mosca-schmidt-exam

=Walton Ford!=

Synopsis & Media: Walton Ford was born in Larchmont, New York, in 1960. He graduated from Rhode Island School of Design with the intention of being a filmmaker. He later realized that he had adapted talents as a storyteller. Ford proved that he was a serious 21st century artist through his meticulous watercolor paintings that depict the history of colonization, slavery, and other forms of political oppression. However, unlike older artworks, he took a humorous spin, and made each of his artworks hilariously ironic and satirized.

Compare & Contrast: Walton Ford is completely different than the typical classic artists from the past. Back in previous years, nobody would ever think about creating artwork that flat-out mocked society and politics without fearing consequences. Picasso would have never dreamed of spending days and days creating a highly detailed watercolor painting, just to make people laugh. Although not exactly alike, Ford almost seems to have a Hogarthian feel to it. William Hogarth created paintings that mocked society, and showed a person becoming more and more corrupted. Ford takes a bit of a spin off of Hogarth, and uses animals instead of people.

Conclusion: I chose Walton Ford, because his work was very funny to me, and it wasn’t just silly looking art pieces, it had a meaning behind each one, and was full of symbolism that while making people laugh, also make people think. He inspires me to break the boundaries of normal art, and to not worry so much about what other people think of my work.



[[image:I don’t like to look at him, Jack. It makes me think of that awful day on the island width="420" height="312"]]
[] [| http://www.paulkasmingallery.com/artists/walton-ford]

=Bruce Nauman!= ==

Synopsis & Media: Bruce Nauman was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana. He studied mathematics and physics at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. These studies contributed to his artwork; he needed to use mathematics and physics to create his innovative art works. He also studied art at the University of California, Davis. Nauman uses many various medias, including sculpture, neon, photography, drawing, printmaking, and performance. He focuses much more on underlying symbolism and details, rather than the obvious. He proves himself to be a 21st century artist by using different modern medias (like neons), and making art that was never looked at as art before.

Compare & Contrast: Bruce Nauman, like Walton Ford, was very different from traditional artworks in the past. He was extremely innovative, and created artwork that wasn’t ever before looked at as “art”. However, he did use a lot of symbolism in his artwork which was very much like Salvador Dali, because both of the artists force the viewers to look at their art pieces in a way they never would have before. They create artwork which at first may seem far off and confusing, but becomes clearer the more it’s looked at, and analyzed.

Conclusion: I chose Bruce Nauman, because his work was unique to other artists. His work means more than meets the eye, which makes it more of an experience for the viewer. He also was skilled in multiple different art forms and medias, and made each piece different than the previous. He inspires me to think beyond the typical painting or drawing, but to use other medias to create a really remarkable piece.



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=Maya Lin!=

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Synopsis & Media: Maya Lin was born in Athens, Ohio. She went to Yale University where she was discovered as a great architect. She submitted a design for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, DC, and won. As a young woman, Lin struggled to find her “true-self”, partially initiated by her Chinese-American heritage. Her artwork displays some of that struggle, while also shocking people with it’s unconventional, yet amazing design. Her artwork has been exhibited in museums and around the world, and has been awarded the National Medal of Arts by president Barack Obama. Maya Lin's work is thought to be 21st century art because of the modern take on a typical architectural design.

Compare & Contrast: Maya Lin and Pablo Picasso specialize in two different things: paintings and architecture. However, they are very alike in different ways. Pablo Picasso was very different than anyone had ever seen before (in his era). He painted his portraits with strange perceptions and perspectives, and challenged people to change their viewpoint of art. He was very modern and showed that in all of his art pieces, no matter what he was painting. Maya Lin is a lot like Picasso in the sense of modernization. They both help progress art to the new times, and display very modern ideals of what art should be. Lin shows jagged edges and simple shapes, while Picasso uses color in different ways, and mismatched sizes.

Conclusion: I chose Maya Lin initially because I rarely see women architects. As I read on, I realized that she was much more than a woman architect, she was one of the most influential architects of the modern era. She created works of art which stand for something more-especially her most popular architecture, the Vietnam Veteran Memorial, which still stands today. She inspires me to not dwell on past art forms, but to move on, and adapt to the current trends of today's art.



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