Black Panthers Graphic Artist

Emory Douglas

Robert Arneson

Read the article below and then watch a video about a controversial sculpture by Robert Arneson.  Post your response: Do you think Arneson's "Portrait of George" should have remained at it's original site? Explain why or why not. (for video click here). 

Portrait of George, 1981, by Robert Arneson "is a bust portrait of George Moscone, a popular mayor of San Francisco in the late 1970s. Moscone's big smile, with crooked teeth and squinting eyes, is distinct and alive, and the surface of splattered colors animates the face. The bust sits on a column casually covered, graffiti-like, with phrases recalling Moscone's background, some of his more memorable sayings, and events from his life and death. Arneson's piece was to have been placed in the Moscone Center, a new civic center in San Francisco named after the deceased mayor. Moscone and another politician had been assassinated three years earlier by a disgruntled San Francisco city supervisor named Dan White, who had disagreed with Moscone on most political points, including issues concerning homosexuals.

"Arneson's Portrait of George departs from the status quo of bland, bronze portrait heads of political leaders that are common in parks and in lobbies of many public buildings. This sculpture is irreverent, colorful, and very large, and the viewer cannot pass by without noticing it. It was the pedestal below the head, however, that caused the greatest controversy. Among the words, bullet holes apparently pierce the column, making a comment on the ubiquity of guns in the United States today. A yellow, phallic Twinkie is prominent. Dan White received a light sentence of voluntary manslaughter for his crimes. His lawyers claimed that he had been unbalanced at the time of the shootings because he had eaten too many Twinkie snack cakes. Many San Franciscans protested the lighter sentence, and there was a night of rioting. Arneson's Portrait of George was a vivid, permanent reminder of the circumstances that surrounded his death, the recent riot, and the tensions in the city.  (Margaret Lazzari & Dona Schlesier, "Exploring Art," p. 360. Belmont, CA: Thomson Wadsworth.)

PreColombian ceramics portrait pots

This is a typical design of a pre-colombian stirrup spout pottery vessel. These vessels are from the Nazca, Mochica, and Chimu cultures of ancient Peru.

It is hard to believe these artworks are at least 2500 years old. Talk about timelessness... they feel like art of TODAY!

 

For further information ( and inspiration!) click here.

A Subtlety

(from Art Education, January 2015)

     In the early summer of 2014, artist Kara Walker was commissioned by Creative Time, an organization that "commissions, produces, and presents art that engages history, breaks new ground, challenges the status quo, and infiltrates the public realm" to install a temporary 40-foot-tall, 75-foot long, and 35-foot wide sculpture of sugar in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn.  The sculpture was surrounded by attendants -boy-shaped figures made of a molasses and sugar resin. The gigantic white sculpture was produced in an old sugar factory that was destined for demolition.
There are multiple meanings to this work. Watch and listen to a video of Kara Walker talking about her sculpture, A Subtlety, by clicking here.

for further information, check out  CreativeTimes web site. Click HERE

click here --  watch, listen, and then answer this question: what does"aesthetic" mean? In your sketchbook, draw or collect three or more examples of objects that appeal to your own aesthetic.

Elegy for Robert Rauschengerg

"Elegy for Robert Rauschenberg" is a video created shortly after the artist's death in 2008.

Robert Rauschenberg was an artist who pushed the limits of sculpture and painting. He is credited with inventing the art form now known as "Combines" -- you can think of them as morphs(a combination of painting and sculpture). He walked around New York City picking up trashed objects like work boots and car tires, to be incorporated into his paintings.

When he died in 2008 (at age 83 ) this beautiful video was made of an exhibition of his Combines.

The video maker and a group of other artists and musicians composed the music you'll hear in the background. It, too, was a kind of morphing of sounds and chance arrangements.

How has the video artist used sound and movement to influence the viewers understanding of Robert Rauschenberg's "Combines"?

Look, listen, learn and leave your comments.

Aritst and Activist Ai Wiewei is free to travel again

In class we're watching the film "Never Sorry" -- a documentary about the activist-artist Ai Weiwei. The film is a few years old now, but at the time of its release we were unsure of the outcome for  Ai Weiwei. However, much to our collective relief, he has been released from custody, his passport has been returned, and this courageous man is now free to travel the world.  Click HERE to read an article from the NY TIMES, Sept.15,2015