Yesterday, I viewed an incredible exhibition in New York City at the Park Avenue Amory. The ADAA Gala Show consisted of almost 100 galleries from across the country, that all displayed fine works by artists from around the world. One particular artist whose work captured me was Gerhard Richter. The pieces that were displayed were over-painted photographs. One series of images was painted over with black paint. The photographs beneath the paint were color images of trees and woods. The dark colors (mostly black, gray, brown) in the photographs certinaliy yielded a mysterious tone, and while viewing the layer of paint on top of the base image, I presumed that the dark paints were intended to intensify the mystique that shrouded the image. Additionally, the trees seemed to be either dead, or headed for expiration because the branches were bare and sillouetted by a sullen lighting that emanated a shadowy gloom of mortality. The fusion of the two media opened my eyes to endless metaphors that may possibly be interpretted through these pieces. Inspiration too seeped through me, and my final proposition is stemmed from the ideas I formed after having viewed Richter's work.
For my own final portfolio, I intend on photographing street art and graffiti with a digi-slr, printing the images out, and painting on the images. The track that I intend on going down for this project is one that represents the most basic principles from art: primary colors, plus b&w, and basic geometric shapes- all of which are essential in creating visual art. Without these core qualities of color and shape, visual art would be nonexistent so my fusion of media is to aim to instill the importance of the basic when creating other innovative or modern arts.
(Closest example to my reference: 1994, 17.9 cm x 12.7 cm, Oil on photograph)
