Art Stuff - Zoomorphism

Friday, 28 June 2013

Walton Ford

"What I’m doing, I think, is a sort of cultural history of the way animals live in the human imagination.”

Artist

Walton Ford (1960) went to the Rhode Island School of Design majoring in film making though decided to instead become an artist painting large scale oil paintings.

He had always had a dream that he would, as a kid, grow up as a natural history artist, living on the edge of a national forest and going out and drawing animals

Interested in colonialism, descending from slave owners

The Island

Artwork

He wanted to create art in a way so it would no longer be viewed as a cliché attempting to “make images that look familiar appear unfamiliar”

He was interested in incorporating both the violent nature of animals as well as the destruction of human intervention

Each of the paintings have hidden messages, codes and symbols that give lessons in the destructive nature of colonialism.

Fords work usually contains a mixture of revulsion and attraction

Audience

His realistic style has been compared by critics to those of past science books

They compliment on the contrasting nature of his paintings, which place emphasis on violence

World

21^st Century…

Zoomorphism

Ford uses animals as a symbol of the evil of colonialism and its destructive nature

He uses bold colours which help to emphasise how what seems beautiful and right to one person can be seen as destructive to another

Influence on my artmaking Process

His use of strong bold colours and emphasis on line is similar to that of my work

While I do not have the same realistic perspective I am presenting beauty and destruction in my work particurly the interaction between different culture like Ford

Pancha Tancha

http://whitehotmagazine.com/articles/2008-interview-with-walton-ford/1490

http://www.art21.org/texts/walton-ford/interview-walton-ford-political-humor-and-colonial-critique

Lynnette Shelley

"Creatures reinterpreted through abstraction, decorative element and contemporary vision, these creatures speak to our collective unconscious"

Lynnette Shelley

Artist

· Lynnette Shelley moved to the Philadelphia area where she decided to pursue art, quitting her day job, she began professionally creating artworks in 2007.

· She draws her inspiration from a style of Celtic art that uses a variety of colours and shapes which has been likened to images from an undiscovered ancient civilization or culture.

Artworks

She often uses a concoction of ink, oil, pastels, pencils, and gold leaf, as most of her artworks are mixed media

Her artworks are reflective of the Celtic culture, utilizing these particular curling symbols

Her artworks are considered to contain Jungian associations.

The works are use bold, confident lines and ornamental, delicate detailing

Jangala

Shelley working on her artwork Jangala

Audience

Being based in America she often exhibits her artworks locally particularly in Philadelphia

"Her artwork strikes a primal chord in many viewers, with almost Jungian associations found within” - Jennifer Schick

World

21st Century … she is trying to repopularise traditional Celtic art while still adapting her artworks to contemporary times

Zoomorphism

Shelley artwork involves using a large number of symbols to create animals

These animals are reminiscent of folk tales and mythology thus having cultural values within them

Fire Horse

Her Influence on my artmaking

Shelley’s use of bold bright colours and intricate designs has particularly impacted on the small drawings of my major work

My fantasy artworks are reminiscent of her style, as well as the remarkable use of symbols that she manages to pack within a single artwork

The idea of the mythological beings manifested from her artworks which in turn gave me subject matter for my major work

As she is pushing the idea of culture, I related my artworks to the interplay of different culture and how they all interact to create a multicultural society

The Swimming Horses

The Swimming Horses Work In Progress

Thursday, 27 June 2013

Hieronymus Bosch

"And what is the potential man, after all? Is he not the sum of all that is human? Divine, in other words?"

Interactive for Hieronymous Bosch

http://www.elboscomovie.com/index_en.swf

Artist

Hieronymus Bosch, also known as Jeroen Anthonissen van Aken (c. 1450 - August 9, 1516) was an Early Netherlandish painter of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.

He was a member of the religious Brotherhood of Our Lady which he used to impact his subject matter within his artworks

The Seven Deadly Sins

Artwork

Many of his works depict sin and human morals utilizing compact imagery and symbolism from religious stories and concepts

He did not paint in the typical Flemish style (though he kept to the religious subject) which stressed a realistic portrayal

Best known for his painting, “the garden of earthly delights” which is generally thought to be a warning of the dangers of giving in to temptation

His paintings are characterized by bright, bold colours, intricate detail, animated objects, bizarre images and monstorous or amusing figures which suggest folk legends and religious ideals.

Audience

While some contemporaries thought his works to be heretical, others thought that his work was simply to amuse and engage the viewer.

Others believe he was a proto-surrealist, he was attempting to liberate imagination as an act of opposition against society

It is now generally accepted that his art was to teach moral and spiritual truths, and that the many fantastical and nightmarish creatures had a well-thought-out and meaningful significance.

World

Strong religious influence, 15th century Europeans watched medieval morality plays in which the devil commonly appeared and interacted with humans.

It was believed that the immoral were going to be punished for their crimes by spending eternity in Hell while the uncorrupted persons would spend a life in Heaven

The Garden of Earthly Delights

Zoomorphism

Bosch’s incredibly detailed and complex works have strong religious and moral importance

The use of known religious symbols such as adam, eve and demons gives the reader a clear moral perspective

Bosch’s use of colour and Imagery has further managed to show distinction between good and evil highlighting the significant morals that are portrayed within the work as well as their consequences for breaking those morals

The Last Judgement

Influence on my artmaking process

His use of symbolism has influenced my artwork through the strong references to culture which I hope to show in my work

While my artwork does not depict morals as Bosch’s does it still contrasts two ideas, interaction between culture and the destructive effect that loss of culture can have

His unrealistic style has also gained influence within my work, as I am working with the subject of the supernatural as well

http://books.google.com.au/books?id=sQicEQXYUPoC&pg=PA123&lpg=PA123&dq=hieronymus+bosch+zoomorphism&source=bl&ots=eYhO-l3Xe7&sig=o3QIQXe86H1mtR41GWA9uJeZX4g&hl=en&sa=X&ei=33TPUdP6CeuXiQfNtYDYDw&ved=0CDsQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q&f=false

http://daydreamtourist.com/2013/05/06/bosch/

http://www.hieronymus-bosch.org/slideshow.html

Wednesday, 26 June 2013

Franz Marc

"The impure men and women who surrounded me (and particularly the men), did not arouse any of my real feelings; while the natural feeling for life possessed by animals set in vibration everything good in me."

Artist

Franz Marc (1880 - 1916) was a German Expressionist painter.

He used colour to represent emotions within his works

Franz Marc yearned for a life on a higher spiritual plane, aiming to go into the priesthood before turning to art

He had a strong belief that animals were purer and more beautiful than man, he believed in the beauty of nature

Marc was one of the founders of Expressionism

Artwork

“Marc's particular contribution to introduce paradisiacal imagery that had as its dramatis personae a collection of animals, most notably a group of heroic horses” – Nicolas Pioch

His paintings utilised: the expressive and symbolic use of color combined with various Cubist styles, during his later years.

Animals, to Marc were considered part of an age of innocence

He attempted to emphasise and portray the spiritual aspect of animals by painting them in non naturalistic colours, they were his expression of the human figure

“Marc associated blue with masculinity, and red and yellow with femininity since they are more earthy colours” - Gabi La Cava

Audience

He aimed to gain a profound emotional response from his audience at first glance

Blue horse 1

World

The Der Blaue Reiter was founded in Munich in 1911 with Kandinsky in response to the rejection of kandinsky’s work “Last Judgement”

World War 2 broke out and the government were enlisting men as troops

"There was a need for individual subjective expressiveness and a striving for order in a time of pending chaos.” - Dr. Jeanne S. M. Willette

Yellow Cow

Zoomorphism

His earlier works were similar to Walton Ford’s artworks that they used animals as symbolism for the nature of man, particularly the destructive nature of man

A theme of his animals was the fact they were presented as pure beings incomparison to the corrupted nature of mankind

He bases his works strongly on symbolism of animals and uses a variety of bold bright colours to get an emotional response from his audience

Tirol

Influence on my artmaking

Like Marc I used as animals as a symbol of the variety of human culture and the interaction between them

My animals are unrealistic using bright unnaturalistic, colours to gain an emotional response from the audience

http://www.artyfactory.com/art_appreciation/animals_in_art/franz_marc.html

http://vcbarker-arthistory.blogspot.com.au/2008/05/franz-marc-1880-1916.html

http://www.arthistoryunstuffed.com/tag/franz-marc/http://www.csa.com/discoveryguides/marc/overview.php