I have little or no views on Abstract art so this is why I decided to watch this video. I have to say that I still, don't fully understand much of these works. Photography has always interested me and I am glad I watched this video. Hockney was correct, photography isn't an art form, only the tool in which artists use. The Abstract video seemed to move well with the reading in our books. I enjoy some of the Warhol type of art but have no idea when it comes to Kline. I did enjoy his Woman One but the earlier works I could take them or leave them.
Abstract Expressionism and Pop Art of the 50's and 60's
Abstract painting works in the real space. We travel towards it in imagination but it meets us hafl way . Frenz Kline, was born in PA, 1910 and as an artist he moved to NY in the 1930's when he started painting in the abstract until his death. His later works used color to draw the viewer into his work. C&O is a representative work of how he used color. The contrast of black against white is brought together with the other color used. His ealier works used only black and white with the absent of color. He was allied with a group called Action Painters. The actions of the brush strokes were as important as the final result. Colors seem to go through a transformation depending on the colors around it. It seems that the colors keep changing in response to our reaction. He also uses shape to evoke emotion. An abstract painter must know when to stop.
Helen Frankenthaler painted Mountains and Sea. It influenced a whole generation of color field painters. She was a trained painter and her work is found both feminine and mystical. She learned the language of line, mean and color. Jackson Pollock had a big influence on Helen's style. She was inspired by the scenery while visiting Nova Scotia, and painted Mountains and Sea when she got back to NYC. She used cotton cloth instead of canvas for her paintings. This cloth soaked up the color and let her thin out her colors. The surface texture can still be seen through the color.
William De Koonig painted Morning:The Springs. He once said even abstract shapes must have a lightness, and echo of sensations we may recognize. The forms seem weightless, much of the painting is monochrome except for a splash of yellow that anchors the work. He made his name with Woman One, which took him 18 months to complete. He photographed every attempt at creating this piece. This was considered an action painting but no action painter would rework his piece over a hundred times. His painting is very structured with lines. He handles paint with a masterful casualness.
Flag painted by Johns seems to bmake this object usually seductive. He used the en-caustic technique through much of his work. Map painted in 1961 uses colors in non typical areas such as blue for land and sea alike. The colors of Flag are bold and simple, symbolic patterns seemed to dominate Johns. Works for two decades. He also uses blobs, drips and layers which are prominent details throughout his works. His subjects were of a personal connection to the artist.
Rauschenberg is seen as the father of pop art as Warhol is its son. Rhythms, images and texture of modern city life is what pop art produces. The first art movement of the 20th century. The artists never became friends but both were pop icons of the 60s. Rauschenberg paved the way by using everyday mass produced objects in his art. Warhol produced portraits using a silkscreen process. Rauschenberg and Marilyn Monroe were btoh subjects of this process.
Ray Lichtenstein s Girl with Hair Ribbon was completed with a mechanical coloring style like a comic book. He used the world of the comic strips and treated style as something to be chosen or rejected depending upon the job at hand. His recording of expressions seem to have roots back to the Renaissance.
Hockney on Photography
David Hockney reminds us that the camera is older than the process of photography. He takes a series of images and re-arranges them on a flat surface. He discovered Polaroid cameras and experimented over a five year period. He calls it drawing with a camera. He examines each print before he takes the next picture in the sequence. He used the white boarders of the photos and incorporated their space. His grid like collages paved the way for a later free-form swork not limited to a grid. The perception of reality are pictures not reality itself is what Hockney though about Cubism. Hockney believes that you need more than one viewpoint. He used reverse perspective on some of his pieces. He used this in a way of presenting space. Hockney used this concept in his 30 page Vogue magazine spread. His perception of Van Goghs chair is of a person walking by the chair and not merely standing in front of it. Every thing is related to everything else in his work, there is no hierarchy. Hockney painted flowers for a friend and then photographed them next to the real flower. He though the painting looked more real than the actual picture of flowers. Painting was more realistic in a sense then the actual photo. He got rid of Polaroids but then could not see what photos he had already taken as he did during the creation of his earlier works. He had two rolls of film that did not get developed and used the apologetic note from the Photograph technician in one of his collage pieces. He is not only a great photographer but a great painter also. Hockney moved back and fourth between painting and photography. He painted parts of Los Angelos and shows it tob e very bright and colorful. He illustrated a story for Vanity Fair, set in the Southwest. He found a section of highway , got a ladder and constructed a collage moving about this scene. He used bits and pieces from different perspectives to show a panoramic view. He then went back to theater, painting staging along with the use of lighting. Hockney has since abandoned photography once again but will hopefully some day return.
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