ghodgman

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Starting to assemble my FMP!!

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©CRAZE || FMP 2022 || © GABY HODGMAN DESIGN

[ghodgman]

©CRAZE || FMP 2022 || © GABY HODGMAN DESIGN

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Art History

Message- Conflict, ‘Guernica’ by Pablo Picasso.

‘Guernica’ by Pablo Picasso is one of his best-known works, there is also a lot of history and emotion behind this piece. The painting was created by Picasso to express his outrage over the Nazi bombing of a city in northern Spain.

What makes this painting quite emotional is that the painting is depicting the innocent lives of the people at Guernica, rather than the soldiers; this is implied because you cannot see any uniforms. There is also a lot of symbolism within this piece including the light at the top left which looks very much like an eye which suggests that there are constantly being watched. There is also the bull in the back left of the painting to link back to the location where this happened as it's an unofficial symbol for Spain. However, a bull is usually a destructive and short-tempered animal and Picasso said ‘it meant brutality and darkness’ which is very symbolic of this peace. He also stated that the horse which is located underneath the eye represents the people of Guernica, innocent and trapped. 

The colours within the piece have also been purposely chosen because grey tones often symbolise depression and loss, words that would likely be used often to describe the horrors of the bombing. This work gained a monumental status, becoming a constant reminder of the tragedies of war, acting as an anti-war symbol and an embodiment of peace.

Sources:

https://www.pablopicasso.org/guernica.jsp

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Art History

Message- Masculine Identity, ‘Perseus with Head of Medusa’, Benvenuto Cellini, 1545-54.

Benvenuto was an Italian Renaissance sculptor and one of the most famous sculptures that he created was the bronze sculpture of Perseus. Unlike a lot of sculptors, Benvenuto Cellini was incredibly popular and sought after for commissions during his lifetime, he was commissioned by people such as the French King Francis. However, it was Cosimo I that commissioned the Bronze statue of Perseus. The bigger than life-size sculpture stands at 3.2m tall and is now located at the Loggia Della Signoria in Florence. 

The myth behind this commissioned statue is that of Perseus and Medusa; in the 7th Century, Perseus fought with the gorgon Medusa whose stare turned any living being to stone. This battle ends with Perseus cutting off the head of Medusa. Cosimo I wanted this myth captured in bronze to be displayed for everyone to see. Within this statue, you can see the corpse of Medusa being stood on by the mighty Perseus who wields a sword that put an end to Medusa’s reign of evil. What is rather interesting about this piece is that Perseus is not looking into the eyes of Medusas head that he is holding because she is still dangerous, even after death.

Something to mention about the figure of Perseus itself is that he fits the ideal masculine identity, there is also the feeling of power embodied within the statue. What you have to take into consideration though is patronage, due to Cosimo commissioning this piece, he could have had some influence on the composition and the way that Perseus looked. Due to this story being a myth, no one knows what Perseus looked like and therefore each depiction of him is based on what people believe he looks like.

Sources:

https://www.worldhistory.org/Benvenuto_Cellini/ 

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Art History

Message- Female Identity ‘Untitled B, Untitled C’, Cindy Sherman, 1975.

Cindy Sherman is a female American Artist who primarily focuses on photographic self-portraits, depicting herself in many different contexts and various imagined characters. Using a 3x5 film camera, she took elaborately disguised self-portraits.

The effect of these pieces to display a social commentary on sexual stereotypes; as a photographer, the confrontation of prevalent female stereotypes is central to her work. Within this ‘Untitled’ film series, Sherman explored images of men women in films of the 1950s and 60s.  Cindy Sherman stated, ‘these images were from a series of head shots that I made to show the process of turning one character into another.’  In both ‘Untitled B’ and ‘Untitled C’, Sherman has combined evident staging with the successful portrayal of a character type. ‘Untiled B’ is Cindy presenting herself as a male character through the use of a monobrow, darkening of the eyes and mouth. She has also purposely pulled her cheek into her neck to elevate this characters personality and add in some comedic elements. ‘Untitled C’ on the other hand shows a lady who has much less darkening of the eyes and mouth. Instead, she has lots of brightening make-up and mascara which adds to this feeling of wide- eyed and innocent.

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Art History

Messages- Social Commentary, History Painting ‘Shopping Mall’ Jamie Wagg, 1993-4.

A history painting is a painting whereby the subject matter has been drawn from a historical event. In this case, the ‘Shopping Mall’ by Jamie Wagg tells the story of the abduction and murder of James Bulger in 1993 (the same year the painting was created). The painting has been drawn from the surveillance footage of the abduction where the little boy, James Bulger, was holding hands with his abductor. 

Jamie Wagg has decontextualized this painting by removing the recorded references of the time and place with digital image-processing techniques. Erasing the lettering, title and digits which indicates the meaning behind this image, means that the publics interpretation of the image has changed. At a first glance, it looks as if an older brother is holding hands with the younger, yet with context, this is completely juxtaposed as displaying the evidence of a horrifying killing that shocked the UK. This shows that without context or some form of typography, the meaning of a painting or image can be completely opposite to reality which is his comment on society.

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Art History:

Messages- Multiculturism ‘Life at ‘Ol’ Virginny’s Hole’ Kara Walker, 2000.

Kara Walker is an American Contemporary painter, silhouettist, printmaker and installation artist; she often draws upon topics such as gender, race, sexuality and violence within her works in order to educate and raise awareness. She is best known for her room-size tableaux of black cut-paper silhouettes, one in particular being the creation, ‘Slavery! Slavery! Life at ‘Ol’ Virginny’s Hole’ which was completed in 2000. This room-sized display of screen prints show sketches from Plantation Life; these scenarios expose the ongoing psychological injury caused by the tragedy of slavery. 

This exhibition is organised as a narrative which is cleverly done by the artist to force the viewers to engage with contemporary and historical racist portrayals of African Americans. The effect that the silhouettes create is that there is a strong contrast between the wall and the prints which mean that the focus is drawn to the narrative. Personally, I think that this exhibition is incredibly powerful and vital in order to educate and inform viewers.

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In response to a brief, I created 5 digital illustrations on where I listen to music 🧚🏼

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The second series of product photography- I am much happier with how this one turned out because the focus is on the products. Also the light box backdrop makes it look more professional ⭐️

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The first product photography conducted with a black backdrop- I’m overly happy with how these turned out. The background needs to be more subtle so that the focus is drawn to the mock up products.

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Some more photos from my designs 🌟

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Final screen print designs for my T-shirts- I’m very happy with the outcome! 🌺

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Finished outcome of my Jorja Smith screen printed design ✨

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Finished outcome of my screen printed sweatshirt!!

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Initial progress photos of screen prints for my T-shirt designs 🎆

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A3 life drawings in blue pencil 🌀