Floating in a sea of blue

A modern portrait in the digital age, combining the geometries in the cubistic spirit with the simplistic graphical context. "Lil Michael" by Khalif Kelly moves portrait into the 21st Century with a floating head and squared eye-lids, forehead and nose...like a pix-elated form in an 80's computer, things were simpler...

Colors are distributed around the picture plane, yellow stripe below the forehead, highlights on the eye lids and nose...purple rectilinear shapes in the hair, eye lids and mouth...these elements tying the piece together...the face's expression is absent of clear emotion, with long hair, sk8tr boi', visual slang and informal. A pop portrait for today.

Softer than symbolism

Traditional format, abstracted and surreal faces, Jim Nutt from the Chicago school, the woman with hair like dog ears and a nose of stone...all the parts are present, but not symmetrically arranged anymore...the position of the portrait is in line with a long history of portraits...so how is this painting different?

The decorative qualities and patterns of the blouse, the hair and the Gothic simplification of the shadows...the symbolic nature of the components...each representing different aspects of her personality, clues to inner workings of the soul and mind...colors are pastel, complimentary...with brown neutrals and expression to bind the visual elements together and focus the viewer on the whole...intentionally subdued, we carefully walk through the details.

Organize and focus

Flowing into the black hole...nature collapsing onto itself, this nature work by Andy Goldsworthy...speaks to the time and gradation of fall in nature...these changing leaves are carefully arranged around an organic, circular form in the center of the picture plane...a strong central image, implying all things focus on this point...the emptiness of time and space...

This centrality is pushed farther by having the lightest leaves surrounding the edge, sharpening and defining the round shape...the movement visually, from yellow to orange to red and finally back to darkness...Goldsworthy is a master at arranging these simple, natural relationships...organizing what we already know into a context we may never have seen...

Marmite as Contour Line Drawing

Okay, follow me on this...it's a little out there, but this image is interesting and possibly, "visually fulfilling" on several levels...you have to appreciate the designers pushing of material possibilities (even though it may be digitally enhanced), this material forces the artist to contend with continuous contour line, flowing from the bottle...these kinds of marks are appealing and energetic because of their spontaneity...there is a balancing act going on visually, between the active mark making on the left hand side, the open space to the right and the colorful, three-dimensional form in the lower right hand corner...the "product."

Conceptually, I couldn't help myself...looking for more bullfighting references...the idea of "thematic connections" changes the context of a one image format...moving the daily posts into an exploration of implied, related images...works that can be looked at juxtaposed, one against the other...confronting the viewer with relationships inside the picture plane and outside the borders...I am ever more amused by the spaces between these rigid borders...I often play in this archaic space...

As a design, the point is made...not a fan of either, the Mermite or the bullfighting, but isn't that what makes the world a place worth living in? Who wants a black and white world? I prefer brown, messy and uncontrollable! Wet too!

Evidence of a happening

"This anti-bullfighting protest took place in Las Ventas, Spain because there are a large number of bullfighting events taking place there." Source - Equianimal.org

A happening, is an event with symbolic and visual meaning...these individuals have used visual language to convey meaning...the remaining artifact is the image, video and/or audio...these documents only hint at the actual event...on the continued theme of bull fighting I thought this was an interesting counter point to the more direct paintings of earlier in the week...

The rhythmical and decorative nature of the black, red and flesh...from a distance, the physical structures organically flow into each other...they could be an abstract painting, a piece of carpet or fabric...not the ideal conceptually, but why not? Pushing the boundaries of design...no fear...what makes it a pattern is the repetition, the overall distribution of color, line, shape, shadow and scale...

Now the issue of documentation...these images are removed from the premises, taken artfully, but not a "total "re-presentation of the happening...the photos can only be a "RE"of the event itself..re-done, re-enactment, re-imagine...the protest is over...spread out amongst the collective memories of the participants and on-lookers...the artifact exists on its own, for its own sake...and what of their value? Value to the protesters? Artists? Organization? Industry? Culture?

The last spot on the horizon

The view of what the broken bull sees...out in the bleak distance...a competitor in a ring, alone...reminds me of the fighter paintings of George Bellows, this work by Eric Fischl...the action has already happened...the pain is setting in as the adrenaline runs out of the beast...bloody...not the heroic painting we have seen in the past, two equally matched foes, standing toe to toe...

The posture of the bull is down, merging into the dark of the ground...becoming part of the environment, flowing down...the attention is on the bull form...it is articulated with defined brush work, developed and clear...the background is washed out and hazy...are these conceptual choices? The angle of the background crosses the angle of the bull...an "X" is marking the spot...the end.

A moment that cannot be undone

The Friday blog of Francis Bacon, pushed me in the direction of one of my favorite Picasso paintings, the twisted and exaggerated movements of the battle between man and beast...the congested space in the front of the picture plane...color is writing boundaries between forms...the movement of the flowing legs, cape and body...

The back of the stadium moving the space out and far...the intensity and action of the fight...the horse form, the lightest value in the foreground, straining in pain, the animals and figure interact in a brutal way...each led in their own direction, playing their own role...moved forward by the mob, cultural influences...they are lost in a moment that cannot be undone.