Michel Keck - 021006 (2010)

This piece is almost split in half with the types of colours and techniques used. On the left hand side there are light colours such as white and light yellow, then there is a oblong of black that ties in the left hand side with the right also there appears to be different materials layered up upon each other. On the right hand side the materials have been painted over by a variety of colours, firstly black and then white on top of that and the different shades of grey and blue. there is also a small bit of yellow to tie it in with the left hand side. All the different colours are painted on with a brush as you can see the markings from the brush, the grays and white are at the bottom and the blues are towards the top.

Keck uses line in this piece with the layering of materials on the left and with the painting on the right as the lines of the brush strokes go in different directions. Tone is also used with the blue and black/grays.

She also creates a rough texture with the brush marks on the right hand side.

The piece is composed well as the light and dark on opposite sides. On the left hand side it is mainly light which is complete opposite to the right but there is a black oblong to balance it out. On the right had side it is mainly dark but the is some white and yellow to balance it out with the left hand side.

This can relate to my theme as it appears to be layers which means it had to have been left which gives the piece age.

Joseph Mallord William Turner - The Burning of the Houses of Parliament (1834)

Born 1775 and died 1851. Turner never married but did have a relationship with a widower Sarah Danby and it was believed that he had two children with her. Turner was very close to his father who was also his studio assistant for 30 years until he died in 1829, this effected his artwork as after his subject seemed to have elements of depression. Turner used predominantly oil on canvas throughout his career and life. 

The piece has an overall haze effect as nothing is 100% precise, i think this gives the piece a sense of motion. The piece is of a lake and on the opposite side there is a house on fire. In the center of the piece there are vibrant yellows and oranges and there reflection in the lake, the yellows and oranges are the flames in the clouds from the house that can be seen as a dark orange. There is a bridge in the background behind the flames across the horizon. in the fore ground there is what appears to be a boat tied to a post by the shore next to a small walkway into the lake. The lake is blue around the reflection of the flames and the shore on the right hand side.

Turner had used alot of tone throughout the piece, the yellow and oranges use tone with the primary and secondary colours being placed next to each other. Also tone is used in the sky with the blue going from dark to light. Turner has also used the marks he makes to create texture in the lake of the ripples of the water and the reflections in the water.

The composition of the piece works well as the colours used all work well together, with the yellow and orange featuring predominantly in the center and the blues around it with elements of the orange and yellow in it.

turner has used a lot of formal elements in the piece, he has used colour expertly in this piece through out by creating reflections in the water at a vast array of tones to capture the ferocity of nature.

I think Turner created this piece to capture the moment and document it in a visual was to show how powerful the natural elements are and how powerless and insignificant man really is when it comes to the brute force of nature.

This piece can relate to my theme as it is a memory of an even that happened along time ago.

After progressing further through the course I intend to study the form and marks Turner uses so that i can experiment with them and implement the techniques I find effective into my final piece.

Robert Rauschenberg

Born October 22 1925 in Texas and died May 12 2008 of heart failure in Florida. Rauschenberg studied at Kansas City art institute and at Académie Julian in Paris, France; this is where he met the painter Susan Weil. In 1948 Weil and Rauschenberg decided to attend black mountain college in North Carolina. Rauschenberg married Susan Weil in 1950 and they had their only child on July 16 1951, they later divorced in 1953.

Rauschenberg has his first one man show in 1951 at Betty Parsons Gallery, and his second in 1954 in Charles Egan gallery.  In 1964 he was the first American artist to win the Grand Prize at the Venice Biennale.

Rauschenberg used a lot of trash and already used materials to create his pieces; he was quoted saying that he wanted to work “in the gap between art and life” meaning that he wanted to question the distinction between everyday objects and art objects. Also Rauschenberg liked to transfer images onto different material frequently during his career.

Robert Rauschenberg, buffalo II, (1964), mixed media http://www.pinterest.com/pin/220887556695249254/http://www.pinterest.com/pin/220887556695249254/

In this piece there is a picture of JFK and also a picture of his hand in a blue tint. I think the blue tint of JFK`s hand pointing forward could represent that some of the things he proposed e.g. Medicare were put in to action that year, and the blue tin could be representing that he is dead. There is also a key in black and white which could be there as a new president was elected that year and that could represent the keys to the white house (metaphorically) being passed over as they are next to JFK. There is also an eagle which could represent American pride as the country was attacking North Vietnam in response to Vietnam attacking a U.S. Destroyer. There is also lots of colours mixed together around the Blue picture of JFK`s has which could represent the mystery and haze that surrounded the assassination of him. There is also a yellow smudge at the top left of the page with s red dot in the middle. There is a red oblong at the bottom of the picture with a red arrow coming out the top and on the side three lines coming from the military chopper and at the bottom left there is a bit of red and yellow brush marks, I think this represents the war in Vietnam as the chopper looks like a transport chopper dropping troops off in the area (red box) and flying away and the red and yellow marks the blood and death of the soldiers in Vietnam.

The formal elements feature throughout the piece. Shape is used as there are a lot of squares overlapping. Line is also used as the lines almost split the page into 3 sections vertically. There are a lot of primary colours throughout the piece predominantly blue and a bit of red and yellow that are also mixed to also create an orange.

The composition of the piece works as the viewer is lead through the piece, in a kind of backwards s across it. As the brighter colours attract the eye first and the darker colours last. There is a harmony with the colours used as the blues are mainly in the bottom left and the oranges in the top right area although there are elements of both in each area.

I think this piece was created as a reminder/benchmark of the past year and Rauschenberg`s view of the main events. Rauschenberg’s work can related to my theme as he uses lots of recycled materials which are broken, used and worn.  

This piece could relate to my theme as it is composed of recycled materials that are used and faded, also it is an old piece that relates to what is now faded history/memories. This piece relates to my resent collage work as i have also been using recycled materials that have already been use and that have meaning and age to them.