collection #1

David Walker is a celebrated street artist from the UK, using nothing but spray paint as his medium and walls as his canvas.  His art is not what you'd typically think of in regards to grafitti or street art, using faces as his subject instead of words. This work of his in particular stood out to me.  I love his use of color, the obvious emotion it conveys by the multiple layers and the variety of lines and textures, making this work dynamic and adding movement, as if he captured a moment in this woman's life.  His subject is unknown, she has almost a blank look in her eyes, since we can't see her body it leaves it up a lot up to the viewer's interpretation.  Her flat facial expression is a stark contrast to the color and movement that surrounds her.  This piece stood out to me immediately, and I loved it even more when I looked closely at the strokes and colors and details.

doodling

I’m sure everyone at some point in time had sat in a classroom with a teacher endlessly droning on and on about the central limit theorem or macroeconomic policies or the first law of thermodynamics, and noticed their pencil no longer copying the copious amounts of notes on the board but instead drifting to the margins of the paper and creating a caricature of a panda bear or Zelda or their professor (or maybe that’s just me?)  Regardless of the setting in which it takes place, doodling is not something that is exclusive to serious artists, and its products aren’t often framed and put into galleries.  However, I recently stumbled upon some works of art that seemed to take the doodle to the next level.  Of course I was immediately intrigued, seeing as doodling is one of my favorite ways to pass the time whether it be on the bus or during breaks from endless study sessions for nursing exams or late nights not being able to sleep.   But can doodling really be considered an art form?  Most would consider it nothing more than something to do when you’re bored, although it has unarguably led to some of the great works of art.  We saw this at the Burchfield Penney art center, where many of Charles Burchfield’s sketches were on display, many of which were the prerequisites to some of his most renowned art works.   However, when researching the art of the doodle, I found some artist who managed to retain the imperturbable, spontaneous nature of doodling while creating something beautiful and pushing the boundaries of creativity.

Here are some of my favorites, by Faith Georgia, rooibas, Filippo, and Penny Raile, respectively.

On my search for great doodled works of art, I found some a collection that I absolutely fell in love with.  As I mentioned before, many artists have used the doodle as the first step in creating their art.  Yeondoo Jung did something similar, except for in his case the doodles came from the imaginative, captivating, enchanted fairy tale dreamland that lies in the minds of children.  And somehow, he managed to take these drawings and make them into reality.

After our last excurtion, as we took some time to explore the art space, I stumbled upon an artist whose work really appealed to me.  She took found children's toys and framed them with the backround of pictures of abandoned buildings.  Her work was not only unique but also told a story.  I got the impression that these were all toys that she found while visiting these decrepit locations, and it makes me wonder how they got there.  Abandoned buildings have always been something that interests me, especially since Buffalo is so full of them.  Many of these were once beautiful family homes and feature great architectural detail, but now stand crumbling and desolate. 

In a way this stark contrast of beauty and decay make them an unintentional art.  At least that's how I always felt, so it was interesting to see an artist who actually manifested this.  I did some research trying to find some artists that have undertook similiar work, and stumbled upon a local artist, Dennis Maher, who took the remnants of some of Buffalo's very own abandoned structures and made them into unique sculptures. 

These are two of my favorite pieces of his.  I really like the variety of materials he used, everything from trees to rusted metal to what looks like a story.  His work makes me wonder about the story behind these buildings, where they were, what they were in their prime, what led them to their state of decay.  The process of transformation, the contrast of ugly/ beautiful, and the story behind a piece are some of my favorite aspects of art, and the artists that appeal to me most are the ones who embody this.