POST MODERN ART AND THE INFLUENCE OF CELEBRITY
Introduction
The influence of celebrity on post modern art has really impacted the art industry in many ways. There are many types of participants in the art market that celebrities influence, collectors, influencers, and muses. Whatever artwork a celebrity promotes, it increases the sales and interaction of the piece. These art pieces can be symbols, a single object, digital, and many more. Celebrities who are art collectors and engage a lot with art community will affect both the value of the art and the future of the artist as well. The more Contemporary art expands into the celebrity world, the more international brands are eager to collaborate with the artist.
Post Modern Artists
Julian Beever
Coca-Cola Bottle: Is It The Real Thing? by Julian Beever (date: unknown)
The piece above was created by Julian Beever, a British chalk artist. Julian is also known as the "Pavement Picasso" since he used pavements as canvases. He started creating chalk drawings since the 1990s and has worked with many international companies and celebrities. Julian uses an anamorphosis style to create an illusion if the audience is looking from the correct direction. In addition to 3D art, Julian also contributes to murals, oil paintings, and collages. Julian has been hired by many international brands to advertise their merchandise with his artistic skills. The Coca-Cola company had hired Julian to advertise their beverage to the public in new and interesting ways.
The colors Julian chose for this piece is a bit dull, besides the labeling of the bottle. the white lettering contrasting with the red makes the brand standout more. Color is also used has light in this piece, showing reflections. The reflections adds the illusion and depth to the piece. Horizontal lines are used to show details on the bottle, giving it a realistic appearance. Minimal shading can be observed and this adds dimension to the piece.
Politicians Meeting Their End (1977)
Although Politicians aren't celebrities, they are still widely known. This piece was created for the night of the 1997 General Election. It was commissioned by Channel 4's Midnight Special to show their perspective on the election. This piece shows two politicians falling into a well and was drawn outside The Bank of England for the public to observe.
Curved lines are used to show the shape of the well as well as dimensions. The colors used for this piece are dark tones of brown and grey. The uneven distribution of colors and linear lines of the bricks adds details to the piece. The white outline of the well kept the texture and details from the original pavement.
Jean-Michel Basquiat
Pez Dispenser by Jean-Michel Basquiat (1984)
Not much color was used in the piece. However, the intensity of the red, orange, and yellow enhances the figure of the dinosaur. Linear lines are mainly used on the crown to show a crisp and clear shape. Although there are no lighting in the piece to had shadow, the piece still has an illusion and depth when observing the dinosaur legs.
Untitled by Jean-Michel Basquiat (1982)
This piece, Untitled, was sold at Sotheby for $110.5 million. This piece features obsessive scribbling, diagrams, and symbols. The skull in this piece refers to diasporic Black identity, mental health, and human embodiment. The combination of graffiti in the painting enhances the meaning and characteristic of the painting even more. Overlapping layers and thoughts give a sense of what goes on inside an individual's mind. It involves graffiti that could be seen on bathroom stalls and subway walls, expressing the street style of art.
The piece itself is projecting a lot of energy and urgency. The skull is bulging a bit on the left side and the mouth is open, like it's raging. There are many lines in the piece, mainly overlapping lines. The main thing that stands out the most are the colors. There are a variety of colors and all the colors are vibrant. The thick black shows an aggressive presence while the other colors give off an odd feeling. Overall, the piece looks chaotic and overwhelming, but the colors help balance those feelings.
Kurt Wenner
Poker Dachshund by Kurt Wenner (2020)
This piece was painted by Kurt Wenner, an American artist, in 2020. Kurt worked with paintings, sculptures, and 3D art. His creations come from myths, legends, religion, literature, and many more. Most of his paintings are about the Renaissance era. Kurt was inspired by the principles of classicism but no one was teaching it in Rome. He eventually realized that classicism was a visual language of form and is learned by copying earlier arts. This piece was a commissioned portrait piece of a dachshund holding playing cards. The poker cards is referring to the game of poker while the costume of the dachshund is reflecting its wealth. The dachshund expresses alertness, bold, and a vicious personality.
The piece uses dark tones of colors to create an old and classic look. There's a bit of lighting as you observe closer to the face of the dachshund, making the head the focus point. Many linear lines are used to add texture and small details to the piece, the fur on the vest, creases on the vest, and dachshund fur itself.
This piece is a painting of Moses. Rome, Italy. Michelangelo's Moses had inspired Kurt to use the painting as reference in street painting. Kurt wanted works of classicalism, Renaissance, and Mannerism. This piece has a mixture of classical elements and realism. The shading and the use of linear lines in the painting gives a 3D illusion to the piece. color is also used as light shinning from behind the figure. With Moses looking directly at the audience, it looks as if he is trying to show the audience something that's engraved in the stone. Overall, the piece gives off a warm feeling and the feeling that there's hope for something.
Thoughts
I personally like the mixture of pop culture art and graffiti that Jean-Michel has created. All his pieces are a reflection of current events from his personal perspective. They're subjects that are common or something I can easily relate to. I mainly like the colors that contribute to his pieces. The combination of colors are odd but that's what makes it unique. The pieces by Julian and Kurt are also interesting in their own ways. They're all different styles of art from different perspectives. All of these arts are being displayed in new ways to the public, this results in celebrities and international companies to commission the artists, promoting the artist themselves.
Citation
Beever, Julian. “Pavement Art - 3D Illusions.” Julian Beever - Official Website, 10 Jan. 2023, www.julianbeever.net/pavement-art-3d-illusions/.
Davis, Ben. “How a One-Painting Basquiat Show Lets You Get inside the Brilliant Young Artist’s Head.” Artnet News, 12 Feb. 2018, news.artnet.com/art-world/lets-talk-about-this-one-basquiat-painting-at-the-brooklyn-museum-1218755.
Master Artist. “Beyond the Ephemeral - Kurt Wenner, Master Artist.” Kurt Wenner, Master Artist - 3D Pavement Artist, Painter, Sculptor, Architect, Inventor, 10 Feb. 2021, kurtwenner.com/beyond-the-ephemeral/.
Nzewi, Steven, and Lisa Tananbaum. “Jean-Michel Basquiat: Moma.” The Museum of Modern Art, 2021, www.moma.org/artists/370.
The artwork the of a coke bottle is amazing! Also the artwork of the Politicians is a work of art! How the artists can make something 3D with a flat surface blows my mind. The one with the dinosaur is simple but it stands out, it almost looks like a child drew the picture. The Poker Dachshund artwork, it almost looks like the dog is about to smile. The last artwork, my favorite part of it is, the background. I love artwork of landscapes. Overall wonderful picks.
ReplyDeleteThat Coke bottle is really something! To think Beever did that with just chalk, how he made it so realistic! The hint of shadow and reflection, the curved lines to force perspective, the light “shining” on the glass. It really stands out, I was certain it was just an enlarged bottle he made and put on the asphalt. I had to look into it to confirm that it was a chalk drawing! Damned appealing and such fine work. Same with the politicians being thrown in the well, though they’re admittedly a bit less real and more charicaturized, though the well itself looks very, very real, with the shadows and curved lines forcing perspective to give it distance. Given his realism with the coke bottle he could have made the people look exactly like members of the British Parliament if he wanted, the customer must have wanted them to seem more generic.
ReplyDeleteI ain’t gonna denigrate the T-Rex or the skull, but I don’t have much to say about them. To me they’re reminiscent of something on my fridge one of my kids did, but I feel like that about a lot of modern and impressionist art. I reckon I’m just not the target audience. I’m sure that if I had a beer with the artist, and they cared to make an attempt an illuminating this Luddite, I could come away with a better understanding of the point.
That smirking Dachshund! Check his sleeves for an ace. I’d own a print of this. Though most of it is hyper realistic, it seems to me something is lost by the pays not actually holding the cards, they’re just placed there and we have to accept that they’re being held, though they ain’t pinched by the toes. Reckon there’s a point in the dog wearing a leopard shawl? I like it a lot.
Moses is a touching piece. I just watched The Ten Commandments with my in laws when they were visiting from Alabama, what a piece of story telling. This painting looks hyper real, the texture of his clothing and the tablets, his beard, really stand out. The shadows cast by him and the window sill surrounding him, it’s awesome. The light source behind his head conflicts with the light from outside though, giving him a look similar to what I’ve seen saints have in the Russian Orthodox icons.