Visual Arts Essay PDF

Preview

Summary

Essay on Ai Wei Wei, Eugene Delacroix & George Gittoes...

Description

Question: Investigate the ways artists provide a connection between the artist and audience Artist 1: Ai Wei Wei “Remembering” (2009) “Study of Perspective Series” (1995-2017) Artist 2: George Gittoes “Death and the Boy” (1994) “The Preacher” (1995) Artist 3: Eugene Delacroix “Liberty leading the people” (1830)

Artists provide a connection with the audience by expressing social and political issues and controversies within their time, outlining their opinion, and attempting to incite change within society. This is reflected in Ai Wei Wei’s works which highlight his hatred for the oppressive powers of state governments seen in “Remembering” (2009) and “Study of Perspective series” (1995-2017) where he alludes to the corrupt and negligent nature of the Chinese government to attempt to incite social change. George Gittoes is an Australian sociorealist artist whose work highlights socio-political controversies in the world’s most troubled regions reflected in his works “Death and the Boy” (1994) and “The Preacher” (1995), providing an intense image to society of the atrocities committed during the Kibeho massacre. Eugene Delacroix was a French Romanticist painter whose teachings of Theodore Gericault caused him to integrate subtle political commentary within his works seen in “Liberty leading the people” (1830) highlighting his perspective of the patriotism of the French people. By producing artworks that convey contextual social and political issues, the audience resonates with the artist’s ideas reflected within the artwork. Often these works challenge the ethics and morality of a major political power to incite questioning and change within society. Artists who create works depicting political and societal issues establish a connection to the audience, highlighting the restricted nature of society under their governments and attempting to incite change. This is seen in Ai Wei Wei, a Chinese socio-political activist whose constant confrontations with the oppressive Chinese government has influenced the ideas and concepts presented within his works. Born in 1957 to an exiled Chinese poet, Ai Qing, he was influenced by his father’s works against the communist party. After studying in New York and returning to China, he experienced the differences in freedom within the two societies and refused to conform. His sculpture based works are inspired by the likes of Duchamp, integrating his ideas into an installation to break free from the restrictions of an art gallery, bridging the gap between the visual and social. His work “Remembering” (2009) attempts to highlight the negligence and lack of transparency of the Chinese government to the audience. His work was a response to the Sichuan earthquake in 2008 where the government’s poor construction of schools caused more than 70,000 deaths and thousands of school children, the government attempting to

censor the event from state media and refusing to take responsibility. The large scale installation of 9,000 backpacks is purposely utilized to create a more impactful statement. The backpacks read a quote from one of the dead children’s parents “For 7 years she lived happily on this Earth” creating an emotional response within viewers. The use of the Toys R us color scheme of red, yellow and green contrasted on a blue background establishes the lost joy and innocence of the children, causing an evoking of anger against the government within the audience. The installation was a culmination of his own investigation into the earthquake, where he led a team into the site and began compiling names of victims and writing it on his blog, leading to his arrest, further highlighting the negligence and corrupt nature of the government. Thus, Ai Wei Wei connects with the audience by providing an impactful installation used to highlight the corrupt nature of the Chinese party and attempting to inspire social change within the audience. By going against traditional aesthetics of art, it provides a confronting question to the audience.Ai Wei Wei’s “Study of Perspective Series” is a photographic collage where he points the middle finger at global state powers to reflect his disdain for the oppression of freedom by such powers. By allowing for his arm and finger to be the dominant figures within the composition over the authoritative landmarks, he communicates to the audience that their own personal opinions are larger than the values government institutions attempt to define for us. By having minimal amounts of people within the photos, he also reflects his personal belief that the audience will be the ones to change these institutions and rights of freedom. He explains his reasoning for photography in “The practice of photography is no longer a means for recording reality. Instead, it has become reality itself.” The artwork resulted in Ai Wei Wei’s arrest, however interrogators were unable to refute his claims that it was feudalism. His arrest sparked a large social movement, individuals uploading their own renditions and parodies of the work onto social media. Thus, by representing the restrictions of freedom on society by state powers, Ai Wei Wei connects with the audience, reflecting that they will be the ones to change society. Art that represents the brutality of political conflict causes a confrontation and connection to the audience, seeking to incite justice and develop social change. Much like Ai Wei Wei, Australian artists George Gittoes’ works highlight the restrictive, oppressive nature of state powers and the consequences of challenging them however Gittoes’ art provides a more raw, confronting depiction. His art style is influenced by Romanticism and Baroque art, following practices such as Cubism, surrealism and expressionism. His uniqueness in his approach to art is due to his own experiences travelling to the world’s most troubled spots, giving him a direct emotional experience with his art, utilising ordinary mediums such as painting and film making to represent these horrifying representations, critic Sike Muller exemplifying this “The mediums used

by Gittoes are conventional. His experience is not.” His work “Death and the Boy”, a drawing, represents the brutality of political parties, especially totalitarian governments, who utilise force in their pursuit of power. The work reflects the cambodian genocide from 1975 to 1979 where 1.5 to 2 million cambodians were massacred under the regime of the Khmer Rouge. The Khmer Rouge targeted intellectuals, ethnic groups and potential rebellers, exploiting thousands of children to conduct mass murders. The use of a large sketch drawing on paper creates a larger impact on the audience, the black and white of the sketch symbolic for the contrast between the innocence of the boy and death. The two central figures, the boy and the skeleton creates a contrast between the living and the dead and with the background a cage full of skulls, it evokes a sentimental response within the audience as it reflects the large number of individuals massacred. By depicting the child in a relaxed position, it highlights the severity of the massacre, children brainwashed to conduct the killings and believing it to be normal and horrifies the audience about the inhumanity of the events. Like many of his other works, his intention was to show the atrocities committed during war, which although shocking for the audience, it presented the truth and represented the heart of human darkness. Thus, by depicting the ruthlessness of political warfare, Gittoes confronts and connects with the audience, informing and warning the audience of the dangers of challenging state powers. George Gittoes’ “The Preacher” further develops his focus on the brutalities of political warfare and presenting it to the audience. His work is influenced by his own experience of the Kibeho massacre in Rwanda, where he met with many people who, although were waiting to be killed, were calm under the guidance of the preacher. The preacher united the people under God and gave them hope for the future. The use of a large oil painting reflects his renaissance influence and provides a larger impact onto the audience. The smooth painting of the figure is contrasted with the jagged background, reflecting how the figure was calm amongst the chaos through his belief in the bible with his posture demonstrating the power of faith to both save lives and face death with grace, communicating to the audience the importance of belief and unity when challenging totalitarian political powers. The use of figurative but expressive painting places a focus on the human figure whilst representing the tools used to create the painting, a brush and paint. The work made the audience aware of the suffering of the Rwandan people, with the horrific subject matter inciting compassion and a sense of justice within the audience. Therefore, Gittoes depicts a raw image of an individual at the point of human extremis, unified by the power of the bible, to communicate to the audience of the importance of human unification when challenging major political powers. By reflecting society’s reaction to the political events of a particular time, the artwork connects with the contextual audience. Much like Gittoes, Eugene Delacroix highlights

his own experience of a contextual political issue and similarly to Ai Wei Wei challenges a prominent political power of his day. Delacroix was heavily influenced by Gericault, beginning to paint with emotion over order and including subtle political commentaries within his works, reflecting a shift in classical art. Delacroix’s “Liberty leading the people” is a response to the Parisian revolution against Charles X of France in 1830 after the breaking of the constitution, Delacroix painting out of patriotism for the french people as he felt it was his duty to paint like it was the revolutionists jobs to fight. The composition consists of all the social classes within France led by a single female figure holding a french flag. The large oil painting reflects the romanticist aesthetic of art and creates a more dramatic and emotional effect on the audience. The work is split into 2 triangles, the bottom triangle containing the dead soldier and the top triangle containing the woman, Liberty, providing a balance throughout the painting. Delacroix utilises colours through the people, representing all social classes to integrate a sense of realism and pay homage, repeatedly using the French colours to symbolize the power of the french people. Light is used to highlight Liberty to emphasize her power but also light is shone on the man laying on the ground, challenging the audience to consider the price of freedom. The work was originally hidden away until Delacroix’s death in 1863 as it was highly controversial with art critics unable to analyse his use of reality, fiction, symbolism and documentary within one artwork. Modern audiences now view it as a masterpiece of Romantic art and is seen as different and unique from the paintings of the time. Thus, by reflecting society’s response to political injustice, Delacroix connects to the audience, outlining that society will unite under a common cause. Hence, artists connect to the audience by reflecting their personal concerns of social and political issues within their contextual societies. Ai Wei Wei’s “Remembering” and “Study of perspective series” attempt to bring justice to the chinese government for their restriction of freedom and neglection of human death. Gittoes’ “Death and the Boy” and “The Preacher” highlight the atrocities of political warfare to the audience, attempting to incite change and unity within society. Delacroix’s “Liberty leading the people” highlights his perspective that society would prevail against social injustices by removing those who impose it.

Feedback 1st Paragraph ●

More links to the audience throughout the paragraph

2nd Paragraph ●

Meaning of “Societal norms” is unclear

3rd Paragraph ●

Could also emphasise the emotive connection with the audience

4th Paragraph ●

Within thesis statement, clarify what “it” is...