TRIBUTES TO ART Part #1 Incomplete

What am I posting about today? I dont even know for now, im actually working on my post in the same time im thinking about what to write so forgive me already. Art is alive and is continue source of material and inspiration for new art. Art is feeding on art (not only art of course, also imagination, creativity, dreams, unknown and observation of reality and nature). In this post I wanna briefly explore how art is often citing, tributing other art.

- AMERICAN GOTHIC - Ill start with a contemporary satirical* painting “American Gothic” made by Grant Wood (born in Anamosa, Iowa, Fed 13, 1891). The painting in discussion is portraying a Iowa farmer and his daughter (Wood used as models his dentist and his sister), ‘Good fences make good neighbors’. The name of the painting is American Gothic, why gothic? Gothic is a architectural and artistic style of the 19th century. Verticality, austherity, long lines, attraction to the sky with pointed arches and flying buttress (think about the gothic European cathedrals) are identifying this style. Also in the painting and decorative art viewer had to feel the desire the attraction to look up to reach the sky, to deny sins and embrace God fearing the rest of the world. Back to the analyzed painting the 2 people are looking straight in your direction, they know what is right and what is not, they work hard (but they are not poor, note the particulars, well maintened house, flower pot with Pricked plants!!) and they know where they stand and where you have to stand. Must be sunday because the two figures are posing and wearing their best clothes (observers say the man probably must be a minister of Protestant church). Vertical lines (in the buildings and their decor, pitforck etc.) are giving the composition a linear vertical flow. The vertical lines express rigidity of the man, absence of humor, he is very disciplined, for him the land must be owned and exploited. So he is not the kind of man that is celebrating for the harvest. Some round shapes in the painting are breaking all this straightness giving gentleness, mostly those shapes are found in the woman dress designs, hair (note the loose lock of hair…remember Jane Eyre alter ego, the crazy woman locked in the attic crying during the night? that woman was described as opposite of Jane stifness. her hair would be all a mess, without constrictions opposing to tight Jane’s chignon) and cameo. The woman symbolize domesticity and the man hard labor. In a way the painting is respecting the formal rules of mannerism paint, the triangle form is in fact there. The shoulders of the charachters are the base and angles of the triangle and the top of this triangle is found in the roof of the house behind the 2 people. Going to the fork, as you can probably can notice you can find the fork shape everywhere in the painting, repeated several times in the man clothes, in the lines of the building in the form of the faces and in the position of the elements. The fork is a barrier, the two are protecting their ownings and they are also protecting theirselves from the invadence of modernism, technology and social change/transformation of art (modern art is often refusing, denying craftman hardwork).

* the painter denied the satirical content of the painting but most part of critics are seeing int he painting the narrowness of mind of the charachters and their over protective, conservative attitude towards changing.

Dexter - Recently a tribute to Wood’s American Gothic has been made in a scene of the popular show Dexter (do I seriously need to talk about it? nah, after 6 seasons your ignorance is not excused). Anyway Dexter and his brother are standing with a fork in front of a painting showing the dimora of American Gothic. Is hard to miss this scene in the show, in fact the painting in the show has been modified deleting the two original figures, and so is now displaying only the house. As the Dexter and his brother with the fork move in front of the painting the composition is complete. Its kind of fun. (season 6 ep. 7).

link1 - youtube

- Man Ray’s LA FORTUNE vs Sherrie Levine American surrealist artist in 1938 painted la Fortune (in english The Luck). In the painting a huge billiard table is flying to the sky, in direction of a number of colored cotton candy clouds. Some Observer could say Man Ray found inspiration in other paintings made before by Van Gogh (see Night Cafè) or Edgar Degas (see Billiard Room),Paul Gauguin (see At the cafè), Georges Braques (Billiard Table). Projecting La Fortune is always something so undefinitive, so unclear, so blurry, but in the same time vivid, almost tangible. If you will be lucky you know what s on stake but you dont know what s the right move to do in order to win. Thats the sense inside the painting in analysis. Man Ray is famous to be an undefined artist, that know everyone and did everything expect define itself. In fact as example in the painting La Fortune you can see inspiration from Dalì and Magritte and that happen in mostly all the art of Man Ray. With Duchamp, Man Ray was a early pratictioner of Dada and Surrealism techniques, that is also because of his own name. In fact Man Ray name is the result of the abbrevihation of Emmanuel Radnitzky, original Man Ray name as Russian immigrant. His nickname as children nickname was Manny, then shortened to Man. Later the family americanized their family name by shorting it to Ray and so this is how Man Ray came up. Man Ray also created the iconic image Le Violin d’ingres designing a clef-signature on a female back.

- BALTHUS vs. Squires - Therese Revant I already spoke about Balthus (Balthasar Klossowski) art in a previous post so check it out there, following the link. But basically remind that what is peculiar in Balthus art is his attitude towards sensuality and eroticism.

Other contaminations, you can find of your interest this thing i posted, and please comment if you want to: How Galathea became Pinocchio

This is the end of the first part of this “Tribute to art” discussion. Talk about more art soon, stay tuned.