Willie Cole at the Weatherspoon Art Museum

Its an action packed week for our drawing class!  Tomorrow, Tuesday, October 1 we will be visiting the Weatherspoon Art Museum.  Check out the museum's website to learn more about the institution and other exhibitions on view: http://weatherspoon.uncg.edu

The exhibition we will focus on, Complex Conversations: Willie Cole covers more than thirty years of the artist's work, from three-dimensional sculpture to drawing and printmaking. The exhibition establishes thematic consistencies and intense interactions of his art and its focus on key consumer objects like hairdryers, high heel shoes, and, above all, the steam iron. In Cole’s deft hands and multileveled sensibility, his art connects the personal and the spiritual, everyday consumer objects and multi-layered metaphor, and African-American and US history and reality within a global perspective. 

Cole sees himself as an “urban archaeologist.” His work derives from his fusion of reductive and Pop Art sources, and its draws from traditional African art to create provocative works in many media. Best known for his found-object sculptures, he also makes drawings, paintings, and prints. Cole’s art transforms everyday mass-produced objects into personal icons or symbolic representations that explore ideas of diversity, identity, and a consumer-based society. 

Willie Cole (b. 1955, Newark, NJ) attended the Boston University School of Fine Arts, and received his BFA degree from the School of the Visual Arts in New York in 1976. He continued his studies at the Art Students League of New York Art from 1976-79. Recent solo exhibitions include James Gallery of the City University of New York; Memphis Brooks Museum of Art; and Rowan University Art Gallery. A retrospective exhibition, Anxious Objects: Willie Cole's Favorite Brands, was organized by the Montclair Art Museum in 2006 and traveled nationally. Cole is the recipient of many awards, including the David C. Driskell Prize in 2006, the first national award to honor and celebrate contributions to the field of African American art and art history established by the High Museum of Art in Atlanta. Cole is represented by Alexander and Bonin, New York.

Terri Dowell-Dennis

This week, we will be viewing work by Terri Dowell-Dennis at Bennett College.  

Some things to think about when thinking about her work:  
-What themes are Ms. Dowell-Dennis addressing in her work?
-How does she generate imagery?  What sources is she pulling from?
-What is her compositional strategy in her two-dimensional work? How does she utilize figure/ground relationships and what drives her decisions?
-Ms. Dowell-Dennis uses objects with history to make prints.  How does improvisation come into her process?  

Eva Hesse: Drawing to Sculpture

Eva Hesse

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/12/arts/design/12hess.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

http://www.sfmoma.org/explore/multimedia/interactive_features/25#

    

Examples of Contemporary Public Art

The term public art properly refers to works of art in any media that have been planned and executed with the specific intention of being sited or staged in the physical public domain, usually outside and accessible to all.  In addition to to traditional figurative and abstract sculpture that commemorates historical events and figures, public art also extends to participatory and relational art, environmental, and community-driven work.  Check out a few examples below.  Also, see the links below for great examples of the various ways artists are engaging the public through their work.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_art
Urban Arts: http://www.uap.com.au
Creative Time:  http://creativetime.org

Christo and Jeanne-Claude, The Gates

    http://www.christojeanneclaude.net

Claus Oldenburg: http://www.oldenburgvanbruggen.com

Paul Ramirez Jonas, Key to the City

http://creativetime.org/programs/archive/2010/keytothecity/about-the-project/

Jenny Holzer:

http://projects.jennyholzer.com/

JR: http://www.jr-art.net/projects/women-are-heroes-brazil

David Hammons, Higher Goals Project: http://www.publicartfund.org/view/exhibitions/5753_higher_goals

Louise Bourgeois

Sam Durant, Scaffold

http://www.samdurant.net/index.php?/projects/scaffold/

 Taken from the artist's statement: Because of the intricacy and complexity of this structure, it may not be immediately apparent as to exactly what its origins are or how it is to be used; while children use it as a play structure, adults, perhaps attracted by its architectural novelty can slowly discover its origins and meaning. While some might see a resemblance to constructions in an adventure playground from the 1970’s, the sculpture is actually made up of a combination of reconstructed gallows (or scaffolds as they were once called) that were used in executions of significance throughout U.S. history. Through this formal uncertainty there is an attempt to signify both the free play of childhood and the ultimate form of control, capital punishment. These seemingly oppositional tracks have come together in the United States in the last decade, resulting in what is known as “the School to Prison Pipeline."

Heidelberg Project in Detroit: 

http://www.heidelberg.org

Public Art in Greensboro Assignment Information

ART 100: Introduction to Art

Instructor:  Harriet Hoover

Fall 2013

Project 1:  Public Art Proposal

Project overview

Students will research contemporary public art and create a proposal for a public artwork on NC A&T campus or in the Greensboro metropolitan area.  Students will learn about the wide spectrum of public art including: traditional and abstract sculpture, performance and socially engaged works of art, and time based media installations.  Based on their research of Greensboro’s history and the relevance of art in the public sphere, students will design, ideate, and create a physical mock-up of a proposed work of art.

Contemporary Artists/Organizations to research:

Jeanne-Claude and Christo

David Hammonds

Claus Oldenburg

Pablo Helguera

Paul Ramirez Jones

Jenny Holzer

Jeff Koons

Maya Lin

Richard Serra

Robert Smithson

Louise Bourgeois

Mel Chin / Safe House: http://melchin.org/oeuvre/render

Thomas Demand

Philadelphia Mural Arts Program

New York Public Art Program: http://www.nycgovparks.org/art

Art in Odd Places: www.aiop.org

Key dates to remember:

October 1: Assignment 1 due (research + proportionally correct drawings due)

      Field Trip to the Weatherspoon Art Museum

October 10:  Assignment 2 due (site study using perspective)

October 17: Assignment 3 due (initial sketches for a public work of art)

October 31:  Assignment 4 due (physical mock-up of public work of art due)

November 1^st and 2^nd: A&T Homecoming weekend + Art in Odd Places Greensboro

November 14:  Final drawings due

Step 1:  Research public art, contemporary artists who make public art, discover/draw/take field notes from a work of public art in Greensboro.

First, you must identify what constitutes “public art”.  Research text and Internet resources.    Find a work of public art on campus or in the Greensboro area.  

Assignment 1 (Due Tuesday, October 1): 

·       At least 1 page written text of your public art research and information on your chosen public artwork.  Answer the following questions: Who made the work? What is the medium (media), dimensions, and date it was created?  Does the work commemorate an event?  How is it relevant to Greensboro’s history?  How does the public interact with the work?  Please send your written analysis via email to Ms. Hoover at hhoover@ncat.edu by Tuesday, October 1 at 5 pm.  Papers should be double spaced, 12 point, Times New Roman Font.

·       Create a drawing of the sculpture you are studying.  This must be a proportionally correct drawing of the sculpture/work of art using modeled line.  You may take pictures of the work and draw from the image.  This must be done on an 18x24” piece of drawing paper using media of your choice (ink, graphite, or charcoal).  Turn this in to Ms. Hoover on Thursday, Sept. October 1.

Step 2:  Select a site to propose a public work of art

·       You will select a site on NC A&T campus or in the Greensboro metropolitan area.  Things to think about: What is the significance of the space?  Who will interact with the work in that space?  Does the space itself have historical significance?

Assignment 2:  Create a detailed perspective drawing of the space you plan to propose a public work of art.

Assignment 2: Using, one point or two point perspective, create a site study of where you would like to propose a public work of art.  This drawing must be done in graphite, on 18x24” paper.  You must use the rules of linear perspective to create a representative site analysis.  Due on October 10.

Step 3:  Initial sketches of proposed work of art + physical mock-up of proposed art work

·       Inspired by the list of contemporary artists provided, students will begin to design and plan what their work of art will look like.  Students will create 3-4 drawing of multiple angles and points of view, thinking about materiality, scale, and form.  Due October 17. 

·       Students will also make a sculptural mock-up of their work of art using cardboard, found objects, and other materials that are available to them.

Due October 31.

Step 4:  Final Drawings of your proposal

·       Students will create multiple drawings to present to the class and Art Department. Drawings will covey the following: exploration of the work of art in context to the site and the public, exploration of materiality and the principals of design, convey historical relevance and conceptual contextualization, research installation and methods of construction. 

                   Due November 14.

http://www.greensboro-nc.gov/index.aspx?page=1778

Using your pencil for visual measurement + sighting angles

from R. Stanfest's blog: http://mccdrawing.blogspot.com

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Using Your Pencil + Thumb to Find Measurements, Proportions and Angles

You can estimate proportions and then check them with a fair degree of accuracy by employing what is called the thumb-and-pencil method of finding proportions. This is done by simply placing your pencil or pen in your hand and then holding it at arms length between your eye and the object that you plan to draw. Here is how:

(1) Hold your body rigid and extend your dominant arm (usually the right arm), pencil in your hand, to its full length.

(2) Place your thumb against the pencil as a gauge (sliding it up and down or to the left or the right, depending on the unit of measurement you wish to establish).

(3)Bring the pencil on a line with your eye and the object that you are measuring.
(4) Try to find one part by which you can then measure the rest of the object. In the diagram above, the head is used as a unit of measurement to determine the length of the subject's body. This is done by aligning the tip of the pencil with the edge of the snout, and the thumb is resting on the pencil to where the head ends at the start of the neck. The tiger above is thus, six heads in length.

(5) Once you find a part to which to measure the rest of the parts of the object, you can then proceed to put in the object’s details, still using the same scale of measurement in which you established.

An example of how to use your pencil as a measuring stick to find the height and width of the house with the use of your pencil and thumb. You can also find the angle of the roof with this method. In drawing the house (as shown above), the height of the chimney might be taken as a standard of measurement. Hold the pencil upright, the top on a line with the chimney top. Now move the thumb downwards until the end of your thumb comes between your eye and the bottom of the chimney. Then draw the chimney. Repeat this measuring operation, finding where the length of the chimney corresponds to other parts of the house. Your pencil can be moved between the house and your eye and by using the chimney length as your standard of measurement, the corresponding length and width of the house can be estimated.

With the pencil and thumb measuring technique, you can even find the angle of an object, such as the house’s roof. Just hold your pencil parallel with the object (in this case the roof). Then, without changing the position or angle of your pencil, just bring it down to your paper and make a light stroke indicating the angle.

Likewise, by sliding the pencil up or down so as to increase or decrease its length between the points ‘a’ and ‘b’, (shown above) you will be able to check the height of an object as shown below. The same principle applies for heights and lengths/widths.


Above is a demonstration of the height of a cone being checked, while the bottom demonstrates the width of the cone being checked.

This thumb-and-pencil method of checking is easy to understand once you experiment with it. Be sure, however, that you do not change your position or distance from the model once you have started to check, since distance and position change the appearance and size of any object under study.

OTHER DRAWING BLOGS + WEB RESOURCES

Drawing Rooms: http://drawingrooms.blogspot.com/2008_02_01_archive.html

Drawing OWU: http://drawingowu.wordpress.com/2012/11/21/karl-knaths-1890-1971/

Ubu Web: http://www.ubu.com

Drawing Center: http://www.drawingcenter.org

Center for Recent Drawing: http://www.c4rd.org.uk/C4RD/Centre_for_Recent_Drawing.html

Museums and online collections in North Carolina

The NC Museum of Art (Raleigh): http://www.ncartmuseum.org/collection/collection_overview/

The Weatherspoon Art Museum (Greensboro): http://weatherspoon.uncg.edu/collections/

The Nasher Museum of Art (Durham): http://emuseum.nasher.duke.edu

The Mint Museum of Art (Charlotte): http://www.mintmuseum.org/art/collections

The Bechler Museum of Modern Art (Charlotte): http://www.bechtler.org/Collection

Ackland Museum of Art (Chapel Hill): http://ackland.org/collections/

Southeast Center for Contemporary Art (SECCA-Winston Salem): www.secca.org

Take a look - especially Tre Kingsberry

From Art F City, a great contemporary art blog:
http://artfcity.com/2013/09/11/best-link-ever-rich-dead-people-are-cooler/?fb_source=pubv1


If you are interested, check out the this link to the Catacombs of Paris:
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2011/02/paris-underground/shea-text

Jacolby Satterwhite

Check out this interview with Jacolby Satterwhite - he's drawing in many different ways, with his body and technology.  His work smart, articulate, and provocative.

http://www.art21.org/newyorkcloseup/films/jacolby-satterwhite-dances-with-his-self/?utm_source=blog.art21.org&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=Blog_Sidebar

Modeled Line

Modeling is a term that drawing borrows from sculpture to a strategy that develops the appearance of the third dimension. When an artist varies line width, weight, and pressure they begin to explore tonality (dark to light), cast shadows, and atmospheric perspective.  For the next two sessions we will be exploreing modeling with line, we'll begin to add value, or tone, to make our drawings richer.  The drawings below exploy modeled line to develop a sense of three dimensionality.  Notice how the artists are not 'shading' or smearing graphite or charcoal to develop tonality.  Rather, they are using hatching, cross-hatching, and building areas with small marks that aggregate to build darker areas.  

Vincent Van Gogh

Cross-Contour: While contour lines describe edges, cross-contours describe form and volume. These lines can follow planes of form, moving around and across objects as well as through them.

Millet

Rembrandt

Van Gogh

Searching Lines: Giacometti and Jason Miurhead both use energetic and vigorous searching lines to build areas of tonality.  Miurhead's directional lines are mirroring the striations of the ways corn grows

Jason Miurhead

Giacometti

Hatching + Cross-Hatching

Giorgio Morandi uses methodical layering of regularly spaced straight lines of unchanging width.

Peter Paul Rubens

Michelangelo Buonarotti

m

Line / Expanded

Look below at the various ways in which artists are using line.  

How do Avigdor Arikha and Kathe Kolwitz use expressive line to convey emotion?

Avigdor Arikha's Self-Portrait, Shouting One Morning, 1969.

Kathe Kollwitz

Kathe Kollwitz

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Note how Matthew Ritchie and Sarah Sze are drawing in space?

Matthew Ritchie

Sarah Sze. Installation at Venice Biennial, 2013

How is Julie Mehrutu using line and mark making to express elements of architecture, change, ephemerality, and movement?

Julie Mehrutu, Black City, 2001

How is Rashid Johnson using line, shape, movement, reflection, and objects  in his drawings?  Explore more about his work: http://www.high.org/Art/Exhibitions/Rashid-Johnson-Message-To-Our-Folks.aspx

The Shuttle, 2011

Mirrored tile, black soap, wax, books, shea butter, plant, and CB radio