Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Smithsonian National Potrait Gallery




Artist Statement:
Photography is a means for me to enter and experience the world. I become interested in a certain place or a person, and I work to engage with what unfolds in front of the camera. What I hope to show is a constellation of things surrounding us that come together in an interesting way. Light, color, gesture, and the subtlest delineations of skin and cloth are all elements that affect the emotional experience of a portrait. Some days it is enough to just look through the camera’s ground glass to produce a condition of wonderment. Photography’s greatest gift to me has been the way it allows me to observe a moment of time with clarity and attention.

Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C,
Smithsonian National Potrait Gallery

Title:Laura
Artist:Dave Woody
Date: 2007
Medium:Digital print, 2007
81.3 x 63.5 cm (32 x 25 in.)

Aesthetic Object
The portrait Laura by Dave Wood, seems to be an example of an aesthetic object, or dealing with the nature of beauty, art,taste, and with the creation and appreciation of beauty. The soft light evokes a sense of peace and at ease. The soft skin and cloth color present a sense of sofness to the viewer. The portrait's color protrays beauty of the individual. Laura's simple facial gesture gives the viewer an appreciation for the individual's simplicity. The subject (Laura) seems like the modest type, or very low maintenance. The idea of modesty and simplicity takes the viewer to a common level of simpleness, even to the largest's of egoos. She represents a simplicity of life, and how simple life CAN be!

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Rio Hondo Art Gallery Sea Change



Artist:Tony De Los Reyes
Title: Pequod
Year: 2008
Medium: Painting
Materials: Red Bister on Paper
Subject Matter: Sail Ship sailing
Genre: Stilllife object
Style: Expressionistic

The artist uses dot-like splashes to create what looks like blood drops. Blood drops that portray death and blood shed. The dot-like splashes create an outward burst. Line is used by the artist to create the flag stands and masts. The shape or height and width of the painting is very large to show to the viewer the enormity of the ship and painting. Light and Value is represented with the dark tone spots to create and give an illusion of damage. Color is represented with the bold red, to show fire or death from fighting. Texture from this painting is both real and imagined, it has a sfumato effect that blurs the image slightly. It contains a bit of chairoscuro with the light and dark splatters. The painting does a very good job of evoking blood shed and the pain it causes.