sisco-exam

=John Baldessari = John Baldessari was born in National City, California. He studied at San Diego State University, and later did post graduate work at other various institutes, including the University of California at Berkeley. After teaching from 1970 to 2007, Baldessari can rightfully boast about having careers at the California Institute of the Arts and the University of California LA. His art has been in more than 200 solo exhibits and in over 1000 group exhibitions not only in the United States but in Europe as well.

John Baldessari has an extremely unique way of looking at the images he creates. He //“upends commonly held expectations of how images function, often by drawing the viewer’s attention to minor details, absences, or the spaces between things. By placing colorful dots over faces, obscuring portions of scenes, or juxtaposing stock photographs with quixotic phrases, he injects humor and dissonance into vernacular imagery.”// These techniques are easily seen in his paintings, such as the one below called “Raised Eyebrows / Furrowed Foreheads: Black Eyebrow and Wild Hair.” He takes a common expression, chooses an uncommon portion to stylize, and then emphasizes smaller details with exuberant colors and patterns.

When looking at Baldessari’s work, one can almost be called back to the styles of Van Gogh, who also used line and bright colors to emphasize that which he wanted to be most noticed. However, his use of digital illustration and photography to show detail makes Baldessari a true 21st century artist.

My first impression of John Baldessari’s works was one that I’m sure many other spectators have had, thinking that it was simplistic, and would be something that anyone could do, but after doing some research and listening to his personal memoirs, I’ve come to realize that the order in while he places his marks, the placement, and the color are all choices that he made as an artist in order to get the message across as intended.



http://www.baldessari.org/
Oliver Herring Oliver Herring was born in Heidelberg, Germany, in 1964, and currently lives and works in Brooklyn. He received a Bachelor's Degree of Fine Arts from the University of Oxford, Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art, Oxford, England, and a Master's of Fine Arts from Hunter College, New York. His works consisted of knitted translucent or reflective materials in order to send a message of introspection and self-analysis.

More recently, though, Herring has been working with a new style known as photo-sculpture. In order to create these sculptures , he takes pictures of the models from every possible angle then cuts and pastes portions of the photos onto a styrofoam form in order to create a striking likeness of the model. These photo-sculptures are extremely tedious to create, and look as though they could stand up and walk away.

His attention to the detail of the human body pays homage to the great classical sculptors like Michelangelo. But he differs from any old Renaissance man, in that his art has been brought into the 21st century through his use of digital photography to create amazing masterpieces.

I was drawn to Herring's artwork because at a first glance I didn't understand what media he used. After a quick double-take I saw how precise and detailed each of the pieces were and I was absolutely amazed.