23 March, 2009

etsy:
“Rooted” by Jen McCleary, etsy seller JenMcCleary

This is a print of a digital collage by Jen McCleary. Stylistically, it is an abstract landscape. The visual cues of color planes in the work suggest the dichotomy of a ground (the green portion at the bottom) and a sky (the bluish-white portion at the top). Those two primary planes of color juxtaposed with the electrical tower, organic objects, and the suggested visual of sedentary rock or brick further the indication of a landscape. The electrical tower, brick / rock, and organic matter are all things naturally found outside. That the electrical tower and the shape created by the rock / brick are the darkest components of the piece. In that they contrast against the other visual elements and present in such a linear fashion, they work to direct the eye of the viewer to the point of the composition on which they intersect. The organic matter is what exists at that point; where the electrical tower permeates the ground, as though it were a cross-section, and morphs into organic matter which moves through the rock / brick. An apt visual, in that the title of the work is “Rooted.”
available at:
JenMcCleary: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=95241

song:
“The Hissing of Summer Lawns” by Joni Mitchell, from the album “The Hissing of Summer Lawns”

artist: Raoul Hausmann
Raoul Hausmann (July 12, 1886 – February 1, 1971) born in Vienna, Austria, was a founding member of the Berlin Dada movement. He was a poet, painter, photomonteur, pampleteer, and partner to fellow Dada artist Hannah Hoch. He claims to have invented photomontage, and is possibly best known for his ‘poster poems.’ Examples of such being: “ABCD” (collage, 1923-4) and “The Art Critc” ( photomontage, 1919-20)
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16 March 2009

etsy:
“sprouts” by Caroline Moore, etsy seller sixhours

This piece is a photograph by Caroline Moore, etsy seller sixhours. The photograph is entitled “sprouts.” It’s a visual metaphor, where the title of the piece acts on the visual components to evoke the surreal. The image is of a bowl that is filled with brussel sprouts and doll heads, sitting on a table. That the bowl has an ornate and symmetrical pattern imprinted on it’s soft white surface, and that the table on which it sits is covered with a white lace tablecloth are visual cues. They indicate a setting which is formal to some degree. And that the bowl is filled with brussel sprouts (and doll heads of the same scale) is also indicative of symbolism congruent with the atmosphere of the setting. Furthermore, that the doll heads are representative of a style and a time, through their shape, the style of their hair and accessories, and their blink-eyes. All these visual cues connote a symbolism of time or an era, particularly mid-twentieth century. However, the image is surreal in that it presents an image of a course of a meal juxtaposed with traditionally non-edible items which fit visually on the basis of scale.
available at:
sixhours: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5600674

song:
“Doll Parts” by Hole, from the album “Live Through This.”

artist: Terry Gilliam
Terrence Vance Gilliam (born 22 November 1940) is a writer, illustrator, animator, director, filmmaker, and member of Monty Python. He was born in Medicine Lake, Minnesota. He attended Occidental College in Los Angeles, CA, where he majored in political science. He worked briefly as a writer / illustrator for Mad Magazine before emigrating to Britain. He obtained British citizenship in 1968; he held dual American / British citizenship until 1996, when he renounced his American citizenship. In 1969 he joined Monty Python. He directed or co-directed many of their movies. He has directed such notable films as “The Fisher King” (1991), “Twelve Monkeys” (1995), “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas”.
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9 March 2009

etsy:
“Since I came back” by Jennifer Z. Roszell, etsy seller jzroszell

This piece is a print of an original mixed media painting by Jennifer Z. Roszell. The image acts on a dichotomy of that which is soft and romantic and that which is modern and exact. The modernity is expressed primarily through silhouette forms with different treatments in the same shade. The hummingbird and flowers contrast most from the lightness of the background, acting equally as graphic elements, but the hummingbird is patterned where as the flowers are not. And the pattern of the hummingbird is modern; even as a very truncated and cropped sample it displays a stylized shape of peonies in flat contrasting tones. In contrast the background of the image is a menagerie of pattern elements that are softer and more classical in their image canon and presentation. There is sheet music on paper that is yellow with age, soft muted floral patterns, muted pastel paint treatments, text presented in a typewriter font also on aged paper, a fleur de lis, and a large portion graphically elegant handwriting also presented on aged paper. And these separate pattern elements of the background are presented in different and abstract shapes, portions, and juxtapositions to blend together and contrast from one another. And yet in the larger composition, these elements remain primarily in the background, allowing the bird and flowers (and bubbles) to occupy the foreground.
available at:
jzroszell: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=108075

song:
“Comin' Back Soon (The Bereft Man's Song)” by Crash Test Dummies from the album “The Ghosts That Haunt Me”

artist: Edward Hopper
Edward Hopper (July 22, 1882 – May 15, 1967) was an American artist who painted in a “realist” style. He was born in Nyack, New York. He attended the New York Institute of Art and Design. His paintings are often characterized by their realistic portrayal of contemporary American life. His most famous work is ‘Nighthawks” (oil on canvas, 1942).
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23 February 2009

etsy:
“From Me to You” by Shelley Lane Kommers, etsy seller OiseauxNoir

This piece is a print of an original collage by etsy seller Shelley Lane Kommers. The composition depicts a cropped silhouette of a woman with four hearts positioned on the image plane so that they appear to be coming out of her mouth. The overall shape of the image plane is essentially square. However, a thread outline continues outside the boundaries of the square image plane. On the image plane this thread outline is just that — an outline — it follows the shape of the silhouette of the woman. But outside of the image plane this thread outline meanders abstractly; instead of doing something visually typical like completing the outline of the silhouette. The white thread acts differently outside the image plane than it does within the image plane. The silhouette of the woman presents itself as separate from the background by virtue of pattern. The silhouette consists of a shape cut out of an object, particularly a map of central France; where as the background appears to be a piece of paper with mechanical notes altered with paint to contrast the silhouette in terms of lack or obfuscation of pattern. In that the map is visually obvious as a map; it presents a typical pattern of interconnecting lines, geometric and abstract shapes, and words. The map as silhouette is presented sideways (so that the traditional text is vertically oriented instead of horizontally). From a visual standpoint the most dominant lines on the map trisect the entire shape of the silhouette, ultimately intersecting at the cheek of the woman. Also present near their point of intersection is a portion of the map that graphically represents a metropolitan area; this is visually located at the part of the silhouette where the eye would be. This creates a focal point. Also, from a point of color contrast works in collusion with another visual focal point: the four hearts. Where as the lines are red and the metropolitan area is a block of beige, the hearts are orange; as opposed to everything else on the image plane which is essentially white or very light in tone so that it’s almost white. The hearts are visually notable by means of color contrast, shape, and placement. They are juxtaposed to the silhouette so that they appear to be descending from the mouth. In this visual treatment the parts if the image act in concert with the title of the piece: “From Me to You.” As if to indicate that the silhouette representative of a woman is wishing someone by virtue of the visual presentation of symbolic hearts some communication of love.
available at:
OiseauxNoir: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5890086

song:
“From Me to You” by the Beatles, from the album "Past Masters Volume 1"

artist: Jasper Johns
Jasper Johns, Jr. (born May 15, 1930) is a contemporary American artist known mostly for his paintings and their iconography of flags, targets, letters & numbers. He was born in Georgia, and grew up in Allendale, South Carolina. He attended the Universiy of South Carolina for three semester before leaving for New York and a brief stint at the Parsons School of Design. In New York he met Robert Rauschenberg, with whom he became a friend & contemporary. Having come to prominence during the movement of Abstract Expressionism, he is sometimes referred to as that, he is also known as a Pop Artist or Neo-Dadaist. He is most famous in art history tomes for his painting “Flag” (1954) of an American flag, and for “Painted Broze” (1960), his bronze casting of two Ballantine Ale cans.

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