I love this illustration by Shannon Wright. She tackles the issue of cultural appropriation in the modern world through this piece and shows how cultural background is diminished into mere fashion trends. I love the distinct contrast between the African American girl sporting her natural hair and the two seemingly Caucasian girls who have their hair in twists and cornrows, who most likely do not have the need to control their hair in that manner.
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Coach Hall and I had a conversation about potential contemporary trends I could have sought out and one thing he suggested was researching contemporary artists who were closely following the ukiyo-e style After a little research, I discovered Masami Teraoka. He is a Japanese-American artist who creates watercolor paintings and prints that resemble the traditional ukiyo-e style. He incorporates many modern elements to tell a story or a message such as Macdonald's burgers or the twin towers. A few weeks ago, I went to visit my sister in Baltimore and we visited the Baltimore Museum of Art. The museum had so many exhibitions that I think my sister and I missed a couple of them. My favorite was the Kimono and various installation exhibitions. From this visit, I focused mainly on noticing the importance of the scale of the piece. Even if it is a very simple piece, when it is enlarged, it becomes rather fascinating.
I am in love with Leah Yerpe's massive charcoal drawings. They have so much movement and contrast, all seeming to tell a story. There is extreme detail in all the line work and I do not understand how she does not accidentally smear the shading. This artist is currently my favorite artist. Her artwork contains images of surreal figures morphing into flowers, plants, spirals, etc. In his website, it states that he is influenced by Friedrich Nietzsche's philosophies and the "melancholy underpinnings" of Avro Part. Schmidt, or also Dromsjel, utilizes a mix of 20th century style photos with pencil sketches.
The two articles pertaining to censorship, “Art in Russia: Under Attack” and “The Art of Controversy,” both address the common theme of anti-religious or religiously offensive art. The articles introduce the two main opposing viewpoints, one supportive of all forms of art and another condemning all religiously blasphemous work. Although I do not fully agree with either side, the rise in art worthy of censorship brings up various questions on the contradicting nature of our opinions towards taxpayer-worthy art.
One prominent viewpoint was represented by a particular museum goer who stated, “I think it’s a disgrace that people can bash other’s religion.” (2 Holman) I thought this statement was interesting in that some of these same people who disagreed with offending religious iconography were opposed to Damien Hirst’s use of animals in his art pieces. Being in a religions class, I learned about the custom of animal sacrifice among some Hasidic Jews. Kaporos is a Jewish ritual in which the people’s sins are transferred onto a chicken, where the chicken, holding those sins, is later slaughtered. Animal activists have brought this practice to court in which they labeled the tradition as animal abuse. This ritual, when brought down to the most basic levels, is somewhat like an art performance, in which it’s not necessary to kill the animal but has a meaning beyond the action performed. Would these same people bashing Damien Hirst’s use of animals in his art, claiming it as animal abuse, and also bashing the religiously offensive art permit specific animal sacrifice in the name of religion? The article by Holman was much more analytical while the piece by Denis Sinyakov consisted of specific examples of censored art. Both works were equally well written and complimented each other nicely. Perhaps the most important function of the controversy rising from these censored art pieces is the rise of conversation. People, bouncing off of these art topics, are starting to question their own morals and boundaries. It allows us to make a distinction upon what is acceptable and what is unacceptable. |
AuthorMaggie L. Walker Governor's School Student in Art IV. Archives
May 2017
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