Community connection 6
5/31/11
- furnished like a living room
- vintage feel
- interactive (sofa)
- viewer faces inside
- large open space
- photographs on wall, directly in front of sofa
- tv shows art slideshow
One of my favorite installations from the art show this year was Emily Smith’s. It is clear that it took a lot of effort to put everything together. The installation was full of details, like a paper in the typewriter. I enjoyed the small touches throughout the room because it made the room seemed lived in and realistic. It is remarkable how complete the living room feel was. The moment you walked by, you felt compelled to sit on the sofa. Once you were on the sofa, you were facing the art work on the wall and TV. In the middle of a crowded gym, I feel like the installation transported you to a different world.
Community connection 5
5/10/11
- colorful mosaic animal sculptures
- some sculptures are abstract amalgamations (baby heads)
- variety of materials (glass, beads)
- patterns on sculptures (flowers and swirls)
Betsy Youngquist recent work gallery includes sculptures covered in pretty, vibrant designs. I particularly liked the animal sculptures because their markings make them look like mythical creatures or like they are wearing clothes. The design is very intricate and detailed, and you can tell each bead was meticulously placed. I also like the variety of materials used to cover the surface of the sculptures. The beads and glass are different sizes, shapes, and colors. It gives the sculptures a textured effect and is very interesting to look at each part.
Community connection 4
4/12/11
- interesting mark making
- some pieces use text
- not neat or precise lines
- either black and white or multicolored
- uses informal media- ripped out sketchbook page, newspaper clipping
EJ Hauser‘s painting and drawing collection from 2008 is interesting because the pieces are so diverse. His pieces differ in size, media used, mark making, and colors. For example, some of his pieces are entirely composed of text while others are entirely composed of thick strokes of bright paint. I like how informal some of his pieces are. A carelessly ripped out sketchbook page thumbtacked to the wall is very different from a classic painting in a museum in a fancy gilded frame. Although some pieces are obviously related to each other, overall, I do not see a unity in the style so maybe this year was development in his artistic style.
Community connection 3
3/15/11
- diverse materials
- neutral, calm colors
- rectangular and triangular strokes and shapes
- range of sizes
Charlotte Posenenske’s Between Bridges exhibition features corrugated cardboard installations that remind me of laundry chutes and acrylic paintings on paper. I especially like the cardboard installations because they can be manipulated into different shapes and formations. They can be industrially produced cheaply like consumer goods and are collapsible, which creates an interesting relationship between the surface and inner space. I think these installations would be fun to have inside of a building because reminds me of slides. Her paintings were applied with a palette knife so they are block-like. To me they appear earthy both in color scheme and shape.
Community Connection 2
3/1/11
- very subtle
- large expanses of white
- light shades of color
- rectangular, geometric shapes
- series of enamel on acrylic paper
I have taken a liking to the selected works 2011 gallery of Jeffrey Cortland Jones. Against the white background of the website, you are almost unable to distinguish the artwork at first because there is so little and light color. I enjoyed these paintings because they evoke a sense of tranquility, neatness, and simplicity. They could also be interpreted as abstract because different people can analyze pieces of the his work in different ways. For example, to me, the third painting looks like a door opening to the sky.
Community Connection 1
2/15/11
- bold colors against neutral background
- stripes
- very simplistic
- rectangular shapes
- mostly very defined lines and separation
I looked at Douglas Witmer‘s situations with canvas + paint portion of his gallery. Although many people would not “get” these works, I think that the simplicity of them leaves much up to individual interpretation. Since I am interested in interior design, I specifically noted how each piece would convey a mood if placed in a room. I like these paintings because they are pure and bold splashes of color.
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1st semester
Community Connection 6
1/3/11
- rainbow watercolor
- mostly faces, very little text
- focus on shape
- sharp contrast between bright color and white space
Stina Persson is a fashion illustrator that mainly does watercolors. I think her paintings are beautiful because you can see a picture without needing a lot of detail, and they show a skillful use of negative space. The flow between colors is very fluid and not sharply outlined or blocked. The features of faces are only indicated by a few marks, but it makes you perceive the entire picture. She diversifies her art work by painting other subjects like text and flowers.
Community Connection 5
12/13/10
- photography of life in southwest
- shows expanse of land and closeness to nature
- shows daily lifestyle of inhabitants
- neutral colors
I was fascinated by his photography because it contrasts to so much to the suburb and city life that I have always been surrounded by. It is amazing to see the size of the open land when houses and buildings are always being developed around me. It also shows a very different lifestyle. For example, one house has piles of chopped wood placed around it, and I am used to electric heating. The fact that they physically work for much of their sustenance and necessities is much different from what I am used to, which is buying everything without truly understanding what went into it.
Community Connection 4
11/16/10
- oil paintings
- colorful
- messy
- circular lines
- colors not blended or distinctly seprated
- layered
- not solid parts or lines of color
I looked at James Biederman’s oil paintings from 2010. I think they show a good use of shape and space. Sometimes a large, off-center shape will go off the page, which I think is more interesting than a shape neatly placed in the center. He does not appear to stick to a limited color palette, although green, yellow, and red seem to be predominant in his paintings. You can tell from the quality and opacity of his lines that it is not meant to look refined.
Community Connection 3
10/12/10
- close panels
- bright color scheme
- small details
- unrefined drawing style
I chose to write about one of the artists featured in the comic presentation yesterday. One of the works in this gallery, “The Inspector”, is similar to the book “Maggots” that was shown by Derik Badman because it has the same square, side-by-side panels, featuring a small range of action by a minimal amount of characters. However, the work in this gallery is mostly in color rather than in black and white. For some of his pieces, Shippendale uses a specific color theme exclusively throughout the entire picture. In his multicolored pieces, he layers several patterns and images and text.
Community connection 2
9/28/10
Bill Lowe Gallery
- colorblocks
- smooth texture
- color palette each piece
- warped swirls
I like how Nicole Buffett uses simple blocks and shapes of color as the main focus of her paintings. They are flat which creates a cool, smooth texture. Sometimes they are dripping which gives a fluidity to the painting. I also like her choice of color palette for each picture because it keeps the overall picture collected and focused. Some of her other paintings include scribbly marks and patterns and grafitti sprays. Her technique of allowing two colors to run into each other to create a marble-like effect is interesting. 4 of her pieces use bright red in the marble effect, which reminds me of lava.
Community connection 1
9/13/10
Bill Lowe Gallery
- block
- yellow,white,black
- thick and thin
- abstract
I really liked the series of paintings by Hyumee Lee at Bill Lowe Gallery because although about 25 of them used the same colors and shapes, the composition and line quality created unique pieces. I also liked the color palette she choose because it is very simple. The wandering, scribbly, thin lines contrast nicely with the thick, blocked off, solid rectangles.
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Fall Semester 2009
Year of the Rat
1/5/10
Lauren Xu
- Bright neon colors
- People in background
- Decorative embellishments on the dragon
- Evil, demonic face
- Predominantly red
The photo by Don Wilson can be found at http://www.hellophiladelphia.com/art/detail/3229/Year_of_the_rat.Cfm. This dragon performer was probably part of a Chinese New Year festival that celebrated the year of the rat. I liked this photo because the loud colors and direct stare immediately attract your attention. The red hypnotic eyes and spider-like tongue are scary looking but it’s tempered by the lively colors on the rest of the costume. I think the fact that the dragon takes up almost the entire picture makes its presence seem closer.
Giovanni Casadei Paintings at Gross McCleaf Gallery
11/30/09
Lauren Xu
12/1/09
- Common setting is the beach
- Light, muted pastel colors
- Sky takes up majority of picture
- Small colorful details
- Most common media is oil on canvas
- Focus on shape and color rather than lines and detail
Giovanni Casadei’s paintings can be found at the Gross McCleaf Gallery in Philadelphia and at http://www.grossmccleaf.com/artistpages/casadei.html. Several of the pictures are of a beach with more than half of the panel taken up by the sky. This could represent the vastness of the world and how people can feel small in comparison. Neutral colors like grey and tan are used to give a quiet feeling to the paintings. People are not pictured very often and when they are, they are small and indistinct. This may be done to bring focus on the scenery rather than the people. The second most common subject of the paintings is still lives. Some of them are of the same still life but at different angles. I like Casadei’s style because it is understated and clean, but not neat and perfect.
Rose Piper, A Force for Change: African American Art and the Julius Rosenwald Fund
10/19/09
Lauren Xu
10/20/09
- Red pops in contrast to darker colors
- Sectioned off by lines
- Lines give sense of depth
- Oil on canvas
- Lack of detail
- Angular
- Person seems to be yearning for something
Slow Down For A Freight Train is a piece for the Allentown Art Museum found at http://www.allentownartmuseum.org/exhibitions/force.html. I think that it is pretty stark but the direction of lines and pop of red give it life. In reference to the title I think the man yearning for something is looking at a freight train going by, which might symbolize wanting to escape or the need for freedom. Where he is looking towards is colored green which might represent a better place like “the grass is always greener on the other side”. It seems that he cannot reach the freight train because he is holding on to something which could represent shackles or an obligation that is keeping him.
Toni Silber-Deleverie
9/21/09
Lauren Xu
9/22/09
- Limited color palette within each piece
- Colors are solid
- Not much use of texture
- Most objects have a smooth, flat appearance
- Artist’s subject preference is a view of several buildings, residential or industrial
- Bird’s eye view
Toni Silber-Deleverie, who attended the Philadelphia College of Art, has a collection of twenty pieces at http://www.ugallery.com/toni-silber-delerive. The most frequent subject matter for the paintings is houses. I like the way they are portrayed because they are depicted simply and with clean shapes. It makes the buildings, which have multiple imperfections in real life, seem refined and basic. I like the minimal approach because it has a calming effect. For pieces like neighborhoods all the houses are uniform with slight variances like rooftop color. I think this represents that people share things in common, but are individual as well. The hedges between houses can be seen as social barriers or barriers that an individual puts up.
