As a class we will have an open discussion about certain art pieces made by the artist of that week. The purpose is for students to start to build the knowledge it takes to interpret images. So, we will be "decoding the mystery" of the art work. The hope is that students learn to actually describe, analyze, and interpret images.
Week One
Artist: Damien Hirst
Biography:
- He was born on June 7th, 1965 in England
- He is a contemporary artist
- He is reportedly Britain's richest living artist
- He sold one series of artworks for $198 million breaking the record for a one artist auction.
- The major theme in his work is death.
Week Two
Artist: Su Blackwell
Biography:
- Su Blackwell works within the realm of paper.
- She started using textiles after she visited Thailand and she bought a beautiful used book.
- She started creating art after her father passed away and she started thinking about life, death, and the in-between.
- She always reads the book first, at least once or twice, and then she begins to create the work, cutting out, adding details. The detail is what brings it all together, the magic element. It is a very slow process.
Week Three
Artist: Dale Chihuly
Biography:
- Born in 1941 in Washington
- He was introduced to glass at the University of Washington
- He established the glass program at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD)
- He worked in the Venini glass factory in Venice
- He learned the team approach to blowing glass in Italy
- This is still his technique today.
- Started the movement of glass being seen as fine art.
- In 1975 he was in a car accident that cost him the sight of one of his eyes.
- He has continued to work as a glass artist and has made A LOT of money.
Week Four
Artist: Ai WeiWei
Biography:
- He is a Chinese contemporary artist
- He works in sculpture, installation, architecture, curating, photography, film, and social, political and cultural criticism.
- He has investigated government corruption and cover-ups
- From 1981 to 1993, he lived in the United States, mostly in New York, creating conceptual art.
- He studied at Parsons School of Design and at the Art Students League of New York.
- In 1993, he returned to China after his father became ill.
Week Five
Artist: Aminah Robinson
Biography:
- Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson was born in Columbus, Ohio, in 1940.
- She learned to draw and make 'hogmawg' from her father which she still uses today.
- She creates sculpture, RagGonNons, rag paintings, paintings on cloth, drawings, and books.
- Her big ideas include community, stories that have been told from her elders, and research on civil rights leaders, musicians, and writers.
- Her art is based on Sankofa, which is learning from the past to move forward.
Week Six
Artist: Banksy
Biography:
- England-based graffiti artist, political activist, film director, and painter.
- Began as a freehand graffiti artist
- He was inspired by Nick Walker, Inkie, and 3D to transition to stenciling graffiti
- His first solo exhibition was in 2002 in Los Angeles
- He is completely anonymous
Week Seven
Artist: Janine Antoni
Biography:
- She was born in Freemont, Bahamas in 1964
- Her art work blurs the lines between performance art and sculpture
- Her primary tool in creating art has been using her body.
- She uses biting, eating, bathing, and sleeping into ways of making art
Week Eight
Artist: William Wegman
Biography:
- William Wegman was born in 1943
- He has his B.F.A. and M.F.A
- In the early 70s Wegman got his dog, Man Ray, with whom he began a long and fruitful collaboration.
- Man Ray became a central figure in Wegman's photographs and videotapes. In 1981, Man Ray died.
- In 1986 Wegman got a new dog, Fay Ray
- With the birth of Fay's litter in 1989, Wegman's cast grew to include Fay's offspring
- A series of children's books inspired by the dogs' various acting abilities
- Wegman has also published a number of books for adults
- Wegman has created film and video works for Saturday Night Live and Nickelodeon
4th Quarter
Week Nine
Artist: Barbara Kruger
Biography:
- Barbara Kruger is an American conceptual artist.
- Her work uses black-and-white photographs with captions—in white-on-red
- The phrases in her works often include use of pronouns such as "you", "your", "I", "we", and "they".
- The text involves the viewer in the struggle for power and control.
- She uses appropriation in her work.
Week Ten
Artist: Jeff Koons
Biography:
- American born artist
- Most well known for his reproductions of banal objects such as balloon animals
- Critics are divided on Koons work, some love it and some hate it.
- His current studio houses 90 assistants that are assigned to different aspects of producing his work. He uses a color-by-number system where it look as if he created the work himself.
- He is labeled as a Neo-Pop or Post-Pop artist
Week Eleven
Artist: Louise Bourgeois
Biography:
- French-American artist.
- Known as 'spider woman'.
- Her art is abstract but still hints at the human figure.
- She uses themes of betrayal, anxiety, and loneliness.
Week Twelve
Artist: Nick Cave
Biography:
- Born in 1959 in Missouri
- Is an American fabric sculptor, dancer, and performance artist.
- He is best known for his Soundsuits
- He lives in Chicago and is the director of the graduate fashion program at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago
Week Thirteen
Artist: Maya Lin
Biography:
- Is an artist and architect
- Her work is based on how we view the environment and shows a new way at looking at a landscape
- She is most well known for her memorials.
- We will see her work while in DC!
Week Fourteen
Artist: Claes Oldenberg
Biography:
- Swedish American sculptor.
- He is best known for his public art installations and soft sculpture typically featuring very large replicas of everyday objects.
- His large sculptures are often interactive.
- He is a Pop Artist
Week Fifteen
Artist: Chuck Close
Biography:
- American painter and photographer
- Most well known for his huge Photorealist portraits
- Suffers from Prospopagnoisa
- "The Event" - suffered a seizure and was paralyzed from the neck down.
- He still continues to paint by taping a paint brush to his wrist.
Week Sixteen
Artist: Julien Beever
Biography:
- British artist who has shown his art all across the world.
- Most well known for his 3D anamorphic pavement drawings
- He started with 2D portraits on the streets of London
- Called the, "Pavement Picasso"
- Highly sought after by big businesses for advertising