Ana Mendieta, Andy Warhol, and Jean Basquiat
Ana Mendieta
Ana Mendieta’s works have influenced many people across the world. Her works shown above have a powerful meaning, as well as making her connection to nature as well. Mendieta had a very tragic life that was cut short. She was born in Cuba during the time a dictator had risen to power. For her safety, her mother had sent Ana and her sister to America without adult supervision. As Mendieta had spent her time in America, she felt that she did not have a homeland. She believed that her home was the earth itself. I admired her Silueta series. She embraced life and death. In “Imagen de Yagul”, she lies flat on the ground with flowers sprouting from her body. The image shows how her body is connected to nature. In other Siluetas, she traces her body into the ground with either paint, fire, rock, or just a sand or dirt drawing. She leaves an imprint of her body on the ground; it’s almost like an artist’s signature. The siluetas can make a connection to Joanne Finklestein’s quote, “Our self-consciousness becomes a mental tool from which the social and cultural roles of the moment surface at appropriate times to organize our performances” (Pg, 138; Finklestein, Joanne).
Mendieta had admired the female goddesses in Afro-Cuban culture and celebrated some of them in her works with nature. She loved natural resources that makeup life because without life, humanity is nothing. Mendieta also was a voice to many people as well, especially to women. In her works, she distorts her body parts to stray away from the oppositional gaze, creating herself into something or someone different and unique. In her work shown above, Mendieta attaches a man’s facial hair to herself. It seems very unusual, but thinking about it, it makes a good statement. A man’s facial hair is a quality that makes a person masculine. Mendieta wants the audience to see that women can be just as powerful.
___________________________________________________________________
Ana Mendieta’s works have influenced many people across the world. Her works shown above have a powerful meaning, as well as making her connection to nature as well. Mendieta had a very tragic life that was cut short. She was born in Cuba during the time a dictator had risen to power. For her safety, her mother had sent Ana and her sister to America without adult supervision. As Mendieta had spent her time in America, she felt that she did not have a homeland. She believed that her home was the earth itself. I admired her Silueta series. She embraced life and death. In “Imagen de Yagul”, she lies flat on the ground with flowers sprouting from her body. The image shows how her body is connected to nature. In other Siluetas, she traces her body into the ground with either paint, fire, rock, or just a sand or dirt drawing. She leaves an imprint of her body on the ground; it’s almost like an artist’s signature. The siluetas can make a connection to Joanne Finklestein’s quote, “Our self-consciousness becomes a mental tool from which the social and cultural roles of the moment surface at appropriate times to organize our performances” (Pg, 138; Finklestein, Joanne).
Mendieta had admired the female goddesses in Afro-Cuban culture and celebrated some of them in her works with nature. She loved natural resources that makeup life because without life, humanity is nothing. Mendieta also was a voice to many people as well, especially to women. In her works, she distorts her body parts to stray away from the oppositional gaze, creating herself into something or someone different and unique. In her work shown above, Mendieta attaches a man’s facial hair to herself. It seems very unusual, but thinking about it, it makes a good statement. A man’s facial hair is a quality that makes a person masculine. Mendieta wants the audience to see that women can be just as powerful.
___________________________________________________________________
Andy Warhol
Like Ana Mendieta, Andy Warhol had also a very tragic life that was cut short. Warhol was born in America. His parents were immigrants from Eastern Slovakia and were in the working class. Throughout his childhood, Warhol had suffered a disorder that caused involuntary movements. He was always alone and quiet as a child, but he observed most of the pop culture in Hollywood. He would read magazines and create cut out collages. As a young adult, he took classes at Carnegie Institute in Pittsburg, which ultimately lead him to become the most recognized photography artist in New York later in his life.
Throughout his life, Andy Warhol was driven by the determination to become a huge Hollywood star. Instead of leaving an imprint in nature, he wanted to make his legacy in the tabloids and pop culture: “The idea of a self endorses, the reality of an inner coherence as if it were the driving force behind our achievements” (pg 137; Finklestein, Joanne). Through his works, Andy creates images of some celebrities by silkscreening some of their portraits. The people he chooses are passed celebrities such as Marylin Monroe or celebrities that have gone through a tough time regaining their relevance, such as Elizabeth Taylor. He makes his works very personal. The Marylin Monroe piece has different silkscreened Marylin’s ranging from a clear picture into a distorted inky blob. Throughout Marylin Monroe’s career, she reached stardom and later died from a drug overdose. So seeing a clear photograph of Marylin Monroe slowly fade into black is very sad.
___________________________________________________________________________
Jean-Michel Basquiat
Jean-Michel Basquiat was born in New York. His parents were immigrants in America. His mother was Puerto Rican and his father was Haitian. Basquiat had lived most of his life on the New York streets with other lesser-known artists and musicians and lived most of his unemployed. His mother had often taken him to museums when he was a child, so as a young teenager, it inspired him to make interactive graffiti art on buildings. Basquiat questioned about life in his graffiti art and it caused a reaction to his audience. He went under the name of “SOMO” when being interviewed about his work and later began to sketch out art pieces with oil sticks and color. By the time he was 20, he had an unusual art style that consisted of scribbles and tribal-like designs. People were attracted to his pieces because he responded to art pieces he has seen in museums.
One of his impressive talents is obtaining a lot of information about the art world and produces art in response to his knowledge. This reminds me of a quote from John Berger, “Certain exceptional artists in exceptional circumstances broke free of the norms of the tradition and produced work that was diametrically opposed to its values” (Berger, John; pg 109). In his works, Jean Basquiat had created something new rather than traditional looking art. It catches people’s eye quicker and really makes them observe it closely. Basquiat’s pieces are like critiques, but, instead of pointing out the wrongs in the art world, he brings in new ideas to make a statement in the modern day world.
___________________________________________________________________________
Jean-Michel Basquiat was born in New York. His parents were immigrants in America. His mother was Puerto Rican and his father was Haitian. Basquiat had lived most of his life on the New York streets with other lesser-known artists and musicians and lived most of his unemployed. His mother had often taken him to museums when he was a child, so as a young teenager, it inspired him to make interactive graffiti art on buildings. Basquiat questioned about life in his graffiti art and it caused a reaction to his audience. He went under the name of “SOMO” when being interviewed about his work and later began to sketch out art pieces with oil sticks and color. By the time he was 20, he had an unusual art style that consisted of scribbles and tribal-like designs. People were attracted to his pieces because he responded to art pieces he has seen in museums.
One of his impressive talents is obtaining a lot of information about the art world and produces art in response to his knowledge. This reminds me of a quote from John Berger, “Certain exceptional artists in exceptional circumstances broke free of the norms of the tradition and produced work that was diametrically opposed to its values” (Berger, John; pg 109). In his works, Jean Basquiat had created something new rather than traditional looking art. It catches people’s eye quicker and really makes them observe it closely. Basquiat’s pieces are like critiques, but, instead of pointing out the wrongs in the art world, he brings in new ideas to make a statement in the modern day world.
___________________________________________________________________________
Works Cited
Berger, John. Ways of Seeing:Penguin, 2008.
Finkelstein, Joanne. The Art of Self Invention: Image and Identity in Popular Visual Culture. Tauris, 2007.
No comments:
Post a Comment