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Yayoi Kusama

Yayoi Kusama, born in Matsumoto, Japan in 1929, started painting as a child to cope with hallucinations and a difficult family life. She pursued formal training in Nihonga, a traditional Japanese painting style, at the Kyoto School of Arts and Crafts. The rise of Abstract Expressionism and a letter from Georgia O'Keeffe prompted her to move to New York in 1958.

Yayoi Kusama kicked off her art career with the Infinity Nets series, which included all sorts of things like paintings, soft sculptures, collages, films, and installations. This series was filled with repeating patterns that were a nod to her hallucinations. In the '60s, she was in New York City putting on these wild events where she'd paint polka dots on people's bodies. She moved back to Japan in '73 and checked herself into a psychiatric hospital in '77, where she's lived ever since.

After trying her hand at poetry and stories, Kusama went back to her famous polka dots, now seeing them as symbols of the sun, moon, movement, and the road to forever. She even started using them in mirrored rooms. She represented Japan at the 1993 Venice Biennale, and her own museum, the Yayoi Kusama Museum, opened in Tokyo in 2017.

Throughout her incredibly busy career, Kusama's art constantly touches on topics like mental health, repetition, obsession, creation, destruction, sex, and feminism. She works in tons of different mediums, like painting, sculpture, collage, drawing, film, poetry, fashion, and performance art. She's won a bunch of awards and has had her work shown in lots of retrospectives and traveling exhibitions.

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"Longing For"(?)

"The Affliction of Love" - Oil on canvas - 50 x 40 in.

"The Deepest Part" - Oil on canvas.

Naudline Pierre

Born: 1989, Leominster, Massachusetts

Nationality: American

Currently based in: Brooklyn, New York

Education: BFA from Andrews University and MFA from the New York Academy of Art

Naudline Pierre is an American visual artist who works in oil painting and drawing. She draws inspiration from art history and mythology to produce fantastical yet significant paintings about expression. She uses Renaissance portraits and religious icons to create her vibrant and complex compositions.

The colors in "Longing For" are dull and few in colors but convey a message of what I feel as sorrow but acceptance. The background almost looks like it's on fire while the woman lies on the ground infront of it. She has wings, but accepts her fate.

In "The Affliction of Love," the colors again are few but this time dramatically contrasts the other while also looking like it all smoothly flows together. The woman in the middle as purple really draws the viewer in while the sunset colors pull your eyes towards her hand where she holds and is coiled by what looks like a snake. Going by the title of the painting, the snake represents the entrapment of what love could feel like negatively, also shown in the woman's expression.

Looking at "The Deepest Part" from far away, the colors look like the flowing ocean underwater despite the chaos of the figures and heads. From up close, you can see the details of the figure in the middle holding an arrow and reaching out for something. It looks like the figures are dropping into the blue to attack something while the swimming heads surround them. From above, it's brighter, so it could be related to something heavenly and the ocean with heads remind me of the River of Souls.

I like the use of wings in most of her paintings as she gives them a nice flow of your eyesight around the painting. In most of the paintings, the colors are dark and dull, which give the sense of sadness but a deeper meaning that could be left to the viewer's interpretation.

My question is how do you interpret "The Deepest Part" and "Longing For?" Do you see it as something negative or positive, or even both?

Anjuman Taher

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Seohyun Oh

Jack Barrett Gallery - "Of The Echoes"

YOB: 2000

Nationality: South Korean, born in Seoul, South Korea

Currently based in London

Education:

-Painting & Drawing (BFA) School of the Art Institute of Chicago (2019-2023)

-Painting (MA) Royal College of Art (2023-2024)

I picked this artist because of her vibrant use of colors in these paintings, of course I love creating very vibrant and colorful art myself so I can get lost in the use of them. However, on the scale that Seohyun does it, there is a clear sense of motion that is replicated throughout all her pieces. Seohyun herself says that she views her own pieces of art as a body in motion. "I see my painting as a living creature, some parts swiftly painted, others unfolding with gradual bursts of colour and shape, composed of different line weights with various tempos. In pushing these expressive behaviours, I uncover hues and patterns that hint at the mysteries of existence.” - Oh Seohyun.

These paintings of hers has a straightforward connection to our "Fall Into Color" project, her clear use of color and the way she paints her brushstrokes each has a sense of action. Her paintings appear energetic and very purposeful. Her main goal when it comes to her paintings is to bring them to life, covering every surface of the white canvas with as much motion and color as possible. “Whenever I paint I activate little universes on the canvas,” Oh Seohyun says. “Even if the canvas seems static, I work to bring attention to the fact there are constant, small, sometimes imperceivable actions always working on it. Shifting and changing every second.” - Oh Seohyun

Seohyun views everything in motion, even seemingly static objects. She likes to think of objects as being in constant motion and I think it really comes across like that in her paintings, everything appears like its moving in the chaos of colors. She attempts to dissolve imaginary landscapes on a molecular level and distort images. She uses painting as a personal journey, responding to her ideas through abstract transcriptions.

"I embark on a journey to a realm where the boundaries between fantasy and reality blur. Often, the tangible world reveals itself as more surreal than my dreams, creating an intricate interplay that captivates me." -Oh Seohyun

What emotion do sense from Seohyun's paintings? Do they give you an energetic and action packed emotion, or something different and unexpected?

What do you think about viewing your canvas as a living creature? Does the idea make you want to cover every little surface on your canvas?

Betsy Torres-Hernandez

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Wassily Kandinsky:

Kandinsky was a Russian-born artist born December 16, 1866 in Moscow, Russia. He is regarded as one of the pioneers of pure abstraction in modern painting. He spent his childhood in Odessa, Ukraine, where he graduated from Odessa Art School. He enrolled at the University of Moscow and studied law and economics. Successful in his profession, he was offered a professorship (chair of Roman Law) at the University of Dorpat (today Tartu, Estonia). At 30, he was inspired by a French art exhibition featuring Claude Monet's "Haystacks", Kandinsky decided to abandon his legal career and dedicate himself to art. He moved to Munich in 1896 to study painting, enrolling in Anton Ažbe's private school and later at the Academy of Fine Arts. After successful avant-garde exhibitions, he founded the influential Munich group Der Blaue Reiter (“The Blue Rider”; 1911–14) and began completely abstract painting. His forms evolved from fluid and organic to geometric and eventually pictographic.

Kandinsky’s mother was a Muscovite, one of his great-grandmothers a Mongolian princess, and his father a native of Kyakhta, a Siberian town near the Chinese border.

His family was genteel, well-to-do, and fond of travel; when he was still a child, he became familiar with Venice, Rome, Florence, the Caucasus, and the Crimean Peninsula. At Odessa, where his parents settled in 1871, he completed his secondary schooling and became an amateur performer on the piano and the cello.

Wassily Kandinsky believed colors held spiritual and psychological meaning, associating specific hues with emotions and sensations, and used this theory to create art that evoked a spiritual response in viewers. As well as he also had synethisa which is a condition that causes a unique sensory experience where, for example, someone might see colors when hearing music or feel textures when reading

His work is shown at the Guggenheim Museum, New York; Centre Pompidou, Paris; Städtische Galerie in Lenbachhaus, Munich (MUNIK), Yale Univeristy Art Gallery, Connecticut; Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philly; Galerie Tretyakov, Moscou.

https://galeriemontblanc.com/en/blogs/articles/what-are-the-most-beautiful-works-of-vassily-kandinsky

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Wassily-Kandinsky/Paris-period

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Ben Tong

Ben Tong (b. 1981 Toronto, Canada)

Artist based in Los Angeles, California.

2012 MFA, California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, CA

2008 BFA, California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, CA

Tong’s paintings occupy the subtle and faint space between abstraction and representation. He uses bright, jewel toned colors and bold brushstrokes to create his paintings. He was inspired by the rebelliousness of the impressionists, and tries to echo that in his paintings (Monet in particular). He uses color, light, and abstraction to create very unique still lives. The shallowness in depth of his paintings are intentional, and adds to the effect of the painting.

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"Wildwood Beach" Oil on Canvas, 36 x 72”.

“Atlantic City Beach Scene“, Oil on Canvas, 48 x 71”.

“Fox Creek, Death Canyon“, Grand Teton Nat. Park, Oil on Canvas, 60 x 60”.

Cascade Creek II“, Grand Teton Nat. Park, Oil on Canvas, 60 x 60”. 

David Ahlsted was born in 1943 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He became a professor at Stockton University in 1976 and taught painting, drawing, and 2-D design here for thirty years. He helped to build the Stockton visual arts program, introduced the digital arts program, and helped establish the Stockton Art Gallery.

Ahlsted's "National Park" exhibit can be seen currently at Stockton's campus art gallery. The latter two photos show some of the works that are available to see. His work in this collection consists of a mix of very large and series of very small works showcasing our country's beautiful national parks with vivid colors and thick brush strokes.

I included two of his works from his "Jersey Shore" collection that are not currently at the Stockton gallery. These works interested me when I saw them because they show scenes from the areas that I live by and am very familiar with. The vibrant blue colors take over the canvases and I thought that they were good examples of our "fall into color" project. I feel that when looking at these works you become enveloped by the rich, vivid blues in the sky and water.

I wanted to show this artist because not only has he created beautiful paintings in our local community, but I came to find out that he helped build the Stockton visual arts program as well. Fun fact: He actually painted the four large nature paintings that hang in the campus center above the event room and auditorium.

Is there a difference in the color relationships of his "Jersey Shore" works versus his "National Parks" works?

Why do you think Ahlsted used such bright blue colors for the ocean in his paintings?

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Richard Hambleton

Richard Art Hambleton (June 23, 1952 – October 29, 2017) was a Canadian artist known for his work as a street artist. He was a surviving member of a group that emerged from the New York City art scene during the booming art market of the 1980s which also included Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat. While often associated with graffiti art, Hambleton considered himself a conceptual artist who made both public arts and gallery works.

Hambleton was born on June 23, 1952 in Tofino, Vancouver Island, British Columbia . He received an Advanced Diploma from the Emily Carr University of Art and Design in Vancouver in 1975. Hambleton founded and became a co-director of Pumps Centre for Alternative Art, a gallery, performance and video space in Vancouver where he had his first solo exhibition in 1976.

Street art

Hambleton's early public art included his Image Mass Murder art. From 1976 to 1978 Hambleton painted a police "chalk" outline around bodies of volunteer "homicide victims." He then splashed some red paint on the outline, leaving behind a realistic looking crime scene. These "crime scenes" were done on the streets of 15 major cities across the United States and Canada. Like Hambleton's future "Shadowman" paintings, the Image Mass Murder "crime scenes" would often have the effect of startling or shocking passersby.

Luke Lallo

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Kelly Sinnapah Mary

Kelly Sinnapah Mary Born: 1981 (age 44 years) is a contemporary artist from Guadeloupe, known for her paintings, sculptures, and installations that explore the connections between literature, history, and nature. Her work reflects both her Afro-Caribbean heritage and her later discovery of her South Indian ancestry, as her ancestors were indentured workers brought to the Caribbean after slavery's abolition.

Her art blends myth, memory, and superstition to challenge colonial ideas. One key figure, Sanbras, inspired by The Story of Little Black Sambo, mixes woman, child, and animal, with skin covered in plants and symbols. Through this, Mary questions colonial views on race and highlights the connection between all living things. Her work is deeply influenced by the environment of Guadeloupe and its plants, animals, and diaspora. Her art has been shown internationally, including at Aicon Gallery in New York and the Pérez Art Museum in Miami.

How does Mary's fusion of human, animal, and nature in her art challenge traditional colonial views on race and identity?

All information came from her website: https://www.jamescohan.com/artists/kelly-sinnapah-mary

Rhoa Maarouf

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Joseph Olisaemeka Wilson

Joseph Olisaemeka Wilson is an American contemporary artist who was born in 1999 in Los Angeles, California. He now lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. He’s had several exhibitions from 2019 to now with his latest gallery that we were able to visit, Hard Times and Silver Teeth at the Spicewood County Casino, which shows imagery of casinos, patrons, animals, architecture and machines. Wilson often paints themes of animals, people, pop culture and African folklore in muted, fantastical yet doomsday-esc or warlike visions. Often, his paintings are overlaid nonsensically to invoke ruptured space.

How does the imagery and colors that Wilson uses make you feel?

Wilson claims to not have narrative goals in mind when he works, but that the elements write themselves. How do you think this helps him develop his work?

-Lindsay H.

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Xiao Wang -- Seeing Through (Hesse Flatow Gallery)

Xiao Wang (1990) is a Chinese born painter based in New York. He received a BFA from the Glasgow School of Art in Painting and Printmaking. He went on to earn his MFA from San Francisco Art Institute, majoring in Painting.

Xiao Wang has been shown and recognized internationally in various counties and publications. His work is based on realism and is soaked in moody, vivid colors and strange situations.

His work frequently creates ruptured space, using mirrors and reflections. He fractures and repeats visuals throughout his paintings. Xiao Wang crafts a unique experience for those who view his work, making them a joy to view in person!

-- Siera Ojeda

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Keith Haring:

He is a very well known painter with his work still being used for merchandise and art styles. Born in 1958 and died in 1990, born in Reading Pennsylvania. Though not in the work included above due to sensitivity Keith Haring made a lot of work that was sexual as a way to be an advocate to the LGBTQ+ community. He was a part of the LGBTQ+ community which is why he died at a very young age of 31 due to AIDS, only 2 years after diagnosed.

He uses bright colors that makes the art seem fun even if it’s a red monster eating a person. It makes you look more into the work till you see what’s really going on. Though the work is only remembered because of the dancing baby or the barking dog he makes work that is simple to look at or very sophisticated that you have to focus on it like the black and white photo provided.

When you look at the mural depicted on the bottom what do you think he is trying to represent?

Looking at his art do you think the viewers see his advocacy to the LGBTQ+ community?

-Madison Goswick

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Jesse Krimes

Jesse Krimes is a formerly incarcerated artist who centers his experiences in prison, specifically solitary confinement, in his work. He was born in 1982 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania and served time in Fairton Federal Correction Institution. The pictures above are from his MET exhibition, "Purgatory" which aims to display the horrors of incarceration and the creatives stuck in confinement. Each of his pieces are made solely with what was available to him while in prison, including pebbles, soap, magazines photos, and toothpaste.

How do the materials chosen amplify the meaning of each of his works? Would his work be as impactful using traditional materials?

Without knowing the context of these pieces, how would you interpret them?

-Margot Whalen

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Cheyenne Julian

Cheyenne Julien is a contemporary artist whose paintings draw inspriation from personal experiences. She was born in 1994, and she has been active since she earned her BFA in Painting from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2016. Julien's work often reflects her upbringing in the Bronx, portraying figures with deep emotion and themes of race, community, and the impact of architectural spaces on personal identity. Her art has been shown in many exhibitions, including a show titled "41 Floors" at Chapter NY.

Her website: https://www.cheyennejulien.com/

How does her background influence her work?

How does she use space and architecture in her painting? Does it differ from other artists?

(post by Tiana Rivera)

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Izabella Carman

Andy Warhol

8//61928-2/22/1987

1- Was active during the 80’s before his death in 1987.

2- Why Andy Warhol is relevant to the current project is because he made a new

genre of contemporary art called “Pop Art”

3- His history of exhibition would include 1952 New York: Hugo Gallery

Fifteen Drawings Based on the Writings of Truman Capote. June 16 - July 3, 1952, 1954 New York: Loft Gallery

302 East 45th Street (TKA79), 1956 New York: Bodley Gallery February 14 (St. Valentine's Day) - March 3, 1956

His accomplishments include paintings, films and other works. For example, his

most famous film is “Sleep” in 1963

Andy is the youngest out of three son’s and his parents were Andrej Warhola and Julia Zavacky. Raised in Uptown in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania when they left Slovakia. He got his education from Carnegie Institute of Technology (now Carnegie Mellon University) in Pittsburgh with a Bachelor of Fine Art in Pictorial Design in1949. During the 50’s he became a famous illustrator and was awarded many awards for his work. Some big companies he worked for were Tiffany & Co., The New York Times, and NBC. During the 60’s Warhol moved into the fine art world and gained popularity in the nascent Pop Art movement. After much experimentation in art, he moved into the film world in 1963. He went on to make a few other films like “Sleep” (1963),”Empire” (1964), and “Kiss”(1963-64). In June 1963 Valerie Solanas shot Warhol in the chest because of a script shew wrote and Andy stole it.  the 1970s onward, Warhol’s solo output continued producing a prolific number of paintings, prints, photographs, and drawings. Warhol died in New York City on February 22, 1987, due to complications following surgery to remove his gall bladder.

Andy Wahol’s work is both bold and aligned. What makes his art very interesting to me is how he chooses his color pallet and what he chooses to be his subject.

Question 1- With the advancements in art in our present day is Andy Warhol still impactful and unique?

Question 2- Could there be someone around the same time as Andy Warhol that might have been better Or made a bigger impact for Pop Culture?

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Ali Cavanaugh

Ali Cavanaugh

American artist born in 1973 she received her BFA from Kendall College of Art and Design in New York City in 1995. At the age of 22 she co-founded The New School Academy of Fine Art in Grand Rapids, Michigan. In 2001 she relocated to Santa Fe, New Mexico it was here that she developed her modern fresco water color style.

In the beginning of her career Cavanaugh's style had been influenced by her early loss of hearing which caused her to study peoples faces closely to read lips and expressions leading to a passion of the essence of human expression, unspoken words, identity and vulnerability. Her painting technique was very tight and emphasized hyper realistic details. She painted every square inch with control and perfection. Around the time her daughter and favorite muse was leaving for college Cavanaugh realized that she began to feel burdened by her watercolor technique and extreme level of details that she had once felt excitement and challenge over now became labored, she longed for a new creative process. This big change didn’t come so much in what she painted with but what she painted on. Going back to the old masters who painted frescos on wet plaster walls Cavanaugh began creating wooden panels covered in kaolin clay that she then painted with watercolors calling it “modern frescos”. She also let go of her tight rigid painting style and went with a free ethereal style expressing emotions with dreamy limited color palettes and creating a sense of inner light. She began to lay down multiple layers of QoR watercolors by Golden letting them dry in unpredictable ways going back and forth as if the artist and paints were in conversation.

In 2016 she had her first museum show, a 54 painting retrospective of modern frescoes at the Marietta Cobb Museum of Art in Georgia. Her work can also be seen in: national and international solo exhibitions, on book covers, in private and corporate collections, many social media platforms and print publications such as: The New York Times, American Artist Watercolor, Time Magazine and has published her own book titled Modern Frescoes.

*Golden Art supply company created a new line of watercolor paints where they replaced the traditional Gum Arabic with Aquazol used by art restorationists which aloud the paint to carry more pure pigment and increase the duration of quality.

Questions:

1. Would you agree that this artist was able to emote unspoken emotional traits through her process? If so what are some that came to mind?

2. Do you like the idea of putting a modern spin on an antiquated art technique, what are some other classics that could be modernized to appeal to todays viewers?

https://youtu.be/VPOg79pEo_w?feature=shared https://www.alicavanaugh.com/

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Freud was quoted for saying that he wanted to paint himself to death. What do you think he meant by that? Freud uses a common ordinary tool that most painters use and started incorporating them in his work, do you know what that is? His most famous painting besides Queen Elizabeth II was the portrait of David Hockney in 2002. It sold for $20.7 million Hockney was 65 at the time and now Hockney is 86years old. How many hours do you think Hockney had to sit for this portrait?