Art & Authenticy

After a tour through the International Center of Photography, nothing was more striking than the group of European young men showing off their “expensive” clothing. Little did I know about the significance of clothes in European fashion and culture. What was amazing about this video clip was that they were showcasing random young adults off the streets and into a private hotel room. Now I don’t know about you, but that sounds like a serious commitment to undertake. Nonetheless, these “youngsters” were more than eager to showcase their stylish, expensive and bizarre wardrobes to the international audience. They discussed how “important” one’s appearance was in Europe. Basically, what you wore defined your social status and therefore, they more than willing to spend that extra money to “look good”. You would think that these boys were rich in order to wear these types of apparel-WRONG! Contrary to what I had thought, they were struggling to make a living. Their measly salary is barely enough to support them in terms of food and rent, however, they do not let that obstacle deter them from heavy spending. To give you an idea of their budgets, most of these young men make around 800 euros a month. Factor in rent, food and other living expenses and they barely have anything left over. The next thing you know, one of them pulls out a 2,000 Euro suit right in front of the camera! It amazes me how much the clothes matter to the European culture-especially the younger age group. Nonetheless, these desires show just how much these values mean to them.

A question that often surfaces when it comes to Michelangelo’s First Painting is its authenticity. Critics feel that this creation should not be wholly credited to Michelangelo because it was based on the work of another artist at the time- Martin Schongauer’s “Saint Anthony tormented by demons”. A closer analysis of these two individual paintings will reveal a much more intricate and astonishing revelation.

Michelangelo is not normally known for his paintings but rather for his sculpturing. This disparity helps create a unique sense to his first painting because of this popular conception. My first encounter with these two similar paintings led to a confusing experience: at first I couldn’t tell which painting was whose and that led me to believe that maybe I had walked into the wrong exhibit. However, a closer observation revealed to me just how fascinating Michelangelo was able to recreate this piece of work. Starting with the fact that Michelangelo’s creation is an oil painting helps separate his work from that of Martin Schongauer’s. This may seem like an obvious difference, however it also creates a sense of originality in Michelangel’s painting because the essence of color adds a new dimension to Schongauer’s original work. This “new dimension” gives the subjects in the painting greater life. Through the addition of color, we are able to witness the individuality of these demons that are harassing St Anthony. Because these demons consist of a different blend of color shades, it is more apparent that St Anthony is being attacked by multiple entities as opposed to a conglomeration of demons that are tangled up in a mess with St Anthony in Schongauer’s engraving. The addition of color also meant that Michelangelo had to use different artistic techniques in his creation. Because Schongauer’s engraving was in black and white, techniques such as shading, contouring and texturing were accomplished in a very different means. Michelangelo’s oil painting was based more on the varying degrees of colors and shades to help accomplish the fine details in his painting.
I also couldn’t help but notice the amount of detail when it came to the fish demon. The scales were counted with a thick amount of paint to outline its rich texture (the skin looks so shiny and glossy that it’s almost surreal). The thick buildup of paint blends quite nicely with the fish’s sharp outline.

Another form of emphasis in Michelangelo’s painting is the mixture of color that contrasts one another. For example one demon has a tremendous amount of red coloring while another demon on top of it contains a bland tone of dirt mixtures. Once again, these contrasting colors help give demons more of an individual identity because of their noticeable physical differences.

The addition of a background scenery in Michelangelo’s First Painting provides a feeling of relief in a sense because it helps take away some of the focus from the main subjects and adds more of a contrast to an otherwise intimidating artwork. All these fine details prove that Michelangelo’s First Painting is truly an authentic creation. Forget the fact that he used the composition from Schogauer’s work. Michelangelo’s masterpiece deserves all the merits associated with any piece of authentic artwork. His painting feels original because of the different techniques he utilized, imaginative because of the way he designed this painting and of course most importantly, this painting feels truly unique in the sense that he was able to blend all these artistic elements into the total package. I just cannot help but marvel at how he accomplished all of this at such a young age.

Despite the numerous thumbs up from my fellow peers, I have to disagree with them on this one. FELA, to me, felt like a rushed experience that did not truly depict the struggles of Nigeria and Fela’s campaign against the oppressive government. The whole production was fleeting in that none of the scenes seemed to stand out more than the rest. Under my impression, the musical created a pompous and arrogant self promoting president in Fela Kuti as opposed to the legendary and revolutionary figure that I conceived him as. The dancing felt repetitive and the ridiculously fast tempo of the production created the impression that Fela was rushing to get off the stage as opposed to fighting the corruption of Nigeria. Every one of them featured a commentary, followed by the usual uptempo dancing by Fela and his crew and by then, these sequence of events became routine. In addition, this musical featured too many abstract themes that seemed tedious to the casual theatergoer. For example, much of Kuti’s life was portrayed in an implicit way such that audience members who have no knowledge of the political setting during Fela’s rise to fame, are lost in a bizarre shuffle of songs and motifs. When Fela mentions “black president”, those who are not aware of the fact that he’s declaring himself leader of his own nation are left with the belief that he’s referring to Barack Obama.

Much can be said about the appeal of operas to first time viewers. Much can be said about the appeal of operas to various social classes. One thing that is for certain though, The Barber of Seville is truly a masterpiece that has been passed down from history. Rossini created a remarkable gem in The Barber of Seville by combining the elements of effective plot twists, costuming, music and of course, singing. Nothing was more striking that how the opera commenced with the Barber of Seville Overture. There is no doubt that the familiar melody stirred our excitement in anticipation of the main theatrics. The flow of the production was very smooth in that the music’s tempo was appropriate to the setting. For example, when it built up to a crescendo, we can feel the excitement building up to the extent that certain audience members even began to shake with the flow. The comical aspect of “The Useless Precaution” added a sense of levity that would otherwise have contradicted the political setting of the time period. The Barber of Seville was a lighthearted and pleasant production that appealed to all audience members. Whether it was first-time theatergoers such as myself, or opera veterans with their professional opera glasses, The Barber of Seville created a good impression of what operas have to offer.

Paul Libin’s Fela! was truly an exciting show to experience. I have literally never seen so much music, dance, and energy in telling the story of someone’s life. Fela Anikulap Kuti, is definitely an entertaining, empowering, and unique person to immitate, but Kevin Mambo embodied him in an exceptional manner. Continue Reading »

Perhaps the most catching piece of artwork in ICP for me was Yto Barrada’s The Belt, Step 1 to 9. This piece shows a woman with the same expression in nine different pictures. At the beginning, she seems like a rather big woman, however, after viewing the rest of the pictures it is clear that she is just hiding layers of fabric. What really caught me about this piece was the reason behind the smuggling of fabrics. According to the writing next to the piece, “Ceuta’s economy depends in large part on the sale of such smuggled goods.” Continue Reading »

Authenticity of any art piece can be measured by how much the artwork succeeds in drawing the viewer towards it and what impact the art piece leaves on the viewer. That’s exactly what Michelangelo’s first painting “The Torment of St. Anthony” succeeds in doing.

The use of colors is such that at the first sight my complete attention was captured by the main event that was taking place in the painting – a serene looking St. Anthony being tormented by bold colored demons in mid air. The blue white background of the painting emphasizes this main subject. Gradually I began noticing the picturesque background, which shows a clear blue cloudless sky at the top, a peaceful river with a boat sailing at the bottom and grey rocks covered with brown-green algae towards the left. This setting of St. Anthony’s torment as portrayed in this painting by Michelangelo adds a mystical and unearthly quality to the otherwise ferocious scene. The boat sailing in the waters below also makes the viewer realize how numinous the situation portrayed is.

I also think that Michelangelo uses  colors in the painting to inform the viewers about the power the demons have over St. Anthony by using bold colors like fiery red and metallic green to represent the demons while St. Anthony cloak is painted in dull black. Further the expression on St. Anthony’s face can be best described as serene and placid. That is not what I would expect from somebody who is being subjected to excruciating pain by a number of demons. This led me to believe that through St. Anthony’s unruffled expression Michelangelo was trying to portray how in spite of the demons’ superior physical strength St. Anthony is much stronger mentally and spiritually that is why he can resist the evil force of the demons.  This point was also proven by the fact that Michelangelo painted dead plants on the rocks close to the demons showing how evil and life threatening the demons really are and still did not affect St. Anthony.

Another thing that struck me about the painting was that the artist showed an extraordinary talent for details when he painted the spikes and the scales in the fish like demon or the bright red ridges on the green body of the winged demon or even the varied expressions of all the nine demons. According to the museum sources Michelangelo was inspired to paint this scene by Martin Schongauer’s engraving. Though the main theme of the painting is the same in Michelangelo’s adaptation of the engraving, Michelangelo softens the characters and the situation by adding a beautiful background and by making the features of the characters and the painting in general less elaborate.

That is why I consider this piece of art as authentic – it appeals to the viewer because of it’s subject as well as for the artistic talent of the painter. As I have mentioned before the artist gives  many hints in the painting through his use of colors, choice of background, characters’ expressions so that the observer can understand what the artist was trying to portray through his art. The subject of the painting is extremely clear and the raw emotions of anger and ferociousness draws the observer towards it.

A desperate mother with 4 children is truly a spectacle. We take certain things for granted, however, “nothing comes easy” as NBA basketball player Zaza Pachulia of the Republic of Georgia once said in an NBA playoff game when his team, the Atlanta Hawks ousted the Boston Celtics in Game 6 of the 2008 Playoffs by winning 103-101 and forcing a winner-takes-all Game 7. These comparisons may seem ridiculous and far-fetched however, if you will hear my explanation, it will make perfect sense. Zoe, a struggling mother of 4 children needed a breather from her chaotic life to be with her boyfriend Danny. However, during this process, she lost her identity in that she couldn’t balance between her children and her rekindled relationship. It took a scary turn for the worse in order to knock her back to her sense. Much like Zoe, the Atlanta Hawks had an identity crisis in this playoff series. They could not win at all on the road and had to re-discover their winning ways at home, and they responded. Sparked by Joe Johnson’s ridiculous 4th quarter scoring outburst, the Hawks were resilient and finally got the wake-up call that they needed to stay alive in this series.

It was definitely interesting to go visit the International Center of Photography. I’ve never been exposed to photography used in such a wide range of mediums, and each photographer had a story to tell. It made looking at each photograph like reading a new book. Continue Reading »

The American Folk Art Museum is full of cultural, familial, authentic art. It is about everyone telling their story, and it expressing it to others. The “Approaching Abstraction” Exhibit does just that. Continue Reading »