Samantha Norwood

1^st Blog Assignment

Yoshimoto Nara

Yoshimoto Nara’s art is rooted heavily in classic anime style work. Many Asian countries’s art stems from widespread merchandise and animated comics artwork. This type of art is based largely on the “cuteness” of work. To accentuate this aspect, the features of people are dramatically enlarged, mainly in the eyes and the forehead. This gives the works a more innocent, slightly cherubic nature, which can be used for mere visual aesthetics, or for a controversial, or unsettling effect. Nara does some sculpture, but his work is mostly portraiture, using a variety or mediums such as ink, paint, watercolor, chalk, etc.

Jason Florio

Jason Florio mixes portraiture with documentary photography. He captures cultures that breed a beauty of a different kind, which encompass a sort of primal nostalgia. Some of his works remind me somewhat of Richard Avedon’s photographs and a quote of his that describes the body as a sort of landscape. I find it interesting that the landscapes behind the people in many of Florio’s photos are often sort of screened and abstracted; perhaps that is the reason which makes that idea pop. It brings the details of their body more to the surface. I find that most of his pieces have a pleasant gritty feel to them, sort of like squeezing mud in between your toes.

Bronek Kozka

I feel as if most of Kozka’s work is full of subliminal pain. Perhaps not his own, but what he sees, and what many people see. It has a sort of sympathetic understanding of many real life situations, that aren’t exactly stated, but most often these emotions are bottled up or suffered by people who have to accept some personal truth. Many of his photographs simply weave recognition of people coping, and having to accept their pain or situation. Some examples are, as I’ve interpreted them: A man about to commit a crime, a beautiful young woman using a politician for money or fame, a woman watching her sick daughter or loved one in the hospital, a family that eats dinner together but obviously doesn’t communicate at all, even Jesus Christ. All seemingly real life situations that many people feel for because they are so common, but they hardly get addressed to the point of help. I think there is also a statement of modern culture and the middle and lower class forging these problems within themselves. The image above reminds me of Dorthea Langes photograph of a woman and her two children during the depression. I find it somewhat ironic that Kozka’s work reflects the depression, only one of a different kind.

Bertolt Brecht Atley

I really enjoyed Bertolt Atley’s abstract paintings in his series “But Does it Float?” The pieces remind me of photographs with some strange filter I’ve never seen before. It’s as if they are stretched across, misaligned, and streaked with the detail of an impressionist painting underneath. Many of Atley’s projects reflect the progression, and somewhat destructive nature of time. Very few of his pieces have actual subject matter in them, as opposed to pure abstraction, but I think this series compliments his style by reinforcing time as the movement of space and time; and how one can describe that through the movement of light, taking it out of normal perspective.

Terence Mckenna Folkert

Terence Folkert’s works seem extremely meticulous, and have a sort of chaotic order to them. They remind me of machinery commenced by nature and they articulate the connections and depth within matter. This is emphasized by the use of repetition and the blending of color. Folkert utilizes a simulated reality by the feeling of looking under a microscope or at the dissection of something.

Kenneth Anger

Anger is mostly an entertainment photographer. He shoots celebrities and the rough edge of Hollywood. I think I enjoy his artwork because of his experimentation. It’s not the best blending job I’ve seen, but the overall effect is something I can identify with. I like doubling images in the dark room, and experimenting with reflections and lighting. I believe this effect is what attracted me to him. Not necessarily the tripped out nature of it, but the oddity per say.