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For the first quarter of the year, we focused on protest art, and were assigned two readings for a socratic seminar. The first of our two readings focused more on a show in which several prominent protest artists would be appearing, detailing their works and how they served as protest art. It also introduced the term "craftivism," coined by Carrie Reichardt (#1, p.3). The second reading served as background for the Guerrilla Girls, a group of anonymous artistically-involved women who protested the sexist status quo of the art world. The two readings share a focus on "craftivism" (although the Guerrilla Girls article does not mention this term) and specifically how it is used by various activist groups. They also focus on modern artistic trends; neither article really discusses any period prior to the 1980's, so they essentially cover exactly the same period.
I was shocked to discover that the art world is still so imbalanced in terms of gender and sex today, having a similar reaction to that of the Guerrilla Girls article's author (#2, p.1). I did assume that women generally had fewer opportunities than men did in the art world, but I was horrified to discover that I was right beyond my expectations. Some of the statistics - of the artists on view at the National Gallery at the time of the article, 98% were male and 99.9% were white - simply made me shake my head (#2, p. 3). I simply could not comprehend such a large disparity. The first article was not as startling to me; rather, I found it very interesting to see that protest art was more than just posters and illegal graffiti, and examples of those that expanded beyond that stereotype. Although we have barely talked about protest art this quarter, what we have discussed is similar to the art discussed in these articles in the way that the art jumps out at you, forcing you to pay attention. I suppose that's the point of protest art anyway - forcing you to see the issue at hand rather than just letting you say "oh, dear, how horrible" and then get back to your day. Specifically, we were shown a protest piece in which clown mannequins were covered with KKK robes and then lynched in a circle around a tree in Richmond. Lynching is inherently violent and shocking, and so I was surprised to see it. However, it delivered an important message - racism is bad and needs to go away (for lack of a more elegant phrasing).
Article (plus panels 18 & 26 of the Great Migration series):
www.moma.org/learn/moma_learning/jacob-lawrence-migration-series-1940-41 Full Great Migration series (with descriptions of each panel: www.moma.org/interactives/exhibitions/2015/onewayticket/panel/1/intro This quarter, we took a walking field trip to the Visual Arts Center to see After Dark by Carli Holcomb. The pieces were largely colorless (either black, white, or somewhere in between), which contributed to her title in their austerity. She compares familiar with unfamiliar, synthetic with man-made, public with private, terrestrial with celestial, real with manipulated, and analog with digital in her work in order to recall "the sense of mystery that mimics the time 'after dark.'" In making her work, she uses materials from environments across the country, from the James River in Virginia to the Wind River Mountain Range in Wyoming, and from her personal life. (One of the pieces uses the diamond from her mother's wedding ring.)
While looking around, I was drawn to the austerity of the pieces, and how they were almost removed from our world, yet present and enticing at the same time. (Perhaps this is another intentional pairing in her work.) One of my favorite pieces was the "rock" in the middle of the coal slag pile - the colors captured in the sparkling surface of the coal were absolutely beautiful, and something about it made me want to be near it, understand it, but also let it retain its air of mystery. I did not understand any of her pieces, but that only made the exhibit more enticing; it gave me a sense of curiosity about how Holcomb sees the world. What does she see in nature? How does she see the world in general? How has her mother influenced her life? (This last one is based fully on the use of her mother's wedding ring.)
Wow, this is really late. As you can see, I've nearly finished the project. Although I spent quite a lot of time deliberating on what idea to use, I finally chose what I wanted to do last week. This week has been spent just cranking out the piece, and experimenting with new ways to use common media as well. The piece is technically mixed media, using pencil, colored pencil, and gel pen. Although I use these media more than any other media (except for maybe acrylic paint), I have never combined them in this way, and I am really proud of how it's turned out, especially since most of the project has been completed this week.
It's due to be critiqued on Monday, and I only have a little bit left to do with it. The background of the piece is the only part left to be finished, and for that I'll have to bring in my green gel pen from home. For the background, I've just been doing little scribbles, just letting my hand and the pen dance around the paper - I can't properly explain it, but I like how it looks. Hidden within those scribbles are little hearts, as well as little phrases that tell the story of the two women in the foreground. (This will be explained in my final process post for the piece.)
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AuthorMolly Goodman Archives
May 2019
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