Public Art in Birmingham City Centre

After taking a walk around Victoria Square in Birmingham City centre, I came to realise that there was more public art work than I thought, although most of the art was hidden or obscured by buildings or other functional structures. Even the statues that dominate most of the space in the square (like The River) don’t capture people attentions on busy mornings.

(The River by  Dhruva Mistry, Also known as Floozie in the Jacuzzi)

The Iron man is a sculptor that is suppose to represent the skills of those in Birmingham during the Industrial Revolution. Because of it’s unusual angle in which it enters the floor I believe it commands more attention than other statues, however because of the dark iron metal it blends into the background of the city. (Iron Man by Antony Gormley)

Even the Guardian statues on closer inspection have animal and human features, a detail that would be lost without paying attention to detail.

Here are some other piece of public work I found in the area…

Cubism

After scientists began to realise that vision was not just the reception of sensations on the retina but sensations analysed by the brain to provide us with descriptions, artists began to play around with form and space in art. In the early 20th century Cubism was created by Picasso and Braque and became one of the most influential visual art styles of the century. Geometric forms, Primitivism and non-Wester sources such as African art influenced Cubism.

Pablo Picasso’s “Still Life with Chair Caning” is an unusual format as it is not a rectangle or square like conventional paintings, instead it is an oval shape possessing no sides; furthermore the frame itself is a rope, not a typical wooden frame. Picasso’s piece of work also seems like a jumbled form instead of a clear picture, creating a collage effect. However as the viewer we are able to understand what is shown by breaking down the information into parts. So if we look closely we see that Picasso has involved some dry humour into his work, for example we can just make out the first three letters of the newspaper “JOU”, which

Artist Inspiration

During my current project, which explores the themes of literature and fairy tales, I have investigated a variety of different artists work in hope to influence my own thought process. Through my Behance account I was able to discover Vladimir Stankovic, an illustrator, graphic designer and character designer from Serbia. After looking through his collection of work I found that Stankovic combines traditional and digital art to create images that in themselves merge nature, science, fantasy and fairy tales. I found Stankovic’s “Grimm’s Fairy Tales” project the most interesting because despite the fact that the connotations towards fairy tales are immature and naïve, he is able to bring out the true sinister and wicked themes by drawing the characters in certain ways and adding pastel like colour instead.

                                     

Once again I found another artist who had looked at fairy tales in a more mature manner, through Tumblr. Rachael Wise is an illustrator and graphic designer who has published works that consist of website illustrations, logo designs and fashion illustrations. I really found Wise’s “Fucked Up Tales” interesting, as she takes classic fairy tales and places the characters and ideas into modern settings, but with a satirical twist. I think that the way she uses traditional story book layouts and font while including dark humour is not only clever but makes an impact on the viewer as she comments on modern social issues through imagery and words.

       

After further research I came across Jefferey Thomas, a character designer and story artist. What peeked my interest was Thomas’ “Twisted Princess” collection, in which he took Disney characters and made them not only fearsome and disturbing, but also powerful, giving the females a sense of empowerment. What’s more Thomas perfectly copies the visual language of Walt Disney’s original illustrations perfectly, adding to the dark humour and creepiness of the image.

Orthographic Drawing Systems

An orthographic drawing system is a  projection that represents three dimensional objects in two dimensions.  Orthographic drawings usually consist of a front view, a side view and a plan. The difference between orthographic and perspective is that the former tries to create the sense of depth and distance while orthographic drawing removes the notion of complexity. Orthographic projection refers to a method of projection in which an object is depicted  using parallel lines to project its shape onto a plane.

Linear and Arerial Perspective

Perspective is the way in which objects appear to the eye based on their position, dimensions and spatial attributes. Perspective drawing is an art technique used to represent three-dimensional images on a two-dimensional plane. There are two main terms within the concept of perspective: linear perspective and aerial perspective.

Linear perspective refers to the size and proportions of objects represented in a space, for example as objects become more distant they appear smaller because their visual angle decreases. Perspective is also seen in the way the parallel lines (viewed at a certain angle) appear to meet at a distant point, the vanishing point. This point lies on a line, called the geometrical horizon, at the level of the viewer’s eye.

“The Last Supper” by Leonardo Da Vinci has many linear perspectives caused by the buildings architecture as well as the people, that point towards Jesus, bringing more focus to him.

Aerial perspective deals with atmospheric effects on tones, colours and the general appearance of an object as it is viewed from a distance. As the distance between an object and the viewer increases, the clarity between the object and its background decreases. What’s more, objects that are closer to the foreground possess more detail than objects seen further away. The colours of the object also become less saturated and shift towards the background colour: blue.

“Blue Ridge, Parkway Series” by Janet Wimmer portrays the effects of aerial perspective by giving the hills a blue tint the further they become.

Contemporary vs Historical

The “Blue Madonna” was a religious painting created by Carlo Dolci depicting the virgin Mary from the Christian faith. The Bible tells of Mary’s virtue and integrity so Dolci has wrapped her in a blue shawl to represent her purity while implying heavenly association. Inspired by Dolci’s interpretation of Mary, Chris Ofili also cloaks his “Virgin Mary” in blue. The fact that they were created 400 years apart is apparent from the visual language, media and concept. The style of the “Blue Madonna” coincides with that era’s way of depicting people, places and objects as accurate as they can (Trompe L’Oeil – trick of the eye). Ofili on the other and has been influenced by modern societies evolution of art. His portrayal of a woman’s body is unrealistic but has been displayed in this way to cause a effect, not because he is unskilled. What’s more, while the objects surrounding the woman seem to be butterflies at first glance, if one inspects it further it is actually bottoms. This offence mannerism does not finish there, while Dolci uses standard oil on canvas, Ofili incorporated elephant dung into the work. Considering these two factors it is clear the Ofili did not create this piece of work as a homage to The Virgin Mary like Dolci, but instead produced this artwork in hope to cause offence.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Blue Madonna by Carlo Dolci)                                                                                                                           (Holy Virgin Mary by Chris Ofili)

Making and Understanding Art

In 1985, Christo and his creative partner/wife Jeanne-Claude wrapped the oldest bridge in Paris, The Pont Neuf with 450, 000 square feet of woven polyamide fabric (which is visually similar to silk) restrained by 8 miles of rope and steel chains. With help of 300 professional workers Christo was able to manipulate the silky sandstone coloured material and cover the: sides, arches, pavement and street lamps. Although the artwork did not disrupt traffic on the road or hinder river traffic the wrapped pavement meant that pedestrians had to walk on the fabric, making them interact with artwork, and even become apart of it and the experience.

The Pont Neuf was completed in 1606 and is one of the visually diverse buildings in Paris, however over the years the bridge has gone under extravagant modifications and additions. By wrapping the Pont Neuf the tradition of adjusting the bridge is continued as Christo transforms the structure by accentuating relief and emphasising proportions and detail.

However the piece of artwork could only be displayed for 14 days, making it temporary art. Although Christo replies has said: “I am an artist, and I have to have courage … Do you know that I don’t have any artworks that exist? They all go away when they’re finished. Only the preparatory drawings, and collages are left, giving my works an almost legendary character. I think it takes much greater courage to create things to be gone than to create things that will remain.”

The Art of Causing Offence

Olympia is a painting by Edouard Manet that was first exhibited in 1865. The picture depicts a nude female lying on a bed being brought flowers by a female servant. The painting caused shock and offence because of the way the woman looks at the viewer with a confrontational stare instead of looking away into the distance or closing her eyes like other portrayals of nude woman in that era. Further more the painting contains certain details that indicate to her status as a prostitute, for example her maid is giving her a bouquet of flowers which could possibly be from a suitor or customer. Also the name Olympia was a common name prostitutes would call themselves. What’s more, what shocked the people of the 19th century era most was the portrayal of her nudity. Unlike other nude paintings. this one in particular had some sexual emotions attache to it because of the small presence “of clothes” (her shoes and jewellery) makes her “naked” not “nude”.

(Olympia by Edouard Manet)

 

Another issue for the public was the positioning of her hand. Unlike “Venus” by Titain, who’s hand hangs loose and elegantly, Olympia’s hand is very stern and guarded, placed in a way that suggests she is not willing to give the viewer access to her groin (unless you pay a fee – flowers). Venus’s head is also held at an angle, her eyes soft with a hint of a smile in her lips, indicating a more pliable and less confrontational woman.

(Venus of Urbino by Titain)

“The Birth of Venus” was perceived as even more acceptable than the previous two paintings because of the lack of clothing or jewellery and the fact that her head is positioned in a way that her face is slightly obscured and her eyes are slightly closed, not at all intrusive.

(The Birth of Venus by Alexandre Cabanel)

 

William Hogarth – The Rake’s Progress

Grayson Perry’ created a series of six tapestries named: “The Vanity of Small Differences”. the series of work was inspired by William Hogarth’s famous “A Rake Progress” , in which Hogarth depicts the hectic life of a “Rake” (a young, wealthy man who explores the world). In the eight paintings, Hogarth tells the story of Tom Rakewell, who inherits money, spends it all on gambling and pursuing fashionable tastes, get’s married for more money, only to gamble away his second fortune, resulting in being thrown into prison and dying in a mad house.

London National Gallery – Art Research

While visiting the National Gallery I observed four of Grayson Parry’s acknowledged sources for his tapestries (The Vanity of Small Differences) and did some primary observation of the paintings.