London 1 by Holly Thoburn.
Holly Thoburn was born in 1979 and raised in London and this is the inspiration for her pieces of artwork. This is evident in London 1, as it abstract and contains graffiti. Holly has done many exhibitions over the years. Her most recent one was ‘Pieces of Heaven’group show/charity auction, The Art of Elysium , Los Angeles, California, USA 2013.
This piece, titled London 1, is mixed media on canvas. the mixed media includes spray paint, used to write words graffiti style on the canvas. There are many of these graffitied words all over the piece. The background colour used is orange, a secondary colour. The artwork has been composed so that the viewer's eye travels from top left to bottom right, from where there is barley anything to where there is much to look at.
Tough Act To Follow by Michel Keck.
Michel Keck is an abstract artist who uses a variety of media in her work. She creates art on a regular basis after serious health problems from a raw food diet. She is a self taught artist fro the mid- west. Her paintings have been shown all over the world, in places like London, New York, Las Vegas and many more.
The piece, Tough Act To Follow, seems to be a mix of earthy colours. It has a large amount of red, a primary colour, in the piece. The piece has been composed so that the viewer's eye travels from bottom right to top left where there is more colour and layering.
Both Thoburn and Keck use mixed media in their works. However, unlike Thoburn, Keck uses a variety of colours in her work. Thoburn uses one to two colours in her pieces creating a simple but effective look. Keck, on the hand, uses a wide range of colours in her work, creating a layered, textured effect. Text is something which Thoburn uses in many of her works but Keck does not uses text at all.
Retroactive 1
By Robert Rauschenberg
Retroactive 1, 1964. Oil and silkscreen ink on canvas. Link:http://edu.warhol.org/app_rauschenberg.html
Robert Rauschenberg on the 22nd October 1925 in Texas and died on the 12th May 2008 in Florida. In 1950, he married a woman called Susan Weil and they only had one child together before they divorced in 1953. He died due to heart failure after deciding to go off life support.
In 1951, he held a one man exhibition at the Betty Parson's Gallery and he held a second one in 1954 at the Charles Egan Gallery. A year later, at the same gallery, he showed one of his famous works, Bed. He used mixed media, such as paint, photos and any object that he could get.
Retroactive 1 is a piece which uses photos. It contains images of space and John. F. Kennedy who is conducting a speech. There are various different colours used on the piece, blue and green being the main ones. The photos are not arranged in a particular way, therefore it was not designed to be looked at in a certain manner. However, many people would possibly be drawn to the
insert of Kennedy’s hand, a symbol of leadership. This would why the image was
repeated.
Rauschenberg used mainly primary colours on this piece, with blue being most prominent on the canvas. He also used the secondary colours of green and orange on the piece. I think this
was done to highlight the important parts of the collage e.g. President Kennedy
and the spaceman.
The piece creates a visual commentary on a media dominant world that is struggling to come to grips with a television era. The use of President Kennedy symbolises progress and promise but this was done after the assassination, making the image ironic. Also the image of the space man with a parachute is symbolic because President Kennedy said made a pledge that man would land on the moon within the next ten years after he said it. The image serves as a reminder of America's sadness due to the loss of a great leader.
