Ivy1506

VISUAL ART ♦ TORONTO, CANADA

[ivy1506]

In The Makeup of the Marquise: Boucher’s Portrait of Pompadour at Her Toilette, Melissa Hyde examines the intricate connections between the use of cosmetics and the stylistic development of Rococo art.  Hyde brings forth many compelling arguments which she admits to be “speculative.”  She explains that the use of makeup was “a symbolic practice, intimately bound up with court politics and social identity.”  Throughout the article, Hyde explains in detail what these political and social components entails:  the distinction between gender and class within the French society is symbolized by the use of cosmetics, and therefore, the application of rouge, the presence of mirrors, dressing tables, and the use of powder all alludes to aristocracy within 17th century paintings.

Jeanne-Antoinette Poisson, Marquise de Pompadour, Francois Boucher, 1750

These speculations are supported by evidence and continual reference to Boucher, who painted a series of oil paintings for Madame Pompadour.  Madame Pompadour was a significant patron of the arts, whose portraits carried heavy cultural meanings due to her use of makeup.  The portraits of Madame Pompadour are “the representation of identity; class, gender and artistic identity.  It is a reflection on a passion for the cosmetic arts.”

In other words, Madame Pompadour was a 17th century equivalent of makeup gurus who rise to fame from their Instagram pictures.  Her portraits are intentionally-created aesthetic scenes, and much like modern social media influencers, visual languages are used in these images to covey wealth, success, and -above all- beauty.

The Marquise de Pompadour, Francois Boucher, 1750

The emphasis on beauty in these Rocco paintings have been the focal point of numerous debates. Art critics saw a feminine aspect in Rococo art that is rarely seen in art history.  After all, most patrons and artists are men for a long time.  However, with the emergence of female patrons, art became feminized.  Artists used paint as a tool of enhancement to make female patrons look more flattering.  Pompadour’s face is rendered impossibly soft with reformed, large eyes.  For this reason, they were criticized to be make up artists rather than true painters.  The portraits commissioned by Madame Pompadour stood at the forefront of this topic.  Interestingly, the value of such practice has not been lost. Today, women continue the tradition with the aid of modern technology to enhance the visual representations of themselves. They dictate what is presented.  They dictate their persona.

All in all, Hyde provided a very fresh and compelling subject for scholar studies.  The influence of Madame Pompadour and female cosmetics on the development of Rococo is articulated very well.  However, throughout Hyde’s argument a few things caught my attention. Had the article provided a explanation to these issues,  it would have made for a more thoroughly examined topic.

Hyde mentions that in the 18th century,  cosmetics were no longer a luxury of the upper class.  In fact, “the lowliest grisettes can make this expenditure as abundantly as a person of the highest birth.”  This contradicts Hyde’s argument that make up is associated with the elite.  Cosmetics may serve as a symbol of aristocracy, but if it became a common product, why did this tradition continue in the painterly world?  The analysis lacks an explanation for this.

Moreover, an allusion to wealth in paintings is not something new which emerged in the mid 17th century.  Artists long before the time of Madame Pompadour had been making references to their wealth through art commissions.  Extravagant architecture, exotic fruits, reference to colonialism are to simply name a few.  Hence, to signal wealth and power is definitely not something which may only be expressed through the use of cosmetics.  After reading Hyde’s argument, I agree that makeup is a new component to the display of status, but it is neither essential nor necessary to the display of wealth.  Therefore, I remain unconvinced that the emergence of cosmetics is mainly for the purpose of exhibiting wealth – such tools were not lacking to artists. In Boucher’s paintings of Madame Pompadour, it is clear that her flamboyant clothing -as opposed to her make up- remains a key signal of her aristocracy.  Thus, we come back to the original question without a sufficient answer: Why did cosmetics appear in Rocco Art?

Cosmetics and the Development of Rococo Art: Review of The Makeup of Marquise by Melissa Hyde In The Makeup of the Marquise: Boucher’s Portrait of Pompadour at Her Toilette, Melissa Hyde examines the intricate connections between the use of cosmetics and the stylistic development of Rococo art. 

[ivy1506]

First blog post

Very excited to start this blog today! This is a blog for the modern day museum visitor. You will find gallery reviews, artist interviews, and short articles related to art and history. If you are a frequent museum visitor, or an amateur art historian, I am sure you will find something here that suits your interest. My blog focuses primarily on galleries and museums in Canada.  I attended Western…

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[ivy1506]

Different Scholarly Opinions about the Power of Economics and Its relation to Art Production in the Netherlands during Baroque Era

Art critics are often examining art through a cultural context.  However, the word ‘culture’ embodies so much tat despite the best effort, any scholar who claims to be examining art under a cultural lens will most definitely neglect some points or another.  Much of the interpretation on Dutch work until now has been iconographical.  Desire & Domestic Economy, Art Value and Market Practices in Netherlands in the Seventeenth Century and Dutch Still Lifes & Colonial Visual Cultures in the Netherlands Indies are three scholarly papers which explores 17th century Dutch art within a more narrow context, choosing to examine the power of economics and its relation to art production.

In Desire & Domestic Economy, Elizabeth Alice Honig describes Dutch art to be an interpretation of the ordinary world in a transfiguring way though sophisticated techniques and thoughtful compositions.  These apparently straightforward and realist art actually contains very complex contents.  An example would be a simple image of food exchange, which is in fact alluding to a sexual Dutch pun.  By presenting an example such as this, Honig brings forth her argument that 17th century Dutch art often words as a refection of the Dutch economy through the painting of markets dominated by woman.

Honig explains that the depiction of marketplaces within art is a Dutch tradition.  Paintings of marketplaces work as a mirror where communal value of the Dutch society is reflected.  Rather than a very rough city profile or the production of cartography, these works of common marketplaces portray a more precise cultural insight.  Honig also points out that this is a period of economic transition because of colonization.  These artworks reflect the change in commerce, paintings of shits behind markets reflect on the growing trade and prosperity.

Paintings of Dutch markets reflect their public values and respect for woman.  Honig believes that many of these market illustrations provoke question of women’s position in the economy.  It is very clear that gender role places a big part in commerce, and the commercial strength of Netherlands is largely because of woman.  As art is a reflection of cultural values, these market place paintings reflect the importance of woman both sexually and economically.  As consumption and trade became a big role for females, this unique aspect of Netherlands was depicted within their paintings. 

Over a decade later, also published by College Art Association, Neil De Marchi and Hans J. Ban Miegroet returns to an economic examination of art production in Netherlands through Art Value and Market Practices in Netherlands in the 17th Century.  The pair adopts a completely different approach, to analyze Dutch artists within a world of merchants, seeing them as traders of paintings.  They bring forth questions on what makes a painting valuable within the economy, and argues that the market is so complex that in order to analyze it, there are many concerns such as public reception, artistic attitude, roles of collectors, merchants and others that must be taken into consideration.  With this approach, viewing the art world as a market, Marchi and Miegroet first points out the changes within the art world due to trade, followed by a presentation of the different methods of value determination used in Netherlands. 

With an emerging middle class and more demand for art, there is a lot of artistic shift within the art market, proving many artistic advancements such as new techniques and inventions, collaborations between artists, copy rights, appropriations, etc. Expansion in trade also took place as foreign arists came in to sell their work, displacing local art markets.  An emerging middle class meant copes (pporly done) of works sold at cheap prices, and this large number of copies changed the art market drastically.  All these economic factors contributed to a very wide range of art styles that emerged from Netherlands at the time. 

The article continued into an analysis over the value of art.  Marchi and Miegroet argued that sacracy reflected value, and sacracy meant demand and quality.  They explain that Merchants evaluate art with common criteria to assign a numerical value.  This includes quality, demand, and other factors irrelevant to art, such as currency and economic situation.  Art theorists, on the other hand, believes market price only reflects the current artist taste, not an accurate value of the art itself.  It is clear that Marchi and Miegroet choose to inform the readers about the influence of economics on art in a very direct, systematic manner. 

Susie Protschky’s Dutch Still Lifes & Colonial Visual Cultures in the Netherlands Indies provides a very different perspective.  To gain economic insight on the Dutch empire, she examined colonial art in the Dutch colony of Indonesia instead.  Her conclusions were worth noting, as both the similarities and difference between Netherland and its colony is evident.  Through her examination, Protschky informs the readers about how such differences and similarities can all be traced back to cultural difference and economic reasons.  

Dutch art, household objects where depicted, showing cultural and economical insight.  This is also the case for Indie art.  However, despite a strong interest in still life, modern Indie art differs greatly in the subject matter.  Many popular subjects of Dutch paintings are not found in Indie art.  Flowers are a prime example of this, argues Protschky.  Orchids were very popular among European art collectors, but were only portrayed as secondary objects among Indie artwork.  Despite a Dutch influence, this cultural difference is reflected within the colony art, as the Europeans in the colony were mainly second or third generation, and hence quite disconnected with their European origin.   

Much concern on trade is reflected in Dutch still lifes to signify wealth.  This situation is reversed within colonial art. For example, exotic fruits were luxury goods for European households, and hence their depictions in paintings were considered high art.  Exotic fruits were common within colonial life, hence, the depictions of them were not considered high art.  In Indie, rather than displaying food items, the artists were more interested in displaying botany. All the wealth depicted within Dutch art signifies wealth, which signifies foreign labor that isn’t a favourable subject in the colony.  Indie art avoided portraying the negative impact of colonial expansion.  Colonial rulers were depicted as benevolent and compassionate.

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Julien de Casabianca - Outings Project

© All images courtesy of the artist - New York - Dallas - Los Angelas

[ivy1506]

I think these are the most creative graffitis ever! Of course it takes immense ammount of dedication and skill Wouldn't it be more interesting if the portraits somehow relates to the colonial history of the area? Just a thought.

[ivy1506]

Analysis on the different Scholarly Interpretation of Spanish Colonial Art

 In a topic as broad as Spanish Colonial Art, scholars of various backgrounds will approach the subject in diverse manners. Palmer, Fane and Katzew all chose to examine the intricacy behind Spanish Colonial art. However, as their time period contrasts greatly, Palmer, Fane and Katzew presented very different analyses in regards to the art of Spanish Colonial Communities.

In the scholarly article Cambios: The Spirit of Transformation in Spanish Colonial Art by Gabrielle Palmers, the origin of Spanish-American art is examined as an appreciation of colonial art and its distinct qualities. The introduction outlines the two direction Spanish colonial art moved in the New World. One type of colonial art is generated in metropolitan cities with the styles (not fully developed) and ideas from Europe. The other type of colonial art is a spun off from metropolitan influence, but as they are rural creations, hence lacking the adequate techniques while incorporating Indian art elements.

Palmer’s analysis is the most dated among the 3 articles examined.  Therefore, this theoretical analysis about colonial art serves a rather informative purpose, which is to bring forth attention and knowledge towards the ‘indigenous sensibility’ of colonial art. Among many different colonial cultures, the Spanish is an epitome embodying all the distinct qualities of colonial settlements in America.  As a result of this character, Palmer chose to examine Spanish colonial art in particular to demonstrate the complexity within colonial art.  All arguments are supported thoroughly with scholarly writing and historical facts in this catalogue.

Diane Fane introduces a collection of Spanish colonial materials within The Brooklyn Museum through Converging Cultures: Art and Identity in Spanish America. Fane narrates about the exhibition at Brooklyn in 1941, which depicts the everyday life of Spanish colonial settlements.  Eventually, public tastes changed in the 60s and the work of the exhibition became dispersed. It wasn’t until the 1980s when a new wave of interest arouse, Brooklyn Museum began rediscovering the exhibition of Spanish colonial art.

The exhibition reflected on the growing reception of Hispanic colonial art in the more recent decades.  The catalogue, co-corresponding with the exhibition, focus on the intricacy of Hispanic-American cultures, which calls forth many questions unanswered up to date.  Fane does this by pin-pointing the flaws of previous collections, denoting the 1941 collection to be overly focused on the Latin America aspect and neglecting Pan-America.

Both exhibition and catalogue pays particular attention to Mexican art, as they are not a direct reflection of their European colonial past, but a distinct new style derived from European art.  This concept of European art taking a new direction in the colonies parallels with Palmer’s analysis.  However, the 1996 catalogue went above and beyond simply pin pointing origins, but examined Hispanic colonial art in a cultural context. Indeed, the 1966 catalogue took a new turn to break away from conventional categorizations; which merely defined artworks as “fine arts” or “provincial arts.”

Despite a focus on the reception of Spanish Colonial art, Fane’s catalogue did not overlook the importance of artistic origin.  Following a examination of the Brooklyn Museum, the text proceeded in a more scholarly, informative manner about the origin of Spanish art, as well as the roles of the Spanish portrayed within these work.   Fane described Spanish art in the colonies as an imposed way of conveying religious messages.  Over a decade later, Katzew disagrees with this in Contested Visions in the Spanish World. Instead of imposing, Katzew believes there are many things worth taking into consideration while examining the final depiction of Indians within colonial paintings.  Ketzew mentions that Indians were often assimilated into the Spanish ways of life and married into colonial families.  Many Indians recognized the benefits of portraying themselves in accordance to the Spanish. Native nobles also began to adopt the European method of art commissions.

Rather than taking a step back to examine Spanish colonial art in a broader context, Katzew narrows into colonial culture, and looks specifically at the role of Indians within Spanish communities, which is misrepresented within colonial paintings. She mentions that Indians are often described as either vicious or humble, which are quite conflicting characteristics.  These depictions co-existed for political reasons and survived until today as modern stereotypes.  Yet even with the existence of these stereotypes, the role of Indians within Spanish colonial art is rather neglected by modern scholars. Katzew was able to use this scholarly writing to covey the misconception about Colonial authorities, as well as to bring forth some attention towards the role of Indians in Spanish colonial art.  

[ivy1506]

The Traveller, India Ink and Marker on Paper, 2015. 

This drawing is my study of visual image as a language.  Here I ask questions about culture, traveling, and ethnicity.  I will not get into that, as it will defeats the purpose of visual language.  It’s necessary for the viewer to read and decode on their own to be critical observers of visual cultures. 

I approached the project with the hope to distort and reduce.  In this way, I was hoping to maximize the transition from photographs to drawing.  

The finished work is quite different from this intention; the distortion was obtained, but reduction was ineffective in such a scale.  Eventually I decided to eliminate that component.  All it all, I think it was still quite resolved and successful, even though it shifted away from my original plans.  

[ivy1506]

Art Thoughts: Facebook Groups

Recently I discovered a few facebook groups that are dedicated to artists and art enthusiasts.  Out of curiousity, I requested to join, and was soon accepted into this mystical new world.  I felt excited, as if I was finally part of some exclusive club full of tasteful people.  I was eager to see their discussions about visuality, feminist art, and Duchamp of course! 

The result was outside of my expectations.  (Not to say they were untasteful, by any means.) Instead of MFA students and contemporary art gallery curators, these groups consisted of retired seniors and stay at home moms with a quiet hobby. (In fact, there was a very embarrassing moment: when I posted one of my drawings, no one knew what to say about it, as it was outside of their usual scope, which consisted of pretty landscapes, flowers, pictures of grandchildren, and dogs.  I suppose it was a part of my initiation.) 

In the beginning, I was very bored of their conversations. It seemed technical and dry.  I scrolled past their posts whenever I checked facebook, and remained silent 99% of the time. 

As the weeks went by, my opinions changed.  Some of them posted amazing works.  They were lacking in critical themes, but the beauty and essence of their drawing was very awe inspiring. (Mind you, I still can't stand drawings of dogs, lips and eyes. )  

These artists were very experienced in their techniques.  I began to see all sorts of possibilities that can come true with mastering these skills.  It’s motivating me to go beyond understanding visual arts, but to be more committed in improving my skills.  

Also, they are very friendly people, always generous in sharing their knowledge. It is a very welcoming and inspiring environment, and I am glad that my Facebook newsfeed is no longer covered with irrelevant posts from all over the place. It has transformed into an artistic platform for me to learn and better myself!  

Here are some of the drawings by the artists in The Watercolour Addict group:

[ivy1506]

Art Thoughts: Manga Landscapes

I’ve never read any manga (Japanese comics) before.  The extent of my knowledge for manga consists of three of four things: 

1. It’s read backwards.  

2. The eyes are always really huge and disproportionate.  (Perhaps it reflects Japanese aesthetics?)

3. It’s heavily influenced by European cultures. 

4. It covers some heavy themes which are more suitable for adults. 

Lately I’ve become extremely drawn to the landscape drawings in mangas.  They’re always black and white, so to compensate for the lack of colours, the lines are always very efficiently used to add dynamic and depth. They seem to work very efficiently as completed works of art on their own. However, once figures and storylines are inserted into the frame, it immediately looks unfinished, like some storyboard.  Nonetheless, I’ve been browsing all over the internet these days for landscape drawings from mangas.  

I’m no expert about Japan, but I’ve heard about the struggle in Japan between urban developments and rural housings.  The country is so eager to develop that residential houses and traditional temples are becoming replaced by more and more skyscrapers, causing overcrowding and all sorts of problems in the system (electricity, sewerage, pipelines, etc.)  There is a sense of national chaos, and I think it’s quite evident in their works.  It’s quite a contrast to the serene and isolated essence that is so frequent in the works of canadian artists. In one of the forums that I follow, Canadian artists are posting works that reflect the remote essence of Canada on a daily basis.  By contrast these images seem very urbanized (despite signs of a rural community in some of these drawings)  but offers a different type of energy that is a paradox between lively and isolation. There are no human figures. Yet, the cars, telephone towers, electricity poles, and worn buildings are very direct and loud evidences of human activity.  

All in all, I enjoy studying them. It’s very descriptive and three dimensional, but still differs from a black and white photo. I think they’re underappreciated by artists, and neglected by manga readers who focus on the story and characters.  It’s quite unfortunate but I am very glad I discovered them. 

[ivy1506]

Lippard and Sehgal towards Conceptual Art

In Escape Attempts, Lucy Lippard summarizes the evolution of Conceptual Art from the perspectives of active participant and contributor. In her summary, Lippard refutes the preconceived notion that Conceptual Art is simply artworks made of unconventional materials.i  Lippard points out that the objective of Conceptual Art is to be dematerializing; only in doing so can the concept overtake the medium and become the essence of the work. Emerging as a response to the reductive attitude of Modernism, Conceptual Art goes further—saying a lot with essentially nothing at all. ii

Even without global communication, similar artistic ideas began to emerge from various places simultaneously. All these artists worked towards challenging the notion of art and attempted to further push the boundaries of what the term embodies. Lippard explains that Conceptual Artists wanted to confront the (then widely accepted) philosophies of Marcel Duchamp.iii  In fact, much of this attitude remains prevalent even today.

Among the most active conceptual artists of the Millennium, Tino Sehgal confronted previous notions of art through his museum exhibitions. He asserts his works are visual productions, despite critical claims that they are dance or theatre.iv  Many of his works are interactive, performance-like experiences. The viewers are ushered into discussion with the performers. The audience is seeing the work, but viewing nothing. This attitude parallels with Lippard, who states "Conception art offered a bridge between the verbal and the visual...art could be anything the artist chooses to do."v   Thus, despite the fact that his work such as Kiss (2002) must be heard, seen and experienced, Sehgal still classifies his work as visual. vi   Much like Duchamp's message with The Fountain, this claim as art is made by the museum setting, which serves as a message in itself.  As such, Conceptual artists are much influenced by the works of Marcel Duchamp, to whom Lippard comments: "as responsible critics we had to mention Duchamp as a precedent." vii

Developing from a Duchampian influence was this notion of appropriation. Borrowing concepts and disseminating claims became commonly explored ideas within the Conceptual realm.  In Kiss (2002)Sehgal arranged two artists to kiss and re-enact famous kiss moments from art history.  Some of the references include works by notable artists such as Gustav Klimt and Jeff Koons.viii   This fits well with what Lippard thinks of appropriation.  Indeed, an artist saw "information and systems as fair game, in the public domain. The appropriation of other artists' works or words.... was another conceptual strategy."ix Conceptual artists embraced a collective attitude, working against the concept of claims and the power of patents.

One way that conceptual artists challenged authorship was through what Lippard considered to be verbal strategies. x  These strategies worked against entitlements and dematerialized art as an object. The work of art became a message that be experienced and delivered through communication. Lippard explains concepts are fundamental to artworks, and production is a time consuming process that is no longer necessary. Dematerializing art means faster artistic delivery.xi   Embracing these Conceptual philosophies, Sehgal's works are intangible. Allowing his works to be exhibited meant granting museums permission for his ideas to be re-enacted. xii For example, in These Associations(2012) Sehgal allowed participants to engage in discussion with one another under simple guidelines within the gallery space.xiii   In doing so, the spectators became the participants, the viewers became the medium, and thus the audience became the art itself. While there is nothing on display, Sehgal states that "somehow it [the idea] exists in my mind, in my body, and in the bodies of the people who know how to do it, and it also exists in their memories, and of those of the people who saw it."xiv  Thus, concept is the art in itself, which exists both as a true, indestructible model and as an abstract idea within people's memories.  Lippard explains that dematerializing was a way for art to become intangible, no longer a commodity that can be taken for gains under capitalism: "The hopes of conceptual art would be to avoid the general commercialization." xv Indeed, Conceptual artists wanted something that “could not be bought or sold by the greedy sector that owned everything that was exploiting the world.” xvi

Yet despite this utopian dream,  Lippard admits within a few years, their ideas became tradable goods, intangible assets. The artists working against the previous structures were the very ones represented by prestigious galleries. xvii   Likewise, although Sehgal sees himself as an anti-materialist, an idealist who doesn't want money, an artist who wants to "explore the notion of whether it might be able to traffic in something other than material goods," he still could not transcend beyond this system of commodification. Permitting Tate Modern to re-enact his concept for These Associations (2012) was a transaction that cost the museum nearly a hundred thousand dollars.xviii  Needless to say, the artist and the museum had to follow all the procedures and negotiation through a notary office. As it seems, just as Lippard states, "whatever minor revolutions in communications have been achieved by the process of dematerializing the object.... art and artists in a capitalist society remain luxuries." xix

Endnotes

i Lippard, “Escape Attempts,” University of California Press, 1995, p. vii

ii Lippard, “Escape Attempts,” p. xii

iii Lippard, “Escape Attempts,” p. ix

iv Collins, Lauren., “The Question Artists,” The Newyorker, August 6th, 2012.http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2012/08/06/the-question-artist (May 3rd , 2015)

v Lippard, “Escape Attempts,” p. x

vi Collins, “The Question Artists,” The Newyorker. (Mary 3rd, 2015)

vii Lippard, “Escape Attempts,” p. ix

viii “Tino Seghal,” Museé d’art Contemporain de Montréal, http://www.macm.org/en/expositions/tino-sehgal/ (May 3rd, 2015)

ix Lippard, “Escape Attempts,” p. xv

x Lippard, “Escape Attempts,” p. xvii

xi Lippard, “Escape Attempts,” p. xvii

xii “Tino Segal,” Museé d’art Contemporain de Montréal. (May 3rd, 2015) xiii Collins, “The Question Artists,” The Newyorker. (Mary 3rd, 2015)

xiv Collins, “The Question Artists,” The Newyorker. (Mary 3rd, 2015)

xv Lippard, “Escape Attempts,” p. xxi

xvi Lippard, “Escape Attempts,” p. xiv

xvii Lippard, “Escape Attempts,” p. xvi

xviii Collins, “The Question Artists,” The Newyorker. (Mary 3rd, 2015) xix Lippard, “Escape Attempts,” p. xxii

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Yoshitomo Nara. MOT Collection

[ivy1506]

Exhibition Review: Ron Benner's Three Questions

Ron Benner's current exhibition at the McIntosh Gallery fully illustrates the power of photography, installations, and text in elucidating political and social messages.  The exhibition is a combination of all these elements, incorporated together in a spatially unique and efficient manner by the London based artist.  As the title, Three Questions suggests, Benner's work provides the spectator with numerous themes worthy of probing, and among the trio Why is the Tomato to Blame?, his earliest installation, evidently sparked the most amount of interest.

The installation came about from a photo that was given to Benner from his co-worker at the railroad, which depicts a woman lying among a pile of tin cans after it collapsed on her.  Benner's coworker was asked to photograph this, and Benner displayed this image during numerous exhibitions, including a photomural called As Dark as the Grave Wherein My Friend is Laid in 1975, Toronto.  Here, Benner once again displays this photograph juxtaposed with a photo of a woman in Mysore India selling tomatoes.  The irony is clear; one is making a living of the fruit, and the other killed from it.  The curator for this exhibition, Julian Halayden, is particularly interested in examining art through a philosophical lense.  Through this exhibition Halayden asks the spectator to recognize this habit we have as a culture of constantly blaming objects as opposed to the people and the system.  The installation asks the us to look at the image of the woman who is struck to death from the canned tomatoes and shift their view to the tomato plant displayed in the centre of the space, harmless and fragile, and forces us to reconsider who is really at fault.  Indeed, a plant is nothing but a part of nature, and Haladyn is particular interested in the political theories behind Benner's work.  His installations are clearly challenging the audience with many political and social implications.  As it happens, the name itself came from the song of the same title by Victor Jara, a song that goes back to the Spanish Civil War.

Benner's interest in botany is strongly influenced by his background in agricultural studies at the University of Guelph. During his time there, Benner recognized that much of today's agriculture centres about industrial farming.  Benner brings up First Nation farmers, who are very knowledgeable about economic plants.  In Where Will You Be for Eternity Benner placed corn all over the ground to bring crops into the question.  First nations are the ones that created corn, and the issue of food and First Nations culture are two inseparable topics. The installation brings forth a question about colonialism, and discusses how plants migrate from North America all over the world through colonialism. The Eiffel tower standing in the corners of the exhibition spaces are made of tomato packaging.  These tomatoes were grown in Mali and shipped to Africa to be put into cases. Food is becoming a huge globalized economic and social system in itself. Nonetheless, many flowers and plants were first farmed by First Nation farmers and that is a history that Benner ask the spectators to recognize in this collection.

Although Haydn is more interested in the political theories, the exhibition has a more personal meaning to Benner himself.  Where Will You Be in Eternity is based on a barn on the #4 highway south of London, Ontario.  The farmer hung this question on the side of the bar, and Benner often passed by this area as a child.  In 1997 Benner drove by south of London once again and the barn was no longer there.  It was blown down during a storm, and the fragments of the text  were left all over the field.  Benner collected these fragments and they remained in storage until now. In a conversation with Julian Halayden that is published in the Rob Benner: Three Question catalogue, Benner states that "When I was a child it meant something totally different than what it means now.  As a child it was confusing....I thought, what is eternity?  For a seven year old eternity is three months from now.  I mean when you're seven three months is a long time.  Now that I'm 65 years old, three months is nothing...So eternity when I was seven was three months, now eternity is...well it's a long, long time. " Connecting the corn on the ground of the gallery space to this concept of eternity, Benner is asking the audience to consider eternity as something that transcends the future, but also in the past.  Eternity is dialectical, eternity goes forward but it also goes back into the past, thousands and thousands of years. Perhaps this perspective is why Benner feels so much need to recognize Aboriginal culture's place in the food issue.  

Benner's works parallels Hegelian and Kantian philosophy.  He finds resonance to Frederick Engels' Dialectics of Nature as well as Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucian when it comes to philosophical stance.  Clearly, Benner's work touches on many subjects and multiple disciplines.  For example, food and agricultural studies are closely linked with geography, and through his travels Benner came to recognize a lot about the violence of geography in North America.  Indeed he has a very scattered process which may leave the audience quite overwhelmed.  However, it is precisely this depth that Halayden appreciates in Benner, and Transcend: Meeting Room is dedicated specifically to the depiction of the artist's creative process.  In Transcend: Meeting Room, Benner displays his library dealing with food, farming, and other political writings that inspired his work.  Halayden values the dialogue between scholars and artists in the development of cultural production. The space may be scattered and distracting, but that is precisely what Halayden wants the audience to recognize when it comes to artistic creations.  It is a multidimensional, distracting, intricate process.  Hence, this last space does not ask a question the way the previous spaces do.  Transcend, Meeting Room is a space of self-generating questions on its own.  

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[ivy1506]

Some Thoughts: Frustration About Citing My Inspirations

There is an accepted notion in the art discipline that no idea is original.  Given this, any work that appropriates from other artworks is openly embraced and accepted.  Although I hold much admiration for many of the well-known art practitioners today, I find this concept of citation to be a big issue in identifying and stating the influences in my art.  

As artists, we are required and even encouraged to adopt from other artists.  Inspiration is a multi-dimensional thing, and come in various context and forms.  Social media is allowing the accumulation of visual codes to be easier than ever, but this means I am not solely being influenced by the scholarly accepted names in the art world. If anything, my biggest inspiration may be some freelance graphic designers on instagram, and although they may have tremendous influences on my development as an artist, I find it troubling in my citation.  Currently, I am unsure of how to acknowledging their influence and presence.  This issue will be less troubling if there was a few distinct influential figures.  The problem I am expressing here is that given the overwhelming amount of visual codes available today, I find it impossible to identify and acknowledge the sources which shaped my artistic style.  

Even more troubling is the large amount of visual images available that is unsourced.  Photographer: unknown.  Artist: Unknown.  Some images may not be serving artistic purposes in the first place.  Other images may be digitally manipulated multiple times that it is hard to conclude who is the exact artist.  Some have been filtered, cropped, blurred, inserted text, and modified into a whole new identity.  Needless to say the power of text and colour may play a huge role on the identity of an image, and so these manipulations produce profound influences that I must acknowledge.  Yet, they circulate and spread around the internet like a potent disease that is beyond control.  I have no ways of formally recognizing their impact on my artistic identity.  

Lastly, these speculations leads me to wonder whether or not acknowledgement of our influences is even necessary at all.  If so, to what degree?  How much resemblance to Ed Pien must my work possess to be deemed an appropriation?  How strong must these influences before plagiarization comes into discussion?  (That is, appropriation without citation, not necessarily a direct replication.) These are some questions that are concerning me as of lately, and I hope that I may discover some answers in the near future through deeper artistic explorations, and discussions with others. 

[ivy1506]

Visual Language in the Contemporary World

Post Dada was a time where there is a notion to avoid isolation of art from the ordinary world.  There is a new approach to authorship.  Conceptual artists also embraced this and every followed Duchamp to claim materials, objects, ideas as art.  Art seemed to be open to talk about many things,  but it seems very reluctant to talk about the hypocritical attitude within the discipline itself.

We get very defensive when people say that art is a useless discipline to study.  We can listen to lecture after lecture about artists and their philosophies, but no one talks about how they fund their projects.  The art world is criticizing capitalism because it is repressed by it. Yet, despite being exploited our art serves their purpose through circulation.  Even art against capitalism is categorized simply as art that talks about capitalism.

"The hopes of conceptual art would be to avoid the general commercialization." Indeed, Conceptual artists wanted something that “could not be bought or sold by the greedy sector that owned everything that was exploiting the world.”

There is a new approach to authorship.  Conceptual artists derived Duchamp to claim materials, objects, ideas as art.  Since Duchamp’s time there are all these investigation about ownership and claims, it’s clear that art is moving towards embracing capitalism. Andy Warhol, Jeff Koons, Damien Hirst are some examples of artists who were able to achieve huge success embracing the arts as a business or consumable good. It seems like discussions about art is always tied into politics. However, while there are artists embracing ownership and commodification, there are still many artists who want to work against this.  Jason Seghal is a good example.  Many artists want to work against commodifying art.  They want the art to remain authentic.  The other artist that superglued art and took an image of it.

The issue is, regardless of whether we are operating within a communist or socialist or capitalist community, there will always be a dichotomy within it.  What I’m suggesting is that every system is an inevitable game with both winners and losers.  There will always be ones who are profiting and those who are exploited.  Artists are always self-sacrificing for cultural production but they are easily exploited and commodified despite attempts to work against this.  Even if you superglue the stone on the ground. It will continue to circulate as a commodity.  The image becomes exploited by the media.  People will continue to speculate and suggest new implications.   In a way people will be putting words into the artist’s mouth.

The question is why does journalists write implications.  Why viewers look for the artist statement.  Why it’s necessary to use words to justify art.  Why is explanation so necessary? Visual culture is a visual code that should be read just like language.  People consume that visual code.  The problem is that it no longer work so well in a society that has become so visually illiterate.  People refuse to look deeper into visual languages.  We can process visual information at a speed that wasn't common before. But thinking through what an image means? Not so much.

Here I want to explain briefly what I mean by visual language.  So once an image reaches the public domain, an image will continue to circulate (or not). The question is, does this still have political implications?  Is it worthy of asking who is circulating these images?  We do not ever have disinterested looking. The visual is a language that is taught and learnt. We have to think about not just what is visible. We also have to think about what is not there.Who is privileged or holds power in the showing and seeing?  We have to also look at psychodynamic of photos.  Whose fantasies of what are being fed by which visual images? We must look at the psychodynamics of these images.  Who is circulating these images?  Visuality  is the intersection of power with visual representation. How we see is neither neutral or natural.  Our perceptions are never disinterested.  Being critical means bringing forward and conscious of what this agenda is.  Then we can have a better chance of seeing images more accurately.  

This puts visual arts at a position of disadvantage.  We cannot produce old biblical themes, heavily symbolic images from the past.  The mass audience is no longer able to process and understand.  When I say understand, I don’t mean knowing I meant feeling or resonating on a emotional level. They may acknowledge what is going on, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that it will continue to speak to viewers today.  Admiring how well the technical skills are is not the same as having deep profound connection and response to a piece of art work.  Like I mentioned before, there is no disinterested looking.  There is interest and awareness, but we are not meeting them in the right way.  We cannot continue to review avant-garde approaches, modernist themes.  Modernist happened at a time of industrialization and the world war.  People are in a complete new phase now.  Old perceptions must be displaced. The gallery system emerged at that time but it’s no longer relevant in a world of digital image circulation. We cannot produce and exhibition using knowledge we learned from the modernists.  

We cannot even produce things such as minimalists.  The mass is no longer embracing this concept of “less is more”. People love overconsumption.  People love re-blogging images on tumblr without really looking at them.  People love scrolling through Instagram quickly.  They aren’t processing it slowly and carefully.  This over-consumption of visual language means that the mass culture cannot digest visual codes. Over time, they become less familiar with processing visual languages.  This may seem unfortunate to the art discipline but maybe we can look at it in a new perspective.

I want to talk briefly about kitsch art.  If you embrace kitsch art, you will be continually criticized for embracing the commodification of art. People think that it is shutting down of fine arts.  It’s taking meaning out of art and it is a degradation. It works against the aura of traditional fine arts.  That is, the history, uniqueness of an artwork, which is held as a fundamental component in the fine arts. Authenticity is very important.

Traditionally, the history is everything that has happened that becomes a part of that work of art. The one and only and the real thing is the only work that is precious.  If something is not authentic, it is fake and has no value.  It becomes open to different political outcomes. Aura of work comes about because the work of art has an individual life. It has a unique history and only can be at one place at a time. Thus this is important to us in thinking about art, because kitsch art is trying to work against this in becoming a work of art.  Although it is supposed to satisfy how art is defined (that is, unconscious and conscious assumptions of what art is, and recognition of being authentic) it is still trying to remain relevant in the information system today. Therefore, although the concept of preciousness, branding, and preciousness are still important, on the whole this concept of of authenticity is not applicable in the world of kitsch art.  It is also impractical when visual codes are so easily circulated in the public domain.

However, people are responding to kitsch art.  It is, therefore, in a way, a new visual language that the mass is embracing and connecting with.  Therefore, perhaps we as artists should speak with it.  You cannot force communication with an extinct language (traditional fine arts).  Artists are writers with a lot they want to say.  They cannot reach their audience if they don’t embrace the visual language that the mass uses to read.  For example, you will not read a book in German to a class of American children.  You will not read an adult’s book to a class of preschoolers.  The mass culture is the way it is and artists, sacrificing for artistic production to be enjoyed or visually read by others, should meet them where they're at.

There is this notion that society is too uncultured.  but the problem is, there is no one to point fingers at.  It’s people, including all of the artists and their family and everyone that makes up society that we are blaming.  If we see them as visually impaired or illiterate, then we have to realize this illiteracy is not the fault of an individual or a community, and that maybe we are not meeting their visual needs.  They are fully entitled to appreciate or criticize art as anyone else, any other generation.  So, given a person, a viewer who is considered visually illiterate and untasteful, either because they are no longer exposed to adequate visual codes (or overly stimulated due to the media) there should still be something that speaks to them.  

The problem is that Kitsch art is so frowned upon.  We label anyone who is under-exposed as culturally ignorant.  Art as a discipline as an unapologetic and and snobbish attitude.  This is pushing people away and discouraging the public from interacting with visual culture.  Therefore, art as a discipline becomes alienated and polarized.  The mass, who  we want to speak to through art, becomes even less culturally exposed once art becomes solely and only circulated among art enthusiasts only.  As artists we should be aware of this polarizing situation and try to break away from these system to produce visual codes that can be consumed and appreciated.

[ivy1506]

5 Artists That Used Visual Language Effectively in the Contemporary Word

Rafael Rozendall

Rafaël Rozendaal (born 1980) is a Dutch-Brazilian visual artist currently living and working in New York.

Rozendaal naturally picked up drawing and painting from a young age. As a young boy Rozendaal’s uncle would buy his drawings for a bit of small change.

Rozendaal quickly discovered that selling his work meant that he would never see his creation again. This led him to turn to printmaking, allowing him to still keep a copy for himself. Rozendaal’s was furthermore awakened with the invention of the internet. Allowing him to use the platform as a free space to connect with potential audiences.

Rafael Rozendaal is one of the first artists to sell websites as art objects. His websites are sold to art collectors, who then own the domain name of that work.

He come up with ideas, make initial drawings and then, with the aid of programmers and sound editors, complete the work before releasing it on his site and social networks. 

ANDREA BOWERS

#SweetJane is a 70-foot-long drawing of the text messages sent between the teenagers in the 48 hours after the assault on the young woman, who is known in the media and throughout the trial as Jane Doe.

They are the transcriptions of the text messages that were used as evidence during the Steubenville rape trial.

The way the drawing is laid out in the gallery, you read the texts in the order that the events are unfolding, you see the first attempts to reframe and lie about what happened, and you start to realize the extent to which the pictures and the news of what happened are spreading [amongst the teenagers].

It’s a narrative, but it’s a drawing.

But the audience is able to understand that.  They have become familiar with technology. They don’t need to be told what’s going on.

XU JUANGUO

Combining contemporary perspectives with classical format and aesthetics, the works are reminiscent of the Chinese court paintings of the Southern Song dynasty. This groundbreaking series

deconstructs the boundaries between past and present, tradition and evolution, reviving the classic as contemporary.

It is an immense challenge to depict the dense and fairly uniform urban architecture using Song Dynasty landscape painting techniques. Xu Jianguo’s brushstrokes display a sense of rhythmic vitality, revealing a contemporary sensibility and keen observation applied to a traditional format and medium.

“Cities are usually filled with materialistic desires and fierce competitions. Yet it is possible to approach such consumerist excess and brutal competitiveness with a measured and balanced attitude, through the cultivation of personal awareness that frees ourselves from such burdens”

YARON DOTAN

Yaron Dotan is a Los Angeles-based artist who works in a variety of media and styles to produce Pop art, narrative paintings, optical drawings and portraiture.

His mural efforts have been covered by various Brooklyn newspapers and TV news reports including the Brooklyn Eagle, The Home Reporter, Sing Tao Daily, Brooklyn News 12, Sinovision, and have appeared in the New York Times.

Draws things found on social media and other press released information.

Draws the world from a strange perspective that is only available in the modern day experience.

Distorted but accurate angle at everyday life.  Comically rendered.

Light-hearted approach towards consumerism and worshipping goods.  (After all, artists are humans that live in this system too!)

Probing with familiar themes and asking viewer to reconsider.

LAYLAH ALI

Laylah Ali is a contemporary visual artist who creates small scale gouache paintings and drawings on paper. The subject of Ali's most well-known gouache paintings are the Greenheads – characters designed to minimize or eliminate categorical differences of gender, height, age, and in some ways race.

Laylah Ali is known to prepare for many months, she likes to plan out every detail so there are no room for mistakes. Ali says she will one brush for one color and will label the brushes so there is no cross contamination amongst brushes. Ali's work is based on life experiences although you may not be able to tell through her work, she says all of her work has meanings and that what's in her mind comes out through her hands on paper.

Uses comic style panels to guide viewers.  Her way of using visuals as language.

[ivy1506]

Winter Ink Drawings

[ivy1506]

Independent Project Proposal

My independent project will explore about the various ways that I can use visual arts as a tool to express my own religious faith. I will be drawing an image of The Assumption of Mary, a common theme in traditional western artworks.  

My interest in this theme derived from my faith journey as well as the knowledge I learned in one of my art history courses that focused particularly on the 17th century Baroque and Rococo art. Despite variations, I find visual expressions of The Assumption to be quite singular on whole; a google search of the subject presents me with nothing but images of great antiquity.  I image that there must be other creative directions to explore in celebration of biblical subjects, and choose to dig deeper into this subject through the Independent Project using psychedelic colour and ornate line-patterns. 

In my drawing I will  present Virgin Mary ascending into heaven as she is surrounded by angels.  The figures will be lifted upwards by clouds, which floats over a multi-colour, vibrant and intricate background of colours, symbols, and patterns.  I am curious to see what the results will be in large scale, and I would strive towards an over-whelming, expressive, vigorous essence in my work.  This is also an opportunity for me to become more comfortable with watercolour, as I am not very experienced with the materials as of now. Of course, my range of materials will include, but not limited to the use of watercolours. Other options which I will consider includes ink, markers, and pastels.

My interest with intricate patterns,  diverse colours, and sharp visuals comes from the works of  Aayoi Kusama. Specifically, I am heavily influenced by her use of saturated colours and its relations to repetition and tone.  I also learned the ways that Kusama is able to express a sense of infinite space through flat picture planes as opposed to a scenic background.  Indeed, flat colours means a flat picture plane until it becomes so formless that it evolves into a universal, galaxy-like space.  I will also try to approach the backgrounds of my works in a similar manner in hopes to describe the limitless powers of the praying The Rosary (prayer to Mary). 

The second artist that was a very strong influence to me is the Kenyan artist Wangechi Mutu who recently held an exhibition in Toronto.  Mutu’s work is surreal and uncanny.  There is something disturbingly beautiful and fluent in her visual language.  I will like to adopt this eloquence in my use of watercolour, illumanting a lucid beauty glowing from the angelic figures.  I hope to use repetition and colour transitions carefully so that my drawing does not appear chaotic and over-bearing.  The drawing should be elaborate and expressive, but by no means disorderly.  My concerns for stiffness is minimal, because I believe that the posture of the figures and the movement of watercolour will surely create the energy thaat the drawing needs. 

I am being very detailed in my planning, which will be conducted strictly and thoroughly. It is likely that the final project will be conducted in a very precise and carefully planned fashion.