Joel Meyerowitz

http://vimeo.com/38937942
An award-winning street photographer who has been creating memorable images in the great photojournalistic tradition since 1962, Joel Meyerowitz pioneered the use of color in this slice of life genre, and his classic book on Cape Cod, “Cape Light” was instrumental in changing the prevailing dismissive attitudes toward color photography. Within a few days of the 9/11 attacks on The World Trade Center, Meyerowitz began to create an archive of the destruction and recovery at Ground Zero that consists of over 8,000 images of the aftermath of the tragedy. In this latest Leica Portrait video, Joel shares the story of his transition from junior art director to legendary photographer.

Blind Man, Spain, 1967

The Twin Towers, 2001

Cypresses, Early Morning, Tuscany, 2002

Before being a photographer, he studied painting and medical illustration, and then worked as an art director some time. These experiences of wide range are core of his style of photography. In other words, he does not limit photography of means. His photography range is very broad: space, architect, portrait, and nature. He is one of pioneering color photography.

David Hockney by Kristy Chae

Though photography and paintings are similar in a way both of them can capture moments in time that are accurate, David Hockey, one of the famous leaders of the pop art movement, says, “Photography will never equal painting!” David Hockney is a painter, draughtsman, printmaker, stage designer and photographer, and also, he is considered one of the most influential British artists of the twentieth century. In addition, Hockney is well known for taking detailed individual photographs and putting or compiling them together like a puzzle. During 1980’s, Hockney made lots of photo collages and photomontages.

Merced river, 1982

My mother

Noya and Bill Brandt

Pearl blossom highway

The Cubism and photography exists together in these works.  He used grids to show the multiple reference points into photography. I think it is really interesting to see how each images are put together to complete the work. I like the fact that while a single photograph only show one point of view and only need a small period of time to look at it, his works need several minutes to look at and the slight changes of light and composition into the next image are beautiful. Also, as one can see in “My mother”, I like how the composition of putting the images together, or the edges of the images, matches with the subject matter.

One can see the same idea of dividing them into grids in Hockney’s several paintings, especially in his swimming pool series.

A Large Diver  (Paper Pool 27), 1978
colored and pressed paper pulp, 72x171 in.

Schwimmbad Mitternacht  (Paper Pool 11), 1978
colored and pressed paper pulp, 72x85 1/2 in.

I like how he uses colors and the brushstrokes of the swimming pool. I also like how he painted the reflection inside the swimming pool.

Some great images of that tacky Marilyn Monroe statue coming down...

Richter movie playing again at siskel

Just wanted everyone to know that there are more opportunities at the end of May to see the Richter movie if you haven't already seen it....hooray!
http://www.siskelfilmcenter.org/gerhardrichterpainting

Edgar Degas (Place de la Concorde or Vicomte Lepic & His Daughters) -Dana Kim

“Place de la Concorde” is an oil painting by Edgar Degas in the year 1875. This painting is also known under the title “Viconte Lepic and His Daughters.” The painting portrays cigar smoking Ludovic-Napoléon Lepic with his two daughters crossing the Place de la Concorde. I find this painting of Degas very interesting and appealing for its innovative composition, artistic drawing, and sharp analysis of movement. Degas followed the style of Impressionism. This painting of Degas is representational in form similar to his other works. It almost depicts what is there in reality. In “Place de la Concorde,” Degas pays utmost attention to the drawing of figures and faces in the picture. Apart from effectively using formal elements of art such as lights and colors, Degas skillfully captures his subjects. In this painting, Degas depicts movement in different directions. The lines and the high walls depict the theme of alienation in modern society. The contrast of light shades the center of the City Square and slightly darker shades toward the sides provides the painting a realistic touch. The way in which the subjects in the painting face different directions and the use of large amount of space shows that a photograph influences it. Thus, “Place de la Concorde” remains to be one of the best impressionist paintings with a perspective analysis of movement.

Thomas Eakins (The Swimming hole) -Dana Kim

“The Swimming Hole” is one of Thomas Eakins’ masterpieces and was painted in the year 1885. Eakins is known as one of the greatest American realists of the nineteenth century. In “The Swimming Hole,” Eakins portrays the male nude by painting himself and five other friends on a creek near Philadelphia. This painting can be considered one of the finest of Eakins’ outdoor pictures, as depicting the human body is known to be the most challenging subject in art. The reason I like this painting of Eakins’ is that it exhibits his mastery over painting the human form. “The Swimming Hole” accurately captures the movement and details of the subjects. Eakins has also made effective use of formal elements of art such as line, space, shape, color, texture, and perspective in this painting. The composition of “The Swimming Hole” is pyramidal in shape., which is the important aspect of the painting. The figure of the man reclining at the left leads to the one pointing his arm upward. This in turn leads to the man at the apex of the pyramid. The man in a diving position at the right leads to the figure of Eakins himself in a swimming position. From Eakins’ figure, the attention is driven back to the painting’s focal point. The uniqueness in the painting lies in the way male nudity is portrayed in outdoor setting. Eakins’ use of color is remarkable in this painting. He provides a dark background against the light skin tones of the swimmers. This helps in drawing attention to the focal point of the painting. Each figure in the painting is skillfully arranged to imply a continuous movement such as reclining, sitting, standing, diving, and swimming. Also, each of the figures is carefully positioned in such a way that their genitals are not exposed. Thus, the conventional aspects coupled with innovative elements make “The Swimming Hole” an interesting and lively painting. 

From Anna:


I found it interesting that photography has been playing such a major role in painting and continues to do so.  I never really gave it much thought, but after taking this class, I realized that most of contemporary painters are borrowing directly from photographic images and very few are actually studying the figure, the landscape, etc. by observation.  We live in an age when the romantic beauty of nature or human form is not such a cool thing to worship whether it is in painting, music or other form of art.  We are trying to distort it and find new unconventional beauty in everything that surrounds us.  Photography and Photoshop make it all so more tempting and inviting to take images apart and reassemble.  I am not an advocate for revival of the naturalist beauty aesthetic, but I am just curious when this era of ugly truth in art will be over.  What has been traditionally thought of as the ugly things in life that we currently see in art such as violence, pornography, and poverty are deemed beautiful and meaningful now and have been for a while.  I do feel that they are in a way more interesting and more beautiful than some of the straightforward, conventional types of beauty that we discard; yet, I think this is a social, economic and political issue.  The United States is a wealthy country and most artists here grow up in a somewhat predictably comfortable atmosphere.  Few are severely malnourished or physically and emotionally scarred by the societal problems.  In other countries, for example in India, that is not the case.  For instance, when "Slumdog Millionaire" won the Oscar prize in the States, very few people in India wanted to see this movie, because  it portrayed their bitter survival so vividly.  Most people in India want to see happiness and beauty in their art, not poverty and despair that surrounds them in daily life.  I just wanted to share this thought and observation and wondering what others think about such trends in art.