Reflective of her background at both Yale and Kohler, Ann Agee’s work is a surprising mix of the domestic and industrial. Her first major piece, Lake Michigan Bathroom (lost and now created anew), is an exercise in allegory. Familiar utilitarian forms take on new meaning when executed in high quality ceramic and painstakingly decorated in traditional blue and white. Large images set into the background pattern speak to systems. Models of human anatomical processes and scenes from water treatment facilities surround a central image of a placid lakefront view. Framing the illustrations is a series of classical tile patterns, including French, English, and Spanish styles. The eye is kept in constant motion when considering the piece, the mind oscillating between the domestic forms of the appliances in the foreground and the intricate metanarrative taking place behind them. The work is made conceptually dynamic through the liberal use of contrasting elements and ideas. Square tiles come together to create circular forms; floral motifs and depictions of the natural world are incorporated into a deeply manufactured and sanitary environment. Traditional …show more content…
Drawing on the intersection of the domestic and industrial spheres, she values her pieces’ imperfections. Often making similar or even identical pieces many times, each work remains unique due to slight inconsistencies inherent to hand crafted works. A self proclaimed ‘champion of the handmade’, many of Agee’s pieces demand attention, a slowing down to appreciate them in the same way she must not rush her own process lest the authenticity of the work be compromised. Across a wide variety of media and subjects, her pieces maintain a sort of spontaneity in their inconsistency, the sort usually eschewed by fine artists as a mark of mediocrity. Yet Agee insists these are marks of honor, pivotal to the story of the piece; to her, it is perfection that is
Carol Armstrong begins her essay by pointing out the two main points that come about when discussing A Bar at the Folies-Bergere. These two points are the social context of the painting and its representation of 19th century Paris, and the internal structure of the painting itself with the use of space. She then goes on and addresses what she will be analyzing throughout her essay. She focuses on three main points, the still life of the counter and its commodities, the mirror and its “paintedness”, and the barmaid and her “infra-thin hinge” between the countertop and the mirror.
Contextual Theory: This painting depicts a portrait of life during the late 1800’s. The women’s clothing and hair style represent that era. Gorgeous landscape and a leisurely moment are captured by the artist in this work of
The earliest forms of art had made it’s mark in history for being an influential and unique representation of various cultures and religions as well as playing a fundamental role in society. However, with the new era of postmodernism, art slowly deviated away from both the religious context it was originally created in, and apart from serving as a ritual function. Walter Benjamin, a German literary critic and philosopher during the 1900’s, strongly believed that the mass production of pieces has freed art from the boundaries of tradition, “For the first time in world history, mechanical reproduction emancipates the work of art from its parasitical dependance on ritual” (Benjamin 1992). This particular excerpt has a direct correlation with the work of Andy Warhol, specifically “Silver Liz as Cleopatra.” Andy Warhol’s rendition of Elizabeth Taylor are prime examples of the shift in art history that Benjamin refers to as the value of this particular piece is based upon its mass production, and appropriation of iconic images and people.
Watteau’s Enseigne de Gersaint is one of the artist’s most fully realized works. It is ambitious and sophisticated in size and execution, in visual economy, and in content. It is consequently only masquerading under the guise of a signboard, a categori...
The purpose of this Essay is to discuss an example of design from the late 1800s, I will relate it to the social, economic, technical and cultural context of that time. . I intend on delivering details of the artist and his life experiences as well as his style and possible interests. I will also evaluate the subject with my own opinion, likes and dislikes, with comparisons of work and artists from within that period up to the present date
...owing us with her great works. She has led a driven and captivating career. While she has received much controversy in her time she has managed to continue creating great works. She is widely acknowledge, and so far through out her life, has made quite an impact. Her love of nature and in it’s importance is rippled through out all her work, mostly in the freedom of her later works. Her ability to maintain balance between her love for architecture and art, has helped to make her stand out in both crowds. Her sculptures will please viewers for centuries to come.
When first approaching this work, one feels immediately attracted to its sense of wonder and awe. The bright colors used in the sun draws a viewer in, but the astonishment, fascination, and emotion depicted in the expression on the young woman keeps them intrigued in the painting. It reaches out to those who have worked hard in their life and who look forward to a better future. Even a small event such as a song of a lark gives them hope that there will be a better tomorrow, a thought that can be seen though the countenance by this girl. Although just a collection of oils on a canvas, she is someone who reaches out to people and inspires them to appreciate the small things that, even if only for a short moment, can make the road ahead seem brighter.
These assemblages of work mirrror a reflection of glimpses of landscape beauty, a particular solace found in the nature surrounding us during her time in the outback, elegance, simplicity and the lifestyle of the physical world around us. Gascoigne has an essential curiousity displayed in her work exploring the physical word that is captured in an essence of this rural home which brings evocate depictions, subject to the arrangement of these simple remnants that offer so much more. The assemblages focus us on viewing the universe from a unique turnpoint, compromising of corrugated iron, feathers, worn linoleum, weathered fence palings, wooden bottle crates, shells and dried plant matter. The art works offer a poetic expression that traces remnants around the world that individually hold meaning to their placement in the
Cimaglio’s use of two-dimension form by painting an organic or naturalistic scene allows the viewer to have a more familiar approach to the art piece. Her use of chiaroscuro makes the mother goat and her kids come dramatically alive. The light focuses our attention directly to the family of goats; first I see the two kid goats then my eye looks directly to the thoughtfulness of the mother goats face looking directly at me. The clear deep shadow surrounding the family is the essential emphasis of the almost equal parts of light and dark focal point. Adding to the beauty and mood of deep space, the atmospheric perspective envelops the family with warm light and showing background gives me a perception of
Though the interiors he designed were created to be useful spaces, his focus was more on aesthetic than function . Within his individual objects of art such as chairs, tables, drawers, staircases and many others he focused more on the form of the object than on its intended use. Instead, Kuramata appeared to want the presence of the piece to surpass its function, something that is only possible when there is a symbolic value . One of the best examples of a work of art fitting these stipulations was his design of the Miss Blanche armchair (fig. 3) in 1988 . The chair is made of acrylic resin and embedded with artificial roses and aluminum . Kuramata’s title of the work, choice of materials, color contrast, process of creation and simple aesthetic combine to create a piece of work that forces the viewer to question whether or not it can even be considered a chair. This work of art allows the functionality to disapp...
Adèle Ratignolle uses art to beautify her home. Madame Ratignolle represents the ideal mother-woman (Bloom 119). Her chief concerns and interests are for her husband and children. She was society’s model of a woman’s role. Madame Ratignolle’s purpose for playing the pia...
Aristotle once claimed that, “The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance.” Artists, such as Louise-Elizabeth Vigée Le Brun and Mary Cassatt, captured not only the way things physically appeared on the outside, but also the emotions that were transpiring on the inside. A part no always visible to the viewer. While both artists, Le Brun and Cassatt, worked within the perimeters of their artistic cultures --the 18th century in which female artists were excluded and the 19th century, in which women were artistically limited-- they were able to capture the loving relationship between mother and child, but in works such as Marie Antoinette and Her Children and Mother Nursing her Child 1898,
In this text, three essays extracted from the compilation “Design and Art” by Alex Coles, are being analyzed or commented. This three essays seek to explain a clear definition of the word design and then proceed to relate/separate design, giving details about the function and goals of design and determining the motto and characteristics of art.
The use of materials to complement a design’s emotional reaction has stuck with the modernist movement. His implementation of these materials created a language that spoke poetically as you move through the structure. “Mies van der Rohe’s originality in the use of materials lay not so much in novelty as in the ideal of modernity they expressed through the rigour of their geometry, the precision of the pieces and the clarity of their assembly” (Lomholt). But one material has been one of the most important and most difficult to master: light. Mies was able to sculpt light and use it to his advantage.
This usually entails the manipulation of texture, proportion and the setting pleasant utilization of sunshine with the intention to realize symmetry, harmony and an accurate equilibrium in complete human life. The essential ideas of good design are pure and to an enormous extent innate. When analyzing the universal properties of sunshine, house, colour and supplies, the inside designer appears to be like at the interplay of the natural legal tips that govern them. The precise design of a room works not only on the customarily ignored senses of odor and listening to but additionally on the emotions. Coloration schemes are selected to copy the mood of a room. Understanding how every side of a design contributes to a common look and feel of a room or area constantly takes precise experience and each architects and designers manipulate these to good