Impressionist: Monet

BLOG#8

--Tribute To Monet--
Bansky's Tribute to Claude Monet

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Over the course of my life, I have fallen in love with many Claude Monet pieces. One of my favorites (below) is "Waterlily Pond" (1899)



the colors on this piece are so inviting that I feel as if my eyes are dancing on his canvas over every brushstroke with pure happiness. His color mixing in this piece is so beautifully done that each color comes alive the longer you stare at it! I love that Monet has captured this moment in time and has made it eternal by capturing everything from the movement of the trees, the water, and even dare I say, the air! Everything in this piece feels warm, serene and inviting!

A few months ago, I ran in to a BANSKY piece where he used Monet's painting as inspiration for a tribute piece. When I first saw the piece I had to ask myself
"would Monet be pissed that Bansky did this re-take on one of his most memorable pieces of art?" and then I thought to myself "well, Bansky is a political artist, and so was Monet, so maybe he would be proud." I think that aside from all the endless differences between Bansky and Monet one similarity is that they were both passionate about the art they produced, and I think that Bansky's tribute piece to Monet, would have made him proud:



As you can see, Bansky's re-take on the classic "Waterlili Pond" is very different than Monet's but I have to say that I think it is just as moving as Monet's piece because Monet has painted the ugly reality that we are living in today.

English Romantic Landscape

BLOG#7

--Constable VS. Bansky--

When I first saw the work of Constable's landscape paintings I felt disconnected from them. Why? Because his work seemed a little too perfect, and I just did not relate to the landscape's he painted so maticulously. His canvas's looked to posed, nothing like the landscapes I've run in to in all my life! I liked his attention to detail, especially in the clouds. I too am a cloud lover, but other than the clouds, the rest of the canvas--I felt was a lie. Fromt the trees, to the river, to the farm and everything else in his piece "Haywain" (below)



felt so staged that it turned me off to even wanting to look at more of his work. I hate to say it, but I feel that Constable was selling me a lie on canvas! On the other hand, one of my favorite graffiti artist by the name of BANSKY did a series of landscape paintings that I feel are more "real" at least more "real" in my time and place. Bansky adds an element of political awareness to the landscapes he paints just check it out, I think they are really interesting:





Huge difference fromt the CONSTABLE pieces no? lol. While I am aware that there are many reasons for the differences in their work, I still have to say, that I would never buy a Constable piece (well, maybe just his clouds pieces) that feels as staged as the "Haywain" piece. Lanscape paintings are to be just natural, and his piece does not feel natural at all!

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BLOG#6

---English Romantic Landscape---

THE BEAUTY OF J.M.W TURNER's PAINTINGS
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Never before have I felt so entirely captivated by a painting. In this piece, Turner shows signs of an art that was way before his time; impressionism. Turner's piece "Rain Steam and Steel" really is so sublime that I find myself staring at it at least 4 hours a day! Not because Im a crazy person, lol.. but because It's my desktop wallpaper. :) I loved it that much! Now.. why did his piece captivate me? One reason: because even with the absence of concrete elements such as line, and detail.. it evokes emotions of movement that no other painting I had seen prior to this one (at least in classical art) made me feel like the train was actually moving really fast on its journey. The use of his paint strokes have clearly made the viewer aware of the speed of the train, and it has been painted on canvas as it would look in real life going at that speed! I truly found this piece to be superb because of the way it makes me feel. It makes me feel like I want to go! go! go! I want to go away to where ever the train is going, I too want to be in that movement painted by Turner, that for ever will be imortalized on canvas. I too, want to be like his painting.. eternal.



Rain, Steam and Steel by J.M.W Turner

I would like to share with you all a picture taken by a canadian photographer his name is Hamilton. He did a piece focusing on the enviromental distruction of canada by the large corporations there, he called it "Rain, steam, and toxic waste" and it trully reminds me of the Turner piece because of the colors, and lines that he captured. Yes, they are two different mediums; Paintings and Photography but it is wonderfull too see that allthough very different, Hamilton was able to capture the feeling of the Turner piece in his photograph..just look:


"Rain, steam, and toxic waste" by Hamilton.

Juste Mileu Painters and Photorealism Painters

BLOG#5

---Juste Milieu---

Gerome, Juste Milieu Painter and Modern Day Photorealism Painters

This past week in class, we are learning about the Juste Mileu movement. One painter that struck me was Gerome. His art strokes were so maticulus that his paintings were more like photographs. I love photography, and I love art, hence I am a lover of Photorealism art for sure! Some of my favorite photorealism artist are:

Jason Brooks,


Richard Estes,


Audrey Flack,



Hilo Chen,



Don Eddy,



Chuck Close,



and Davis Cone,



just to name a few!

The reason why this week I am writting about photorealism artist, is because they remind me of the painting by Gerome, "Snake Charmer" (1860's)



allthough Gerome, was making "picture perfect" art back in the 1860's, his work as maticulus as it was was in a sence too perfect to be reality. This as pointed out by the article "Imaginary Orient" is a danger to history. Why? because it removes the "painting" quality from the piece, and instead creates a "reality" in the mind of the viewer. Most of the work of the photorealism artist I like, look sooo very real that I forget I am looking at a painting at times, and I start to look at it like I would a picture, and that makes me think it is a real person, in real time, in the real world, making it hard for me to keep in mind that what I am looking at is in fact "fantasy." It is a dangerous skill to have, to paint a fantasy reality in the minds of people, because one can malipulate the present, and in turn that manipulates history brush stroke by stroke.

Self Portraits

BLOG#4

---Self Portraits---

A few nights ago, I was looking at my notes and I came across the Delacoix painting he did of himself (Self Portrait, 1827- below)



...and one thing hit me like a ton of bricks: why when we do a "self portait" of ourselves, do we all most always focus only on one part of us: the face? As I looked at the self portrait of Delacroix, I examined it slowly, and realized that this painting told me nothing about the man. Yes, I see the "Self" part, but I failed to see the "traits" part of him. And then, I started looking for self portraits of other artist I love, and realized the same thing: Self Portraits, are "Face" Portraits! Just look below:

LEONARDO DAVINCHI, Self Portrait:




GOYA, Self Portrait:



PABLO PICASSO: “Self-portrait”, 1901.



VINCENT VAN GOGH: “Self-portrait with bandaged ear”, January 1889



HENRI MATISSE, Self-Portrait in a Striped T-shirt 1906



FRIDA KAHLO, Self Portrait



DIEGO RIVERA. Self-Portrait Dedicated to Irene Rich 1941.



GUSTAV COURNET, “Self Portrait” or “The Desperate Man,”



ANDY WARHOL Self Portrait



SALVADOR DALI , Self Portrait:




VIK MUNIZ, Self Portrait



YOLY, My Self Portrait:



Why are we so obsessed with faces, and why do we choose to give our "face" so much power? Is our face our whole Identity? Is our entire sense of "self," as thin, and simple as the topical layer we call "our face?" I have been struggling with this question for the past few days, and have come to no real conclusion to my question. I guess, that when I take a self portrait of myself, I focus on my face almost every time, and it never hit me before that that, only shows one of the layers of who I am.. in a self por-trait I want people to see my traits, my talents, my life, my heart and soul, my self, my worth! I want people to see more than just the surface! The "face" can only show you I am a homosapien. You can Identify me as a species.. but my heart, is inside, and that is harder to show on canvas than a face. My mind, is more powerful than any image of my face, my heart is as deep as the wrinkles my face will one day show, and my soul could never fit on any size canvas. For THIS reason, a self portrait is now and forever will be a face portrait, no where close to a reflection of my "self." After this class, I will never look at a self portrait the same again.

Strong Female Artist Tea Party

We Are Sum' Stong Women Up in Here!



"Strong Female Artist Tea Party" (Left: Claudia. Center: Me. Right: Sol. Photo By Christina-not pictured)

This weekend, I got a call from an old friend. She told me she wanted to introduce me to two of her friends; Claudia and Sol. Both of them are artist as well. Claudia--a painter, Sol--a poet, Christina the photogapher, and Myself- the graphic artist, photographer and poet.

All four of us would be together at "golden hour" (6-7:30 ish pm-- When the sun is setting) for tea, conversation about art and of course, a blunt. We smoked, and drank our tea as the sun went down. We exchanged words, and listened to each others views on art and poetry. Sol and I have both perform our work at poetry slams around the bay and we decided to share a poem with each other, as Christina took pictures of us while we were not looking.

Our conversation included art, poetry, music, and love. But more than words, my heart took with it, the golden tone of our brown skin as it glowed under the rays of our smiles, and words were interchanged as the smoke of divine ganja, flowed around us like clouds from the heavens.

Today, I am thankful for art in all its forms and the fact, I have the courage to embrace it in all ways--> always!! One love...

-Yoly.

p.s this is a photo I took of Christina while she was working. Just look at the beautiful landscape that surrounded us that day! and also, note the old camera we were working with!!

Romanticism, Frida Kahlo & Realities

BLOG#3

---Romanticism---

Spanish Romanticism, is by far my favorite period of art we have covered in class so far. I love that color is of true importance in the work of romantic artist. In the world of spanish romanticism artist, Francisco Goya, his paintings were a reflection of reality. Critizised by his peers, Goya was told that he did not paint "Reality" He painted monsters eating their children! How could that be reality? Goya, repeatedly faught against this critizism by strongly confirming that infact even a monster eating his child could be a reality! He believed like the philosopher Vitzchenzi, that "Reality exist inside of YOU not outside."

While one can dispute over the concept of "Reality" one can not ignore that in the mind of Goya, his reality was what he painted. HIS REALITY. Who are we to dispute the validity of another's reality if we don't live it? In Goya's piece,(Below) "Saturn Devouring One of His Children" (1820)I can see his reality is as chaotic as the eyes of Saturn as he rips of the head of his child. I can only assum that Goya's vision was a translation of the issues surrounding him at a time where he saw everything changeing around him. His reality however non-realistic it seemed, was his and sadly not his alone, because even today we witness such madness.




Reality is a concept I connect between Goya, and one of my favorite artist in Mexico, Frida Kahlo. Both of them painted a reality that others saw as being fictional.

Frida,Kahlo "The Little Dear" (1946)



Shown as a deer, injured and vulnerable one can see how complex she was emotionally. Yet she displays herself as a Stag, with the male antlers which shows the masculine side of her personality she has always embraced. She is wounded by arrows, but her face is serene. Frida had an unrequited desire to be a mother which turned into an intense relationship with animals. She had several dogs, parrots, monkeys and even a little deer. The animals were her foster children, and by showing her body as an animal further connects her to this idea. The surreal difference between her head and body show that although she was a part of her animals and the the physical pain that she has endured in life, her mind and imagination were apart from these corporeal needs and grievances. I cannot look at this painting and not identify with it. We are our bodies and life is the arrows that scar us. Some wounds heal and others leave intricate memories relieved on our skins.

I leave you with a quote from Frida Kahlo. I chose this one because instead of the word "paint," anyone can insert their passion (singing, dancing, photography,). Anyone who feels creative urges flowing through their veins can identify with it:

"I paint my own reality. The only thing I know is that I paint because I need to, and I paint whatever passes through my head without any other consideration."

Frida Kahlo
Mexican painter (1907 - 1954)

Neo-Classicical Art, & My love for Neo-Soul Music

BLOG#2

-Neo Classical Art-


This week in class, we observed closely the movement of Neo-Classical Art. In this movement, many artist with passionate views on life in both the private and public realms expressed their vision on canvas, as close to perfection as possible. This search for perfection, came greatly out of the doctrine of Winckelmann. He believed that a "diciplined lifestyle, meant a diciplined mind.." and as such, they had to go back to the classical finesse that came with Greek classical art. Artist of the time, all searched for perfection, they all wanted to be as close as possible to the ideal.

This obsession with the "ideal" comes from Neoplatanism. The idea that everything is a copy of the "ideal" and that because it is a copy it is inferior, BUT it is as close as one can get to the "ideal" hence, one should try to be the ideal copy of perfection!

One of the Neo-Classical Artist of the time that caught my attention was David. In his pieces "perfection" was clear in my eyes. All his work, was breathtakingly beautiful. It followed all the poussinist rules of line and contour. Yet one piece of his truly moved me, and that was "Death of Marat" (1793)It was this piece,(below)



that made David seem like a real person for me. Not obssesed with perfection, rather with the human contidion of a friend he cared for. For me, this piece alone transformed David, from a robotic perfectionist in to a human being with a soul.

Soul. This word is one dear to my vocabulary, and to the essence of my personality and identity. Everything I do, I do it with soul. Every poem I write, has in each line a little bit of the soul of wich I write. Every poem I write is to make the reader feel like the "Death of Marat" Painting made me feel of David. YSoul. It takes "Soul" to make something come to life. Wether it be a poem, a neo-classical painting or a song.

The purpouse of this blog is to connect the Art I learn about in class to my everyday life, and when I it came down to ask my self "how Neo-Classical art could be a reflection of my everyday life" I could not think of a connection. But in the background played a song on the radio by one of my favorite artist--Erykah Badu. She sang a song called "Ye-Yo" in that sweet voice of hers and suddenly a lightbulb went off in my head!

Erykah Badu (image below)is what is now called a "NEO-SOUL" artist.



What does that mean? Well, like neo-classical painters, she is part of a music genre that aims to go back to the "classics" as well. Classic Soul Music. The fact that the genre alone is called "Neo-Soul" makes me think of the attempt made my neo-classical painters like David, they attempted to reach perfection by immitating the "ideal." Except that in the case of Neo-Soul music, it is not expected, or encouraged that one copies the "ideals" of the past, instead neo-soul, encourages thinking outside the box and welcomes the reflection of present day by accepting new sounds, new styles, and lyrical flow into the historical classic genre that is Soul music. Neo-Soul is different than Neo-Classical art in that sence,and to be honest-- I'm Glad it is!

The relation between Rococo art and my graphics

BLOG#1

-Rococo Art-

After Tuesday's lecture, (4-22-08) There is no doubt in my mind that my graphic design style is more like that of rococo artist than that of baroque artist. Like the professor described in class, the art of rococo artist was much more playful than that of baroque artist. She made a cool observation that made it real simple for me to differentiate the two genres. The professor compared Rococo art to a play, and baroque art to an opera. An opera is much more serious, and less casual. In my opinion, my graphics are much more playful and casual than that of many mainstream graphic artist that I know. My art is definitely playful and at times my stuff can be suggestive like the art of Fragonard, here is an example of a few pieces:

this is a postcard I made to invite people to an art show I was hosting:



this is the cd cover for my friend's albums:



& this is a poster of my most recent..:




and in comparison here is a piece made by one of my bosse's for a studio recording company, as you can see this piece reminds me more of baroque art in the sense that this piece is for sure, a lot more serious. It's hard not to notice how strong the lines are in this piece.