The Gallery presented a set of bronze sculptures made by a French artist called Valerie Andrianoff. Val’s works of art can be perceived as a search for balance and stability as the heading of this exhibition has already suggested “The Balance of Life” (Byrs-Lasquier, n.d.). In the following, a few of her works will be selected to illustrate what kind of ideas she is trying to express and how I feel about these sculptures.
Most of the human figures created by Val are small. We can rarely see their facial expression. Most of the people may find them not beautiful, but through the figures and their body movements, artist’s idea of presenting balance really achieves. Like the two Small Round Table (Fig. 1 & 2), the figure is slim and slender who tries to balance the body in a whirling or rotating table, echoing the name of this exhibition The Balance of Life. It seems that these two works of art try to show people in this fast changing and spinning world have to take the first step to seek the equilibrium when finding their own role. The movements of the two figures are also like touching a water surface and make it swirls, creating a special visual effect that is pleasant to look at.
The images of circle appear quite frequently in Val’s bronze sculptures. For instance, Loneliness (Fig. 3) shows a human being surrounds by a number of circles that give an impression to resemble our round-shaped world. This work of art looks as if the person is in his own mental world with no other people present. As the name of this work suggests, this person is probably in a state of loneliness and meditates in this revolving world. Loneliness too creates a sense of balance when putting a small and slim figure on a strip of circle.
Running In A...
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...he human beings. Sometimes leaving the reality and trying to meditate or think of our roles in the real world may be another kind of psychotherapy to help us to achieve a balance in our life.
Works Cited
Byrs-Lasquier, P. (n.d.). Retrieved December 3, 2009, from http://www.sculptureval.com/index.shtml
Fichner-Rathus, L. (1998). Understanding Art (5th ed.). Upper Saddle River, N. J.: Prentice Hall.
Winckelmann, J. (1764). The History of Ancient Art. In L. Eitner (Ed.), Neoclassicism and Romanticism 1750-1850 (pp. 16-19). New York: Harper & Row.
Fine Arts Interactive Visual Archive [Image] (n.d.). Retrieved December 3, 2009, from http://finearts.hku.hk/faiva/slides/imagepop/3871
Wellington Gallery [Image] (n.d.). Retrieved December 3, 2009, from http://www.wellingtongallery.com.hk/exhibitions/ http://www.wellingtongallery.com.hk/artists/of/the/month/
Dunkle, Roger. "The Classical Origins of Western Culture" Brooklyn College, The City University of New York. 1986 . Web. 29 July 2015.
Louise Bourgeois and Constantine Brancusi were both two artists that had very abstract pieces of art. Though the two artists had very different pieces of work they also shared a lot in common. Bourgeois and Constantine both had very visually dramatic styles of art that focused on sexuality and reproduction in forms of the human body. In this paper I will be talking about both artists backgrounds and works as well as what they share in similiarity and the underlying message of their work.
This paper will discuss and compare A Faun Teased by Children sculpture, of the Italian Baroque style, and the Little Fourteen Year Old Dancer of the French impressionist style. These two sculptures give us a clear insight and allows us to peer in on the moment that is taking place. The active movement, strong diagonals and dramatic facial expressions of the figures in A Faun Teased by Children tells the on looker a vivid detailed story of the actions that are taking place and what role each figure is taking on, in a mythical scene, while the stagnant and serene pose of the Fourteen Year Old Girl resonates calmness and a moment that has not taken place just yet.
Spending time looking at art is a way of trying to get into an artists’ mind and understand what he is trying to tell you through his work. The feeling is rewarding in two distinctive ways; one notices the differences in the style of painting and the common features that dominate the art world. When comparing the two paintings, The Kneeling Woman by Fernand Leger and Two Women on a Wharf by Willem de Kooning, one can see the similarities and differences in the subjects of the paintings, the use of colors, and the layout
As the German painter and sculptor, Kathe Kollwitz conveyed in her statement that the art she created held the burden of transfiguration. The fixation of sorrow and hardship that occurred while she sat huddled with the children was the driving force of her drawings. Her realization that art could not only be an escape from the horror happenings in Germany such as the rationing of food and the starving-to-death children at that time was also a way to voice her opinion of change and revolution. It was the quest, in which she enamored in her drawings and it is this feeling that I value from it. I choose this artist because she delineated the various circumstances surrounding the human individual, she took into account perspectives that involved life with its tragedies, and the lives of little angel children. Her drawings and sculptures were prepared to emulate and capture what her eyes had seen while she was in Germany and this is why I had taken a likening to her drawings. The two artworks that I am specifying in this research paper is the drawing labeled “Germany's children starve!” and”Self-Portrait, Hand at the Forehead (Selbstbildnis mit der Hand an der Stirn)”.
Johnson, Geraldine A. Renaissance Art, A Very Short Introduction. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005.
The works of art from the Archaic Period, Classical Period, and Hellenic Period developed physically and mentally, and the study of their aesthetic differences from period to period allow for a decided contrast and comparability. This interpretation has had a profound effect on the art world and that continues even in today’s world. The importance of Greek sculptures is evident in the storytelling of the gods, the people, and the culture. We use these sculptures as a tool to go back into the past of the Greek people, letting us admire how far mankind has truly come, whether it is in art or intelligence. Generation after generation has been and will continue to be able to see for themselves the society, culture and uniqueness of these periods through the wonderful sculptures that came out of ancient
Kleiner, Fred S. A History of Roman Art. Boston, MA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning, 2010. Print.
Ziolkowski, Eric. "Ancient Newcomer to Modern Culture." World Literature Today 81.5 (2007): 55-57. Web. 19 Feb. 2014. .
The pose recalls the seated portrait of Lorenzo de’ Medici by Michelangelo. The Thinker was concieved as a tortured being confronting a dilemma, a damned soul, but a free spirit, determined to solve his suffering with poetry. It symbolizes the university of reason and the links between mind and body.
This breaks all of our tradition in sculpture. On the one hand the simplification and distortion of body and limb seem extremely daring departures from the tradition which few do; on the other hand, this is reminiscent of the earliest sculpture ever produced, which is far from a perfect balance. Thus he has created a new form; that of pure laziness.
Honour, Hugh, and John Fleming. "Hellenistic and Roman Art." A World History of Art. London: Laurence King, 1999. 179-213. Print.
Barnett, Peter. “The French Revolution in Art”. ArtId, January 7th 2009. Web. 5th May 2013.
Larmann, R., & Shields, M. (2011). Art of Renaissance and Baroque Europe (1400–1750). Gateways to Art (pp. 376-97). New York: W.W. Norton.
“In a decaying society, art, if it is truthful, must also reflect decay. Moreover, unless it wants to break faith with its social function, art must show the world as changeable. And help to change it.” This quote by Ernst Fischer, a German composer, means that truth in art exposes the parts of society, and of life, that no one wants to see. In order for art to change society, it must first reflect the fears and failures of its people. The artist can change how people think of themselves and the world by using less conventional methods of creating art. The artist, in doing this, introduces new ideas of human placement in time and space, new frontiers of thought, that are furthered by the disciplines of science and philosophy. The artist works to introduces unique- and sometimes offensive- ideas so that society will be exposed to new ways of thinking and understanding the world. The artist does this through experimentation with color, style, and form. Therefore, the purpose of the artist should be to challenge how individuals perceive themselves and the offensive aspects of society reflected in art to bring about innovations in the greater society.