Introduction

Hello, welcome to the Gallery of the Mind. It is located in the Treehouse of the Mind at the intersection of What’s Real, and What is Not. The gallery, for the sake of this assignment, is operated by Me. This is only temporary, however, and will not always be so. In this gallery We (We being Me, and all the little things that make me Me) are currently attempting to highlight the works of artists who have challenged preconceived notions of accepted art, aesthetics, or design; and, artists who have been able to benefit from those previous challengers, and went on to do some challenging of their own. But it should be note, much like the consortium who operates this gallery, this emphasis on art as a challenge is only temporary, and will not always be so. For the time being, however, please sit back, scroll through, and enjoy.



Exhibition Introduction

            The title of this exhibition is “Challengers of Art”. It is my intention to present works from artists who have made a contribution to the evolution of art as a whole, or who challenge viewers of art to accept notions of aesthetics and beauty outside of their normal comfort range. With the exception of one, all of the artists in this exhibit bucked the trends of “normal” or “accepted” art, or artistic expression. I made the connection by looking at the importance some of the artists, and their works, had on the evolution of mainstream art over the past 150 years, or by displaying works from artists that benefitted from the predecessors pushed boundaries and values, and who continued to push those boundaries themselves.

The exhibition includes works from:

·         Thomas Kinkade

·         Oscar Claude Monet

·         Vincent van Gogh

·         Salvador Dalí

·         Jackson Pollock

·         H.R. Giger

·         Alex Grey

·         Frank Gehry

·         The Unmask Group (Liu Zhan, Kuang Jun, and Tan Tianwei)

·         And Marco Evaristti



Kinkade

• Artist: Thomas Kinkade
• Title: Beside Still Waters
• Media: Painting (Oil on Canvass)
• Dimensions: 16" X 20"
• Date: 1993

            In order to explore artists who I believed challenged the world of in one way or another—whether it be through their subject, use of color or form, or simply in the theories or movements their work inspired—I think it necessary to set a kind of baseline. To do this, I have selected the works of Thomas Kinkade.

            Born January 19, 1958, Kinkade was an American painter who was very popular for his realistic portrayals of idyllic scenes. Kinkade engaged in mass marketing of his work in the form of printed reproductions and product licensing. Kinkade images can be found on everything from throw pillows, to coffee-mugs, to doormats. In fact, Kinkade was so successful at marketing his images, it is estimated that one in every twenty American homes displays a copy of one of his paintings. One of the reasons his work is so popular is because he focused on images and subjects that are comforting and inviting. Similar to Rockwell, Kinkade’s paintings evoke feelings of nostalgia. They remind one of Christmas, or an image of small-town America that they’ve never actually seen, but somehow remember and are comforted by. By the time of his death, on April 6, 2012, Kinkade had established a system of mass production (in which apprentices following Kinkade’s designs would handle some of the low lever work) that would insure his name was synonymous with accessible American art, and would commercialize that art to as great a degree as possible (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Kinkade).

            Kinkade has called himself a “Painter of Light”. A term he trademarked even though it is attributed to the English master J. M. W. Turner (1775-1851) (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Kinkade). Perhaps this is just another example of his self-marketing and self-promotion. Similarly, critics have spoken out against Kinkade’s expression of his religion in his work, his mass-production and marketing techniques, and the idyllic nature of his work. Essayist, John Didion, has even gone so far as to say there seems to be something sinister in the idealized Kinkade portrays his subjects. All most as if noting that his paintings are too idyllic, as if something so comforting and innocent must be hiding something. I’m not sure I’d go so far as to say Kinkade’s paintings appear sinister to me, but the sentiments of his critics certainly seem to suggest that they wanted something more challenging from the artist, something that would make them a part of the gritty, unpredictable world we live in.

            The work presented, Beside still Waters, highlights the religious nature of Kinkade’s subjects. The work explodes with color, and certainly represents God’s beauty in its depiction of a calm woodland stream; but, despite the lush vegetation, and flowing brook, there is no sense of motion in the work, nothing comes across as being alive. It does not challenge the viewer; instead, it does more to placate and anesthetize. One of the reasons I chose this work, however, is because it was the subject of two reproductions my mother made of Kinkade paintings. Though, in her version she added pristine white horses drinking from the still waters, and then, at my wife’s request, changed the horses to unicorns for her second reproduction. Therefore, the piece will always hold a special place for me.

            Kinkade and his works connect to my theme of challenge in the world of art by being the antithesis of challenging. In many ways, Kinkade’s art is to the art-world what cotton candy is to world of food: pink, fluffy, tasty, but not at all nutritious. Kinkade’s work is best left to a viewer who needs a pick-me-up, not one that wants to be challenged by the work they see. And except for his practices of mass-production and mass-marketing, I don’t believe Kinkade has posed any challenges to the world of art, as well. At the same time, it is important to note that art doesn’t have to be challenging to be art. In spite of not furthering artistic expression, or challenging the viewer to their preconceived concepts of art, the aesthetic pleasantness of Kinkade’s work is undeniable.



Monet

• 
  Artist: Claude Monet
• Impression, soleil levant
• Media: Painting (Oil on Canvass
• Dimensions: 18.9" X 24.8"
• Date: 1872

            Oscar-Claude Monet, who lived between November 14, 1840 and December 5, 1926, was a founder of the French Impressionist painting. In fact, the selected painting Impression, soleil levant, is the work from which the movement draws its name. Monet is considered to be the most prolific and consistent practitioner of the movement’s philosophy and focus on the natural world. In his day, Monet challenged the rigidity he saw in the artists of Paris, whom, he noted, would travel to the Louvre only to copy the classical works on display. Instead, Monet preferred to sit by a window and simply paint what he saw. Along with other Impressionist painters, Monet would mount independent exhibits of his work as an alternative to the mainstream works displayed at the Solon de Paris (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claude_Monet).

            In his work, Monet focused on color and light over the rigidness of line and form. As seen in the selected work, the details of the subject are less important. The cityscape and tall ships in the background virtually disappear into a foggy or smoky haze, and the smaller boats in the foreground were rendered with minimalist imprecision. What were important to Monet were the thorough exploration of light and color, and an appreciation of the natural world as a subject. Instead, in Impression, soleil levant, the calliope of oranges in the sky of the fiery rising sun, and the grays of the water and obscuring foggy haze are the focus of the work. In fact, the strive to showcase every aspects of a subject’s color and light led was so important to Monet that he often rendered the same scene multiple times in an attempt to capture every aspect shifting light and shadow, and their effects on color (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claude_Monet).

            Impression, soleil levant is a depiction of a glorious, fiery sunrise over Le Havre in France. It uses loose brush strokes which provide a suggestion of form without delineating precise detail. The piece was meant to portray an instantaneous impression of Monet glanced of Le Havre from his window (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impression,_soleil_levant). Although he clearly caught a glimpse of a few boats, and the waterfront cityscape behind, but the work in no way suggests that these details were of much importance to Monet. Instead, it is obvious that Monet was captivated by the fiery orange-red sun and the limitless shades of orange dancing through the misty sky. Instead of portraying the manmade aspects of the scene, Monet challenged himself to convey the natural beauty and abundance he beheld.

            Not only this piece, but the Impressionist movement as a whole represented a major challenge to the established art world. It allowed artists to move beyond classical realism and interpretation, and express challenging views of the world, and nature, the way the artists saw them. In a sense, it was a freeing movement that put the importance of art back in the hands of the artist instead of the patron; it allowed artist to express themselves the way they wanted, instead of worrying how the viewer might see it; and it opened up new doors and avenues of creativity. Without the era of the Impressionist movement, many other challenging forms of artistic expression might not have been accepted.



Van Gogh

• Artist: Vincent van Gogh
• Title: The Starry Night
• Media: Painting (Oil on Canvass)
• Dimensions: 29" X 361/4"
•  1889

            Born on March 30, 1853, and dying on July 29, 1890 of a possibly self-inflicted gunshot wound, Vincent Willem van Gogh was a post impressionistic painter of Dutch origin. His work is known for its use of bold color, emotional honesty, and rough beauty. He began drawing as a child, and over his lifetime produced over 2,100 works of art; quite impressive when one considers his untimely death at the age of 37. At the time of his death, van Gogh was relatively unknown, and arguably even less appreciated, but his work had far-reaching influence on the world of 20^th century art (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van_Gogh).

            The challenging nature of van Gogh’s work seems to stem from his troubled, anguished, volatile, and even violent mental state which seemed to ride a roller-coater of manic-depressive like mood swings. When he was in a manic state, his work took on brighter, more hopeful overtones. But while in his depressive states, he was prone to violent outbursts, such as threatening Gaugin with a razor (942516055927741691.weebly.com/contextual-statement.html). One of these depressive states lead to a famous incident in which van Gogh cut off one of his ears as a tribute of devotion for a love interest. His mood swings can be seen in his many self-portraits (some of which are bright and airy, while others seem weighted down with a stern look in his eyes), and help explain some of the drearier, more melancholy subject matters of some of his work.

            The work presented, The Starry Night, seems to challenge the blurry line of his mood swings. While the overall color scheme of the piece is dark and foreboding, that darkness is broken up with bright star and moon images that radiate with their own sense of inner hope. Also in the piece, van Gogh seems to challenge his audience to see the world the way he does, as a swirling calliope of light and color.

            By asking for no excuses in presenting the world in the way he saw it, van Gogh challenged the audience to accept his vision and what he had to say. The fact that he was under-appreciated during his lifetime, but has gone on to become one of the most influential artists of the 19^th century, van Gogh showed that he was willing to challenge the conventions of his time, and would force the world of art to evolve in a way that accommodated his vision.

Dali

• Artist: Salvador Dali
• Title: Persistence of Memory
• Media: Painting (Oil on Canvass)
• Dimensions: 9.5" X 13"
• Date: 1931

 

            Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, 1^st Marqués de Dalí de Pubol (better known as Salvador Dalí) was a Spanish Catalan surrealist painter born in Figueres, Spain. He lived from May 11, 1904 till January 23, 1989, and is best remembered for being a highly imaginative painter who also enjoyed and indulged in unusual and highly grandiose behavior. Challenging those who held his work in high esteem, and irritating his critics, his behavior sometimes drew more attention that his artwork (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvador_Dal%C3%AD).

            Dalí had a fundamental appreciation for science and employed a great deal of symbolism in his work. This can be seen in the iconic image of the melting clock. The symbology of this reoccurring Dalí theme is the result of his challenge to himself to represent Einstein’s theory that time is relative and not fixed (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvador_Dal%C3%AD). In this representation, Dalí challenges the world of hard scientific theory and fact with flowing lines that melt before the viewer’s eyes.

            In creating this piece, Dalí is attempting to bridge the worlds of science and art in a way that conceptualizes scientific theory as a real, albeit abstract, thing (a melting clock). Dalí is said to developed this representation while watching a piece of soft Camembert cheese become runny on a hot August afternoon (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvador_Dal%C3%AD).

            Dalí’s art and ideas challenged traditional notions of form held at the time. He imagined a world in which everyday objects take on new and abstract forms, and become symbolic representations of much higher concepts. Without the works of Dalí, works by Giger and Grey may not exist.

 

•  Artist: Jackson Pollock
• Title: Mural
• Media: Painting
• Dimensions: 8' X 20'
• Date: 1943

            Paul Jackson Pollock (Jackson Pollock) was born January 28, 1912, and died in an alcohol related car accident on August 11, 1956. He was an influential American painter and a major figure in the field of abstract expressionism. He is also well known for pioneering his own unique style known as drip painting. Pollock enjoyed a considerable amount of fame during his life, but was also challenged by his reclusive nature, volatile personality, and his struggles with alcoholism.

            Pollock’s influence on art comes from developing challenging and radical ideas concerning the abstract style of modern art. He detached line from color and redefined categories of drawing and painting. At the same time, he challenged no means of describing pictorial space (www.theartstory.org/artist-pollock-jackson.htm).

            Pollock work, Mural, was commissioned by Peggy Guggenheim and is considered by many to be the most important modern American painting ever made. He managed to synthesize the multitude of stylistic techniques and theoretical methodologies which he had been exposed to, and created a painting that is inundated with personal, cultural, social, political, and art-world references (uima.uiowa.edu/jackson-pollock/). He challenged himself to create a single piece of art-work that expressed every artistic element he had lived up to that point.

            By creating an abstract piece that was the culmination of all of his previous artistic experience, Pollock challenged himself to create a work that broke from the past, and ushered in a new future of modern abstract art. His work also challenges the viewer by moving away from traditional models of line and form, and inviting the viewer to see and experience what they want to see and experience from the piece.