Icon Breadth

Still Life

Map Breadth Piece

Coffee based water color and ink on coffee stained & dripped paper

Indian Art History RESEARCH

COMPANY PAINTINGS:

Company Paintings stimulated during the late 1700’s in different cities across India. During this time, the British colony was in control of India, the colonized. Many English travelers began to move into India from England for both long term and short term trips. During these trips, many modern travelers documented their visits through photographs. On the other hand, many aesthetic travelers preferred the subject matter of original hand paintings depicting different localities, nature, and architecture around India. These European travelers hired Indian artists to paint these still life’s for them to then take back home to England. The appreciation of India along with the skill of its own people came together in a unique synthesis and visual form between the colony and the colonized to evoke rich historical artwork with a foreign touch. This traditional watercolor and ink fusion of early European style art expressed by Indian artists who painted traditional Indian relics expressed skills of shading and linear perspective. Detailed lines and the use of royal and neutral tones such as deep blues and browns added to the images. Prior to this artwork, traditional Mughal paintings were famous. Once the British colonizers began to take over much of the country, the Company Paintings took off. It can be said that both the foreign travelers along with the traditional Indian artists supported this painting style. This hybrid and blend between the Indian people and the protectorate was an ironic outcome with artwork of its own.

Bengal River Fish, ca. 1804 India; Calcutta School. Pencil, gouache, watercolor, and gilding on paper.

http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/2004.176

http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/cpin/hd_cpin.htm

http://ngmaindia.gov.in/ce_company-paintings.asp

RAM KUMAR:

Abstract Indian artist and Hindi author Ram Kumar was born in the small hill station of Shimla in 1924. He attended Delhi University where he studied economics. Minimally taking part in art exhibitions, he later on travelled to Paris by boat to work under artists Andre Lhote and Fernand Leger. He is famously categorized as a post-colonial Indian artist. He feels most comfortable using acrylic and oil paints. Human condition is the main evolving theme that Kumar expresses in his abstract artworks. One can say that living for most of his life in Delhi, India; he was surrounded by people, the busy Indian life, along with the influence of other such cities around the nation. Focusing on the main city of Varanasi, a cultural and historical pilgrimage site in India, Kumar was able to depict paintings with the unique and ethnic Indian touch to his works. Living in India, Kumar took what we normally see as everyday norms such as streets and buildings making people look at things from a different most aesthetic point of view. Similarly, after living in Paris, Vienna and London, his inspiration for abstraction began to spark as well. While most Indian artists were not as fortunate to travel outside of the country, Kumar brought forward national themed artworks with European styles of color and abstraction. More Hindu and Buddhist inspirations such as nirvana and the cycle of samsara also became strong influences in Kumar’s artworks. Now in his 90's, he is still living and is currently residing in the capital of New Delhi.

Banares 2 (Varanasi, India)

http://k10mehta.blogspot.in/2010/01/all-things-art-ram-kumar.html

http://www.saffronart.com/artist/artistprofile.aspx?artistid=164

http://www.theartstrust.com/artistprofile.aspx?artistid=46&name=Ram Kumar

Holiday Concentrations

Final 8 Concentration Pieces [Dec]

The central idea of my concentration focuses on emotions and feelings in faces depicted through black and white photography. I feel that faces are artistic in themselves as they come in all shapes and sizes, uniquely portraying their own emotions and feelings. I chose black and white as a medium because the simplicity, grace and refinement of it aids in accentuating the true meaning and sentiment that I wish to render in my pictures. By using sepia and cyan tints in my photo editing, I hope to create a nostalgic mood in the work. I am exploring the many subtleties of what a “face” is considered in both human and non-human faces.

November Concentrations: Tina Malik

Tina: Concentration Nugget-October

Christina Malik

Part 1: TOP 5

Diane Arbus, "Woman with a Locket in Washington Square Park NYC," Vintage gelatin silver print. 1965

Sally Mann, "The Last Time Emmett Modeled Nude," Gelatin silver print, (no recorded date)
Brassai, "Couple d'amoureux dans un petit cafe, quartier Italie," Gelatin silver print, 1932
Annie Leibovitz, "It's a Twister," Digial Media, 2005

Robert Frank, "City Fathers (Hoboken)," Gelatin silver print, 1955

Part 2: SYNTHESIZE

Explain what it is you like about these 5 artworks (elements/common threads).

1. The reason I picked these 5 photographs is because firstly, they share the common theme of black and white. Even though Annie Leibovitz' piece is the only photograph which has elements of color, the colors are low on saturation. The main subject in all 5 photographs are people. The first one by Diane Arbus is a closeup of a women, while Brassai's photograph steps back to look at the bigger picture (setting and atmosphere).I enjoy taking pictures of people, because they hold a lot of subject in themselves. People are able to be very expressive through through body language and faces, I can clearly see this quality expressed in all 5 photographs. The use of low tones and black and white help bring out this aspects because the attention goes to the subjects instead.

What is it that these elements are expressing?

2. The element that all these photographs are expressing is that they all hold a lot of mystery and portray a sense of "coldness" through their subjects and simple colors. They are eerie and scary sometimes, but that adds to the effect. I feel that these are very strong aspects in all the 5 pictures. This element ties well into the idea of black and white. Black in white photos hold a lot of grace and its important that the use of low saturated colors and subjects exude the same atmosphere and aura. In this case, all 5 photos do that.

How could you take some of these strategies and apply them to your own work -- either in terms of media, formal qualities, and/or theme?

3.The qualities and strategies that I would like to incorporate into my own concentration of black and white photography; faces, is that I would like to step back and take things into a larger perspective. I wanted to start off by taking close up of faces, but I really want to incorporate the ideas of surroundings, and atmospheres including the subject itself. I want to work with color too. It can be overwhelming working with only black and white. I may want to use two tons and low saturation, but definitely want to incorporate it into my concentration.

Part 3; ARTIST IN-DEPTH

Choose one artist and research what has influenced his or her work. If the artist is alive and has a website you should look at what they've written about their work. If the artist is not contemporary, then research what others have written about this artist.

The artist I have chosen to research in-depth is American photographer Annie Leibovitz. Unlike the other photographers I have researched, Leibovitz is more contemporary, modern, and is currently a working artist. Even though personally, I enjoy black and white photography more than colored, Leibovitz has helped me enter a new perspective with color. Traveling the world and continuing her passion for photography, she now has photographed for the Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair, and New York Times magazines. Many people recognize Leibovitz with the famous Miley Cyrus scandal where she was photographed Cyrus in a bed sheet. Leibovitz continues to go strong; "The photograph is a simply, classic portrait, shot with very little makeup, I think it is very beautiful. The photograph I picked for my "Top 5" from Leibovitz is taken from December 2005 issue of Vogue with Keira Knightly. Overall, Leibovitz has a creative eye when it comes to photography. She admits that her partner, Susan Sontag, who passed away, has been one of her biggest influences, "It was as though Susan were behind me and had a say." Even though Leibovitz gets a lot of criticism from the media world today, she continues to go strong and capture the art around her.

URL for Pictures

1. http://www.artnet.com/artists/diane-arbus/

2.http://www.borntofilm.com/site/journal/sally-mann/attachment/the-last-time-emmett-modeled-nude-1987b1/

3.http://dichotomousdarling.blogspot.com/2011/05/exposed.html

4.http://www.janaehardyblog.com/?m=201001

5.http://www.christies.com/LotFinder/lot_details.aspx?intObjectID=1591397

Tina: Black & White Photography

word FACES.

I have always been interested in faces. I think they hold a lot of emotions and artwork in themselves. People come in all shapes and sizes and I love to depict and capture that in my photography. Black and White pictures really help accentuate the idea of faces, as the simplicity of the photo color helps the subject, in this case, the face, get all the attention. I want to capture as many different black and white faces as I can in photography. After all, no two people are alike...

Tina Malik (Nugget #2)

My Concentration is based on black and white Photography. After researching and looking at different photographers takes on this similar concentration, I have been enjoying looking at colorful yet simply portraits and images. I still enjoy the black and white aspect, but might try adding some color into my concentration. This can be done through different tones, or working with saturation to create the perfect color in my photography. My favorite is the 2nd image where the man is smoking. The white smoke compliments the dark shades of the mans face and it overall captures emotion in the mans faces; something that I would like to hopefully accomplish. Here are just a few images that caught my attention,and relate to the my concentration BLACK & WHITE PHOTOGRAPHY; FACES;