Blog Posting - Module 5

Burchfield Penney Art Gallery observations and conclusions;
Which artworks make an impact or impression on me? Why?

• The medium water color painting, Wild Sweet Peas in a Summer Rain, 1965 by Charles E. Burchfield seemed to make an impact on me. The watercolors within the flowers of the painting represented the season on Summer due to the greenery all throughout. Along with the beautiful sky and background imitating a rainy day based on the dull colors such as grey and black. 
  
• The oil on canvas medium painting by Thomas Le Clear, Interior with Portraits, ca. 1865 made an impression on me since it stood out from the other artwork surrounding the painting. The artwork is displayed on its own section of a wall due to the size and the painting tends to tell a story. The movement and contrast happening within the artwork causes the viewer's eyes to look at every element and piece within the work. 
  

Which artworks do I feel a connection with? Why?

• I felt a connection with Paul Wiesenfeld's Interior, 1972 medium oil on canvas painting because as soon as I laid eyes on the artwork, I was drawn in. The couch is so dominate within the painting that it creates questions to come about, wanting and yearning to know more. Seeing the couch and the various items surrounding it made me feel comfortable and relaxed, causing me to want to jump inside the painting and lay on the couch. 
  
• Another artwork that I felt a connection with involved Evelyn Rumsey Cary, The Spirit of Niagara, 1901 medium oil on canvas. I made a connection with this painting due to the colors that stood out to me. The painting encompasses what perceived to be an angel/spirit like female being and/or becoming water. Above the female, there's a rainbow with various buildings and a unique background behind her. I was drawn to the pastel and subtle colors as well as the spirit like female with her arms up and legs crossed becoming one with her circumstances. 
  

Which artworks would I like to know more about? Why? 

• One artwork that I would like to know more about included Charles Caryl Coleman, The Shores of Capri, 1890 medium oil on canvas. I would like to know more about this artwork due to several woman amongst the artwork. The woman are all scattered throughout the painting, perceiving to be what looks like a beach and/or shore that the woman are doing work on. I question why the woman are there and what are they doing exactly? 
  
• John McQueen, The Four Food Groups, 2006 large sculpture is another artwork that I would like to know more about. The artist used sticks, string, bundle ties and hot glue to make the artwork and I wonder how he came up with such an idea. What made the artist place the elements all together including strings, sticks and hot glue and then to add the words amongst the piece? Was hunger involved? The piece is so distinctive and unique that it makes people want to know and learn more regarding it. 
  

How Art Made the World Part 1: More Human Than Human video questions;

1.) Some of the most interesting facts I learned from the video involves  the limestone media Venus of Willendorf statue, which is worth 60 million dollars. Also, the tomb of the Egyptian pharaoh was carved out of solid rock to cater to after life when he died. Another interesting fact includes the bronze realistic human statue of a man found within the body of water by a scuba diver came from ancient Greece. 

2.) Our modern world is dominated by images of the body that are unrealistic due to last century ancestors when archaeologists pulled the figure of a woman out of the mud around 300 hundred years old. The body was unrealistic due to her breasts and stomach being over sized, as well as her genitals being extremely pronounced. Once the Venus of Willendorf statue was found, people all over the world started to make artworks of the human body being exaggerated. Brain scientist, V.S Ramachandran began researching why people created unrealistic human bodies, relating back to the study that was once done on seagulls. Ramachandran believes the behavior of the gold chicks obtaining food from their mother based on the red stripe of the beak was similar to the behavior of the hunter gatherers at the time of when the Venus of Willendorf statue was made. The brains of the hunter gatherers were pre-programmed to exaggerate what mattered most since they lived in a harsh environment at the time and big features were desired.