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For this project I used the same idea of quaking from my own pictures, drawing my friend Maggie. I decided on a portrait because I hardly ever actually do images of people faces, so I wanted to round out my portfolio. I originally had oil paints in mind for this portrait, but then decided that pastels would be easier to layer and work with. I am very happy with the face and hair, however the clothing still needs some work!
On Saturday, October 8th, I visited the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts to see the exhibition of The French Horse from Géricault to Picasso. The emblem of the horse is a very important aspect of French history, particularly in the 19th century period. In this exhibit the motif of the french horse is shown in a huge variety of media, style, and context. Some artists include Pablo Picasso, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Antoine-Louis Barye, Edgar Degas, and Théodore Géricault. One of the most notable was Pablo Picasso’s piece depicting the basic image of a horse, highly abstracted into basic form, consisting mostly of line quality and implied motion. While I appreciate the this work on an artistic level, it is easier for me to appreciate the hyper realistic paintings (often oil) showing horses looking completely real. The level of skill and talent this must take absolutely blows my mind.
Art censorship can be interpreted so differently among cultures, backgrounds, and environments. In this connection assignment I read two articles describing the censorship of art that in both New York and in Russia. One article, The Art of Controversy, details the events of the “Sensation” art exhibit in New York that received great amounts of criticism and hate due to its highly controversial content. Pieces such as a 9 pint blood sculpture, a cut open pig, and a abstraction of the Virgin Mary mixed with dung and pornographic images. The reception of these pieces resulted in mass retaliating by christians and parents, claiming these things should not be displayed in a public place or funded by public government money. This entire document raises all of the questions of how in depth the government can use public discretion, as well as the almost impossible question of what to do with public funding.
The second article showed a comparison between American and Russia by in depth describing how the Russian government began to heavily censor art that challenges religious ideals of a group. This includes jailing artists who break laws against religious hate in place since 1996. This provides perspective as to what Americans call censorship. When art exhibits are condemned or threatened to be condemned, artists in Russia can actually be tried against the law and banned from art or imprisoned for their work. This boils down mostly to the American debate of hate and distaste in competition with the first amendment of the Constitution securing freedom of expression. Many of these questions are a continuous hot topic, as the answers as very muddled and unclear. Whatever the actual answer, artists should have the freedom of expressing the images they feel is under their own freedom. If that means that there must be more precautions in how art is displayed and who is viewing it, it is worth guaranteeing artists their ability to create what they feel fits their message and content. Art is also one way to push the limits of society, and without this healthy pushing society could come to a cultural still-water. |
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