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36 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Politics and Power |
Politics and Power |
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Jean-Antoine Houdon, George Washington, 1788-92 Washington requested that Jean-Antoine Houdon (1741–1828), one of themost respected sculptors of contemporary figures, carve a portrait of him in his military uniform Fasces (a bundle of wooden rods), were a symbol of power in ancient Rome, represent the 13 US colonies, bound in unity He resigned from the position of Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army after the Revolutionary War (1775–83) and returned to his farm (a plow is behind him in this sculpture), before being appointed America’s firstpresident in 1789 His gaze is directed slightly to the left, upward, and into the distance, became iconic; repeated in other works Certain elements from ancient sculpture: white marble, contrapposto stance |
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Triumph of the Will, 1935 Commissioned by Hitler Directed by Leni Riefenstahl to glorify his rule, his military strength and the Nazi order of Aryan supremacy, established Hitler as the first media hero ofthe modern age. Staff of more than 130 people, 16 cameras, 4 sound trucks and cranes and dollies for dramatic shots Speeches, parades, cheering crowds, and music of Richard Wagner Although the film was a documentary covering a six-day rally celebrating Hitler at Nuremberg the imagery was entirely staged, Riefenstahl carefully set the scene so that Hitler is presented to and worshipped by the masses as Germany’s savior, in close-ups of Hitler’s smiling face, his charisma is evident At the end of the film, we see an aerial shot of massive military power in rigid formation under Hitler’s control, utopian image of harmony and strength appealed to those whose lives were in disorder Riefenstahl’s prototype in film would affect future campaigns for political elections and lay the foundation for consumer advertising |
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Assyrian Lamassu Enormous sculpture from Khorsabadm, the capital of the Assyrian Empire, two large Lamassu guarded the palace gate to terrify and intimidate all who entered A form of a divine genie, winged, part lion or bull, head of a human being, horned crown symbolizes the king’s divine power (where have we seen this before?), 5 legs show movement and stability at the same time, side shows Lamassu striding forward, front shows stand-still, blocking the viewer’s forward movement Stylized and natural elements are combined, with hair and wings depicted with linear and repetitive patterns, while the strong muscular legs and facial features are more naturally rendered Carved from one large block of stone |
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Menkaure and his Queen, 2490-2472 BCE They stand side by side, united by the queen’s embrace, placing the same foot forward, young, strong and confident, display the Egyptian ideal ofbeauty and maturity Compact pose makes the sculpture more durable and permanent, carved from a block of slate, befitting the pharaohs as divine descendants of the Sun God, Re One view was likely sketched on each side, according to the Egyptian canon of proportions, and then carved inward until all four views met, traces of paint were found in the piece Menkaure was the pharaoh who built the third and smallest of the Great Pyramids at Giza, this shrine-like statue was found in his valley temple |
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Attributed to Jose de Alcibar, From Spaniard and Black, Mullato, 1760 Because of the almost total absence of European women in the Americas during the 16th century, the Spanish conquistadors had children of mixed race, called castas/castes, by the end ofthe 18th century fully one-quarter of the population was of mixed race Distinct genre of family portrait, casta painting, exist in sets of 16, recording the process of race-mixing in the Americas, each portrays a man and a woman of different races with one or two of their children, titled with a sort of equation (a Spaniard plus a black equals a mulatto), generally arranged hierarchically, with pure-blooded Spanish placed first in order, offspring of black parents were at the bottom This painting is positioned in sixth place in the hierarchical scale The Spaniard’s African wife is making hot chocolate on the stove while his mulatto son brings him a brazier to light his cigarette. The social difference between father and son is highlighted by the difference in the richness of their clothing Spanish obsession with racial genealogy and a genuine interest in the dynamics of racial intermixing was at least partly based on the Spanish nobility’s insistence on affirming its own position at the top of the ladder. |
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Olowe if Ise, Veranda Post, Palace at Ikere Symbolizes kingly power, shows a senior wife, the queen, standing behind the enthroned king Women are revered for their procreative power, so the royal female towers over the king while crowning him, because she is the source of his power, his conical crown is topped by a bird, a symbol for the reproductive power of women Monumental, elegant, authentic, Yoruba aesthetic values are evident: “clarity, straightness, balance, youthfulness, luminosity and character” Yoruba kings would seek the best artists to make artworks for their palaces as a way to increase their prestige, Olowe spent four years at Ikere producing around 30 pieces for the king. |
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Edmund Clark, Camp Five, Detainees Cell, 2009 Given access to Guantanamo Bay detention facility at the US Naval Base in Cuba to explore three notions of “home”: the homes of the American community stationed on the base; the complex of camps in which detainees are housed; and the homes where those detainees who have been released now live Camp Five, Detainees Cell, Omar Deghayes, one of the released detainees, when Deghayes was transferred to Camp Five, he was “held in isolation in a stark, white, concrete cell", difficult, cold, harshly lit, painful after an Emergency Response Force guard gouged one of his eyes, couldn't see through the flap Deghayes, a Libyan citizen, legal residency status in the UK since childhood, arrested in Pakistan in 2002, transferred to the detention center, kept for 5 years Circular building with a surveillance house at its center, a single guard observed the inmates, Foucault: “to induce in the inmate a state of conscious and permanent visibility that assures the automatic functioning of power” |
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Spencer Tunick, Everything She Says Means Everything, 2016, Cleveland Documentary Across the river from the Republican National Convention, over 100 nude women held mirrors to combat hate and to make a statement about the importance of women and women’s rights in the 2016 Presidential Election, suggest that women are a reflection and embodiment of nature, the sun, the sky and the land, we will rely upon the strength, intuition and wisdom of progressive and enlightened women to find our place in nature and to regain the balance within it, reflection of ourselves, each other, and of the world that surrounds us, the woman becomes the future and the future becomes the woman. Everyone has their own experience and story that they bring to the moment and the story and interactivity is always a subtext of the work at large Around 1800 women volunteered |
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War and Rulers |
War and Rulers |
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Timothy O’Sullivan, Harvest of Death, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, July 1863 American photographer Known to have arranged corpses and clothing for his photographs Field of casualties after important Civil War battle Removal of some of the clothes suggests that thieves have taken from corpses Closer view of individual soldier makes the loss of life personal |
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Benjamin West, The Death of general Wolfe, 1770 Neoclassical During American and French revolutions many sacred images reinterpreted within the context of patriotism and country Set in new world America, a romantic place to Europeans Native American to add to exotic quality Compare to giotto’s lamentation |
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Bayeux Tapestry, 1066–82 275-foot-long embroidery Wool stitches on linen, made by very skilled women, took more than 10 years to make, repeated patterns throughout establish overall rhythm Depicts events surrounding Battle of Hastings, 1066 Normans, led by William the Conqueror, won, defeated Anglo-Saxons had to give up power over England Commissioned by William’s brother, Bishop of Bayeux, France Shows fierce battle in which the victor is not yet established Directional stitches show mass of horses, texture conveyed on armor of soldiers, figures and animals outlined in contrasting colors |
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Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, Napoleon on His Imperial Throne, 1806 Napoleon Bonaparte's aim ofasserting his power, depicted as a monarch who embodies the total power of his country The paintings and sculptures wereprominently displayed in public settings, architecture was situated atimportant junctions in Paris, meant to present the physically small butextremely ambitious man as hero and leader of France Ingrescombines frontal images of the deities Jupiter/Zeus, and God theFather with the imperial attributes of historical emperors Charlemagne and Charles V of Spain. The Jupiterimage was a lost sculpture attributed toPhidias, God the Father image was in JanVan Eyck’s Ghent Altarpiece, Charlemagne shown by the sword beneath his left forearm and the ivoryhand of justice, Charles V of Spain shown by the scepter in Napoleon’s right hand Like the image we saw ofNapoleon last week by David, Ingres’s painting is a conscious act of propaganda, cementing inthe public mind the image of the emperor as nearly godlike in his power anddominion |
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Snow, We are not the Dead To honor bravery and drawattention to psychological transformation How many young men returned as shadows oftheir former selves Photographed when they were sent, 3 months later and just days after they returned Private Chris MacGregor, 24 1st thought he'd miss dogs and TV, 2nd has put everything up to fate and is sad, 3rd relieved but not happy |
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Anselm Kiefer, Breaking of the Vessels German artist born only months after end of World War II, grew up in a society ashamed and often silent about WWII, artworks force viewers to consider horrors of Nazi regime 27-foot-high sculpture made mostly of lead, iron, and glass Refers to the loss of millions of Jews during the Holocaust References to Kabbalah, collection of Jewish writings “Ain-Sof” (written on arched glass at top) is a Jewish term meaning infinite presence ofGod 10 labels on shelves signify 10 vessels containing essence of God Large, seemingly burnt books, burned by Nazi party supporters, made of heavy lead, signifying their emotional weight, represent knowledge, loss of knowledge when so many murdered, knowledge of the past should not be forgotten Glass refers to Kristallnacht (Night of the Broken Glass), 1938, the sharp glass makes it dangerous for a viewer to approach the artwork, symbolizingthe fear and pain many feel at looking at the truth of the Holocaust |
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Michael Arad and Peter Walker, 9/11 Memorial, NY, Photo taken 28 July 2011 Critics note that some are still buried under the site, making it sacred ground Critics say that because the site is sacred ground in the minds of some family members it is therefore inappropriate as a site for a gift shop, admission prices, or gawkers The edges of the squares are covered with bronze plaques inscribed with the names of the 2,977 who were killed, including those on the hijackedflights on 9/11, those at the Pentagon, and the rescuers who tried to helppeople escape, as well as victims of the World Trade Center bombing in1993 Dedicated 10 years after the 9/11 attacks Square footprints of the fallen towers are now filled with waterfalls thatrepresent the huge loss of life (2,977)Includes the 9/11 Memorial Museum |
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Edward Hicks, The Peaceable Kingdom, 1830-1840 Based on the biblical passage:The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid;and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall leadthem. (Isaiah 11) Hicks was also inspired by the Quaker William Penn and his treaty with the Indians, visible in the background as a copied detail from a famous painting byBenjamin West Signifies a utopian new world, visualmetaphors have become standard language for expressing the concept of peace,luminous sky, lush vegetation, the animals are rendered in flat, decorative, imaginative style,feeling of innocence and peace, without strife and turmoil |
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Women in Art |
Women in Art |
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Coatlicue, c. 1500, Mexica (Aztec) Stands over ten feet tall, imposing sight Snakesform her skirt, belt and head. Coatlicue’s name means Snakes-Her-Skirt, her clothing helps identify her, snake beltties at the waist to keep a skull “buckle” in place, upper torso is exposed, see her breasts and rolls in her abdomen, rolls indicate she isa mother, sizable necklace formed of hands and hearts largely obscures herbreasts. Snakes comingout of body parts was an Aztec convention for squirting blood, Coatlicue has been decapitated, snake arms suggest she was dismembered there as well Immaculately gives birth to deity Huitzilopochtli, who kills her daughter Several female deities (perhaps Coatlicue among them), sacrificedthemselves to put the sun in motion, effectively allowing time itself to continue Two snakes rising from her severed neck represent streaming blood, a precious liquid connoting fertility, herwilling sacrifice enabled life to continue |
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Elefon helmet mask, Yoruba, Nigeria, after 1900 Highest-ranking woman is called Iyalode, mother of all Culture is patriarchal in structure but there are instances of ‘Yoruba women serving as chief Worn by a male, and the mask proper (bottom quarter) is male, top three-quarters represent an Iyalode as chief Fly whisk in one hand, tall conicalcrown, necklace of large coral beads all symbols of a Yoruba chief, righthand she holds the upside-down figure of another woman, represents power of an Iyalode to exercise discipline over women who have made a mistake Iyalode represented the collective interests of women before the king Iyalode stands upon the head of a male, exercising her power over him |
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Lee Krasner, Celebration, 1960 Identified as an abstract expressionist, commonly revised or destroyed series, refused to adopt a singular, recognizable style, changeable nature led critics andscholars to have very different conclusions about her and her work Works can typically be recognizedthrough their gestural style, texture, rhythm, and depiction of organic imagery, large size and rhythmic nature with no central focal point Interest in the self, nature, and modern life, often reluctant to discuss the iconography of her work andinstead emphasizes the importance of her biography since she claims her art isformed through her individual personality and her emotional state Late 1960s critics began reassessing Krasner's role in the NewYork School as a painter and critic who greatly influenced Jackson Pollock andClement Greenberg due to the rise of the feminism, prior to this, her status as anartist was typically overlooked by critics and scholars due to her relationship withPollock |
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Margaret Harrison, Homeworkers/Mrs McGilvray, 1978 People were offended by her pieces that altered the male body, people didn't mind the female pieces "Failure is a kind of success", made her think more deeply about things, wanted to find out more about why these issues are important, okay with political pieces, criticized for producing work that was not decoration Her, Kate Hunt, and Mary Kelly Explored metal box industry where Kate's family worked, took pictures, documented sex of workers, equal pay legislation brought in over 5 years, began to be changes in shifts, she then looked at homeworkers, they won and got the right rates |
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Linder, Untitled, 1976 Linder was bound up with the activities of Buzzcocks and the spirit ofpunk which itself drew on the anti-establishment politics of Dada Her feminist appropriation and subversion of pornographic imagery recall thephotomontages of another Dada artist from Berlin–Hannah Höch One of a group of Untitled photomontages Linder created in 1976-8 fromwomen’s fashion magazines Inverted pair of greyeyes stare away from him, out of the picture |
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Liza Lou, Kitchen, 1996 Full-scale and exactingly detailed kitchen made with glass beads, installation, took five years to make Researched kitchendesign manuals and historical tracts about the lives of nineteenth-centurywomen, made drawings and 3D models to achieve a loose outlineof Kitchen’s floor plan, made the objects out of paper mâché, paintedthem, applied the beads in a mosaic of surface pattern Lou says,“argues for the dignity of labor”, labor in process and subject: crafts and kitchen work, linked to gender, traditionallyfemale domains Kitchen might also be read as a commentary on American life, American dream, ubiquitous products (Tide and Cap’N Crunch),aspirations (glittery surfaces and suburban assimilation), and realities (dishes in thesink and other kitchen drudgery) |
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Lauren Greenfield, Girl Culture Series, 2002 The body has become a primary expression of individual identity for girls incontemporary American culture The photographs explore the relationship between girls’ inner lives and emotionaldevelopment, and the material world and popular culture Soloway's attempt to depart from the male gaze Interior lives of her subjects, contestants at beauty competitions, girlfriends athigh school dances, patients at eating disorder clinics, and teenagers at weight-losscamps This collection of photographs sets out to collage the many ways girlsconstruct their identities in order to reconcile the fragmentary parts |
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Mickalene Thomas, Le Déjeuner sur l'Herbe: Le Trois Femmes Noires, 2010 Mickalene Thomas paints black, sexually self-possessedwomen who are the objects of her desire and also stand-ins for herself. What are thedifferences between her work and her source (Manet’s painting Lunch on the Grass)?In her work, she replaces two men with women, so the trio is self-assuring and basedon equality, rather than a hierarchy of gender, class, and race. The figures are allclothed, but sexy, enjoying their sexuality but not cheapened or for sale, catching theviewer’s gaze with equal assertiveness. |
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Science, Nature, and the Environment |
Science, Nature, and the Environment |
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Leonardo da Vinci, Vitruvian Man, Study of the Human Body, Pen and ink with wash over metalpoint, Venice, Italy Renaissance artist, not only a painter,but also an engineer, anatomist, botanist, and mapmaker Vitruvius was an architect, engineer, and the author of Ten Books onArchitecture, the only surviving work on architecture from the ancientworld In this work Vitruvius outlined the ideal proportions of a man, and arguedthat architecture should imitate these proportions The length of both arms combined is equal to the height of a man, thedistance from an elbow to the tip of a finger is one-quarter the height, and aman’s foot is one-seventh his height Mirror writing Text based on ideas of ancient Roman architect Vitruvius Shows Leonardo’s interest in the proportions of the human body Frequently studied corpses, exploring the science of the body |
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Thomas Eakins, Portrait of Dr Samuel D Gross (The Gross Clinic) Eakins witnessed an operation along with medical students Combined detailed observation with dramatic lighting centered on thebody and the doctor Document of surgery Shows early use of anesthesia Shows tools and gore of actual operation Shows emotional response of mother, although she was likely notpresent at the real event |
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Patricia Piccinini, The Young Family, 2002 Part of an installation entitled We are Family that consisted of six sculpturalgroupings Shows a sow-like creature lying on her side while threesmall offspring nestle and suckle at her exposed teats, convincinglyrealistic construction of silicon, acrylic resin and mixed media Human eyes and flesh, primate arms and hands and snout, floppy ears and a stubbytail, weary-lookingmother appears disturbingly self-conscious She is a sentient being occupying a bodyinvented in a laboratory, refers totransgenics, proceed at a pace muchfaster than natural evolution, raises urgent moral and philosophical questions,especially when human genetic material is involved Piccinini’s transgenic creaturesvisually fracture the mental categories that keep humans and other species distinctand separate, belief that the human species share unchanging traits that define all members as oneand separate them from all other creatures Piccinini steers clear or making polemicalpronouncements but her sculptures visualize scenarios that have revolutionaryimplications, challenge us to reconsider what it means to be human,reopen the issue of fundamental rights tied to human identity |
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Jasper Johns, Flag, 1965 Pop artist Painted familiar objects that are usually “seen but not looked at” Viewer must participate for optical illusion to occur Top flag is made of colors complementary to those of the actualAmerican flag Through afterimage effect, viewers’ eyes will tire of black, green, andorange, and instead see red, white, and blue on the blank flag below |
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Mark Dion, Neukom Vivarium, 2006 Neukom Vivarium is a hybrid work of sculpture, architecture, environmentaleducation and horticulture that connects art and science Sixty-foot-long"nurse log" in an eighty-foot-long custom-designed greenhouse Log has been removed from the forestecosystem and now inhabits an art system, ongoing decay and renewal representnature as a complex system of cycles and processes, visitors observe life forms withinthe log using magnifying glasses,Illustrations of potential log inhabitants-bacteria, fungi, lichen, plants, and insects-decorate blue and white tiles that function as a field guide Artist's first permanent publicart work in the United States |
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Chim↑Pom in collaboration with Junichi Kakizaki, Radiation-Exposed FlowersHarmony, 2011 Tsunami andsubsequent nuclear power plant meltdown in Fukushima, Japan in 2011, thepower plant’s inability to survive the natural disaster was predictable Japanese six-personartist collective Chim↑Pom (the name is derived from a slang word that means“cock” or “prick”), within a couple months of the disaster they had mounted anexhibition in Tokyo about the responsibility of the Japanese power companies and regulators The centerpiece was Radiation-Exposed FlowersHarmony, consisted of flowers and plants collected within a 20 mile radiusof the Fukushima power plant, flower artist Junichi Kakizaki transformed into a gigantic ikebana Japanese ikebana is not arranging flowers, it is the art of creating a living thing in whichhumanities closeness to nature is celebrated and revered Beforethe exhibition was over the flowers had begun to rot |
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Mary Mattingly , Triple Island, 2013 Designed to show us how we might survive ecological doom, humanity must reduce its footprint on the planet Triple Island on a barren stretch of Manhattan waterfront facing theEast River that had served as a collection site for destroyed and abandonedautomobiles after Hurricane Sandy, living space, a community garden,and a greenhouse, each on its own separate 16-by-16-foot island, and eachconstructed on floatable 55-gallon drums should the river rise as it did during thehurricane of October 2012 Like the Waterpod Project, designed tobe self-sustaining, depending on regenerative natural systems, composting,rainwater collection, and localized power sources, including a solar power system “On the one hand, I want Triple Island to be sculptural. And on the other hand, it really needs people to exist in thespace to come alive” Possible to live off the grid even in Manhattan, symbolic of a kind of optimism abouthow people can come together in a collaborative, grassroots way to survive |
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Mierle Laderman Ukeles, The Social Mirror, 1983 Focuses on the problem of waste caused by growing populations andconsumerism Ukeles had a clean New York City garbage truck fitted with gleamingmirrors, which transform it into a piece of sculpture, has aperformance element, as in this photograph taken when the truck was part ofparade The mirrors reflect the faces of the public making them aware that they maketrash and are responsible for its impact All of Ukeles’s work since the mid-1970s hasfocused on ecological issues of maintenance, recycling, waste management andlandfill reclamation |
