Contextual Influences in Art & Design : March 2014

Thursday 6 March 2014

"Xebgha Nies"

This exhibition took place in St. James Cavalier. It's called "Xebgha Nies" which means lots of people, which is exactly what we saw at the exhibit.People, or the artist's way of people's prescriptions.

"In-Nemmiesa" - Steve Bonello

This painting caught my eye because as soon as I saw her face, my mind went right to Tim Burton's Corpse Bride. The resemblance is all in her face, her eyes, mouth and pose. Yet the character is unique in its own way. The composition is quite balanced, with her in the foreground and the chapel in the background, the trees in the mid-ground and the two men and the stone wall.
Nemmiesa is the Maltese word for spying, which is quite obvious as two men appear to be either spying on the poor woman or else stalking her. To me, the painting represents a Maltese Folklore, especially since there's the small chapel behind them all. It also shows the connection between the "Innocence" of some women and the "filth" of some men. The lady gives that sense of purity from her blank face and clothes. She wears nothing revealing or seductive in any way, she's just a pretty fool. Whilst the men look dirty and soiled from the dark around their eyes, the shape of their heads, the evil grin the first male has and even the way they hold onto the rubble wall (which is also something typically Maltese). They reek of bad intentions whilst she glows with purity and innocence.

"Nightmare" by Debbie Caruana Dingli

This painting gives off the feel of something that is post-impressionism as it is very sketchy and unrealistic, yet you can still figure out what the artist is trying to say.
You can easily pin point the center of the image, the young boy with his hands above his head as if trying to block the taunting of his bad dream. He stands out from the rest of the figures as he has life-like peachy skin colour whilst the rest have a sort of grayish tone. The faces seem to show anger, fear, stress, worry, depression, misery, old age and death. Which all in all could be quite terrifying and drastic for a young boy to be worrying about all those negative things.

"Mother And Child" by Andrew Diacono

This once spoke to me as I find anything to do with motherhood as intriguing. The figure itself is not realistic, her hips are too big and her head too small. Yet that is what makes the image so interesting, eliminating the parts which give unnecessary detail like the head or the feet.This could have been done with the intention that the artist gives you that sense of motherhood by keeping the details at bay. The child also has that sense of anonymous as you can't really tell if its a boy or a girl. So the artist might want you to imagine that your that child being held by your mother, or even vice-versa.
This painting was made by 3D relief and the blues in the background give a calm yet sad and nostalgic feeling.

"Who am I?" by Paul Scerri

This small sculpture stood out in its own unique way. The figure shows an almost blank face with a key hole in its chest and a key in its upheld hand. Below him on the pedestal were the words "Who am I?" painted in gold paint.
When looking at the figure I wasn't sure if he wanted me to take the key away from him and never let him know, or take it and unlock the metaphoric mystery that has been haunting him. The fact that his head is facing the other direction and not the key in his palm makes you wonder if knowing who you really are is something you can just live without.

Wednesday 5 March 2014

Fashion Design

In the mid 1800's, fashion design was specifically tight corset dresses which were too tight to breath in, even though they had a gorgeous design. The women of the world wanted a change, and that change came through fashion designers we would have never thought of with much importance, until now.

Typical 19th century dresses

Coco - Chanel

She was born in 1883, France. Her mother died when she was just young and her father soon abandoned her and her younger sister at an orphanage where she learnt how to sew.
She revolutionized the way women dress up. During her time, women were meant to wear corsets in which they could hardly breath or eat. Chanel thought of this as if women were dressed up by men. She designed clothes which were comfortable for women and stylish at the same time. She was also the first designer to put her name of a perfume line - Chanel No. 5
Her most famous design which is still being used till today is the "Little Black Dress" which also revolutionized a woman's wardrobe.
The original Little Black Dress

Nowadays, her brand and name are seen everywhere. And designers still look back on her work to become inspired.

Christian Dior

Born in 1905, France, he was brought up in a wealthy family, but still he worked hard on becoming well known as an artist, as his father did not approve of his son's decisions. In fact Dior was forced into law school by his father's will only to come out still wanting to design clothes. He then opened a small gallery where he could exhibit other artist's work, his father let him as long as he wouldn't use the family name on the shop itself. The gallery then had to be closed down due to hard times in the family business.
His works focuses mostly on enhancing a woman's beauty and luxury. He designed clothes for many famous film stars and royalty of the time. He then began to become much more famous from his designs of after the war. During the war, clothes became a bore so he designed gorgeous dresses that re-woke the female beauty that was crushed by war. Even after death, his legacy lived on.
Dior re-woke the sense of female fashion after the war by removing some length to the dress but keeping the bell shape. His signature style can be found in Cherie from the sloping of the shoulders.

Cherie by Dior

typical war clothing

Sources:-

A+E Television Networks, LLC, 1996–2013. Coco - Chanel Biography. [online] Available at <http://www.biography.com/people/coco-chanel-9244165> [Accessed on the 5/3/14]

A+E Television Networks, LLC, 1996–2013. Christian Dior Biography. [online] Available at <http://www.biography.com/people/christian-dior-9275315> [Accessed on the 5/3/14]

Monday 3 March 2014

French Realism

French Realism began not long after the Revolution of 1048 which deprived France of their current monarchy. Realists sought the opportunity to paint the realism of working classes. In other words; to paint the reality the high classes thought did not exist. Thus the artists went against the principles of Neoclassicism and also most themes from Romanticism.
Gustav Courbet was the source of this new way of portraying life. He was an influence to other artists of his time.

Oath of the Horatii by David
Neoclassicism

Grande Odalisque by Ingres
Romanticism

"Woman with a Rake"

By Jean Francois Millet (1814- 1875)

In this painting we see the hardships of low-class women. The background is quite dull in relation to the foreground. There isn't any sort of blue sky happiness, its all just grey and bleak and full of misery. Her garments also show her state of poverty. The sleeves in her dress appear to be held together by what seems to be rope. This could be because she might not be able to afford more clothes, so attached the sleeves in that manner.
Since her face is dulled out by her head piece, it gives a sort of anonymous feel; like who she really is doesn't matter, but the message behind it does. Behind her are other women working in clusters of two or threes working together. This brings up questions like why is the focal point of our image working alone? Perhaps to justify a solitude experienced by most top-classed socialists.

"The Third-Class Carriage"

By Honore Daumier (1808-1879)

Daumier aims to portray the everyday life or a poor family when life appears to be a bit more calm. Although, he does capture hardship through their posture, clothes and features. The background isn't given much importance so Daumier dulled it, leaving the three main important figures highlighted.
Daumier's style in this painting is soft, using a continues cluster of lines, giving the painting a sense of unity. From the thick black outlines drawn for detail in the mother's hands, we can see that the painting has yet to be finished. Although its current state has a more defined look.