Barbara Kruger

Kruger work engages the merging of found photographs from exsisting sources were she use agrresive text that invovles the viewer in the struggle for power and control that her captions speak to. Kruger's work is instantly recognisable with the trademark of "white letters against the slash of red background "

Her work very much speaks out against views of feminism and consumerism, although her black and white images are culled from mainstrem magazines that sell the very ideas she is disputing.

For the past decade Kruger has created immersive video and audio instillation . Envelloping the viewer with the seductions of direct address, her work is consistently about kindness and brutalities of social life: how we are to one another

I have posted up a couple images of Barbara Krugers work the top images being the most recent (2010) and down towards the bottom her earlier work (1980) from what i can see it doesnt seem like her technique or style has changed over the years. But one thing i do know her messages are not subtle they are as clear as day expecially her views on feminism and consumerism. I enjoyed looking at her work it was a change from all else ive seen.

KEHINDE WILEY

Kehinde Wiley is a New York based painter who is known for his paintings of contemporary urban African men in poses taken from the annals of Art History, his paintings have been compared to various traditional portraitists such as Reynolds, Gainsborough, Titan and Ingres.

Kehinde Wileys paintings are based around photographs of young men Wiley sees on the street, Rileys work has significance to paintings of the renaissance, French rococo and Hip hop culture.

His work is often blurred the boundaries between traditional and contemporary modes of representation.

how does the post modernism theme pluralism relate to Kehnde Wileys work?

definition according to Cadwell (1999)

Pluralism in art refers to the nature of artforms and artists as diverse. The cultural context of art is all encompassing in its respect for the art of the world's cultures. Inclusion of individuals of differing ethnicities, genders, ideologies, abilities, ages, religions, economic status and educational levels is valued. Pluralism honours differences within and between equitable groups while seeing their commonalities."

Wileys work has a street like hip hop culture feel to it but he uses reference to the renaissance by painting black or brown men featuring in a british/renaissance like background that conflicts/contrasts one another. Riley describes his approach as "interrogating the notion of the master painter, at once critical and complicit." Wiley figurative paintings " quote historical sources and position young black men within that field of power." in this manner, Wileys paintings fuse history and style in a unique and contemporary manner"

Anish Kappor

The Gaurdian

Anish Kapoor's Work

Anish Kapoor,s sculpture Dismemberment of Jeanne d,Arc this work was constructed in a space that use to house Brighton's municipal market. there are two giant red mounds which represent breasts " i've been wanting to make this work for a long time, this dismembered body i've likened to Jeanne d'Arc" said kapoor

Another work of Kapoor is Dismemberment, site 1 it ties into a Guantanamo bat prison in Cuba, its a Prison outside of any jurisdiction and it is were prisoners of 'War of terror' were they are exposed to experimental punitive methods such as disclosing information about alleged membership and terrorist networks

Kapoor work Svayambh is like a wax-like block which is moving around tracks in a way like a train would. This is one of Kapoor's more earlier work were he was fasinated with Konchalovsky's film Runaway Train 1985

All three of these works have completly different ideas/themes behind them but the style used you can tell that all three pieces of work come from the same Artist.

Anish Kapoors work that is located in New Zealand is sit specified at a farm in Kaipara Bay

My favorite work of Kapoors would definatly have to be The Gaurdian this work has a kind of acient greek feel to it to me, the vintage looking pillars and the red wax on them reminds me of the war of Troy etc. i love the theme of greek mythology.

http://www.artknowledgenews.com/Anish_Kapoor.htmlhttp://sogud.tumblr.com/page/2http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/gallery/2009/apr/28/anish-kapoor-jeanne-d-arc

Walters Prize 2010

Walters Prize 2010

The Walters Prize is a biennial award for New Zealand artist who have majorly contributed to visual arts for the past two years. this is honouring the life of Gordon Walters the award was founded by the Auckland Art gallery in 2002. there is a amazing prize up for grabs which includes $50,000 and all expense paid trip to new york.

the jurors for The Walters Award 2010

Jon Bywater - programme leader, critical studies at Elam school of fine art, The University of Auckland

Rhana Devenport - Director, Govett- brewster Art gallery. New plymouth

Leonhard Emmerling - Visual Arts adviser

Kate Montgomery - Director

The judges for The 2010 Walters Award

The decision is made by highly respected former director of Londons Tate Modern , Vicente Todoli and his decision will be announced on 8th October

In my opinion i think Fiona Connor appeals the most to me, her work has so much simplicity but is also complex at the same time. If you stand at various angle to view the work you experience something different everytime. The perspective views of this work is fasinating and i really like it.. so my vote goes to Fiona Connor the materials she has used look as if she just used several windows and doors or maybe even mirrors which could be and interesting tool to play with. Her work is outstanding her thought process i hink is amazing and have not see anything like it before.

references

http://www.aucklandartgallery.com/whats-on/events/2010/july/the-walters-prize-2010/artists

semester two- week two

Hussein Chalayan

To say the least Hussein Chalayan work is interesting there isnt really a definition for what is fashion and whats art.. i believe both have a mixture of both. for example Chalayan work Burka the models have garments on so you would expect it to be fashion but on the same hand one of them isnt wearing anything but head gear.. so is it art? honestly it is quite hard to say this is art and this is fashion because alot has techniques have qualities of both art and fashion. Its a good thing we have wearable art.

Does the meaning of art change when it used to sell products? Is it still art? These quite a good questions i guess its more of a personal question about how you feel about the matter? and my personal opinion i don't think just because the artwork is used to sell a product does not mean its not art. its kind of like saying if you sell a piece of artwork its no longer art.

So when and why is it important that the artist personally made the piece?

This could be debated but again it comes down to how the artist, how him/herself feels about the matter. Some artist feel strongly about there work being theirs and being completly original but on the other hand if a artist had an amazing design for a sculpture for example but did not have enough skill or knowledge to create the sculpture of course they could ask another artist to step in and assist or make the piece for them

Semester Two - Week One

Nathalie Djurberg's - Claymation

From what I have read and seen of Nathalie Djurberg's work the understanding of the word claymation is a mixture of the words clay and animation , which you can put together her work is animation made from clay

Djurberg's work has been refereed to as 'surrealistic garden of Eden? and all that is natural goes awry?" from what i understand this is a utopia which has gone wrong. The digital video, mixed media instillation is made of 34 large sculptures. Djurberg's work has been widely recognised and was awarded the silver lion for a promising young artist.

After watching Djurberg's work you are filled with many emotions.. At first you feel quite disturbed by the work and you question yourself what is the artist trying to get across to us the audience? and when I see this work I feel Nathalie is showing us the some of the realities of the real world through child like clay animation figures.

The connection i make with Nathalie Djurberg's work and the ideas of children stories and innocence is the clay made figurines that look as if a child had made them or would play with them. The clay animation reminds me of play dough which reminds me of children and their innocence and the clay animation reminds me of puppets like when you were told children's stories and they used puppets, but a lot of Djuberg's work is quite disturbing and moves away from the idea of children's stories and innocence.

In the design world with a lot of designers there has been a current fascination with turning innocent and sweet into something disturbing. I believe this is a way designers are telling the truth in a sense showing that not everything in the world is rainbows and butterflies that there is a real world out there and disturbing things do happen.

references

http://www.zachfeuer.com/nathaliedjurberg.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathalie_Djurberg

Banksy's work

Banksky's work mural or graffiti? I believe its a bit of both he could make them murals but the locations that banksy chooses gives the feel of grafitti art, his artworks are often satirical pieces of art on topics such as politics, culture and ethics. Banksy started out as a free hand graffiti artist and was part of Bristol's DryBreadZ Crew (DBZ) and from there on Banksy started using stencils in his free hand art and realised it was alot faster. Banksy humourous stencils usualy included a slogan, the message was usually anti-war, anti capitalism or anti-established subject matter often used rat, elderly, children, policemen and soliders. In 2003 Banksy had an excibition called "turf war" where Banksy painted on animals, the RSPCA thought the conditions were suitable and animal activist protested by chaining herself to railing post.

Bansky work is appreciated by some but is still seen as graffiti by others, Banksy displayed his work at the national park at Alcatraz Island were national park service site supervisor said "and sorry folks, we have removed this graffiti". They also went on saying how they are preserving and protecting the site for future generations. So obviously his work is not appreciated by alot of people and is just considered as graffiti and distruction of property but for some they can really appreciate what he's doing hes trying to make a point but in all honesty ha is making his work just look like graffiti and the locations he is choosing is really influencing this or maybe thats the idea he was going for a location where it can be seen by many. whatever he is trying to achieve there are many mixed opinions about his work.

Can Banksy's work be sold? thats a good question Banksy's work is usually on brick walls billboards and very public areas.. Banksy does not sell photos of street graffitti but art auctioneers have been known to attempt to sell his street art and leave the problem of removal to the winning bidder."On 21 February 2007, Sotheby's auction house in london auctioned three works, reaching the highest ever price for a Banksy work at auction: over £102,000 for his Bombing Middle England. Two of his other graffiti works, Balloon Girl and Bomb Hugger, sold for £37,200 and £31,200 respectively, which were well above their estimated prices. The following day's auction saw a further three Banksy works reach soaring prices: Ballerina With Action Man Parts reached £96,000; Glory sold for £72,000; Untitled (2004) sold for £33,600; all significantly above estimated values. To coincide with the second day of auctions, Banksy updated his website with a new image of an auction house scene showing people bidding on a picture that said, "I Can't Believe You Morons Actually Buy This Shit"

From the previous comment Banksy made"I Can't Believe You Morons Actually Buy This Shit" obviously does not believe his work is worth the price it was sold for or just not appreciate his talent and the work he is producing. I guess everything comes down to each individuals opinion on what art is some see sculptures, portraits as artwork and others see bombing and graffitti art as artwork. Theres not much information on the identity of Banksy but i did find that he was born in 1974 and raised in Bristol, England his father was a photocopier technican and that Bankst trained as a butcher but got involved in graffiti. He has been involved in different groups such as Bristol DryBreadZ Crew (DBZ), and is involved in many projects and exhibitions he has done some pretty out there stuff such as painting animals, In August 2004, Banksy produced a quantity of spoof British £10 notes substituting the picture of Queens haed with princess dianas head and changing the text "Bank of England" to "Banksy of England." Someone threw a large wad of these into a crowd at Notting Hill Carnival that year, which some recipients then tried to spend in local shops"

Banksy is a very interesting character to say the least.. but i've really enjoyed looking at his work. It gets my brain thinking what point is he trying to get across.. his work keeps your brain on its tippy toes.

The industrial revolution was in the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining and transport had a profound effect on the the socioeconomic and cultural conditions. this started in the united kingdom which spread eventually to the whole world, the industrial revolution was major turning point for human history, almost every aspect of daily life was eventually influenced in some way.

Claude Monets painting Impression Sunrise

Is the sun set against the dawn, the motionless surroundings in contrast to the vibrance of the sun, to many the sun undulates or pulsates slightly this is because the sun is the same luminance as the grayish clouds. the lack of colour explains the the paintings "eerie quality". Monet has painted the the sun almost the same colour as the clouds which i think makes the painting more intriguing. Monet's work relates to the period of the industrial revolution because his method of media changed the way the viewer sees the work, "using more natural methods of lighting their work and looking at the world with freshness and immediacy" so Monet's work changed art in a way just like the Industrial Revolution changed most aspects of everyday life.

'The weather project

By Olafur Eliasson

The weather Project was installed at the London's Tate Modern in 2003 as part of the popular Unilever series. The installation filled the open space of the gallery's Turbine Hall. He used humidifiers, sugar and water to create a fine mist of air and also a semi circular disc made up of hundreds of monochronic lamps which radiated single frequency yellow light. the ceiling was cover with a giant mirror were the visitors could look up at themselves as tiny shadows. I think Olafur's intention of the work for myself was it giving the feeling of a higher being, when they lye down on the ground and see themselves is the way someone looking from above would see you. well thats the feel i get from Olafer's instillaion. also the heat and the fine air gives the feeling that your high up like near the sun just like a supreme being would.. I think the over all experience is just to see what things would be like from a higher being.

References:

http://www.webexhibits.org/colorart/page18.html

www.wikipedia.org

tony oursler

Artist Tony Oursler works in several media, but he is best known for his fractured-narrative handmade groundbreaking videos of eerily painted dummies. His art deals with topics from Multiple Personality Disorder to corporate power and media http://www.tonyoursler.com

His work has been exhibited in a variety of different environments such as museums etc, he has many methods of moving and removing video monitor using mirrors, reflection of water, glass and other devices.Since the mid-1970s Oursler has been a pioneer in New Media Art

Tony Ourslers work 'Eye in the sky' is a fibreglass sphere which projects a single eye watching television. Oursler has not made the rest of the body visible but has the sounds of somebody channel surfing, through commercials sitcoms game shows etc. even though the facial expressions are not shown you get a sense of them when he the eye twitches, moves etc.

The fragmentary nature of the piece - The disembodied eye, the reflected television screen and the rapidly changing channels -- parallels features of mental illnesses that signal the disintegration of the personality and the inability of the individual to identify with and function in the real world.

Tony Ourslers work relates to the Enlightenment in many ways such as freedom, individualism, progress and science. The way his work comes across to me is that the progression of science and modern technology has in a way stopped us as thinking as an individual. In all truth and honesty you see things happening on the television and it influences the way you see things it could even change you perspective on the matter. We do have our freedom of thinking and saying what we want, but we can all relate to this that we are all influenced one way our another by he media wether it be television, radio or newspapers. The world has progressed in a big way and generations have all been affected by this.

Fiona Halls work and mercantilism

Mercantilism is an economic theory, considered to be a form of economic nationalism. Mercantilism is an economic system were the nation is dependent upon its supply of capital and international trade. The nation would trade merchandise e.g metal and gold to accumulate power and wealth. this occurred during the 16th, 17th and 18th centurys and was focused more on the interests of the nation and not self interest.

Fiona Hall _ Tender

Tender “consists of dozens of simulacra of birds’ nests of all shapes and sizes, which are all made of American one dollar bills and they are made into the shapes of bird nests. The American dollar is the most disired currency in third world countries. The theme behind this piece of art work is people in third world countries are just like birds scavenging for material to build their nest and for people in the third world countries trying to find money for shelter.

Fiona Hall_Leaf Litter

Fiona Halls -Leave Litter shows the interrelationships between the natural and commercial worlds. Halls uses layering in her art and use very unusal and innovative materials, She is a well respected contemporary artist in Australia. For this particular piece of work she has used bank notes from several different countries. This piece of art work represents how money and wealth make use blind to see what else is happening in our world, and i believe alot of Fiona Halls work represents this.

"While money is the bottom line in our contemporary economy and overrides crucial environmental concerns, plants are often the raw material for generating income (and money, made from paper, is also produced from plants). Fiona Hall’s witty and elegant work captures this perfectly"

Russell Storer, Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, 2000

All Fiona Halls artwork i have looked at has a strong connection to the renaissance, the renaissance focuses on making capital, becoming wealthy by trade etc but Fiona Halls work looks at it the complete opposite, she looks at how the enviromental issues are just as important as the economical issues in society.

refernces:

http://www.nga.gov.au/federation/Detail.cfm?WorkID=26201

http://www.roslynoxley9.com.au/news/releases/2005/10/25/98/