Kehinde Wiley

Kehinde Wiley (born in Los Angeles, California in 1977) is a New York based painter who is known for his paintings of contemporary urban African American men in poses taken from the annals of art history. His work can often be compared to portraitists such as Reynolds, Gainsborough, Titian and Ingres.
his paintings base around photographs taken around the streets of Harlem of young men wearing everyday clothes, he represents the portrayal of masculinity and physicality from the views of black and brown men.

Wiley uses and infuses or collaborates different styles from a range of intellectual movements and time periods. These include the Renaissance, French rococo, West African designs, Islamic architecture and urban hip-hop. With the style of a Renaissance painting, Wiley still portrays, if not discreetly, the modern Urban Hip Hop culture. Through his work we are shown "the sign and visual rhetoric of the heroic, powerful, majestic and the sublime in his representation of urban, black and brown men found throughout the world"( Kehinde Wiley Studios, n.d.)

According to Cadwell (1999)

Pluralism in art refers to the nature of artforms and artists as diverse. The cultural context of art is all encompassing in its respect for the art of the world's cultures. Inclusion of individuals of differing ethnicities, genders, ideologies, abilities, ages, religions, economic status and educational levels is valued. Pluralism honours differences within and between equitable groups while seeing their commonalities."

Society has their stereotypes on different people and a set heirachy. Wiley's work steps away from such things by using an old British/Renaissance style of painting as the background to a portrait of a black/brown man of the urban hip hop culture, two very different communities and time periods are collaborated. He does not absolutely ignore the differences in ethnicities and ideaologies, but uses the best of both to complete an exceptional portrait. "By applying the visual vocabulary and conventions of glorification, history, wealth and prestige to the subject matter drawn from the urban fabric, the subjects and stylistic references for his paintings are juxtaposed inversions of each other, forcing ambiguity and provocative perplexity to pervade his imagery." (Kehinde Wiley Studios n.d.)

Referencing:
http://worktolive.posterous.com/kehinde-wiley
http://www.kehindewiley.com/main.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kehinde_Wiley

Anish Kapoor

"My Red Homeland" 2003

Although the title of the exhibition “My Red Homeland” could refer to his Indian birthplace, (as some may have assumed) it actually refers to a much different field, namely: “my inner homeland”. As he explained on the day of opening, “I have always thought of the colour red as a colour of the centre, like a path to emotional exploration”. Red is the colour of blood, of passion and emotion; red is the colour of meat, here turned into wax and Vaseline. Wax and Vaseline in which the monochromatic effect creates a never-ending optical illusion, the application of colour indicates a constant in his works: the search for Immateriality and Spirituality.

Sky Mirror 2006

Anish Kappor's work "Sky Mirror" is a dazzling experience of light and architecture, presenting viewers with a vivid inversion of the skyline featuring the historic landmark building at 30 Rockefeller Plaza. The stainless steel sculpture is installed on a platform, a few feet above street level and stands at least three stories high at the Fifth Avenue entrance to the Channel Gardens at Rockefeller Center. The 'Sky Mirror' is open to be viewed by the public and reflects the skyscraper upside down, along with the sky surrounding it.

"Cloud Gate" Also known as "The Bean"


This work of Kapoor's was constructed around 2004-2006 and was nicknamed 'the bean' for its distinct shape and curve. Like the sky mirror it is another stainless steel sculpture which also has intriguing reflective features that is available for the public eye in Chicago.

The Farm


2. The purpose of the project was to provide a permanent horizontally supported work of art to complement an outdoor art gallery. The structural goal was to design an end-supported horizontal tension membrane structure capable of withstanding the high winds from the Tasman Sea.

3. As described by Anish Kapoor the work is a fabricated installation made to resemble a 'tensioned membrane sculpture'. 'The Farm' is situated at a private estate, outdoor art gallery in Kaipara Bay, North of Auckland, New Zealand.
The materials used for this work include; Ferrari 1302-S series PVC fabric, structural steel ellipses which support the fabric and Thirty-two longitudinal mono filament cables provide displacement and deflection resistant to wind loads while assisting with the fabric transition.

4. I consider 'The Farm' as my favorite sculpture. I acknowledge the fact that it would have been such a challenge to create something that seems so fragile yet withstand take the high pressure of wind and other aspects that are typical of New Zealand weather. Like a lot of his other public structures, it let gives you the opportunity for a different view of the scenery. The sculpture, which passes through a specifically cut hillside, provides a kaleidoscopic view of the beautiful Kaipara Harbor at the vertical ellipse and the hand contoured rolling valleys and hills from the horizontal ellipse. I think his work really makes you appreciate the beauty of the landscape.


references:
http://www.artfacts.net/index.php/pageType/newsInfo/newsID/2771/lang/1
http://www.publicartfund.org./pafweb/projects/06/kapoor//kapoor-06.html
http://www.ifaipublications.com/iaa/articles/1407.html
http://www.anishkapoor.com/works/gallery/2003myredhomeland/index.htm

Walterz Prize

1. What is the background to the Walters Prize?

This biennial award recognises an artist who has made an outstanding contribution to contemporary art in New Zealand in the two years prior. Named in honour of artist Gordon Walters, it was established by founding benefactors and principal donors Erika and Robin Congreve and Dame Jenny Gibbs to make contemporary art a more widely recognised and debated and prominent feature of New Zealand cultural life.

2. List the 4 selected artists for 2010 and briefly describe their work.

Dan Arps: (Explaining Things)
Dan Arps work at first, and sometimes completely seems like a room filled with junk. His piece consists of found objects that most would find no use in. A lot of them in fact can be categorized as very "Kitch". The display is unprofessional, tape and screws all over the walls, as though he were giving the art world the big 'middle finger'. When you first walk into the room and you see these objects that have been collected, you start to question whether or not this is art?
he expressive and the deadpan are jammed together in 'Explaining Things'. Chunks of mass materials detritus, Youtube clips, furniture, ornaments and posters are re - worked into something that would sometimes appear o be illegible personal artifacts.

Alex Monteith: Passing Manoeuvre with Two Motorcycles and 584 Vehicles for Two-Channel Video
According to (Artists with eyes on prize, 2010) she “was trying to push what could be done in the little space between two rows of motorway traffic”.
Passing Manoeuvre with Two Motorcycles and 584 Vehicles for Two-Channel Video is a short film that shows a bike weaving its way through hectic traffic,(which is illegal in New Zealand's current road laws) from both front and rear view of the bike.

Fiona Connor: Something Transparent
Fiona Conner had made an installment that explores the architecture of the space that she was given. With two doorways it gives the viewers two different perspectives to her work. Her nominated work was a gallery’s front entrance which she replicates 14 times throughout her gallery space.

Saskia Leek: Yellow is the Putty of the world
Saskia Leek’s nominated work is a collection of her 11 paintings, she explores with subjects such as buildings, a sailing ship, a cat, a bowl of fruit and autumn leaves. She states that the painting process in her work is more important than it is about her subject matters

3. Who are the jury members for 2010?

Jon Bywater - Programme Leader, Critical Studies at Elam School of Fine Art, The University of Auckland.
Rhana Devenport - Director, Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, New Plymouth
Leonhard Emmerling - Visual Arts Adviser, Goethe Institute, Munich, Germany, former Director, ST PAUL St, AUT University
Kate Montgomery - Director, Physics Room, Christchurch

4. Who is the judge for 2010 and what is his position in the art world?
Former-director of London's Tate Modern, Vicente Todoli, was appointed to judge the Walters Prize 2010 and announce the award winner on 8 October. “he has worked at New York's Whitney Museum, the IVAM in Valencia, and the Serralves Contemporary Art Museum in Oporto, as well as working alongside the ICA in Amsterdam and the Reina Sofía Museum.” (thinkSpain, 2010)

5. Who would you nominate for this years Walter's Prize, and why? Substantiate
you answer by outlining the strengths of the artists work. How does this relate
to your interests in art? What aspect of their work is successful in your opinion,
in terms of ideas, materials and/or installation of the work?
Although at first i found the fact that his work is considered art at all an arguable matter, i would personally vote for Dan Arps: 'Explaining Things'. I found myself spending the most time around his exhibition, discussing the work and finding small details. i was amused by his use of popular and kitch things of today's modern society, e.g popular posters and stickers that you would find in a teenagers room. I find that the best best quality about his work is that i was constantly questioning it, why did he put that there, why did he use this, out of all it was definitely the most interesting. His work inspired me to actually look at junk from a different perspective, how can i either make it usefull or simply turn it into my own piece of art.



http://www.aucklandartgallery.com/whats-on/events/2010/july/the-walters-prize-2010