but actually just jumping ship! Hello Blogger and hello Art 100! Here’s my post from yesterday:

Monday, 01/24/2011

Wow! Before today I thought cave art was pretty simple stuff! Hearing about the Altamira and Lascaux caves definitely broadened my horizons!  First of all I don’t think I’ve ever heard of caves as deep as both with different sections and levels like the Hall of the Bulls and the Shaft in the Lascaux. I even found it intriguing that in the Shaft, there was a dense amount of carbon dioxide because of the lack of oxygen and when a visitor would come out of it, they would be covered in white powder. Imagine trying to make art in a space like that! I’m glad it was our relatives in the prehistoric time and not me! =]