Love Picker

This is Love Picker by the British artist Mackenzie Thorpe, I really like this piece because of the placement of the colors. I love when an artist uses red especially, to draw the eye to a certain part of the painting. It makes you focus on the hearts on the trees and then eventually pan out to the rest of the work. I also like how it looks like it could be a scene from a children's picture book, its got a certain kind of innocence to it. This piece really says something about the efforts of love, that yes there are a lot more accessible and easier to collect hearts on the ground but the best ones are those found on the tops of the trees. 

This is called Bass by Agusto Esquivel. I picked this because it stood out to me in uniqueness. Its made out of Buttons and mono-filaments. I like this because it captures many details of how a real cello would look. I also like he picked the same color buttons to correspond with the color of a cello.  

TITLE:  Bass

ARTIST:  Augusto Esquivel (Argentine, b.1976)

CATEGORY:  Sculptures

MATERIALS:  Buttons and monofilaments

SIZE:  h: 102 x w: 24 x d: 16 in / h: 259.1 x w: 61 x d: 40.6 cm

STYLE:  Latin American

PRICE*:  Contact Gallery for Price

GALLERY:  Now Contemporary Art  +1-305-571-8181  Send Email

ONLINE CATALOGUE(S):  Now Contemporary Art Catalogue

Stadia XVII

I chose this picture because I like sports venues.  Marcus Lyon is a British contemporary artist well known for his photography.  Lyons uses mainly digital prints.  This particular piece by Lyons shows a stadium in London used for handicap athletes.  In the opening of the 21st century, Marcus began his "Stadia" line of art consisting in the capturing of much more than television audiences but as an individual audience as well. I really like how his Stadia line grabs the viewer through the visual and auditory

TITLE:  Stadia XVII

ARTIST:  Marcus Lyon

WORK DATE:  2013

CATEGORY:  Photographs

MATERIALS:  Digital Fiber Museum Bareyte Print

SIZE:  h: 120 x w: 149.4 cm / h: 47.2 x w: 58.8 in

STYLE:  Contemporary

PRICE*:  Contact Gallery for Price

GALLERY:  INCEPTION Gallery  +33 (0)1 77 16 68 07  Send Email

ONLINE CATALOGUE(S):  INCEPTION Gallery Inventaire

Damien Hirst's "God Knows Why"

Damien Hirst, "God Knows Why," Sculpture: Glass, painted stainless steel, silicone, oak, stainless steel, sheep and formaldehyde solution.

Noted as the UK's richest contemporary artist (with a net worth of £215m), Damien Hirst smacks his audience in the face with his sick and grotesque sensibility. From his painted skulls to his preserved animal corpses, his pieces centralize around themes of death and, though overtly gruesome, still maintain some inherent quality of beauty. Blatantly political, his sculptures, and particularly this one, seem to reflect the sense of torment and anguish seen through the eyes of animals in this contemporary world. It seems to criticize the food industry and the mistreatment animals of slaughter undergo. His infusion of religion in the work's themes can be observed through the title and the allusion of the crucifixion, and a brilliantly distorted crucifixion at that, of a body upside down just as animals are hung after they are slaughtered. Though I do not know how much I approve of the ethics of using a dead body for artwork, the piece seems evoke a response in the viewer as all good art should.

Alter Ego

This bronze work depicts a man and his alter ego. One of the men is shirtless while the other has his jacket placed over his head. The two men are staring at each other from across the board almost as if one is looking at the other in a mirror at how he really sees himself. Both of the men are standing on the same level board. Sean Henry is a UK sculptor, concentrating on painted bronze works

Sean Henry
Title	Man with Alter Ego
Description	bronze, exterior 2-pac paint, painted wood, Plexiglas Each figure inscribed 'SH98 2/5' on the heel
Medium	bronze, exterior 2-pac paint, painted wood, Plexiglas
Year of Work	1998
Size	Height 71.1 in.; Width 60 in.; Depth 12 in. / Height 180.5 cm.; Width 152.3 cm.; Depth 30.5 cm.
Edition	2/5
Misc.	Inscribed
Sale of	Phillips London: Tuesday, February 11, 2014 [Lot 00237] Contemporary Art Day
Estimate	12,000 - 18,000 GBP (19,874 - 29,811 USD)

Monastery of Iviron, Mount Athos

Spyros Papaloukas, oil on board

Spyros Papaloukas was born in 1892 and died in 1957. He was popular in the 30's so it's possible that is around when this was painted. The Monastery of Iviron is a monastery on Mount Athos, a peninsula in the northeastern part of Greece. Mount Athos is strictly devoted to the religious practices of Greek Orthodox Monks in monasteries. Papaloukas frequently painted the monasteries and landscapes of Mount Athos. Historically, Mount Athos is important to Greece; organized monestary life began as early as 963 AD. Papaloukas thought it was a meaningful place to paint-still historical and relevant. To this day no women are allowed to visit there.

Andy Mouse by Keith Haring

I chose this silkscreen print because I found it to be very interesting. It reminded me of a smurf and mickey mouse combined. I enjoyed his use of color and thought that the red was a good  choice for the background because it helps make the objects pop out. I liked how even though it was a flat piece of work, he used lines to still include motion in his work.

"High Heels Abstraction Dripping" by Pierre Kenal Louis

This piece was done by Pierre Kenal Louis and finished on October 21st, 2012. The medium for the entire collection is digital art. Pierre Kenal Louis describes how he wanted this picture to be done by using a lot of color and lines. He completed this in just a few days however, the high heels contemporary art collection will be complete at 20 or 25 pieces. So far he has completed 9 different high heels pictures all of which are currently online for sale. He describes how he imagined each high heel hanging in art/design studios all over the world, in fashion boutiques, offices, and even living rooms. This picture caught my attention because of its brights colors and interesting design of lines. I think that the colors all work well with each other and the design is very unique.

Heading North

This piece is Heading North by Anne Longo. It is an oil painting on panel. What stands out about this piece is that it seems that someone has already made a path, and the person in the painting seems to be pondering whether or not to take the same path. The path that was already taken seems to be long and could pose challenges, while taking a new path poses uncertainty.  Other parts of the artwork that drew me to it, was the use of different shades of green and the ability to see depth.

Untitled

This painting is called "Untitled" and was done by the artist Mary Heilmann using oil on canvas.  I like this painting because of the uses of so many different shades of green, and the way it fades from light to dark, from the bottom to the top.  I can't quite put my finger on it, but I really like the spiral in the center of the picture.  It vaguely reminds me of a vine, but I think it only does so because it surrounded by a green backdrop.

Coffee Worke

Coffee Worker 

Eduardo Alexander Rabel

Mixed Media w/acrylic, paper, coffee cups, ground coffee and burlap on masonite & wood
1996-1997

In this work Rabel uses mixed media to create a message. Rabel is trying to bring concern to the working conditions of coffee workers...on average a coffee workers wages are 2.85/hr. There work in unsanitary conditions and work with pesticides with no protection. Rabel uses coffee cups and beans for the majority of his work, I think that it is a very moving piece. Basically the coffee workers are working horrendous hours for americans to get their starbucks and dunkin donuts, and while the workers continue to struggle with daily living expenses these corporations are making millions. 

"Ovidian Tree Peonies" - Thomas Woodruff

     This is a contemporary piece called Ovidian Tree Peonies by Thomas Woodruff made in 2013. The New York native painted this piece using acrylic on linen with tremendous detail. I like the use of space in this artwork, and how there are a lot of things going on all around. The foci in this painting are the curvaceous womanly shaped trees, which the title somewhat implies. The holes in the trees where the skunks lie remind me of birth canals. I feel that this painting expresses the relationship between nature and a woman's duty. The word Ovidian refers to a Roman poet that commonly wrote about love, making the tile sensual and romantic.

"Jack & Jill" Banksy

This is a color silkscreen print completed by Banksy in 2005. Banksy is a United Kingdom based graffiti artist and painter. He is well known for his political and social themes throughout his artworks. This can be seen in his "Jack and Jill (Police Kids)" where he shows two young children running together wearing bullet proof vests. It is said that this was done to shed light on contemporary society where innocence is all but lost. I really enjoyed this work of art because I love the meaning behind it and I think his choice of baby blue behind the black, white, and beige colors of the children give it an interesting contrast. 

untitled by Bosco Sodi

Untitled by Bosco Sodi
This is a painting done using mixed media on a canvas. This stood out to me because i thought that it was a very bright and inviting image. At first look i thought that this painting was actually a photograph because of the texture on the canvas. I really admire this painting, i think it is very cool how the artist can turn a flat white canvas into a beautiful image filled with color and multiple textures.

Winnie the Pooh and Piglet

This is Winnie the Pooh and Piglet by Ernest H. Shepard done circa 1960-70 and the median is Ink on Paper.  I like this image because Shepard himself is the original artist of Winnie the Pooh so this is an original drawing of him.  I like the simplistic look of this drawing it is very open and allows the viewer to fill in the blanks.  The works that Shepard has done are ones that end up in the Winnie the Pooh story books, upon seeing this image I instantly recognized it.  This truly is an iconic piece, even without much detail and no color most can see exactly what this image is.  This particular image shows Winnie the Pooh and Piglet walking through the forest most likely in conversation, ultimately this piece brings with it childhood memories, it is amazing how artworks can have that kind of effect.

Portrait #2

This piece is titled Portrait #2 by artist Jane Lee.  Lee is considered to be one of Singapore’s most noted contemporary artists.  The piece was completed in 2013.  It is categorized as mixed media.  It is acrylic paint and gel on a mixed fiberglass base.  The artwork is 48.4 inches by 48.4 inches.  I chose this piece because it stood out against the rest of the artwork I was looking at.  I like that although the majority of the piece is white, it is still very colorful at the top.  The horizontal lines of raised up paint make the piece more interesting.  The small drops of color draw attention to the piece as a whole instead of focusing only at the top.

Osiris Girl

Gabriel Vormstein

2012

Pencil, watercolor, wall paint on newspaper

Inspired by 20th century masters such as Andy Warhol, Gabriel Vormstein's images are painted directly onto newspaper, focusing on redrawing figures from art history and fashion magazines. His liking of organic, low-cost materials suggest a connection between the degrading effects of age that newsprint and the body share. In this particular painting, there is an interesting contrast. His use of different adapted styles comments on the disappearing and upcoming periods of time - in this sense, the past is attached to the present. While the newsprint remains the same consisting of already passed events, simultaneously it creates a divide between the “new” presence, his painting. At first, I chose this painting because of it's vibrant colors, but after discovering he focuses on images from fashion magazines, it just makes sense ...I smell what he's stepping in.

"Little Red House" by Anne Dalton

Anne Dalton, a prominent Canadian painter, gets her inspiration for her landscapes from her travels throughout North America. Specifically, Her favorite sketching locations are Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, Cape Cod, Maine and Vermont. After her travels, Anne returns to her studios and uses her sketches and her memories of the trip to create her vivid and vibrant masterpieces. Anne uses a layering technique called "glazing" which is a long process that really enhances the details and texture of the painting. As shown in this piece, Anne captures the look and feel of the North American landscape by detailing the environment as well as the architecture of this region. The paintings uniqueness comes from the vibrant colors which really makes the painting pop out at the viewer. Many of her fans have felt as if her landscapes reanimate experiences and moments in their lives which is what sets her paintings apart from others.

Blog 1 - "Dissonant Accord" by Justin Bower

Dissonant Accord, 2013

Oil on canvas

Justin Bower is an artist who creates large oil paintings that appear as if it was a digital piece.  His works tend to question our perception as human in digital aspects as well as in the virtual age while demonstrating it in a moving notion. The ongoing disoriented human image in most of his work also confronts us on the use of technology in our daily lives.  Justin Bower is able to portray the moving image through the use of doubling of features such as multiple eyes, spliced nose, melting mouths and pixelated splashes of color to invoke the illusion of the abstract process.  There is also the use of a familiar pattern that was commonly used in the 60’s to help create a hallucinatory effect.  In this particular piece called "Dissonant Accord" we see a face, however, it is hard to recognize whether it is a woman or a man. Through this piece, I believe Bower confronted us on “who we are” as human beings. I chose this piece mainly because I do believe technology has taken control over our society. This piece sets the idea of instability which is a big part of our society. 

Blog 1 - Kako Ueda "Faces"

Faces by Kako Ueda

This drawing titled "Faces" is by a contemporary Japanese artist Kako Ueda.  Kako Ueda's primary medium of choice is paper.  She produces mainly drawings and water color pieces and cut paper.  Cut paper is part of Ueda's Japanese culture mainly for stenciling and to produce kimono patterns.  Kako mainly focuses on natural subjects such as animals and human bodies.  Her work is influenced by Chinese holistic approach to medicine and how things born out of nature are able to be manipulated by culture over time. I chose this drawing because it has movement and depth.  Every time you look at it you can see a different object or animal or flower aside from the main picture as a whole.  I favor the contrast and the fact that the drawing seems symmetrical but when you look closer one can see that certain parts especially in the top half are not alike on each side.

This piece was done by Ad Reinhardt. Ad Reinhardt was an abstract painter, who was very active in New York between 1930 - 1960s. Reinhardt only painted abstract pieces, although, he did attempt to portray other forms of art.

This particular piece is named 'Yellow Variations," where Reinhardt was portraying a type of Cubist idea that translated into yellow and green strokes. He lived during an era where Cubist expression was common, and it certainly made an appearance in abstract art.

Reinhardt was very involved in the art community, teaching at Brooklyn College from 1947 until 1967, the year in which he passed.

David Datuna - "Moving Image"

This is David Datuna's Moving Image. It is mixed media construction with collage. There is no date uploaded near this picture. Datuna uses the stars and stripes to send a message about American culture. He uses lenses to magnify elements of the culture. At first glance, the surface is smooth but it is very layered. I chose this for many reasons. I love American culture. Also, I wanted to know how this was made when I stumbled upon it. I found this interesting and very creative. I began to notice he did an entire collection of this type of mixed media collages. 

"The Blue Heart"

This is a contemporary piece created by Jim Dine in 2005.  "The Blue Heart" shows the characteristics of bright, contrasting blue, yellow, green and pink. The heart, which is an iconic image of Dine's paintings, appears to the eye as three - dimensional. Jim Dine is an artist that is contemporary but is also affiliated with the Pop Art movement in the early 1960s, however, Jim Dine prefers to emphasize the hands-on, gestural, and expressive in his work, rather than the mechanical and impersonal characteristics of Pop Art. Many of Jim Dine's works are hearts with pops of color or subtle color,  he also has pieces that are statuesque pieces that are also full of color and textures.

Drawing test

This is a drawing by Jill Slaymaker.

Syllabus

Mount Saint Mary College

Studio Art: Modern Approach to Making Art

Course Number:       ART 4016                                                       Credits:           3

Course Title:              Studio Art: Modern Approach to Making Art

Professor:                   Gary Jacketti

Office Hours:             Monday, Wednesday before or after class

e-mail:                         jacketti@optonline.net

                                    gjac4166@msmc.edu

Class Times:               Monday/Wednesday 5:15 to 6:40

Course Outcomes:     The objective of this course is to investigate the development of personal expression through a variety of mediums.  The course will examine the importance and impact of media on works of art.  The students will consider and utilize the various media and techniques employed by artists through history.  The student will be challenged to implement, experiment and devise new and unexplored media in contemporary art.

Grading and Evaluation

Students will need to complete 2 major projects.  They will also present accompanying studies and intellectual research to substantiate these projects.   Attendance is mandatory.  Three unexcused missed classes will result in the dropping of the letter grade by 1, 5 absences the grade will be lowered by 2.  I will evaluate the content as follows:

Mid-Term Project 30%

Social Media  15%

Related Studies  25%

Culminating Final Project  30%

Division of Arts and Letters Grading Policy

Points	Grade Equivalent	Quality Points	Meaning
100-95	A	4.0	Superior
94-90	A-	3.67	Outstanding
89-87	B+	3.33	Excellent
86-83	B	3.0	Very Good
82-80	B-	2.67	Good
79-77	C+	2.33	Above Average
76-73	C	2.0	Average
72-70	C-	1.67	Below Average
69-65	D+	1.33	Poor
64-60	D	1.0	Passing
59-0	F	0.0	Failing

Blog

Social Media

You will be responsible for a weekly social media post related to your personal avenue of expression.  Historical and contemporary artists should be used as influence and inspiration.

Critiques

Your finished major projectss will be looked at and discussed critically with your peers.  Attendance and participation is mandatory.  This is one of the most important tools artists use to help reflect and improve their work.  I will be available for one private critique for each project to be scheduled during the semester.

Minor Works and Studies

These studies will consume a great amount of studio time during the semester.   They will be used to explore and solidify aesthetic thoughts and processes related to the final 2 major projects.

Mid Term and Final Project

These projects will be of the students choice and the student should give thoughtful consideration to them.  They will take a longer period of time to complete than the minor works and studies

Week 3

Presentation of concept for mid-term project

Week 6 and 7

Personal Critiques for midterm project                                                          

                                                                           

Week 8

Mid Term Critique

Week 10

Presentation of concept for final project

Week 13 and 14

Personal Critiques for final painting

Week 15

Final Critique