Man of Fire

 

Jose Clemente Orozco’s piece Man of Fire, was created in the years 1938-39. Orozco is considered to be one of the most complex Mexican muralists. This piece specifically is also considered to be on the top of the list of his best accomplishments. Orozco studied at San Carlos Academy for Fine Arts and was most influenced by Jose Posada, another famous Mexican artist. Unfortunately during an experiment at school, Orozco lost partial sight in one of his eyes and his right hand. He became a political cartoonist where he started publishing his work in local newspapers.

I choose this piece because its not like any of the other styles we have studied. When I first saw it I immediately thought of Hercules (the disney movie). The reason my thoughts went to this move is it reminds me of Hades, the god of the underworld. The man on fire in the center of the piece looks like he oversees or rules everything because of his confidence. The men who are the outer rim of the piece look like they are slaves or are bowing down to the man in the middle. This is of course like the scene in Hercules when you see Hades and all his souls floating around.

Obviously this was not the angle that Orozco was aiming for, but in a way its the same thing. To me I think he wanted the man on fire to represent all the rulers (such as drug lords or dirty politicians for example) because they all intimidate people to get what they want, so people bow down to them. But if you think about it, sooner or later everything is going to catch up with them, just like the man on fire in the piece. It may look amazing and produce awe but sooner or later you are going to burn to a crisp.

References

Blackboard

Mother Nature

 

Pierre Bodo, who is from Congo, created this painting Femme Surchargée in 2005. He has several paintings that revolve around this image that he created that were painted in the same year and were given the same name. Bodo signs all of his work “Art Bodo” and revolves all his paintings around experiences, observations, and dreams. He is a major part of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s “popular painting” school where they believe art has to potential to alter the course of history.

I choose this paintings because to me when I see this painting I think of mother nature. How a lot of people think there is a god that plays this role and how she is in charge of nature. I like how he painted a body of a woman but then made her hair the extensions of nature. All different kinds of animals are sitting on her like they would a tree, but a lot of these animals wouldn’t be seen in the same area normally. I feel like he is bringing nature together in harmony and making her the center of it, like she is the one who brings peace.

I just liked the message that it sent and I liked the colors within the work. He really made the woman stand out with her different features and it caught my eye.

References

Blackboard

http://art.sy/artwork/pierre-bodo-femme-surchargee 

A Part of the Land

I picked this theme because it was always a big part of my life in my community. We had a great number of Native Americans in my class when I was little, so we did a lot of activities that involved us exploring outside and learning about their customs.

Lisa Fifield is the first artist that I choose, because she is part of an Indian tribe so being “one with the land” is important in her life. She was born in 1957 and is a part of the Oneida Tribe of Indians of Wisconsin. She was diagnosed with Lupus after noticing a slight twitch in her right hand. She needed and outlet and was encouraged to start painting by a doctor to start painting.

Birch Bark Woman

I choose this painting becasue of how litterally the manis a part of the world. He is so one with her suroundings that he is a tree. This painting is really what inspired me to make my theme because I like how this shows Native American’s culture of believing everything is connected.

Helen Hide Bird

I liked this painting because even though its just a woman dancing, to me it says that she is dancing with nature. With the birds all around her it seems to me that she is dancing and maybe comunicating with the animals and the earth.

Murder of Crows

At first I wasnt sure about this painting, but after taking the title into consideration I think I got it. I fell that this conncects to my theme becase the painting is about a funeral. Crows circling like that and a group of people, it just seems like there was a death so everyone is mourning. Back to why it connects to my theme, is because everyone is gathered around the tree, and I remember learning about how some Native Americans burried their loved ones right next to a tree, so the tree could absorb their spirt and they could still be a part of this world.

The Bird Funeral

This one really spoked to me because there are so many ways to inturptet this painting. What I see and what made me connect it to my theme is even though the bodies have birds head, I beilieve that its people, who are mourning or respecting this birds death. The reason that their heads been transformed into bird heads is because they are trying to connect themselves to this bird, so they imagine themselves as a bird and what kind they would be.

James Garfield 

 

*None of the creation dates for these peices were available, they were all painting between 1990-present*

The next artist that I chose is Maya Lin, who designed and created the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in 1985. She won the ability to create this memorial at the age of 21, and was still and undergraduate in school. She is a commited environmentalist and is working on her last peice What is Missing? which is about the loss of habitat around us.

This wall amazes me everytime I see a picure of it. Seeing how far the names go and to think that every name was a brother, father, son, uncle, grandfather, it tuggs on my heart. I choose this as the last peice of my gallary because I think that it really makes people think and it brings a different meaning to ‘A Part of the Land’. All these men gave up their lives for America and when they came home they werent even appreciated. This wall connects to my theme because these men fought for our land, our country, and by having this memorial they can always be remembered for what they did for America.

Resorces

Blackboard lesson 8

http://0.tqn.com/d/dc/1/0/C/O/1/vietnam-memorial-wreath.jpg for the V.V.M, picture

 

The Harlem Renaissance

The painting I would like to discuss is not necessarily my favorite painting, but the painting that spoke to me the most. William Johnson’s Chain Gang (painted around 1939) really spoke to me because it just shows how the African Americans felt back when they were enslaved.

 

To me this painting represents how replaceable the African Americans felt. If you glance at it you can immediately see that it is three men in jail suits, but if you look closer you can see that the bodies are misshapen. The jail suits and the shackles represent the obvious of these men were prisoners of the white men, but the bodies are really what have the biggest story to tell. The two men look like the are attached, and not really two individuals, and the other man has no body, just legs, arms and a head. This to me really shows that they didn’t feel like individuals. The two men that look like the are attached, that represents how they lost their individuality and started becoming all alike because they were never allowed to be individuals. The man who has no torso shows how the African Americans felt about their worth, it shows that there was no need for a body (where the heart is) just working legs, arms, and a head to keep them going.

This all ties in with the Harlem Renaissance because that was when the African Americans started being creative. William Johnson showed his creativity by taking what he grew up around in South Carolina, and putting his outlook on slavery onto canvas. If looked at closely it really does show how the African Americans were treated and how it made them feel during these times.