It's artists like Dutch couture designer Iris Van Herpen that make me want to pursue fashion. If only I had the eye to see the kind of crazy forward-thinking designs that truly push the limits of fashion. Many of these pieces are almost unwearable, practically full on sculptures that seem to float on or around the models who walk them. To me some of the more structured ones appear to be some kind of exoskeleton. These inspire me to continue to push my own boundaries and attempt to be as wildly creative as I can, not only in the three dimensional but in all of my art explorations.
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Wednesday the 7th I went to see the new VMFA exhibition focusing on the innovative career of Yves Saint Laurent and other private collections. This exhibition included a whopping 100 articles of haute couture and ready-to-wear garments that best exemplify the radical influence of the designer on modern fashion. Overall this exhibit truly blew my mind. The pieces were so incredibly breathtaking in person as apposed to just seeing images, where in 3D the details and form really came to life. I especially love seeing these just after completing my second unconventional-material dress. Truly a spectacular show.
In the article Arts in America: Euro Crisis Hits Museums, written by Nina Siegal, addresses the global effects of large scale cuts made on many nation’s art funding. It opens by describing the “European cultural subsidies have long been the envy of American artists and arts organizations,” only to transition into how much that has changed over the past few years. Overall, Siegal explains that many newer conservative governments have led to much more strict budgets, with arts low on the priority list. To me, the most stand-out effect of this fund cutting is in the production of new and future art. If funding for certain art exploration and creating is higher than others, that will heavily influence the amount of artists who chose to take on that style or movement. It will also most likely discourage most from branching out to move to art world forward in new and innovative ways if there is little to no financial backing to it.
Another part of this article is the effect that these cuts will have on museums. This ties into article number two, the response letters prompted by Donald R. Wall, publisher of Arts in America, for politicians to give their stance of art policy. I found it interesting that a large part of Leonard Garment’s response revolved around the role of museums in society. He claimed that a museums purpose is to “compile and to keep intact the record of human freedom and creativeness,” instead of trying to appeal to the public. However I slightly disagree, as by appealing to the public, the museum brings more attention to the arts themselves and even encourage more interaction of arts and other public functions, even policy, that could make it a higher priority in the future. I also found a very good question in these responses, primarily from Senator George McGovern. McGovern brings up very often his letter the issue of arts falling to the bottom of the funding chain, and that there are other areas that could and should require less money. He then spends a good portion of the letter explaining that defense funds should be reapportioned to make room for a broader arts budget. This really got me thinking, what are other areas of the budget that seem more necessary to society than art? What are the policy areas that are less important, and who decides that they are less important? And to whom are they less important? Overall this is a very tricky topic and will most likely continue in the future to cause controversy and argument, as there really is no obvious solution. These are the current portraits I'm working on in studio for the final critique. My goal is to create two completely different dynamics in one similar pose. I'm also thinking of varying the medium, maybe pastel for one and pencil for the other? Other than that the goal is strong composition... we'll see.Artist Nikos Gyftakis has a vast art education, and has studied Artistic Research at Konstfack University in Stockholm, Painting and Stage- setting Design at the School of Fine Arts, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and Music at the National Conservatory of Athens, Greece. Gyftakis’ work is primarily characterized by figurative paintings and mixed media. Most of these paintings are portraits, often very up close and expressive in pose. Gyftakis’ style is incredibly surreal, as he uses only lines as his mark, swirling and intertwining them into form using color and movement in position. I love these works so much, they really show so much expression and life. My favorite part might be the way that he crops in so closely on his figures to give an interesting and powerful composition that compliments the overall painting. I hope to incorporate this into my summer studies.
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