the work I selected reflects some of the themes I am interested in exploring this semester:
Space making; the drama between man & nature, specifically the decay or loss of life; and the overlaying of old systems with new ones.
Auguries, 2010
Julie Mehretu (b. 1970-)
Ethiopia
-Mark making becomes a tectonic system for space making: heavy marks & thin lines work as layers to envelop a kinetic composition, and a sense of flow in space. the composition is like controlled chaos- a melange of various energies overlaying each other creating a complex kaleidoscope of architecture, space and time.
#6
Barn with Crucifix, 1912
Gustav Klimt (b. 1862-1918)
Austria
-Space is defined by a cacophony of color. The colors texture wistfully hints of a sacred artifact who does not fight for light or attention, but rather accepts the embrace of nature while still peaking through - as if to say, " I'm still here, but not for long, you might find me in another time..."
#7
Sea of Ice/the Wreck of Hope, 1824
Caspar David Friedrich (b.1774-1840)
Deutschland
-a dynamic relationship between architecture and landscape, man versus nature. Of fearsome monumentality, the triangular composition displays no sign of life-only the aftermath of a shipwreck who dramatically died into ice.
#8
Great Life, 2002
Matthew Ritchie (b. 1964-)
USA, british decent
-pulling from a variety of sources, the artist yields a new universe before us: weaving mythology, religion, physics, linguistics, biology and architecture, the painting integrates, assimilates and then proliferates new forms over old ones.
#9
Artificial Wonderland, 2010
Yang Yongliang (b. 1980-)
China
-intricate Chinese inspired landscapes actually render modern cityscapes with a hint of dystopia and a dash of apocalypse. What seems beautiful from afar transforms upon attention to detail / new techniques playing with old art forms.