Matthew Ritchie is an artist who was born in London, England, in 1964, and lives and works in New York. He derives his work from his imagination, and also from different occult practices, Judeo Christian religion and principles. His work is directly on the surface and he uses it towards being 3 Dimensional. He also uses science throughout his artwork and applies it to his art projects using different sculptures, and floor-to-wall installations. His work is referencing the expressionist artists of the 20th Century. It differs from them in their tightness and linearity. Thus, his abstracted narrative work fits into the same category of the work of contemporary artists such as Matthew Barney and Bonnie Collura.
Oil, ink, wax and varnish on canvas
Throughout his work he uses different shapes and symbols. They can be described as artistic, for example, the different colors that he uses to describe the imagination of his own artwork.
Oil, ink, wax and varnish on canvas
Oil and ink on canvasOil and marker on linen
His work is deemed to be very impressive, for instance, the different shapes he uses and how he applies them to his artwork is superb. He uses different colors and shapes to describe how he feels about space and science. The different perspectives on religion, philosophy, and science all tie in to help create his complicated, yes freshly simple works. The way he uses science throughout his artwork helps to describe how the different roles that science plays in society. It helps to visualize what science is and how it can be used to describe how it works. The way he uses religion is also impressive, for instance, he uses the big bang to help visualize how it works throughout his artwork. He uses mythology throughout his artwork, for example, he applies it using mythological creatures. They all tie in to help create his artwork. Therefore his artwork can be described as out of this world. The way he portrays his artwork is described as making it visually stunning. He tries to make order out of chaos, for instance, he uses chaos theory throughout his art pieces. He also tries using the butterfly effect to help capture the mood and help forecast what is going on in his artwork. His work, The Line Shot (2009), uses his characteristic imagery to journey through space and time and applies it in a way that the viewer can easily see. He applies imagery throughout his artwork to help detail the creation to apocalypse, and from the subatomic to cosmic vastness. All his artwork ties in to some sort of religion or science perspective in a sense. Throughout this artwork, the imagination flows to help describe how science is applied to society and how religion is used to describe the way science and religion go hand-in-hand. His artwork can be seen today and is progressing every time. Finally, his artwork is impressive and can be described through the way he applies his artwork to science and religion, as well as, the mythological perspective.
Leonardo Drew is an artist who creates free standing installations. Allot of his work is to challenge the idea of space and architecture. Allot of these pieces come from his childhood and specifically from memories from his childhood. This is very apparent in his works because he focuses on more adolescent subjects. His work is based in Brooklyn, NY and this is where he creates allot of his work too.
He began using rust and experimenting with new medias in his early years as an artist. He would go on to make this work for about two years until he started using other means of media. He also got allot of his ideas from Africa and early African culture.
After this he really started to focus on his childhood. Memories of his childhood surroundings—from the housing project where he lived to the adjacent landfill—resurface in the intricate grids and configurations of many of his pieces. Never content with work that comes easily, Drew constantly reaches beyond “what’s comfortable” and charts a course of daily investigation, never knowing what the work will be about but letting it find its way, and asking, “What if….”.
The Astronomical Ceiling Decoration of Senenmut’s Tomb and Egyptian Astrology
Not an image of the ceiling directly but a replication of its design on paper Wilkinson, Charles K. Astronomical Ceiling. 1479–1458 B.C, MET Museum, New York, United States.
A photo from the MET expedition of the astronomical ceiling. Wilkinson, Charles K. The Astronomical Ceiling. MET Museum, New York, United States. The Tombs of Senenmut : the Architecture and Decoration of Tombs 71 and 353, by Dorman, Peter F, New York : Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1991, fig. 84. p. 271.
The Tomb of Senenmut was discovered during the 1926-1927 excavation by the Metropolitan Museum of Art while at Deir el-Bahri near to Hatshepsut’s tomb in Thebes. The excavation was overseen by Herbert Winlock. The tomb itself is complex, even for being unfinished. The biggest discovery in the tomb I will be covering is “The Astronomical Ceiling Decoration” found there. Even though the tomb and the artwork are mostly unfinished, they have influenced what archaeologist know about Egyptian tombs, astronomy, chronology, mythology, religion, and how they all relate to each other.
Egyptian Astrology and Its Importance
Ancient Egypt religious traditions affected many aspects of their society, and many of those beliefs were started using astronomy. This correlation between astronomy and their gods was so important that temples and pyramids were built based astronomical orientations. Astronomy had more than just religious purposes for the Egyptians. Egyptians had three calendars which were based on their study of astrology. The Sirius calender relied on a star called Sirius and its relation to the Nile river’s cycles. This calendar only had 354 days. To balance this, Egyptians added an extra month called Thoth, one of their lunar gods, if Sirius rose helically in the twelfth month. As Egypt developed further they created a 365 day calendar that had twelve months, each with thirty days. Then there each and five extra days added (Barton, Tamsyn). This calendar was mostly used for record keeping. Instead of correcting this, another calendar was developed using new rules around 2500 BC (North and explorable). The Egyptians continued to use all three of these calendars until 46 BCE when Julius Caesar had the calendar modified to have a leap year. We still use this simplified 365 day calendar (https://www.britannica.com/science/Egyptian-calendar).
Their night and day cycles are very important in their religion. The sun god Re and his journey on his boat were based on their observations of the sun and the stars. The journey Re took was marked using thirty-six stars called Decans. Among those, Sirius was the most important marker due to its importance in tracking the Nile (North). To tell the time in the day, Egyptians used a sundial, and they used the thirty-six Decans to tell time at night (explorable.com).
The Astronomical Ceiling of Senenmut’s Tomb“The Astronomical Ceiling of Senenmut’s Tomb” is the oldest and most important astronomical ceiling that has been found. The size of the entire ceiling drawing is 3 by 3.6 meters, but the eastern side is not a perfect match to the western side as the shape of the chamber becomes more concave (Dorman 138). The decoration is divided into two sections to represent the northern and the southern skies of the celestial sphere (Pogo 301).
Section of the diagram which has the lunar deities Wilkinson, Charles K. Astronomical Ceiling Replication. 1479–1458 B.C, MET Museum, New York, United States.
(Dorman, fig. 86c.)
(Dorman, fig. 86d.)
There are decorations which include a list of the associated deities and deacons. Deacons were stars that were important in predicting the flooding of the Nile. This is a great example of how the decans were also used to figure out the passage of the hours during the night (Dorman 140). There are several southern and northern constellations included on the calendar. Some of the constellations in this drawing include two crocodiles, a lion with a crocodile tail, a bull, a falcon-headed man who spears the bull, and many other gods and goddesses (Dorman 145).
Left: the diagram of the ceiling (Dorman, fig. 85)
Right: the ceiling (Dorman, fig. 86a.)
The decoration has a schematic of a lunar calendar and the respective deities. A lunar calendar is a calendar based on the moon phases unlike solar calendar which are based on the time it takes Earth to make a full revolution around the sun. The calendar is the set of twelve circles that are divided into twenty-four sections. Each Circle is actually their feast days and the sections represent the hours in a day (Dorman 143).
The lunar calendar of the ceiling. (Dorman, fig. 85)
Portrait of Senenmut, steward of Amun, in his Deir el-Bahri tomb (TT 252). Photograph by Harry Burton, 1926–27 (M8C 173). Archives of the Egyptian Expedition, Department of Egyptian Art.
It is important to know more about Senenmut and his tomb in order to have a background on the work. Senenmut started as a tutor to Princess Neferure, and during the reign of Hatshepsut he became the overseer of many royal projects. He was also made the great steward of Amun and royal architect (“Senenmut”). He was one of the most powerful officials during Hatshepsut’s rule. There are some interesting theories as to whether he had a relationship with Hatshepsut; however, most of the evidence can only confirm that he played an important role through his job as tutor, steward, and architect (Gale Virtual Reference Library). There are many statues of Senenmut holding Hatshepsut’s daughter, Princess Neferure that show that aspect of his job. The princess and her teacher in the British Museum are one of these statues (britishmuseum.org). He is more known for having designed Hatshepsut’s temple at Deir el-Bahri, a pair of obelisks, and his offering chapel (referred to as TT 71 in excavation documents) at Sheikh Abd El-Qurna (The “Senenmut” and Shaw 240). His tomb (referred to as TT 353 in excavation documents) is located in Deir el-Bahri (Dorman 138). The Tomb of Senenmut (TT 353) was discovered during the 1926-1927 excavation by the Metropolitan Museum of Art which was overseen by Herbert Winlock. Senenmut’s tomb is unfinished, and he was never buried there (metmuseum.org). It is suspected that this is due to Thutmose III attempts to erase Hatshepsut and her favored officials from history toward the end of his rule, but this theory cannot be confirmed (Shaw 243). Egyptian astrology was very important to their daily life whether it was through determining the flooding of the Nile for farming, telling time, or worshiping their gods. Senenmut was a key figure during Hepsuphet’s reign, and his tomb became important to our understanding of his reign and Egyptian astrology of that time. More specifically “The Astronomical Ceiling Decoration of Senenmut’s Tomb” provided information on their lunar calendar and the decans as well as their understanding of the stars and how Egyptians related them to their gods and calendar. Even though the tomb and the artwork are unfinished, their significance is indisputable in understanding Egyptian history.
Works Cited
The Met’s Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History, www.metmuseum.org/met-around-the-world/?page=10160.
The Met’s Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History, www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/544566.
Barton, Tamsyn. Ancient Astrology. Routledge, 1994. EBSCOhost,
Belmonte, J., and J. Belmonte. “The Astronomical Ceiling of Senenmut, a Dream of Mystery and Imagination.” Academia.edu – Share Research, www.academia.edu/4993866/The_astronomical_ceiling_of_senenmut_a_dream_of_mystery_and_imagination.
Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. “Egyptian Calendar.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 8 June 2017, www.britannica.com/science/Egyptian-calendar.
Dorman, Peter. The Tombs of Senenmut: the Architecture and Decoration of Tombs 71 and 353. Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1991.
“Senenmut.” The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt. : Oxford University Press, January 01, 2005. Oxford Reference. Date Accessed 15 Mar. 2019 <http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195102345.001.0001/acref-9780195102345-e-0650>.
Pogo, A. “The Astronomical Ceiling-Decoration in the Tomb of Senmut (XVIIIth Dynasty).” Isis, vol. 14, no. 2, 1930, pp. 301–325. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/224678.
“Senmut (Senenmut).” World Eras, edited by Edward I. Bleiberg, vol. 5: Ancient Egypt, 2615 – 332 B.C.E. Gale, 2002, p. 59. Gale Virtual Reference Library, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/CX3035000043/GVRL?u=tel_a_clscc&sid=GVRL&xid=023a15ea. Accessed 8 Feb. 2019.
Shaw, Ian. Oxford History of Ancient Egypt. Oxford University Press, 2014.
The Vikings are considered to be some of the most savage barbarians to ever exist in the old world. Known for their immense strength, both alone and in numbers, the Vikings were feared for many years throughout the world. However, this was not the only thing that the Vikings did during their time on the planet. They also created wonderful works of art that, unfortunately, went unnoticed for many, many years. The Vikings had six unique art styles that they created through the entirety of their reign of pillaging and vandalism, each of which varied in intricacy and style but kept the same in general feel of their culture throughout the entirety of its time in Vikings history.The first style that will be explored is known as “Oseberg”. This style was prominent throughout the ninth century. The characteristics of this early style are animal designs that were carved around the frame work of the object it was on. There is a gripping beast motif in all of these pieces, showing its prominence in the culture. This particular art style lasted for 150 years in the Norse, Viking, artistic history. The styles that followed were influenced by the overall look from the Oseberg style and carried this animal like appearance for the remainder of the Norse Viking people’s history. This easily made it the most important, or at least, the most influential style during these time periods.
The next style was called Borre. It was named after some bridal mounts that were found on a burial ship in Borre, Norway. This, of course, influenced how the pieces were designed and crafted for their specific purposes throughout the Vikings lives. The Oseberg and Jelling, another one of the Vikings’ styles, styles from the Viking age were also prominent during the time Borre was seen in the culture. This caused it to have attributes from both of the other styles. Aspects from Oseberg can be seen in this style, such as the gripping beast. Although, it is slightly altered to fit this style, such as having a cat-like head, rounded eyes and protruding ears, for example. This style, like Jelling, has many similarities that are noticeable when looked upon.
The Jelling style first appeared around the tenth century and did not start to disappear for roughly seventy-five years. This was a way more stylized look than the traditional Viking art design. This style was sometimes accentuated with that of Borre on the same project that would be created. The style still held the animal like look to it but in a far more curving and winding sense as opposed to that of the previous two styles. Unfortunately, there is not very much information on this particular style from the time period due to the fact that it was a part of another style primarily.
Mammen’s creation, the next art style, can be credited to the Jelling style of which it was inspired by. This style was very popular during the latter part of the tenth century. Inspired by an ax head with similar designs, this style has foliated and animal patterns throughout the entirety of its design. This design would also begin the continuation of a foliage design throughout the art works that would follow. The intricacy of this style is what separates it from the other artistic styles among the Viking population. This style had a very royal design quality about it, meaning there was more clean details to the overall look. Making it almost a richer design compared to the grounded look of the others. Like Borre, this style was also named after the ax head it was inspired by and borrowed very heavily from the initial designs.
By the first half of the eleventh century, the culture created the next art style known as Ringerike. This style became a major part of the prominent runestones that were seen everywhere during this time. The animals that were painted onto these runestones were more snake-like and had almond shaped eyes. Borrowing heavily from the stylized style of Jelling. Between all of the styles listed thus far, this style is the simplest from the time. Instead of being a work of art carved or sculpted, it is etched or painted onto a stone. This would have made it simpler to design and would also have made it easier to do large quantities of these Runestones prints throughout the entire time they were used.
The final style from the Viking time period is known as Urnes. This style was between the year 1050 up until the twelfth century and got its name from a church in Norway. This style was made from wooden panels that were carved to have long, sinewy animals that appeared to have dog like creatures battling a serpent creature. This style kept the beast motif like the others but lost the foliation design element. This style was found more on churches and other respectable establishments as opposed to just lying around a Viking home.
In
conclusion, the Vikings had many varying art styles through multiple centuries.
However, throughout all of these centuries there was many elements that
remained the same and were just adapted to the style it was being used with. The
Vikings kept their art styles within the same realm of each other because it is
of their beliefs, unfortunately for future generations, this a minor part of
their culture. However, many great things could be learned from studying the
intricate designs that they carved or painted onto their day to day objects.
The Norse Vikings had an attention to details that would not be often
highlighted about their culture. All of the designs listed are very intricately
crafted, whether it is for a ship, a box, or just a nice design on a stone. A
graphic designer today could learn so much from the many designs used by these
people, as to further their work in the arts. The Norse arts should be explored
far more than they have been because of the uniqueness that was involved in
their crafting.
Minerva Cuevas is an artist who lives and works in Mexico City, Mexico. It is the place where she was born, where she has cultural roots, and where she finds inspiration for her conceptual artwork. She studied at Escuela Nacional de Artes Plasticas. Growing up, she witnessed rich diversity and community between social classes and races. She constructs sculptural installations, produces paintings, and documents through photography to name a few of her diverse artistic pursuits. She approaches subject matter that is largely political, in which she often questions the Capitalist system. In addition, her work focuses on aspects of social justice and equality between people from all walks of life. However, Cuevas does not simply advocate for social and political changes in the world, she takes an active role to serve these movements.
“Art is totally connected to social change.”
-Minerva Cuevas
The Kurimanzutto art gallery in Mexico City represents local, as well as international, artists and their contemporary work in a relaxed, adaptable space. In 2015, Cuevas’s Feast and Famine exhibition was featured in the Kurimanzutto gallery. The pieces in Feast and Famine call into question the negative impact that the practices of capitalist economies can have on a global scale. Also, cacao is the central material used in every Feast and Famine piece. This medium came about while Cuevas was researching primitive currencies and discovered that cacao was exchanged as a form payment in pre-Hispanic Mexico.
In these sculptural works, capitalism becomes synonymous with cannibalism in the sense that enterprise leads to the consumption of resources which then become depleted and unavailable to others. In a figurative sense, it is cannibalistic behavior. A capitalist society may be well off having more food than it needs to go around, but it may well condemn another society to starvation. Essentially, one man’s feast becomes another man’s famine. Cuevas depicts the cannibal acts in a literal sense. She has dipped human bone structures into melted cacao and displayed them on a dining table. Also, the work pokes fun by turning the term cannibal back on those whose ancestors referred to indigenous groups as barbaric.
Minerva Cuevas cited this work as the most significant piece of the Feast and Famine exhibition. A mechanism was built and rigged to drop melted chocolate from the ceiling of Kurimanzutto roughly every three and a half seconds. The drops fell to the ground and continuously compiled to form the cacao sculpture above. Though, it should be noted that this sculpture constantly changed, becoming taller or more spread out or forming a new texture as time passed. She explains it best herself in the quotation below.
“Every time the chocolate drips, one person dies of starvation in the world.”
-Minerva Cuevas
The Mejor Vida Corporation (“Better Life” Corp.) is a non-profit organization that Minerva Cuevas founded in 1998. This is a corporation that aims to provide services and products internationally for free. Not only free from cost, but free from discrimination based on an individual’s gender, race, religion, or economic status. Some services that can be requested include recommendation letter-writing and cleaning of public or recreational spaces. Examples of products that are free by request are subway tickets, student ID cards, and altered barcode stickers for produce. Initially, her efforts for widespread freedom and equality began the organization, but her actions incidentally became what she considers her most important artwork.
Her contributions undercut some of the barriers of a bureaucratic system by giving people “sabotages” to improve their condition even in small ways. People are given subway tickets for a free ride and they save money not having to purchase the ticket themselves. They’re given the student ID cards to receive student discounts on some of their purchases so that they have money left over for other expenses. By that same merit, people are given barcode stickers that have been tampered to ring up food cheaper than it originally cost for use in the supermarket.
Born in Liverpool during 1949, Tony Cragg has become one of the most famous sculptors in the world. He has gained this fame by pushing the relations between materials and humans. He has a BA from the Wimbledon of Art in London. Cragg is known for not having any limitations to the materials he might use while creating a sculpture. He has worked on recreating how we see objects by completely recreating them with different materials. In more of Cragg’s recent works he has reverted back to using more classic and traditional materials for some of his sculptures. These consist of bronze, wood, etc. Cragg has gained many awards also through his long career in the arts. Some of these awards are the Shakespeare award, Piepen Brock prize, and many others. He currently works and lives in Wuppertal, Germany.
Do Ho Suh is a South Korean artist. He is mainly known for his sculpture and installation art. He was born in Seoul during 1962. He studied at Rhode Island School of Design and Yale University. He currently lives and makes works in London, New York City and Seoul. His Father was a famous artist as well during the 1960’s. Suh started studying art after he failed classes required to be a marine biologist. He moved to the United States to study more than traditional Korean Art. He really liked the idea of interacting with space, which can be seen in his most popular works. He also blends in some of his own identity into some of these pieces, like “Home Within Home Within Home Within Home Within Home”. His fabric works are hand sewn to match his ideal home. I really like seeing his work because I remember when I saw it for the first time in New York, it took my breath away. The attention to detail was incredibly impressive to me. The idea of being able to take his home anywhere with him was very interesting as well.
He works with fabric in other ways as well. He created some pieces with just cotton on paper. They come out in these beautiful works that feel like has movement in them. I really enjoyed these, I personally think they are my favorite of all of his work. The ideas and imagery are just very satisfying to me.
DO HO SUH Karma Juggler, 2015 thread embedded in cotton paper 90.56 x 126.56 x 3 inches
The German artist, Daniel Richter, was born in Eutin, Germany during 1962. He is currently living and working in Berlin and Hamburg. He studied under the experienced painter, Werner Buttner. Richter was also a professor from 2004-2006 at the Universität der Künste, located in Berlin. He is largely known for his large paintings that are mainly inspired by the current culture and the mass media. His artwork revolves around expressionism. As seen by the quick and short brush strokes that are throughout the entirety of the paintings. Richter focuses heavily on creating scenes throughput all of his works. Most pf his works are very dark giving it an eerie mood when looking at it. Early in his career, Richter did more abstract paintings. These were said to be very psychedelic. By 2002 he began to change the style of his works to create scenes. It is said that he is largely inspired by newspapers and history books that depicted certain moments in time in a different way. Recently, to help get the look of his paintings right, Richter has looked into Christianity and German historical influences to create new works of art that still seem fresh to long time viewers. He has used these resources to help create the contemporary scenes he is known for. Richter has also won the award of Young Art in Germany.
UntitledDie HordeOne Word: LIGHTBOOOOOOOM!Death of the Esoteric PainterHello, I Love You!Lonely Old Slogans
Kerry James Marshall is a black contemporary artist from Chicago. He is strongly influenced by Civil rights, black power, and young black men. He is known for his paintings and sculptures that he does on a large scale and also for some illustrations. He is a huge believer in rewriting black art history. He states “We take it for granted that this is just the way art history is structured…” says Marshall. “They [the artists featured in museums] are all Europeans. And when do other people start to come into the field? Well, only after they have been dominated and colonized by Europeans.” This seems to be what overall drives his work.
Untitled (Supermodel) by Kerry James Marshall, 1994, Honolulu Museum of Art
These ideas of pushing other people into art history are very interesting to me. What’s even more interesting is how he is trying to do it in the present day. This idea is a reminder that art history and history is being written every day and can be altered for the future. His ideas also make me ask questions. I wonder why more cultures are not featured in art history and some of his work pushes that very idea.
Vignette #2, 2008. Acrylic on Plexiglas displayed at Chicago Art Institute.
He is also using black imagery and terms as a way to tell a story. One series he has done is called “The Lost Boys”. This series shows young black men “lost in the ghetto, lost in public housing, lost in joblessness and lost in literacy.” This work itself raises awareness of what is going on in our world to this day. This also explores ideas of racism and depression that still exist and seems to be forgotten.
Bryan Zanisnik was born in 1979 in Union, New Jersey. Today, he lives travelling between New York and Stockholm, Sweden. His art discusses autobiographical and social subject matter through the use of videos, performances, installations, and photographs. His pieces include whimsical but strange and sometimes dreary elements as he explores the dynamic between performer and audience. I was drawn to this artist because he creates work that I normally don’t, and lately I’ve enjoyed learning more about conceptual and performance art. My favorite piece that he created was the Meadowlands Picaresque, which was a site-specific installation that was inspired by the Meadowlands swamps near his birthplace of Northern New Jersey. In this piece, he was interested in finding the ‘blank spots on the map’ and exploring them to discover what forgotten things they might hold. He wanted the viewers of this installation to be able to play and explore as if they were experiencing what he did when he got the inspiration for the piece.
“And maybe that’s also what really drew me: That it’s so much of the same thing again and again and again. It’s kind of monumental in its nothingness.”
– Bryan Zanisnik
In the 1900’s Zanisnik’s great grandfather supposedly wrestled a wolf in Ukraine. In 2007 he himself traveled to Ukraine and researched this story about his family and found out it was true. His piece titled, He is Not a Man is a live performance inspired by these events. Zanisnik invited a childhood bully to dress as the wolf and box him. The boxing match was real and Zanisnik lost in three rounds.
“I kind of think of building one of my installations as if I’m constructing a stream of consciousness sentence. That not every word leads into the next, but there’s an overall mood or feeling being constructed.”
-Bryan Zanisnik
In 2012 Zanisnik got a cease & desist letter from the author Philip Roth’s legal counsel for holding one of his novels during a performance piece. The utter ridiculousness of this legal battle inspired Zanisnik to create the Philip Roth Presidential Library, a series of giant sculptures made of drywall and wood that each held hundreds of Philip Roth novels inside. The installation both showcases Roth’s genius while also criticizing him and his big ego.
Fred Wilson was born in Bronx, New York in nineteen fifty-four. He studied art at Purchase College, University of New York. He creates his artworks in an unusual way by not making things by hand. He has more interest in arranging elements and exploiting material in a way that pleases him. By changing the situation of the object he can change the interpretation. In his works he continually questions curators and their interpretations of historical, artistic, cultural scenes in his own installations. His installation of Mining the Museum in 1992 was revolutionary.
Metal Work
Unpleasant artifacts and the forgotten history that went with them were stored out of view in Maryland’s Historical Museum’s basement. He gained full access into the basement and began staging objects where they could be viewed in a distasteful, yet beautiful manner. While the usual white upper-class visitors expected to view fine silver and vintage elegance, they felt uncomfortable and uneasy walking through Wilson’s instillation. He combines beauty and ugliness in ways that magnify their historical relevance, but also expresses the relation between the objects within the display. Old slave shackles were laid beside silver dining utensils tragically conveying the past of the each object.
Cabinet Making
An old 1885 slave whipping post was displayed with antique chairs facing toward the whipping post. This gives a horrific sight into how slaves were beaten by their “owners”. It exaggerates how the chairs are beautifully handcrafted, and how the whipping post is an ugly thing.
Slave wanted posters were arranged behind a nine foot long punt gun and much more were displayed throughout the museum. The installment lasted from April fourth, nineteen ninety-two to February twenty-eight, nineteen ninety-three. It was unsettling, but over five thousand people came to view the installment. He continued mining museums from around the world and displayed how they viewed their history in present day. Altering the arrangements of material, he can provide a completely different meaning to the objects breaking walls toward cultural and historical narratives. He played with different cultures and the way they see power and their political views along with their history.
I believe he is trying to convey that people want to forget the past and overlook the negativity. History should not be forgotten and stored out of sight. He does create installments that are offensive but captures them with pleasing composition for the eye without losing the emotion and uneasy feeling of the way the objects are arranged. He even takes other artworks to incorporate into his displays to match what he is trying to focus on.
In this installment of plaster made busts of the Egyptian
queen Nefertiti he asks the question of the racial identity in ancient
Egyptians. When I first viewed this, I thought of how Nefertiti was an
inspiration for women’s beauty. Him coloring each head a different shade of
skin tone equalizes beauty as not seen by a person’s skin color and implying
that everyone is beautiful.
Even though he doesn’t create many pieces, the emotion and beauty behind his instillation’s are what drew me to his works. He sometimes incorporates classical art pieces with contemporary ideas. He does so well with arranging things to seem beautiful until you realize the meaning behind the objects, then it because an art piece full of emotion.
Punt GunMete of the MuseInvisible Man Sala Longhi
Inspired by Pietro Longhi paintings from the 18th century, Wilson’s interpretation includes 28 black glass panels that are framed with gold. The faces on the paintings are cut out revealing the white wall behind. The middle frame features a lighting fixture made of white Murano glass.
