Like humans, art too has evolved over the centuries. To what it used to be, to what it is. Often, artists who are in the vanguard of their culture, when express new ideas or what appears to be a new idea, a large number of people do not accept them. Only a small number of people accept them. They want to experience their work, feel it, understand it, or even simply enjoy it. And this has been seen throughout history. When Picasso first started deconstructing his forms into Rothko's geometric shapes. Even when artists like Pual Mezzanine or Monet began making their remarkable landscapes. People did not like them. They were used to seeing naturalistic painted landscapes where artists' own freedom of expression meant very little. A “good” painter would be the one who knew “how’ to paint.
If we look at art and artists today they belong to an era where nothing really comes as a surprise to anyone anymore. When Duchamp first placed a urinal in an art gallery it shocked people to their core. Do you think if somebody did that today would have the same impact as it did during Duchamp's time? Recently an Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan, displayed his work at the Art Basel exhibition in Miami. His work titled “Comedian” consisted of a ripe banana duct taped to a wall. This piece caught a lot of attention as it was sold at a very high price. This event sparked a heated argument as to what is high art these days.
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Have we finally hit rock bottom in the contemporary world of art or is the “comedian’ the modern-era urinal? Nobody can tell. Even the person who bought the art piece bought it that maybe just maybe it might give rise to a new era in art. Has the viewer become that desperate for new content? Art today seeks influence from the previous art movements. Whether it was an artist's intent or not. Some of its elements reflect old masters' work. This is true for almost all artworks created today.
Of course with the advancement in technology and availability of electronic media for the masses, possibilities in art have become endless. With the emergence of more art genres in art, for example, performance art and partaspapory art. Art focuses more on the artist's self-expression and how he chooses to present his work. Be it in his performance or in his painting.
Ahmed Alsoudani – Untitled (2007)
Ahmed is a Baghdad-born, New York-based artist. Ahmed fled to Syria during the First Gulf War. Later he came to seek refuge in America. his work reflects the chaotic experiences he has had during his time in the Gulf War and his journey through Syria. War has impacted many artists throughout history. Artists like Picasso in his painting “Guernica”, Goya and his “The Third May of 1808”.different artists have represented war in their own special style.
Ahmad paints these grotesque colorful forms that portray the feeling of distress and agony. Some of these forms overlap each other while others are placed very strategically in a space that almost resembles an art gallery. When you first look at the painting your eye is drawn to the huge painting set inside the painting. Which consists of abstract forms overlapping each other. He used bright vibrant colors to paint the canvas inside the canvas in the same manner as William de Cooing. Who was an abstract expressionist artist his series of women were painted in a similar style. Ahmad‘s work seems to carry a similar energy in his work. Those bold brushstrokes in addition to the grey/blue color used in the background add a very ominous element to the painting. His use of similar colors on painting the forms in the space in the foreground, not only adds perspective to his work but almost assists in bringing the element of the painting in the background to life. The figures in the foreground represent a very powerful image. When you look very closely you can see that the figures dragging, what seems like a pile of flesh, along with them. The flesh of their own missing limbs that they lost in the war. It's interesting to note that Ahmad chose to paint more drama and tragedy in the foreground instead of in the presumably painting hanging on a wall in an art gallery. This seems like a comment on how everybody has a preconceived notion of how strong a visual representation can be while hanging in a gallery. the viewer can try to relate, he can try to sympathize as much as he can, When in fact the real truth is what's happening outside in the real world. The painting is just a mere representation of the artist's opinion on the matter. It's not the whole truth. Sort of like what Rene Magritte did in his surrealist art piece known as The Treachery of an Image. He painted a pipe and wrote underneath it, in French” This is not a pipe”. it is not a pipe but oil paint on canvas, which can be filled with tobacco and smoked. Rene’s work encourages society to take things literally.
Ahmad uses a combination of paint and charcoal in his work. His use of vibrant colors in against muted space not only adds perspective to the painting but also assists in bringing viewers' attention to figurative forms. One thing that Ahmad is doing which seems a bit different from the other artist is the chaos that he's bringing inside the gallery. Another way this can be interpreted could be the impact of an image on the audience. The idea of painting a scene from the work is to transmit his feelings, and his emotions to his audience. it's like he is trying to simplify his own abstraction in the foreground of the painting to help people understand the tragedy of the war painted in the background.
Free and Leisure-10 2003
Yue Minjun is a contemporary artist who uses himself as the subject in his paintings. He is famous for portraying himself in this flesh pink brightly colored depictions of maniacally laughing figures. All his figures were plastered with jaw-breaking smiles and eyes completely shut. The figures he describes as his alter ego Yue Minjun paints in various sizes often the scale is enormous. his painting “Free and Leisure-10” the initial reaction that one gets while looking at the painting is of humor. it seems as though you are having a good time. But when you see a continuous series of the same figure laughing in various poses and gestures it gets almost painful. Yue takes his inspiration for his work from his surroundings, from the Chinese political structure, from his society. In an interview with Financial Times “Behind the Painted Smile” Yue talks about his work as a “fundamental agony of being human”
This phrase reminded me of Frida Kahlo's painting of herself. It's ironic how Yue paints himself as these laughing figures to depict agony and confusion. In an interview with the New York Times (13 November 2007), he explained his work;
‘In China, there’s a long history of the smile. There is the Maitreya Buddha who can tell the future and whose facial expression is a laugh. Normally there’s an inscription saying that you should be optimistic and laugh in the face of reality. There were also paintings during the Cultural Revolution period, those Soviet-style posters showing happy people laughing. But what’s interesting is that normally what you see in those posters is the opposite of reality.’
The complete opposite emotion that one might gather from his work. Frida's work “Self-portrait with Thorns and Hummingbird”
This reminded me of Frida Kahlo's painting of herself. It's interesting to see how Yue paints these laughing figures to depict agency. Frida's work “Self-portrait with Thorns and Hummingbird” is the depiction of agony and pain as one might expect. Thorns around her neck pierced her skin, Mexican flora and fauna surrounding her almost looked suffocating.
Yue Minjun’s painting seems to contain surrealistic elements similar to Salvator Dali. The background of the chosen painting shows almost the same elements as something Salvador Dali would paint. Some of the mining paintings' backgrounds seem to lack context. It's like him bringing his wildest fantasy to life. Maybe in his unconscious mind, Yue Minjun longs for a hearty laugh. He does talk about how socially and politically deranged we all have become. Maybe he's using his art to laugh at a common man’s life decision. When you first look at his work you smile. As you continue to browse through his every painting it gets almost annoying. Especially with figures that are literally pointing. As if pointing right at you. Adding more and more figures to the painting makes you want to join in and be part of the unknown hysterical joke.
The pink, fleshy-colored, shiny, almost hairless, figures seem to take a lot of influence from pop art. The figures almost seem to be photoshopped on top of the background. Andy Warhol is one of the most prominent pop art artists. Seeing Yue Min's work and the repetition of the same facial expression reminds one of Andy Warhol's studio which he referred to as “the factory”. The same face over and over again seems like the production of the same factory. The vibrant pink color theme that continues throughout his work is somewhat similar to what Andy Warhol did with the Brillo box and Campbell soup. It may not be a product that Yue is working with but his laughter serves the same purpose. The figures and the foreground seem like two different works, almost like a spontaneous decision. I shadows being cast on the figures do not match the lighting source. The foreground in the back depicts a sunset, while the shadow on the figure is quite vividly painted. Almost like two separate works overlapping each other. As if the shiny figures in front are trying to hide something behind them.
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