While folk art is unique to it's individual cultures we can't help but recognize running themes in subject, style, and feel. From these groups comes a remarkably rich and unique collection of music, food, holidays, arts and crafts, and literature. Naïve Art could simply be classified as folk art, but is distinctly the work of untrained, or rather, self taught artists, many of whom are capable of creating the most evocative and relatable scenes with tools as simple as matchsticks and mud.
Contributions from religion, climate, agriculture, politics, and nationality affect these artists, and there is an undeniable congruence in the rich (often naturally derived) color choices, distorted or fantastically unreal use of scale and perspective, and a seemingly optimistic or grandiose take on reality. I've chosen to compare the works of Naïve Artists from the Southern United States and the Balkans region of Southeastern Europe, to explore where their similarities and differences stem from, and to ask the question, what is it about their environment that impacts their art? My theory is that many of the similarities in style and content are due to these artists’ rural and impoverished existences as well as their Christian upbringings.
For centuries we've seen chaos and order ebb and flow amongst the ethnic groups of the Balkans. From the Adriatic to the West, and the Black sea to the East; Albanians, Bosniaks, Bulgarians, Croats, Greeks, Macedonians, Montenegrins, Romanians, Serbs, Slovenes, and Turks are widely spread across this mostly mountainous region. Higher elevations experience bitter cold and windy winters, and the majority those regions suffers from poor quality soil making tillage difficult. In the midst of the various mountain...
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...I maintain that creativity is accessible to everyone; self expression, inspiration, and artistic vision are in the mind of every individual.
Bibliography
Artist Information: http://www.rabuzingallery.com/ Jimmy Lee Sudduth, Folk Artist, Is Dead at 97, By MARGALIT FOX
Published: September 9, 2007
Susan Crawley, ed. THE LIFE AND ART OF JIMMY LEE SUDDUTH, 2005 pg 309-31 http://www.folkartlife.com/articles/clementinehunter.shtml#.UpI7QGTF3Uh http://www.gseart.com/Artists-Gallery/Fejes-Emerijk/Fejes-Emerijk-Biography.php http://www.gseart.com/Artists-Gallery/Basicevic-Ilija-Bosilj/Basicevic-Ilija-Bosilj-Biography.php American Folk Art (Google eBook) by Kristin G. Congdon, Kara Kelley Hallmark
Geographical, Historical, and Statistical Information http://www.pbs.org/wnet/slavery/experience/religion/history2.html http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/2010_5/168337.htm
...tion, we can try new forms of creating art, while questioning and expanding the very nature of collaboration itself.
Long before Christopher Columbus crossed the Atlantic to the ‘New World’, the Western Hemisphere had already divided and developed civilizations. Some of these civilizations were extremely advanced for the time. As people settled in the Americas and developed cultures, so did differences in the life styles, religions, and art of these peoples. The cultures of Mesoamerica, South America, and North America all developed many different types of art, most notably ceramics and larger scale items that still baffle historians today.
literature, it is necessary to know the artists who have produced the works: to include their race, social
My friends, after traveling through the Asian continent and Japan, I continued on to the Americas. The art in the Americas has three regions, North America, Central America, and South America. Each region has a very distinct aspect to their forms of art. All cultures have some kind of art. Being curious about art, I have collected samples from five different areas. The following works of art are very different from European art, but there are still some similarities. The similarities of the human spirit are evident in the following images.
The first artist that I would like to discuss is named Nehemiah Partridge and his painting during the 17th century. Nehemiah Partridge is a painter from the 17th century and he painted colonial art. The painting that I chose is named “Portrait of Catherine Ten Broeck”, and was created in 1719 on oil canvas. The painting is of a young girl holding a rose in her right hand while holding a bird in her left hand. The girl in the painting is very young, and she seems to be very happy being painted. The painting illustrates every-day life in the 1700s. The artist chose very earthy tones for the color scheme, but the light is focused on the young girl. The elements were very calm and peaceful in this painting. In addition, the background of this painting focuses on a young girl named Catherine who was painted by Nehemiah Partridge. The painting has descended by Edward L. Ford from the family’s great-great-great-granddaughter in New York City. This style of painting reflects “reflects Partridge's style of quick, prominent brush strokes with a palette of black, brown, blue, and rust. The sket...
Folk art has had a tremendous impact on our culture as a whole. It’s gave people a livelihood , and added a vibrancy to our history. What started out as a means of practicality is now a full fledged art movement. Folk art is an example of what our planets people can do if they get the chance to be resourceful and creative. From the vivid blown glass of Mexico, to the Intricate headscarves of Russia, folk art has touched every corner of the planet, and made us more colorful as a people.
It appears to me that pictures have been over-valued; held up by a blind admiration as ideal things, and almost as standards by which nature is to be judged rather than the reverse; and this false estimate has been sanctioned by the extravagant epithets that have been applied to painters, and "the divine," "the inspired," and so forth. Yet in reality, what are the most sublime productions of the pencil but selections of some of the forms of nature, and copies of a few of her evanescent effects, and this is the result, not of inspiration, but of long and patient study, under the instruction of much good sense…
Art is a very realistic aspect among the Native Americans. In fact, what we call primitive art is actually symbolic objects from the process of a sacred ceremony. This concept is one not easily understood. Furthermore, this concept by Sam Gill is explained in Native American Religions. Sam Gill shows that Native American Art is different in meaning because of its contents then what modern societies consider art. Nonliterate people produce objects of beauty through ceremonial performances and rituals that keeps the cosmos in order, while modern societies over look these factors.
In fact, some of the works presented depict mythological paintings that resemble the transcending Metaphysical matter of nature. Take for instance, the general aspect of the artworks presented in this chapter. They depict different social levels through the use of objects, emotions and various conditions. The lower status contradicts, the slaves to the wealthy and royalty, all delineate the role of the people present in the society and their everyday life. In the images, the poor and the slaves depicted with little to no possessions, looking tired and over-worked. Through their everyday labor, they must survive as a less fortunate person. In contrast to the images of the po...
The artworks of Mesopotamia, Ancient Egypt, the Aegean cultures, and Ancient Greece have similarities that not only reflect objects and images, but also the media, style and representation. These countries were not always wealthy, clever, creative and powerful enough to gain supplies, but they all find a way to create art with what they had. They have all influenced on each other’s cultures and belief through their artistic values and ways, ranging from the materials and tools they use, position and representation of their monuments and their religious intent.
In conclusion to some up this essay the term ‘creativity’ will always cause a debate in the educational system as. There will always be difficulty defining it as many use the term too loosely to have a definitive meaning. It requires risk taking, it is difficult to portray creativity when schools are so obsessed with right or wrong answers for ways of doing things. Society teaches us the risks are bad because the government and its policies interfere with our own choices and decisions.
Throughout history art has presented itself in many different forms. Two forms of art are poetry and paintings. William C. Carlos’ poem “The Dance” paints a picture while Pieter Brueghel’s painting “Peasants’ Dance” tell a story. The odd thing is that both the poem and the painting have many similarities as well as many notable differences. Tone, image, and imagination show the many similarities and differences between William C. Williams’ poem “The Dance” and Pieter Brueghel’s painting “Peasants’ Dance.”
According to Google, creativity is defined as “the use of the imagination or original ideas, especially in the production of an artistic work.” In his TED Talk, which is one of “the most popular talks of all time”, Sir Ken Robinson discusses how public education systems degrade creativity as an essential component within the academic growth of all students. Robinson is a creativity expert and an author who writes books about creativity in school systems. His expertise in the field of school systems and creativity justifies his opinion on the subject. Robinson concentrates on the significance of creativity by creating a variety of strong arguments. His main contention is that “creativity now is as important in education as literacy” (Robinson).
Herein lies the problem. The children that we are educated are and will be faced with new challenges that current education systems all over the world have been failing to meet. It would seem that structures of mass domain education suppress the innately imprinted creativity found in every living person and widely known specialist on the subject, Sir Ken Robinson, goes as far as saying that we are, “educating people out of their creativity” (Giang, 2013). But if the school system is to make adjustments to explore and cultivate creativity more how are they to do so without losing total structure? Robinson acknowledges this by saying that, “in every creative approach some of the things we’re looking for are hard, if not impossible to quantify. But that doesn’t mean that they don’t matter.”
All throughout time people have used their imaginative minds to express some form of art, whether it be painting, drawing, sculpture, and dance, theatre, music or technology, this has happened all around the world. Furthermore, I think that the youth of the world have the biggest imagination because everything to them is new and they can’t help but imagine “what if” or “how”. Therefor that’s the power of imagination, and preferably for me I use it for art. Art to me is almost like an escape from everything negative in my life. Many say that art is beauty, and we say beauty ...