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jaysblog22 · 3 years ago

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Word Art

What is Word Art?

The term describes a text-based art used by several contemporary artists. A simple definition could be: art that includes words and/or numbers as the primary and sometimes only component.

History of Word Art

Types of text-based art first started as a response to the style of abstract expressionist painting produced by Mark Rothko and Jackson Pollock in the early 1950’s. Because of the destruction after World War II, the Abstract Expressionist movement turned away from any form of representational art (images recognisable for what they are supposed to be) and instead focused on art devoid of real shapes and figures. To show the disagreement with this direction, artist Jasper Johns began incorporating words and numbers into his abstract pieces. Some examples are: Gray Numbers, False Start and Gray Alphabets. Most of the numbers and letters were stencilled in to make them as perfect as possible.

My personal favourite out of three is False Start due to the use of bold and vibrant colours splashed onto the canvas. I also like how the words are broken up by the paint and dominate the painting.

By introducing text to art, Johns was able to ask the question: what is art?

Some pieces of pop art do include words however, are not classed as word art as the phrases are not the primary component of the painting/print. For example, the text piece in Roy Lichtenstein's ‘Drowning Girl’ is simply there to support the rest of the image and is not the main composition. With conceptual art being on the rise, more and more forms of word art began to surface.

The conceptual artist Joseph Kosuth began creating Definition Paintings which were made up of images of dictionary definitions. I am not a fan of this piece because it is so simple and plain, nothing really stands out due to the dull colouring so the viewer’s eye is not really drawn to anything.

Barbara Kruger is another very famous name in the word art movement as they highlighted the way ideological messages invade our everyday life. Her best known work is ‘I shop therefore I am’ which is a photolithographic print on paper. I do enjoy the boldness of this piece as the red really stands out, immediately drawing the spectators eye to the phrase and the border. I like how the hand seems to be holding the quote as well because it brings the artwork together as a whole.

I like this movement due to the combination of the different art forms that are painting and writing and sometimes print. I love how the words are always bold while the rest of the piece sits in the background as that is quite unusual in the artworld; that the writing is more important than the drawing.

#wordart #student

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jaysblog22 · 3 years ago

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Lecture 1: So, What is Contemporary Art?

The outcomes for this lecture were to: understand the term ‘contemporary’ in the art world, what factors can be linked with contemporary artwork and finally to explore some practitioners and movements within contemporary art.

According to Tate, the term means: “The term contemporary art is loosely used to refer to art of the present day and of the relatively recent past, of an innovatory or avant-garde nature.” However, my take on the subject is that at one point in time, all artwork was once contemporary. It is generally agreed that Contemporary Art started around the 1960s and included many movements within.

A Timeline of Movements:

· Early 1950’s- Word Art

· Mid 1950’s- Pop Art

· Late 1950’s- Minimalism

· 1960- Fluxus Movement

· 1960’s- Conceptualism

· 1960’s- Photo- Realism

· 1960’s- Installation

· 1960’s- Body Art

· Late 1960’s- Feminist Art

· 1965- Video Installation

· 1966- Supports/ Surfaces

· 1966- Post- Minimalism

· 1967- Arte Povera

· 1969- Projection Art

· 1960’s-1970’s- Earthworks

· Early 1970’s- Contemporary Realism

· 1970’s- Graffiti Art

· 1970’s- Performance

· 1976- School of London

· Late 1970’s- Transavanguardia

· 1980- Contemporary Photography

· Early 1980’s- Neo- Expressionsim

· Early 1980’s- Computer Art (Digital)

· 1980’s- Neo- Pop

· 1988- Young British Artists (Britart)

· Late 1980’s- Deconstructivism

· 1990’s- Cynical Realism

· 1990’s New Leipzig School

· 1999- Stuckism

After reading Smith’s ‘What is Contemporary Art?’, I have come to my own conclusion that there is in fact no actual answer as it is so fluid, includes so much different media, more about the concept and you can never be wrong.

I came into the session with a pessimistic attitude since I am not the biggest fan of Contemporary Art, however, after researching about Ryan Gander, I have started to change my opinion. Since 2003, Gander has produced an immense amount of work in multiple forms: sculpture, writing, painting, architecture, clothing, installation and performance. The artist also curates exhibitions and also presented television shows for the BBC. He is described as a conceptual artist but rejects the term as he sees himself as more of a ‘Proper-Gander-ist’. My favourite piece by Gander is ‘I…I…I…’ which is an animatronic mouse with his head poking through a wall. Scattered along the floor are pieces of plaster and dust. When near the mouse, you can hear him trying to say a speech; it is his 9-year-old daughter who did not really know what to say. I like this installation as it is an interactive piece and you can feel like part of the artwork, I also enjoy how Gander does not take himself or his art too seriously and wants the audience to have just as much fun as he is having.

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