Historical and Critical Studies
Even in today's supposedly open-minded modern society, there is a palpable art school-esque snobbery creating a conscious divide between 'high art' and graphical illustration. Regardless of the many artists that strive to redefine boundaries that are merely a price tag away from common ancestry. Unacceptable is the disregard by those who are 'in the know' when they hold aloft two metric tonnes of polished grotesque above the increasingly popular and diverse graphic novel culture. Should we not afford all sides' equal footing, and leave the interpretations and aesthetic complexities to be in the eyes of the beholder? Of course, I refer, rather over colourfully; to the fence, that has fine art on one side, and commercial art on the other.
To exist in both worlds is a dream for some, (myself included) a possibility for others, and for a talented few, reality. The focus is set on Kent Williams, a modern contemporary figurative painter, who cut his teeth in the field of graphic novels, and who now focuses on his personal painting projects, exhibitions, and books.
The 1980's saw a radical development in the world of comic books. From that period in mid 80's up to the present day, we refer to as the modern age of comic books. However, it has an alternate name, and one perhaps more apt, the dark age of comic books - due to groundbreaking titles such works as Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, written and pencilled Frank Miller, and Watchmen (1886), written by Alan Moore drawn by Dave Gibbons. Both books exhibited complex and layered narrative, held together by very structured nine and twelve panelling in the artwork, which sought to compliment the dense content and mature themes. "That'd be ...
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...n art - pop art how is this acceptable? Is it more about "the Thing" that artistic integrity? No, it is all about the freedom to express an idea, or provide a service, even if it is under a false pretence of "art" JEFF! Pop art, any Warhol, BLAH!
"Illustrators challenging the status quo have always operated in the overlapping area between fine art, commerce, and design, and make all areas of creative production their own"
Conclusion
Unmade bed?
QUOTE:
Personal level, the fact that artists feel the need to differentiate between the types of work they produce. Why can we just do it for the hell of it? "Artists have always operated with restrictions and many of the outstanding works through history of art were commissioned by clients or patrons for specific purposes" check correct quote!
"Do whatever you do, intensely" 1923
All graphic novels are structured to provide few words so the reader can follow the story through the illustrations. The comic panels are drawn to be extremely vivid and revealing. In Watchmen, a story based in a Cold War America, political symbolism is everything. Alan Moore strategically places numerous clues for the reader throughout the story to develop and reveal crucial components of the character’s lives, the setting, and the theme of the novel.
I am an artist. That is not a disclaimer or a boast; it is a statement of position. I believe in the undeniable importance of art and the futility of censorship. I also believe that art is one of the best indicators of the mood of a culture. Scholars, doctors, therapists, and lawyers can attempt to explain us to ourselves, but their testimony, while useful, will almost always be dry and lacking in emotional depth. I am proud to write in defense of a group that predates and outlasts all other professional analysts of the human condition-creators of art.
The Caped Crusader, the Dark Knight, Bruce Wayne, these are all aliases for an enigmatic character in popular culture most commonly known as Batman. While having his humble origins in the pulp magazines of the late 1930’s, over the span of his existence, he has expanded into a full-blown franchise. There have been 3 TV shows on him, 4 movies (1 more still in the making), various videogames, and over 20 comic book series that currently feature his name. Even after 60 years of being in print, it was a Batman issue that was the highest selling comic book of the last week of November, 2004. It is the aim of this project to explore the reasons why this one particular comic book superhero has managed to keep his relevance where so many others have faltered, with a focused look into how Batman artwork has changed over the sixty years of his existence.
Klock, Geoff. "The Bat and the Watchmen: Introducing the Revisionary Superhero Narrative." How to read superhero comics and why. New York: Continuum, 2002. 25-26. Print.
The twentieth century has witnessed many transformations in the ways we produce and respond to works of art. It has seen the rise of altogether new media, approaches, and a wealth of new interpretative frameworks. The emergence of manufactured goods, modernism, and a ubiquitous mass culture contribute to the upheaval, in the 1960’s and 70’s, of established art practices and approaches. Pop Art emerges as an important response to, extension of, or parody of what Clement Greenberg called “Ersatz culture” and “kitsch”, which, to paraphrase Greenberg, represent the omnipresent abominations of commercial and replicated art (Greenberg 9). This essay will observe and discuss the interaction of Canadian pop culture, art, and identity in Joyce Wieland’s “O Canada (Animation)”, and will underline how works of Pop Art serve to elevate kitsch into “a new state of aesthetic dignity” (Eco 228).
Lefevre, Pascal. “Incompatible Visual Ontologies? – The Problematic Adaptation of Drawn Images. In Film and Comic Books, edited by Mark Jancovich, Matthew P McAllister and Ian Gordan, Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2007, 1 – 13.
As Larry Shiner mentions in his book The Invention of Art, the “category of fine art is a recent historical construction” (5). Defined here as the tendency to focus more on aesthetics than on context or purpose (art for art’s sake, per se), the concept of fine art was universalized by the Europeans. To legitimize the term, they “ascribe[d] it to the ancient Chinese and Egyptians, [later…] discover[ing] that the conquered peoples of Africa, the Americas, and the Pacific had all along possessed something called primitive art” (3). The ever-broadening use of this term, however, has led society to perform irrational deeds. In the example of so-called primitive art, for instance, tourists provide a major source of revenue for people in indigenous societies, who sell ritualistic objects to eager Europeans yearning for a taste of other cultures.
To conclude, the graphic novel Watchmen presents the non-fantastic representation of a superhero, implying that not all heroes are like Superman. This notion is explored within the novel by mentioning the realistic motives of the characters choosing to become superheroes, by Rorschach’s representation and through the heroic reactions of the New Yorkers to a street crime. These elements all contribute to Watchmen’s uniqueness and complexity as a superhero comic.
...p from the world they live in, a world of separation and indicate themselves with their own realities. Art is handed over into society’s hands, as in one movement it is suggested - to fixate what is real, live like you create and create like you live; in other – abandon media’s proposed ideas and take the leadership of life in our own hands.
Just as other works that reflect art, pieces in the category of fine arts serve the important message of passing certain messages or portraying a special feeling towards a particular person, function or activity. At times due to the nature of a particular work, it can become so valuable that its viewers cannot place a price on it. It is not the nature or texture of an art that qualifies it, but the appreciation by those who look at it (Lewis & Lewis, 2008).
He argued that past art demanded thought and understanding, whereas advertising and celebrity culture demanded only immediate attention, very quickly becoming uninteresting and boring(). Art should stimulate more the viewer than just visually. Art that has substance behind it I tend to remember more or think about more. This piece is innovative, it brings about ideas with it that hadn’t been discovered in our society. I can see how the audience at first glance could consider this not to be art. I probably would’ve agreed, but learning about it I know that every time I see the repeated images of the soup cans I now think twice. I consider good art to be art that is able to stimulating the mind visually, by bringing about new
“The Golden Age of Comics” PBS. PBS, 2011 Web. Retrieved on February 11 2014 from http://www.pbs.org/opb/historydetectives/feature/the-golden-age-of-comics/
Based on this creator-centric definition, one may claim that art is purely a form of individual expression, and therefore creation of art should not be hindered by ethical consideration. Tattoos as pieces of artwork offer a great example of this issue. However, one may take it from the viewer’s perspective and claim that because art heavily involves emotion and the response of a community after viewing it, the message behind what is being presented is what should actually be judged. To what extent do ethical judgements limit the way the arts are created?... ...
Caves, R. E. (2000). Creative industries : contracts between art and commerce / Richard E. Caves. Cambridge, Mass. ; London: Harvard University Press.
Diarmuid Costello, Jonathan Vickery. Art: key contemporary thinkers. (UTSC library). Imprint Oxford: Berg, 2007. Print.