Archive for October 2015

Home Archive for October 2015

Frank Stella - Print Report.

This is a print named "Untitled (Rabat)" by Frank Stella.
Frank Stella ‘Untitled (Rabat)’, 1964
© ARS, NY and DACS, London 2015

Frank Stella's work is usually abstracted, this is a very good example of the works that he produces. This is a screen print on paper which is forcing ink onto a surface through a prepared screen of fine material. He used this technique to create this very abstracted pattern of yellow and blue lines. It looks like the bottom corner of a square. The print looks three dimensional as the yellow lines go along to then meet blue lines that go up, and same thing goes to the blue lines. That gives it a 3D effect of it either being a carpet and a wall or a cube. It appears to be very easy and child like however it is not, I am currently researching about one of Frank Stella's abstract paintings which also seemed easy to me at the start, however, when I tried it myself I found that it was a lot more difficult. The same probably goes to this print, although I have never tried a screen print on paper before so I am unsure.
I like this print, it looks nice and it is pleasant to look at.

David Burliuk - Futurism Report

David Burliuk was internationally known as the father of futurism. In his home country Ukraine and in Russia he was a major contributor to the period of modernism in the early decades of 20th century.

This is a painting by David Burliuk named "Cyclist."

Futurism was all about movement, technology and violence. This painting tackles the aspect of movement clearly visible in the ongoing figure of the bicycle. Burliuk gave the impression of the bike moving in this painting by creating an ongoing pattern following the bike to make it appear as if it is moving fast. Futurism being interested in violence, the colours in this painting reflect that, there are red and orange shades used which makes the painting dramatic which brings it back to being violent.
I think that in this painting the man on the bike is riding it towards a bad situation - hence the red shades that represent badness and violence. It looks like he is on a train track and the light at the end of the journey resembles a train. The message being conveyed seems to be that the man on the bike is committing suicide. He is in a tunnel which appears to be a subway and the fact he is riding his bike fast towards a train can only mean one thing. Mechanisation, industrialisation and technology are also a part of this- that being the train, industrialisation of there being transport now available.
The artist involved all three most important aspect of futurism in this painting.

Kathe Kollwitz - Print Report

Kathe Kollwitz is regarded as one of the most important German artist's in the 20th Century.The works she created were mostly emotional, showing sorrow, hardship and heatache. Here is an example, named "Old Man with Noose."

Käthe Kollwitz, Old Man with Noose, 1923:

This print was created in 1923 and it is a woodcut. Very dark like most of her works - which works effectively with the theme that she worked in. There isn't much light therefore there are only a few cut-out bits making the print have a scary and gloomy approach to the viewer.

The long rectangular shape of the print makes the dominant image of the old man getting ready to hang himself stand out as there isn't much space around him - all focus is on the man. The cuts that Kollwitz made for the light areas behind the man resemble a big light source which could be anything, a window or a fire. The more spaced out lines in the light area on the sides sort of remind me or curtains so there is a possibility that it is a window. The whole of the black on the print isn't only one shade - there is shading going on on the floor and the man's outfit. That could have been done intentionally by not pressing the print down as much to make sure the print doesn't look flat or it was a mistake- it is hard to tell.

The main focal point is the old man's sad facial expression, that is where there most of careful cutting occurred. I enjoy viewing Kathe Kollwitz's prints as they do not bring out any sort of beauty in the world - they show the dark reality and tell a story.

Pablo Picasso - 'Les Demoiselles d'Avignon' Cubism Report

This painting by Picasso was painted in 1907 and it is the most famous example of the cubism art movement.

It is not a typical painting representing female beauty, it is very distorted with unrealistic proportions and geometric shapes. It shows five naked females posing within a material, the faces of the women are very unusual, especially the two on the right being very dark and weird, almost as if these women were monsters. As in cubism, this painting is edgy and painted from a variety of viewpoints focusing on the underlying structure. Shading is taking place very dramatically in some places of the painting, the breast and face of the standing woman on the right is very dark. The shading does not blend in, it sits on top of the painting as if it was not to be there. The poses of the women show fear but their body language states relaxation.

This is from the synthetic phase of cubism where compared to analitical cubism, there were fewer and simpler forms involved. Colour and design were very important aspects in the cubism period, colour here works effectively. There is a nice contrast between the highlights and shades in the painting as they are both dramatic and all that is in between is the bodies of the women.

Les Demoiselles d'Avignon, 1907 by Pablo Picasso

Les Demoiselles d'Avignon, 1907 by Pablo Picasso

Tom Davidson - 'Eildons & Tweed' Linocut Report

Tom Davidson graduated graphic design in 1977, 7 years later he moved onto printmaking; choosing lino-cuts as his preferred media.

Most of the artist's lino-cuts are detailed landscapes produced from a single block of linoleum, using a reduction process, painting each colour on top of the previous colour and working from light to dark.

At first glance, this piece looks very realistic and a lot more like a painting than a lino-cut. Later you notice that it is a lot more graphic than realistic. The colours go well together, from the lights of the pastel sky above the Eildons to the deep darkness of the river Tweed. This image really draws the viewer in, there are a lot of layers to it. Textures differ throughout the image, trees are highlighted with multicoloured dots and their shadows are laying on the hills softly and are not necessarily darker than the trees.
It is easy to notice the layers this lino-cut was made in by concentrating on the clouds, there are some peach lines and on top are placed the white lines.
Tom Davidson made this image effective as it flows well.

Tom Davidson's print, named Eildons & Tweed:

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Frank Stella - Print Report.

David Burliuk - Futurism Report

Kathe Kollwitz - Print Report

Pablo Picasso - 'Les Demoiselles d'Avignon' Cubism Report

Tom Davidson - 'Eildons & Tweed' Linocut Report