Look and Look Again

It’s of Washington Square Park. You can see the fountain through the opening of the archway. It’s lit up with a soft golden light and draws t

he eye because the rest of the piece is in shades of blue and green. The lighting and colors seem to me like the hour or so right before sunrise. It’s still night, or rather, early morning. I like the whole setting.

 

Coming back to this painting, I’m noticing the intricacies of the arch and fountain. I feel like the artist spent a lot of time sketching the arch and looking at it and studying it before this painting was completed. The fountain also has a lot of detail, even though it’s only half visible through the archway. In contrast, or rather, as a balance, here’s almost nothing in the background. It’s just a wash of blue, lighter than the arch, but still a very rich blue. The colors would fit in underwater scene.

The piece of art I chose is The Road of the War Prisoners by Vasily Vereshchagin. The picture shows a barren snowy wasteland littered with dead bodies.  At first glance, the painting shows that war doesn’t discriminate. War doesn’t care about race, gender or ethnicity. War ravages everybody, as evident by the different body types buried in the rubble. However, at a deeper glance the picture represents the cycle of life. For example, there are birds on top of the pile of dead bodies. Birds tend to represent freedom in paintings. We aren’t bounded to the pain of the past and we need to overcome it in order to become free and truly live in the present. Life still goes on whether or not it may not seem like it. https://www.google.com/search?q=the+road+of+the+war+prisoners&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjHqvuX2MbWAhXlqlQKHessAm8Q_AUICigB&biw=1524&bih=957#imgrc=KRX9c6Ul8n-CPM:

   Awareness 

I see a whirl of swirling white, an impenetrable fortress made of ice, I am unsure of what lies beneath. Upon further inspection, I notice a splash of gray across the immaculate white surface and words written within the ashen splotch. I do not have time to read the impeccable looping cursive, I am too busy taking in the brunt of the scene. Perplexed, I step back from the canvas eager to understand.

 

After a brief interlude, I go straight to the script, ready to decipher its many twists and turns. I make out the sentences, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” Immediately the words click, this is the first amendment of the constitution; the most integral individual portion of our freedoms and liberties. Many thoughts crossed my mind: the political instability in our country, the right to peacefully assemble, the right to speak my freedom, to speak my truth, and to petition against those who harm me and my peers.

 

This piece resembles the confusion that occurs when we do not know our rights. The vastness of white is when we legally cannot speak when we have to stay silent. The gray only emerges once we mix our rights into it. When can we shout? When can we scream against the injustice? When can we fight the system, when can we win?  The true beauty of this masterpiece is not that it answers our questions or solves our problems, rather it makes us aware, sort of like our first amendment rights.

 

 

 

Look and Look Again

 

Untitled by Robert Longo; Charcoal on Mounted Paper

           This hyper-realistic art piece depicts an American flag on two separated canvases.

Look:

            -9/11

           -memorial

            -photograph

            -sad

            -nationalistic

            -powerful

            -American flag

            -in wind

            -two panels

            When I approached this piece by Robert Longo I first recognized the apparently obvious characteristics. I noted that the piece spanned two separated canvases, was black and white, was a photograph, and depicted an American flag. The flag takes up the whole of both canvases and is billowing in the wind. It struck me as a memorial to the events that occurred on September 11, 2001. This was because of the two equal, rectangular canvases and the direct patriotism that the American flag represents. This thought brought sadness to mind as did the artwork. It holds a sense of sorrow which I couldn’t put my finger on.

Look Again:

            -the left has more stars than the right panel

            -represents more freedoms and rights than previously (new President)

            -charcoal on mounted paper

            -split represents divided America

            -black and white represents damage and sorrow

            -lighter near the split=hope for reunion or reconnection (equalizing)

            -hyper-realistic

            -very impressive

            -black and white could represent race issues

            Upon further investigation into the art work, my group and I observed that the piece was not a photograph but in fact a charcoal drawing by Robert Longo. We were all equally impressed by this fact. It was amazing to me how realistic he was able to make the flag. This hyperrealism gave it a sense of personality. It gave the art its own moment in time. Because it was perceived as a photograph, it had its own sense of a singular moment that was captured. We also read that it was created during the time when Donald Trump was elected as the United States’ President. Longo was trying to represent the new division of the country through the two separate canvases. The left canvas had more stars of the flag than the right canvas did. This was a representation of the division of rights that now exists in different classes and races and genders in this country. It could also represent the loss of freedoms that occurred after Trump’s election. In summary, the split of canvases represents divided America. The black and white palate created by the black charcoal and the white mounted paper is what gave the art its sense of sorrow. What we noticed next is that the piece is generally lighter in color near the divide of both sides. This represents hope for reuniting the nation and the people in it. We also speculated that the color choice of black and white could represent the heightened race issues in America.