ART DISCUSSION: What is art? Who/what inspires you?

[lukewarm skywalker]

Originally Posted by DJ bana

LUKEwarm Skywalker wrote: 

I did a project sorta related to this. I cant link it directly, bc it's NSFW, but it goes to the root of "where is the line." I even took down an exposed nipple on the front of my photo page, so i wouldn't get banned. In Europe, nudity is embraced in the media openly.. here it's a

I was in a thrift store when i came across a photo of a nude woman from the 50's, sitting naked comfortably in her living room.

Here is the artist statement for my series "Laundry Day," inspired by the found photograph. [you can see the series on my portfolio]

When I found a nude vernacular image, my immediate reactionwas not towards the woman’s nudity, but I was drawn to her sense of comfort.The photo, considered a 1950’s “pinup girl,

 

[lukewarm skywalker]

Alex Kanevsky

This guy captures movement and sound like nobody's business...

 

[boys noize]

LUKEwarm Skywalker wrote:

Boys Noize wrote:

I've done a lot of thinking on this particular topic (also prompted by NT and it's PG-13 policies.) Our society's view on nudity, among many other topics, is incredibly puritanical. In more secular societies, nudity is not treated like such a big deal. It's really a philosophical question. If nobody made such a big deal about nudity, would it even be a problem? All evidences point to no. You see indigenous tribes that don't wear clothes and it's not a big deal. We're all born into this world naked. It wasn't until some uptight guy wrote into the bible, and other religious texts, that nudity was indecent that this became an issue.
With that being said, I think the line between nudity and pornography is blurry. Some might argue that pornography is devoid of art but I think that's becoming less and less clear.

I don't think anything is "too obscene" for art. Putting a limitation stifles creativity and affects all artists, even those that might not be interested in depicting such imagery themselves. If you allow censorship of any kind, there's no telling what would get censored next.

Who's going to be the brave soul that posts some artwork depicting nudity? What if we used spoiler tags and gave a warning?



Personally, I think blaming some "uptight guy [who] wrote into the bible" is both facile and scape-goatish, no offense. But that's another topic for another thread. I think nakedness and nudity become controversial when sex/intercourse is implied, knowingly or unknowingly. Maybe that's why it's so controversial in our over-sexualized society and less so, of at all, in those indigenous tribes. Would this be the case if they had MTV and/or Abercrombie and Fitch bombarding them with sex laced ads, though? Still in many of tribes that I've seen, via t.v or some other media outlet, amongst the adults, there is usually something covered or hidden. In both sexes, it's usually the genitalia. Now whether this is done for reasons relating to controversy or protection, instead, is worth finding out. Good points all around though.

I think spoiler tags and a warning is good. I'll pm Meth and find out.

Also, on the matter of feeling like you're "running out of time", I think everyone feels that way at some point during this journey. I think we are in fairly similar boats with respect to when we both embarked on a formal education in the Fine Arts at the collegiate level. I think I mentioned this in one of my previous posts in this thread, but I am in my third semester in my University's SFA, next spring will be my forth, after which point I will have fulfilled the BFA requirements, thus allowing me to graduate. In other words, I would have only been studying art formally for 2 years before graduating with my BFA.

With only 2 years under my belt, I lack both the confidence and portfolio for serious studies at the MFA level. Realizing this, I've decided to spend a minimum of 3 years building up a portfolio, honing my understanding and application of medias of interest (painting and printmaking), and just learning the histories of my practices. 

MFA programs will always be around, so I am not in a hurry to get to them. My immediate concern as an artist is continued growth in my practice and an understanding of the contexts in which my practice falls. Both of these concerns, I can address within and without the setting of an MFA program. That said, relax bro'...

, Yale aint going nowhere. Stressing will only lead to you producing work that is rushed and superficial, and if this is the make-up of your portfolio, then you may as well kiss the Yale acceptance letter good-bye. Also, remember, the artist makes the art--not the institution, so don't allow prestige and clout to be the end all be all for where you decide to go. 

...


Yeah, I know I'm being ridiculous with the "running out of time" thing. It's just hard to shake that feeling. We are incredibly similar as far as where we are in our formal educations 

 I'm also going to graduate with only 2 years of art classes.

I'm not in a rush and I'm not going to allow my art to suffer due to stress. Honestly, I'm looking forward to time off after graduation. I'll have time to dedicate to just working on my technique, more fully fleshing out ideas, and, what I'm looking forward to most, travelling and just experiencing more.

Those paintings by Alex Kanevsky are really great. They remind me of my buddies expressive style of painting but in a much more refined manner. Thanks for posting this, I'm going to show him exactly what I've been talking about as far as being more precise when painting expressively. I'm actually trying to push my paintings towards being a bit more painterly and expressive too but it's hard breaking out of my comfort zone. My professor suggested I try doing a series of studies to try to get my feet wet. This painting I'm working on now is very much like how I handled my older paintings. Very tight, very controlled, tight lines and blocks of color. In progress preview below

 

[nocomment6]

Those Alex Kanevsky paintings are nice.

 

[lukewarm skywalker]

Originally Posted by Boys Noize

LUKEwarm Skywalker wrote:

Boys Noize wrote:

Those paintings by Alex Kanevsky are really great. They remind me of my buddies expressive style of painting but in a much more refined manner. Thanks for posting this, I'm going to show him exactly what I've been talking about as far as being more precise when painting expressively. I'm actually trying to push my paintings towards being a bit more painterly and expressive too but it's hard breaking out of my comfort zone. My professor suggested I try doing a series of studies to try to get my feet wet. This painting I'm working on now is very much like how I handled my older paintings. Very tight, very controlled, tight lines and blocks of color. In progress preview below

Yeah your painting(s) definitely look(s) "controlled." They almost feel like computer rendered images, which is quite interesting. There's actually a first year MFA here at my school whose currently exploring and simultaneously hoping to bridge the gap between painted images and computer generated images; essentially trying to push his paintings to the point where they look cgi. It's really interesting, to say the least. 

I could be wrong, but it looks to me like you apply your paint quite thinly...almost as though you were glazing? Also, are you working from photographs? If you're trying to break out of your "comfort zone" in hopes of achieving a more "painterly" style, perhaps you should consider using more paint with each application. Also try painting with just your palette knife (no brushes) and consider painting with your other hand. 

While I am not certain, I wouldn't be surprised to discover that Kanevsky paints much of his work with a palette knife. It just has that look. What I am definitely certain about, however, because I remember reading a transcript of an interview of his some time back, is the fact that he achieves that final painterly look only by working through numerous layers of paint, one on top of the other, over and over and over again. The flesh on his figures are so palpable because he is literally building them up from within. You can't achieve a look like his with a few coats of paint. I recall him saying that he often works on a figure for months, and I believe him--the evidence is skin deep, and it's beautiful.

Originally Posted by nocomment6

Those Alex Kanevsky paintings are nice.

Indeed, they are. Just based of some of the paintings you've posted, I assume you're more into abstract art? I think Kanevsky is interesting because his works border on abstraction even though his subject matter is  largely figurative and loosely realistic.

...

 

[boys noize]

Yeah, the way I've been painting recently has been using pretty thin layers of paint. Similar to glazing but I'm not using any varnish or turp beyond the underlayer. I usually apply 3 to 4 layers of paint but they're quite thin. I also work from photographs and screen caps since I've been trying to create cinematic compositions. I think I'm going to continue pushing this style for this series but I am going to begin a new series of works soon and I'll explore a different way of painting. Thanks for your suggestions, I'm going to try all of that. Palette knife, left-handed, more paint, and, since I'll be working from photographs again, I'm going to use this technique I learned in one of my drawing classes, which is to blur the photograph using a program like Photoshop and to build upon each layer with higher clarity. That technique really helped me with drawing portraits when I was first starting out.

 

[lukewarm skywalker]

Igor Kraguljac

"Chiaroscuro in Photography"

...

 

[boys noize]

Simon Birch

 

[bonde111]

My favorites are: Dali, and Miro. My high school art teacher put me onto Miro, and ever since I've been fascinated by his work. I still have two decent works that I recreated in h.s. of his hanging in my computer room. They have some of it at Mayo Clinic and each time my wife and I go up there, I have to see it.

It's been a long time since I'd last looked at any art other than a museum here and there while on vacation.

 

[t11time]

at Igors work

 

[nocomment6]

@Lukewarm - yeah he steps out of the field of just painting a subject. Yeah I paint mostly abstracts inspired by real life motifs.

Oh I'm exhibiting this friday, so if anyone would in Hungary the scream. haha.

@boys noize - I'd say and heard it being said, that you should paint outside your comfort zone, so idk maybe abstract expressive paintings, but personally I find it very hard to take my art in a direction that doesnt interest me, although there are borders amongst which you can experiment.

SImon Birch.wow, just wow. where do you guys find all these great artists?

bonde111 - Miro is awesome, I didnt understand why he is considered good from reproductions, then I saw a large painting of his and was stunned.

 

[lukewarm skywalker]

More on...

Kehinde Wiley

(Just to give you an idea of the scale this guy works on)

Wiley is keenly aware of some of the ironies of his life. His paintings of young men from the poorest neighborhoods around the world sell for top dollar to a privileged elite of largely white collectors. A gay man, he paints images of a culture that is stereotypically viewed as exaggeratedly heterosexual (“There’s an interesting anxiety to what’s possibly *#$$# about them,

 

[c4]

I'm glad I happened to stumble upon this thread. I'll read it from the beginning when I have some more time.
I also see some talented artists posting in here which is always great to see.

An idea that I've only recently been able to grasp: That painting on the wall in you home or museum is not art, it is the evidence of the art that took place.

I have never taken an art class before, so I certainly am not educated, but the thought or idea that I mentioned above has had a profound impact on me and will
hopefully show when I start pushing paint again.

 

[boys noize]

Originally Posted by c4

I'm glad I happened to stumble upon this thread. I'll read it from the beginning when I have some more time.
I also see some talented artists posting in here which is always great to see.

An idea that I've only recently been able to grasp: That painting on the wall in you home or museum is not art, it is the evidence of the art that took place.

I have never taken an art class before, so I certainly am not educated, but the thought or idea that I mentioned above has had a profound impact on me and will
hopefully show when I start pushing paint again.

Yes, a lot of artists have gravitated towards other mediums than painting due to that same thought. Performance art comes to mind. It's interesting to think that the painting or sculpture is just evidence of art that has taken place.

 

[p0tat0 5alad]

I'm writing an art history paper about Abstract Expressionism and I did a quick little compare and contrast between Clement Greenberg and Harold Rosenberg and Rosenberg was more drawn to action instead of the formal elements. He saw painting as a process and not an object. Most people see a painting for what it's end result looks like whereas he saw the technique's, brush strokes, action, etc. that went into the painting. I'm not going to act like I know anything about painting but that is exactly how I look at printmaking.


I've been absent for a week or two but I've been in the studio finishing up prints. Hybrid woodblock + screenprint technique where instead of reductively taking away from the woodblock, you carve out the entire key and print it to paper. Then you screen print the fill in the color. It's a lot faster method than just doing a reductive woodblock but you still get the quality lines and and texture in your key that you can only get from a woodblock. We've had our last critique for in-class assignments and I've knocked out 3/4 out-of-class prints so I still got one more to do by Mon. On top of that I need to get my photography portfolio together to get ready to print it for our last critique and I need to put more out-of-class time in the studio for my sculpture. I wanted to work with a material I've never used so I've been trying to make a bass guitar out of sheet metal and it is a pain hammering curves to fit together so I can spot wield. I felt like I was from a different time hammer it out on an anvil but I did it 2 1/2 hrs straight and my hand was feeling it afterwards.

 you can tell I don't want to hear about paintings...

 

[iYen]

What do you guys think of this?

 

[boys noize]

Originally Posted by p0tat0 5alad

I'm writing an art history paper about Abstract Expressionism and I did a quick little compare and contrast between Clement Greenberg and Harold Rosenberg and Rosenberg was more drawn to action instead of the formal elements. He saw painting as a process and not an object. Most people see a painting for what it's end result looks like whereas he saw the technique's, brush strokes, action, etc. that went into the painting. I'm not going to act like I know anything about painting but that is exactly how I look at printmaking.


I've been absent for a week or two but I've been in the studio finishing up prints. Hybrid woodblock + screenprint technique where instead of reductively taking away from the woodblock, you carve out the entire key and print it to paper. Then you screen print the fill in the color. It's a lot faster method than just doing a reductive woodblock but you still get the quality lines and and texture in your key that you can only get from a woodblock. We've had our last critique for in-class assignments and I've knocked out 3/4 out-of-class prints so I still got one more to do by Mon. On top of that I need to get my photography portfolio together to get ready to print it for our last critique and I need to put more out-of-class time in the studio for my sculpture. I wanted to work with a material I've never used so I've been trying to make a bass guitar out of sheet metal and it is a pain hammering curves to fit together so I can spot wield. I felt like I was from a different time hammer it out on an anvil but I did it 2 1/2 hrs straight and my hand was feeling it afterwards.

 you can tell I don't want to hear about paintings...

Post some interesting artists you know that do printmaking when you get the chance. I'm so unfamiliar with the medium outside of seeing old German books and the work I posted earlier from Neil Shigley.
And I know that feel bro. I've been in the studio everyday for the past week. Like, I haven't seen my friends outside of class in over a week. 

 Wrapping up this latest painting, I'll have pics later tonight. 

 

[ryda421]

art imitates life

 

[iYen]

^^^^
How?

 

[ryda421]

because we attempt to capture what we see and interpret

 

[boys noize]

Finally wrapped this one. I thought I was going to be done last Friday... 20 hours later...

Luke - oil on canvas

36" x 48"

Also, I finally have a legit web portfolio. I'm still adding pieces to it (and I really need to photograph my work with something other than my iPhone) but I'm happy with it so far. Just need to buy my domain name and I'll be set.

http://cargocollective.com/darrylleung

 

[p0tat0 5alad]

How is cargo collective as opposed to the hasaportfolio? I'm still waiting on my subdomain name confirmation and I hate that the theme doesn't allow me to separate my work by their medium.

 

[boys noize]

Originally Posted by p0tat0 5alad

How is cargo collective as opposed to the hasaportfolio? I'm still waiting on my subdomain name confirmation and I hate that the theme doesn't allow me to separate my work by their medium.

I think Cargo is much cleaner looking overall. All of the themes you can choose from, and customize to your liking, are beautiful. All of the users of Cargo are people in the art and design fields. It's the best platform I've seen so far outside of having a customized website. It's free, to a certain extent, but you have to apply or get invited. If you want access all of it's features, such as hosting more than 12 projects total or using a custom domain name among other things, it costs about $70 a year. I'm going to upgrade to full because I figure I'll be spending that much anyway if I had to find my own hosting and bandwidth and I think it's helpful to be a part of the Cargo creative community.

 

[nocomment6]

how can someone get an invitation?

 

[boys noize]

Originally Posted by nocomment6

how can someone get an invitation?

PMed you