Art Notes

MIKE PARR-          Uses the body as both site + content-          Mike Parr is a late 1970’s performative artist, heavily influenced Fluxist.-          Parr’s self portaits, subverts the traditional notions of physical beauty and accuracy within his works.-           through his use of intuitive ,loose linear mark making,-          creating a rich visual language depicting his raw process through aggressive mark making. -          VISUAL LANGUAGE-          Grotesque-          Distortion-          Physical deformity-          Psychology-          Honest depiction of a physical state-          Subverting the traditional notion of beauty-          Visceral-          Vulnerability-          Autobiographical-          Experience of artist-          Energy, life force, physical presence-          Confident, confrontational-          Relationship to viewer-          Artist is exposed-          Direct + imposing= viewer-          Intimidated-          Narrative for the viewer-          Unsettled because of personal content -          LINE:-          Intuitive, loose, linear mark making-          Raw process evident in his aggressive markings-          Kinetic= drawing in motion-          Line: sketchy, gestural,(physical process)-          Aggressive, expressive, violent, semi-abstract, spontaneous, passionate-          Directional use of line   

Damien Hirst: Objects -          English sculptor, installation artist, painter and printmaker. -          leading figure in the group of ‘Young British Artists’ (YBA's) who emerged, predominantly in London, in the 1990s. -          The works typically make use of media that challenge conventional notions of high art and aesthetic value and subject-matter that critiques the values of late 20th-century culture.   -          THEMES: human existence, the fragility of life, society’s reluctance to confront death, and the nature of love and desire, the naive and the disingenuous -          MATERIALS: Dead animals, cast iron, formaldehyde, glass, live animals -          Primarily commissioned works by the artist -          Majority of his works were owned by Charles Saatchi -          SCALE: instillations -          The exhibition stood as a challenge to the art connoisseur who sees art history as a series of collectable masterpieces, proposing instead that works of art are occasional manifestations of a continuous culture. -          “just a statement that I had used to describe the idea of death to myself”. “just a statement that I had used to describe the idea of death to myself”.- ‘The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living’ -          By isolating the shark from its natural habitat, with the formaldehyde providing an illusion of life, the work explores our greatest fears, and the difficulty involved in adequately trying to express them. -          “You try and avoid [death], but it’s such a big thing that you can’t. That’s the frightening thing isn’t it?” -          Hirst also discusses the commercialism of art as a commodity -          Influenced by Duchamps fountain and the creation of the ReadyMade    

Duchamp: Objects -          Dadaist -          Lived in New York from 1915 -          “ An ordinary object (could be) elevated to the dignity of a work of art merely by the choice of an artist.”- Duchamp -          Was one of the central figures of the Dada Group -          Dada: a movement that questioned long-held assumptions about what art should be, and how it should be made -          Dada Movement: a cultural revolt by artists following WWI, “ We destroyed, we insulted, we despised and we laughed”- Hans Richter   -          Duchamp presented objects as art -          Mass- produced, commercially available, utilitarian objects, designating them as art and titling them “Readymades” -          Disrupted centuries of thinking about the artist’s role as a skilled creator of original handmade objects -          “Readymades” defied the notion that art had to be beautiful -          Through the creation of “Readymades” Duchamp reinvented the meaning of art and paved the way for Conceptual Art. -          The majority of Duchamp’s “Readymades” were individual objects that he repositioned or signed and called art -          Bicycle Wheel: called “assisted readymade” made by combining more than one utilitarian item to form a work of art -          Critics called Duchamp’s “Readymades” immoral, vulgar and plagiaristic -          Readymade: represented a mockery of the solemn and strict approach of art making and exhibited works, as well as a positive step for removing the art world’s inhibited attitude towards fine art and exhibited works in museums -          The creation of a “Readymade” involved no artistic creativity or meaning -          The idea and gesture was honored instead of the artistic skill -          The viewer of Duchamp’s works is forced to look at the individual object in an emphasized way, causing him to see the aesthetic qualities for the first time, reinterpreting a practical object and viewing it as a piece of art. -          Anti-art establishment -          Considered the most influential piece of art in history -          Redefined the definition of art and liberated the art world  

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