"Gallery View 2" 11" X 14" Lori LaBerge 2018
While I worked with realism in art studio classes in college, I always enjoyed the modern. There is something about breaking things down to basic shapes that fascinates me. I enjoy the relationships, the mystery of finding something new, the experience of figuring out what the artist is trying to get across to the viewer while showing so little.
"Gallery View 2" has been broken down to shapes from a downtown city scene. It is overall calm with the pink adding a bit of excitement. The pink area also leads one to the focus of the "painting" on the wall. The windows of surrounding buildings are left out, avoiding distractions. There is a feeling of the viewer being on their own, the only one viewing the scene.
The relationships in this work are built through the use of line. There are distinct places throughout where one line passes through multiples points of the work. The red lines below show some of these spots.
The line over to the far left starts at the edge of the dark shape up through the edge of the yellow shape and on to the edge of another dark shape. The horizontal line has the top of the right section of yellow lined up with the top of the light gray shape on the right. Two lines meet at the top of the bright green on the upper right and so on. These relationships hold the piece together as one.
A study of masterworks will show multiple relationships of line when studied. Another way to study line is through looking at the work of master photographers. Annie Liebovitz places her subjects so various lines meet. (Ex. the profile of one figure may be lined up with the arm of another, making a diagonal line for the viewer to follow). The use of line covers all styles of art.
While not clearly seen from a distance, approaching the work shows how bright yellow was introduced throughout the duller yellow and a green with a glow to it was used to pair with the yellow. This adds a bit of a payoff to the viewer when they look closer.
Above is the book on the nightstand this week. The author speaks of breaking work down to its basic elements. It is a study from Turner and his start of moving toward reducing elements, through Mondrian, Rothko and others. The book questions how we view art through the brain process. The more a work is broken down, the less it resembles reality and the more creative we become when attempting to interpret it. How do we comprehend this breakdown? If there is no familiar landscape how does the brain interpret the art? Do we try to make the unfamiliar fit into the familiarity of our own world? A fascinating read.
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