Banksy exit through the gift shop


Art to me is ones personal or visual expression of creative skill and imagination. To tell a story or to promote religious an spiritual beliefs, to tell history and to create work that is appreciated for their beauty or political power. What makes something art to me is when a canvas reaches us on a emotional level of any kind happy, sad, laughing and crying. and there is also the way we something that makes it art. art is usually considered great by many and hated by many as well that to me is what makes something art  The late 1900s produced this new wave of art called graffiti art, Banksy took this graffiti art to the next level by adding powerful political messages attached to his drawings. In "Banksy 'exit through the gift shop". is a powerful documentary in to this new wave of graffiti art. and what it meant to the culture at that time. this new wave of art featured by the new generation  using stencils, stickers, posters, and sculptures to make their mark by any means necessary. some of the artists in the documentary depicted art as something you love, to express yourself and allow people to see. art is a passion and street art is that much more.  this compounded with the arrival of the internet.made it easier for millions to see their work. one of the artist called space invader retook the classic game he love to play called space invaders and remade the characters and made them into art. graffiti artist used buildings canvass and platforms to display their work. sometimes vanishing quickly, thi documentary helped capture some of the best street art out their. your typical art work lasted 100s of years but not street art. as buildings would be repainted and other artists would ome time go o ver other artists work. terry the filmmaker who followed all these amazing artists ended up being an amazing artist himself who took art and made it almost meaningless but set a trend that thrust-ed him into the spotlight. Banksy inspired terry as Bansky turned street art into a cultural phenomenon  and was very low key.

Modern Art

ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONISM

   Abstract expressionism is very ryhtmetic. It displays fixed attention on the actions and gestures of the artist. Thus giving off a universal experience with energy and emotion, absence of subject matter. After world war 2 many American artists united in the belief of power of abstract art to express convictions and profound human values in politics, and the belief in art grounded in personal experience. This new art put New York City at the top of modern art world during the 1940-1950s. Jackson Pollock created many beautiful compositions by painting with hardened brushes and contorting his body around the canvas on the floor. Thus allowing the paint to drip down in splatters and puddles tracing his movements. Pollocks unique process has been compared to choreography because his paintings depicts the movements of a dance. Pollocks process of working on the floor allows him to literally work from all sides and be in the painting. The painting below called One done in oil and enamel paint on canvas is absolutely stunning. A master of this drip technique the painting is done with such a energy that you can feel the force and speed and aggressive brush strokes, while still remaining beautiful and graceful. The main concepts of the piece below are the diversity of colors, the abstract forms and the profound emotion with the vigorous brush strokes.

Cubism Art

   Cubism Art breaks down the world into geometric shapes and sizes and was a new approach to representing the reality. A visual language of geometric planes in compressed spaces consisting of traditional subjects, nudes, and landscapes. Invented by the great Pablo Picasso and another artist or 2. This style took subjects depicting of real life interactions and broke them down to appear fragmented and abstracted. By breaking down the objects and figures the artist wanted to show different viewpoints within the same space to depict three dimensional form while emphasizing  the two dimensional form.  Pablo Picasso was a master at all the above while also being influenced by African art. Especially African tribal masks, which are non realistic but present a vivid human image. The piece below by Pablo Picasso called Night Fishing at Antibes. This painting shows a fishing scene in a constructed space that consists of real life depictions broken down into geometric shapes and sizes. Clearly done in a distorted way as you can see people but their faces and body's that almost depict African art show this unique style that Picasso mastered. Also the moon has its own unique make up of shapes and forms as well as the fish and the beautiful women drinking and watching on the right.

Maya Lin

Maya Lin is an Asian American artist born in Ohio in 1979. She is best known for her work on the Vietnam memorial.The Vietnam memorial which defied logic by the way it was designed and the feeling it transpired behind it. She explains that the v shaped sunken wall of black stone with the names of the loved ones killed in choreographically order was to give you this feeling of death but as an observer. Searching out a loved one thru the power of their names to provide this feeling of death, and a sense of closure. The clear reflection made within the Stone of yourself that made you feel like if you too were part of the war. Thus giving you this feeling of raw emotion and utter awe. Mayas work combines part art and part architecture as she designed many parks, monuments and landscapes. she explains that everything she does in life is about polarities. polarities is the condition of a body or system in which it has opposing physical properties at different points. The main focus of polarities in her work is about two sides balancing out. What inspires most of Mayas art comes from culturally diverse sources. Lin ultimately strikes an unusual balance of open ended concepts with scientific precision. She obsessively plans calculates, investigates and measures each of her tasks at hand to combine science and art at its fullest.

This piece above is made with textbooks that were carved in which her sole purpose for this is to create a multi-sited artwork that brings awareness to the crisis surrounding biodiversity and habitat loss. some say she is ahead of time, while others say she is from the renaissance era where science and exact calculations were used.

dada collage

Impressionism and post impressionism


Impressionism came on the scene in the year 1874. Impressionism was the idea that opposed academic doctrines in romantic ideas that turn to the portrayal of contemporary life. Basically shows everyday life depicted by the eye in a romantic way with the use of perception of light. Most of the artists during this era took their canvases outdoors to portray what the eye sees and not what the mind knows. A lot of impressionist work come in a series of paintings that involves direct observation in the studies of physics in light and color. The use of repetition of light across times of the day, season and weather show how we see light as reflections received by the eye and reassembled by the mind. The industrial revolution helped create this new style as it led to an urban middle class with leisure time and a high interest in fashion that artists depicted when creating their work. Images of social and private lives were displayed thru this new form of art as well as the emphasis of the bond of a mother and her children.

Post impressionism came about in the late 19th century. This era emphasized and believed in free interpretation of nature, not to see things but see thru them to a significance in a reality deeper then what superficial appearance gave. The artists of this era were considered beings of extraordinary insight, mysterious and fantastic they were described as. They created a new design that stemmed from japanese prints which emphasized bold simplified shapes and flat color areas. they showed emotion thru the use of color that immediately showed the mood of the scene. Post impressionist used paint and did it quickly with lots of rhythm to communicate thru symbols. The use of color and avoided distraction of implied space create this new beautiful form of art work.

Art reached its high point during the 1400s to the late 1700s. During this time two unique styles of art was invented that took it to the next level. The Renaissance era and The Baroque era. During the Renaissance era humanism came about which was a emphasis on education and a interest in science with the belief in human potential. This on top of the belief in Christianity created a new realism in art that merged the human and the divine. This era is also known as the rebirth era. Some of the artists during this were Leonardo Da Vinci , Raphael, and Michael Angelo. Their implied depth and linear perspective in the paintings created a new wave of art. The Baroque era took this realism and use of light from the renaissance era to the next level as their work is much more dramatic and emotional. Their work consists of a higher contrast of light to dark known as chiaroscuro. That gave you a feeling of reality. Their work also consists of asymmetrical balance unlike the Renaisannce era. One of the artist from this time is Carvaggio who is known as the greatest artist of all time for his realistic work.

The piece above is from the Renaissance era in the 1400s, the picture itself is depicting the Birth of The Virgin. This is clearly Renaissance work. The use of light, perception and linear perspective which provide balance and a 3 dimensional realistic look to the painting. Linear perspective is the ratio of length to width and a implied depth of space that gives you that 3 dimensional feel. Mostly all the work from this era uses these techniques. The colors also have symbolic meaning in the paintings like the one above with the use of the blue clothing. The color blue is very spiritual and symbolize purity and represented a marriageable woman.

The piece above is from The Baroque Era done around the year 1610 by Abraham Janssen van Nuyssen. The picture above shows two angels with the dead christ inside the tomb. They took the use of light to the next level by the way it was combined with dark shading to give you an unbelievable contrast and realism. This gives you a sense of reality as you can feel their emotions. Also their art work is not done with linear perspective as you can see above, there is no 3d feel to the background or vanishing point as opposed to linear perspective. It is more a symetrical because no parts are alike in shape or size on either side.

 Artists can unify their work in several ways as unity is the appearance or condition of oneness. which means all the elements in the work belong together to make up a coherent and harmonious whole. In the painting above by "Fra Angelico" called "The Anunciation". you can see how the work is unified thru similar patterns of shapes to give you a sense of variety and the balance between heavy and cool colors give you a feeling of diversity. to make all the elements in this piece belong together as a whole.

Asymmetrical balance in a painting means the left and right side are not the same balance. so in order to give you a symmetrical feel various elements are balanced according to their visual weights and forms. large forms are heavy and more attention getting then small forms. therefore a large form can be balanced by 2 small forms. Also colors, as warm colors appear heavier then cool colors.  in the painting above by "Johannes Vermeer", you can see the use of a symmetrical balance by the way the artist incorporated large areas of shadow with small areas of light. Also the woman used as the focal point in almost the middle of the painting is then counter balanced by large the plan empty area to the left side of the drawing for balance. The blue colors on both sides and the hints of yellow on the window curtain and to the far right as the painting edges creates that whole balance in asymmetrical work.

Scale also changes the meaning of artwork in various ways one of the ways is the illusion of depth or amplified perspective. This is done by contrast of scale. Contrast of scale is to change the size of an image or to create a surreal feeling to amplify ones perspective. in the painting above you can see how the artist used contrast of scale to give you this amplified perspective of the human body body in a sort of humorous way.