Black and white work

Rene Margritte

Rene was a Belgium surrealist painter who based many of his pieces of work around the suicide of his mother in 1912, by drowning herself in the river sambre.

'The Red Model' is one of many paintings Rene drew which symbolizes the separation that death brings.
 Psychoanalysts believe bereaved children shift between reality and illusion, in accordance to Rene the illusion is he wishes his mother was still alive but the reality is shes dead. So the painting asks where is the red model?

 The red model has a flat perspective which adds to is surrealism as it doesn't look real. It also show two opposites through its  visual denotation. I think this picture depicts Rene's feelings in an abstract way, acting as a sort of self portrait as it shows his state of mind. His continuous wonder of his mother, of why she isn't here and where she maybe. The feet could represent the memories left behind her. Were they real memories of dreams of Rene's imagination to help deal with bereavement.

Surrealism

Surrealism is an artistic movement & philosophy the first gained recognition during the 1920's. The focus was to change traditional art and swap it with anything 'anti art'. Andy Breton was the initial founder of the surrealism in visual art as well as literature. The main focus was on the unconscious minds, which 'Sigmund Freud' had published theories on.

Surrealism was a reaction to the philosophy of rationalism, which people believe was caused through the industrial revolution of WW1.

Salvador Dali was a Spanish surrealist painter who created men pieces from his ' unconscious & dreams'

'The persistence of memory' served as an outlet for Dali's imagenation and a allegory that time is meaningless.

Shadow Chen inspiration

shadow chen took much of her inspiration form Zhang Daqian a master of chines arts. The paintings he drew were derived from old Chinese stories passed down from generation to generation. He then used traditional Chines painting techniques to create his work.  Shadow Chen's Illustration was based on a old story of a young woman who capture fallen petals and bury them.  Her illustration depicts the girl in heaven releasing the petals as her feelings. 

Love & Hate

I am particularly drawn to this image due to its unusual nature. It was created by a Chinese illustration artist named Shadow Chen. I like the use of color contrasting with the denotation of the image. There seems to be a conflict represented within this illustration by the vines twisted around her torso trapping her. while the dove represents freedom and peace. I think this piece is contemporary and also has  a meaning behind it which makes it even more interesting. 

The caption of this piece reads - : '' A transformation, A hope to be saved, emotions to be set free from struggle with your heart and break through your throat.You find a scar and an aura spirals upwards, its a shape of a song one day it will finally be discovered, the meaning of your existence''

The caption adds power, value and meaning to this image.

Tracy Emin - My Bed 1998

The story of 'My Bed' - Tracy Emin.

This is a reflection of her troubled past, it shows her state of mind and acts as a self portrait in an abstract manner. Its a relatable contemporary piece which has more emphasis on concept rather than actual craft.

Cubism

Cubism is an early art movement originally brought forward by Pablo Picasso. Cubists artworks are analyzed , broken up and distorted. instead of depicting one viewpoint the artists shows many.

'Woman with A mandolin'

In this image Picasso uses cubism to show movement and passing of time by the fractured effect. It shows a variation of viewpoints including space and time, this depicts a 4th dimension within his work, creating excitement and a feeling of change. As in reality the woman would be moving. By using cubism it brings the illustration to life and gives the viewer more to think about. 

 The illustration contains some sharp edges and contrast which may represent the pitch of sound playing from the guitar. This can be represented by 3D shapes together in a row as this shows movement.  What I most like about this piece is the abstract and questioning nature which causes the view to think deeper.