Jacqueline Groll

Professor Ariel Goldberg

Core Seminar: Sign and System

Due: December 12th, 2016

Due 12/12 : Exhibition Report on Kerry James Marshall incorporating Reading Response to Kobena Mercer & Kellie Jones

*Review about the Kerry James Marshall Exhibition: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/21/arts/design/kerry-james-marshalls-paintings-show-what-it-means-to-be-black-in-america.html?_r=0

Kerry James Marshall, an artist, a motivational speaker, a visioner. Seeing his work of art in person than listen to him speak during his MCA talk, allows us viewers to see in depth into his thought process and the format which he worked with. We were also able to see into his life, and the role that it played with in his art.

While reading author Kellie Jones “It’s Not Enough to Say Black is Beautiful,” we are put into perspective what it was like to be an African American artist during the 1960s, and pushed our views of what we saw and heard in Kerry James Marshall’s art work and MCA talk.

A piece that struck me the most from the MET Breuer- Kerry James Marshall exhibition was the School of Beauty, School of Culture created in 2012. Overall I believe that his entire mixed media collection was moving and extremely powerful, but that piece in particular grabbed my attention due to its strong connection and symbolism to artist Mr. Marshall’s life and past. Considering that the piece was created 4 years ago, many years since his days at the YMCA he had to dive back into his past and create this image of a moment in time he saw and felt. An idea he stated that really stayed with  me was, “If you had unlimited space and money you could put together a proper project.” It was a time where he could not push his paintings further into gesture paintings and that is a possible reason as to why a lot of his old work was more abstract than figurative. Another idea is in regards to his symbolism, “Some things that are in the paintings are not their.. in retrospect it doesn’t show you everything because it can’t.”

Visually as well, his technique of color choice and obscure dimensions in such a grand piece truly pushes the artist’s talent and aesthetic. Not to mention his recurring subject of painting each persona in the piece shades of black, rather than their realistic color allows us viewer to see what the main purpose and subject is of the piece. I admire his craft and detail in each figures facial and body gestures. A quote from Kerry James Marshall’s talk about this series that really stood out to me and I believe is relevant to the idea of choosing black paint for the people is, “In part There have been avoided figuration, because the black figure in particular exists as a kind of limitation that doesn’t allow a spectator that is not black sometimes to get passed the fact of its blackness and see the work in the fullness of its aesthetic.”

African american artist during the 1930-80s, were limited to their acceptance and appreciation as an artist. That is why it is so important to not only admire Kerry James Marshall, Jacob Lawrence, Alvin D. Loving and many more artists for their work but for their story, and history behind each piece.

For my project, “The Sign of The Cancer” I tried to incorporate pieces of significant facts about my birthdate which are important to me. Such as Jacques Cousteau who died on the day of my birth, and who was also French naval officer, explorer, conservationist, filmmaker, innovator, scientist, photographer, author and researcher who studied the sea and all forms of life in water. Jacques Cousteau has been an admired figure through out my entire life especially due to my love for marine biology. Another factor, is a question as to why is his name so similar to mine?Another point of my project is my birth horoscope sign, the sign of the crab, the cancer. Although I do understand that you might see this as a coincidence but I see this as a sign. Through out my life, many “coincidences” have occurred and there is no explanation as to why, but they just do. Just as this “coincidence” occurred, it just did. And that is why I chose these two main points as the theme of my project.

I began my process of this project with a photograph of a crab, which I stenciled than painted with white acrylic paint. After doing so, I photographed the painting than input it on to photoshop. For my next step, I chose to photograph images of a beach in my hometown of Miami, FL. To push the concept of Jacques Cousteau’s death and my birth, I chose to begin shooting the photographs with a higher exposure of light and transition to darker less exposed images. I also pushed that with saturation and hue in photoshop. After completing the photographs and inputting them into photoshop, I overlayed the images with the painting of the crab that I did earlier. As for the repetition of crabs, there is no exact meaning behind the crabs repetition aside from an aesthetic that pleased my eye. From the comments in class, I definitely believe I could have pushed it a bit more with arrangement but chose not to.

2 Works of Inspiration:

-Jacques Cousteau’s studies

-News Paper articles from Long Island Post and New York times regarding horoscopes about June 25th, 1997

Q: “What if you are in your rebellious phase?”

Q: “How do you feel about your parents divorcing?”

Q: “How do you feel about your new job?”

Q: “How do you feel about Monica?”

Q: “Do you think you’re going to leave NYC soon and back to Miami?”

Q: “If you could go back in time, would you change what happened with ….. and …….?”

Q: “What is your sexuality?”

Q: “Do you think you’re going to finish University in the states?”

Q: “Why did you choose to wear a yellow shirt?”

Q: “What’s up?”

Q: “Would you ever get back together with your ex?”

Q: “Has ….. ever mentioned me?”

“I try to put myself in other people’s shoes and think about who they are and what they want”- Lynn Goldsmith

For my piece this week I wanted to focus on the idea of naturalism and thought process. The way I intend on doing this is by the inspirations by a few of my favorite photographers. Whose names are displayed below. The main photographer whose work I am focusing on is Lynn Goldsmith.

Inspirational photographers: 

• Irving Penn
• Henry Diltz- rock photorapher
• Neal Preston- rock photographer
• Lynn Goldsmith at the Morrison Hotel Gallery in soho. (Mick Jagger Performing in 1978 hosing down the crowd)
  • Source: http://www.lynngoldsmith.com/bio.html 
  • Photographs by Lynn Goldsmith:
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Short Essay Synopsis of what will be seen in the photographs: 

During the evening of Halloween we got out of class quite late and the extent of my night included going to a quick dinner and back home. I did take a few photos at dinner, but to make up for my absence of photos from halloween I took photos through out the week and during my grandfathers visit.

The background story behind these photos include a visit to my friends apartment and his elevator, a trip to the new Whitney Museum and Guggenheim, my grandfathers presence in New York City, a few trips to the restroom, nature and the changing of leaves, a television show I admired, natural lighting, and last but not least food.

Below are the images I took, the relevance of them and the questions I had while taking them: 

Why have a mirror above your head in an elevator but not on the walls of?

To who ever drew this, what possessed you to draw this graffiti of a ‘jew man’ on a role of toilet paper holder?

Why do distractions such as people and moving cars need to interfere with me taking a photo of my grandfather?

I have not seen my grandfather in 5 months. We are extremely close and this was the first time I saw him since that amount of time. I took him to an indian restaurant, which I have been craving for a while. We had a conversation about my brother and I. Before I took this photo of him, I thought about how this trip will be dedicated to me taking photos of him considering he is 86 and I do not know how much longer I will be given the chance to do it.

What inspired the architect of the guggenheim to create this building?

For the past 4 years, all I spoke about was my dream of working as a curator at the guggenheim. I admired every artistic aspect of what the museum had to offer. Although I have never been there… until I took my grandfather. There was an exhibition going on about Agnes Martin. We had never heard about that artist, and we were not to fond of her work. Although we did manage to admire some of their impressionism artwork.

Impressionism artwork which my grandfather and I admired: 

A quick photo I captured of my grandfather pondering.

I wonder what he is thinking about?

How can I paint this beautiful piece of nature in a way that perfectly represents this?

I love the way this natural light was perceived once it hit the cut out mirrors and reflected off the sun and onto the wall.

How do I make my hair like this?

A television show episode I watch of ‘Friends’. I was admiring Pheobes hair.

Painting Project: Using Objects as Symbols and Allegory:

When a butterfly dies their bodies do not decompose, they remain in their natural state of beauty forever.

    For my symbolic figure, I chose to use a butterfly. I wanted to portray this butterfly as a tattoo placed on the pulse of my aunts foot, which will be molded in the ballet foot position of relevé. I am aware that to the audience this will look like any other foot, although in order to represent its uniqueness I chose to create extreme lighting on the foot, particularly on the front of the foot directly at the butterfly. And as for the butterfly, I chose to paint it in navy blue acrylic (my aunts favorite color). The entire piece is created in tones of grey, black, white, beige and navy in order to give the viewer the optical illusion sensation that they are looking at a bust and not a painting/photograph. I directed the foot to be positioned in relevé, due to my aunt and I’s past in ballet and gymnastics. Also due to the symbolism behind her and I’s need to always wear high heals. Being that we are short, we are constantly wearing heals. I also found it symbolic, because it resembled a sensation of being higher than everyone else (almost like there is a reason as to why the foot is on relevé). Which also leads the viewer to question further into the piece and eventually figure out the meaning. 

Inspirations:

I directed this piece after a passage I once wrote:

When a butterfly dies their bodies do not decompose, they remain in their natural state of beauty forever.      

 Similar to artist Damien Hirst, my family and I share this love for butterflies. To us, a butterfly symbolizes beauty, life and faith. When a butterfly flutters by, it is a sign to never give up and that a loved one is near and will stand by you every step of the way.

The year was 2011, and the month was January. That was around the time that the truth behind my family secret would be revealed. It began with the realization that my grandfather that i’ve known my entire life, was not my biological grandfather, and that I had another aunt that my mother had no recollection of. Once the truth behind this information was revealed things began to change. My grandfather otherwise known as gaga, went from a warm dominant figure in my life, to a distant memory of one. My aunts began treating me like an outsider, and my grandmother started to isolate my family and I from all of the high holiday events. I remember her saying, “It is what’s best for the family at this time, but we can come over for dessert afterwards if you want?” “I did not want dessert” I replied, “I wanted dinner.”

Aside from the negative effect of losing the love from a few of my family members, one of the most beautiful, loving, spiritual, intelligent, wise, and caring women I have ever met just entered my life. She was my butterfly. If it wasn’t for this incident, I would have never met the most inspirational person and for that I am grateful it happened. Danielle has taught my family and I so much about appreciating every moment that you live, and to follow your hopes and dreams. She has gone through hell and back, and still completes the day with her high heels on. When I met my Uncle Marc and Aunt Danielle, Danielle taught me about her philosophy behind butterflies, and how they represent good energy and that her grandmother (who is also my mother’s grandmother) is near. Within that moment I told her, “you are my butterfly.”

The day before I left for New York I decided that I wanted to mark myself with something that would always remind me of my aunt and how she never gives up. That is why I went against my families so called “old religious beliefs” and tattooed a symplicit  butterfly upon my foot. It symbolizes that no matter what I will always have a family member by my side every step of the way throughout my journey in life.

Process:

   -First I mapped out what I wanted to do via journal.

   -Next I decided and drew it out.

   -Third, I went to long island where I photographed my aunts foot with artificial lighting to help enhance the lighting affect

   -Forth, I photographed my own foot in the same position of relevé (which was only to get the image of my tattoo)

    -Fith, once I did all of the photography I uploaded the images onto photoshop

     -There I edited the image and placed in on a black backdrop for symbolic reasons,

      -I also edited my tattoo onto her foot, and cloned and pasted images of a marble sculpture I photographed previously

      -Following that I took it to tribeca print works where they over charged me but did the job right. They stretch the image on a 16 x 20inch canvas.

     -Once I received the image printed on the canvas I painted on the image

      – I first painted/ enhanced the foot to have more of a marble sculpture feel to it and enhanced the shadows

      -Next I painted on the tattoo of the butterfly in navy acrylic paint

      -Following that I painted a platform with beige, white, black and grey paint (in order to portray the symbolic sensation of matter and importance)

      -Lastly I did a few touch ups with black acrylic paint and completed the piece. 

Finished product:

For my assignment I decided to create glasses made out of plexiglass. The reason I chose this object is for two reasons. One, a symbolic metaphor. And two, the idea of breaking down the barrier of what is considered in style and what is considered art. Although my piece did not quite come out as I expected, I believe it got the purpose across. For the quote aspect of my creation, I decided to write “I see.” on the left side of the ear piece, and “You see.” on the right.

To begin with, the symbolism behind my project is intended to show individualism and how people’s first perception of you is how they see you. It is their first perception of you whether you like it or not, and whether it is a perfect classification of you or not it is how they first saw you and how they will always see you. Until they are proven otherwise.

The other main idea as to why I chose to create glasses is for the sole purpose of fashion and art. I wanted to create a new frame wear that breaks down the barrier of what is considered in style, and what is more unique as well as useful. I wanted to created the frames like in an abstract format. A bold statement, similar to how flies eyes are represented.

I chose to use plexiglass as the main material for my project in order to represent the idea that there will be no frames on my glasses and just proscription glass. If they were real glasses I would also make sure that there will also be a proper coating to protect the glass from breaking. The glasses are made out of 4 different forms. That  includes 2 large octagons (for the overall frame), 2 small octagons (for the extra vision), an elongated rectangle (for the nose piece), and lastly a scalene shape (for the ear piece). After assembling the pieces together I realized that I should have included a side piece that would be attached to the platform of the glasses, in order to achieve that “fly-like vision” that I intended.

After cutting each piece with a plexi knife (rather than a laser cutter), I organized each shapes placement with a washable marker. Once I marked the pieces, I drilled holes into the specified area. Once I finished this step, I realize the problem in the piece. I kept making two left sides, rather than both of the sides equal to one another. As a result of this, the two frames did not look quite right when screwing them together, but it was something I had to fix three times, due to me consistently making the same mistake. It is possible that my dyslexia had something to do with this, although I don’t usually let it affect me. I see it as something I must learn to work with rather than let it affect me. Although it did not turn out as I hoped, it showed me how much harder I must work in order to achieve what I am in hopes of reaching.

While walking around the downtown area with my glasses on, I noticed tons of glares and confused faces. For a few minutes I took it all in, and analyzed the expressions. Following that, I decided to walk around the hudson pier and ask people what they thought of the glasses. Confused whether I was asking for their opinion artistically, or if they would wear them. Majority of the answers I received went along the lines of the word “interesting” or “handy.” Nobody particularly analyzed the glasses until I asked them to. They mainly presumed they were for construction or handyman usage. Based off this experiment, I think if I was to do them any differently I would make them smaller and more sturdy next time.

Process:

Walking around: