Pattern

This piece "Swans" by M.C. Escher is a great example of pattern. He uses different colors in order to make the shapes look different and as if they are going into a symbol resembling the infinity sign. All of these shapes, are in fact the same, and are considered by him to be swans. When in different colors though, they almost appear to be different shapes. This is a great piece by an even greater artist and in my opinion, represents pattern very well.

James Siena and Pattern

James Siena

Distorted Overlapping Grids

2004-2005

Enamel on aluminium

James Siena

Coffered Divided Sagging Grid

2005

Enamel on aluminium

James Siena

Boustrophedonic Recursive Combs

2004

Enamel on aluminium

Siena is a contemporary painter whose work is He is also very influenced by painter/sculptor Sol LeWitt (remember him from the first post on this blog? his work was posted again later on the blog). LeWitt's work is characterized as being coldly intellectual. He was known for writing out recipe cards for his work, then employing other artists to visually express his ideas from the written instructions. Siena by contrast is more romantic in his ideas about painting, rendering everything himself by hand. Like LeWitt, he also relies on 'recipes' for his work. He limits himself to geometries, and practices 'all-over painting'. This was a term invented by Jackson Pollock to describe the technique of completely covering a canvas and creating compositional equality by not favoring any part of the image over any other part. All-over painting was revolutionary in western art, which typically revolves around visual hierarchies such as clear focal points.

What's Due Tuesday, Feb 16th?

Hello all,

Just wanted to put in writing what's due Tuesday.

-Three examples of the rule of thirds, printed out with the lines drawn over the picture. The examples need not be artwork, but they must be found (by this I mean that you shouldn't draw an example of the rule of thirds)

-Your artist of the week should be posted by the beginning of class Tuesday

-The mock-up of your final composition for project #1

-The basic lines for your design laid out on your 18" x 24" piece of paper (remember to incorporate a 1" border around the edge, and to tape off the border before you start. be sure to use tape that won't tear the paper. white artist's tape should work well for this, as should blue painter's tape-- but check on a spare sheet of paper to be sure that it won't tear)

Let me know if you have any questions!

Paul Klee

I used a paul klee pattern painting. I couldnt find anything specific on this one, no matter how hard i tried. Im assuming it might not have been his most famous work, but i love it. It really jumped of the screen when i saw it. When i doodle (which i do often) i usually doddle in symmetrical shapes like blocks. I have seen many artists do this before, but the way Klee uses the apperance of light, he brings the effect of those specific blocks jumping of the canvas, or almost being raised above the rest. I aslo have noticed with using light he also seems to make the rest of the painting appear heavier, and it almost seems to seperate the two sides.

Radial Symmetry

Hello All!

Thanks for all your posts. There are some very interesting examples up on the blog. A few suggestions for future blog posts:

-Try and pull images that are identifiable (artist and date) so that everyone can use the opportunity to learn more about that artist.

- When you identify formal aspects of a work, make sure you define WHERE in the image those things are taking place. (For example, if there is fusion and continuity,where is it located? What elements are fusing?)

- When you use vocabulary words, be conscious of what they mean; brush up on the vocab by going over the powerpoint presentations about line and composition that I posted on black board to ensure that you have a good grasp of all the terms we have gone over in class.

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Below, I've included an example both of bi-lateral and radial symmetry. You can see that the canvas is divided in half, and that those two halves are symmetrical. Also, within those two halves there is concentric radial symmetry-- there is a clear focal point at the center of each set of squares. I pulled a definition of radial symmetry from the dictionary, which describes it as "the condition of having similar parts regularly arranged around a central axis". A good way to identify radial symmetry is to look for a centrally located focal point.

Frank Stella, Double Gray Scramble, 1973

Screenprint, composition: 23 3/8 x 43 1/8"; sheet: 29 x 50 3/4"

circle pattern

I chose this picture because it caught my eyes. I dont know who drew this but think the artist used compass to draw circles. I think the artist used fusion, continuity to complete this piece. I also think the artist used closure and radial symmetry.

Alex Grey

http://www.cosm.org/
http://www.alexgrey.com/

Okay, so, having been an adamant TooL fan since 2000, I've always wondered where their concepts emerge. The album art is always unique. When I bought the Lateralus album, I was blown away by the insert - it's a clear plastic flip book and each page is a layer in the human anatomy art by Alex Grey. He does use pattern in his art as well which makes it relevant to this subject. Anyway, Alex Grey also works with Tool on their music videos, which if you have seen you know are completely unusual and mostly consist of claymation and disturbing imagery.

As for how this art makes me feel, it makes me feel that there is more to the world than meets the eye, and that our human body and soul are somehow interconnected to the universe and its energy which gives a sense of belonging and meaning. The eyes with wings (seraphim, apparently) remind me of the seraph mentioned in a book by Madeleine L'Engle that I read as a kid [forget the name but it might be A Wrinkle In Time] in the description. It makes me think that this is some sort of god-like projection and it is hovering over the human being who is placed in the center but is much smaller in size -- the asymmetry is inherent in here and makes one feel that we [humans] are small in comparison to the higher being, but not worthless.

Quilt or Decorative Throw by Caroline Brooks Gould

I found this piece on the MoMa website. I really like the variation of color between the different hexagons. The black and red one towards the center creates a focal point, and from there the image collapse inwards onto itself. The light colors on the outside of the picture, to me, convey space.

Turkish Flower Tiles

Paint on tile
Artist unknown

I choose this piece because I got a chance to visit a family friend's studio where he refurbished, collected and remade tiles from all over the world over winter break. When I visited I was fascinated by the amount of effort and detail that went into each tile. What I love about this sort of work is the amount of expression attained with such a small palate of colors (4 in this case), the swooping patterns made up of dynamic lines and thick fills. The whole pattern is a messed coil of a spring, practically popping off of the ceramic plate.

This was made by Bruno 9li an artist from Brazil. I never heard of him until now but i really like alot of his art work this one is just one of the many that grab my attencion. In this one you could see that he made it kinda like a monkey with just patterns and another thing that i like was that he only use 3 colors but it seems like a very bright and colorful picture to me. hope you guys like it as much as i did

I chose this piece because it had alot of different separate patterns in it. There are many different borders running around the desk and each of them have a unique design. I also thought it wasn't your typical example of pattern. According to the site i got this off of, this was a desk used by Islamic people living in Spain. I am not sure who the artist of this piece is seeing how it is old, but it is currently being held in the Met.

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://friendsofthehighline.files.wordpress.com/2008/04/resize-of-spencer-finch-images_page_1_cropped.jpg&imgrefurl=http://blog.thehighline.org/2008/04/28/tuesday-may-6-artist-talk-with-spencer-finch/&usg=__2-lwdOIwySgj0djHvY8vlRV6wxE=&h=957&w=1034&sz=134&hl=en&start=1&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=JmD-s3Emjxgn7M:&tbnh=139&tbnw=150&prev=/images%3Fq%3DSpencer%2BFinch%26ndsp%3D18%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DG%26um%3D1
This work is done by Spencer Finch and located in the Chelsea Market Space. The title is “The River the Flows Both Ways”. It has very plain shape both horizontal and vertical lines. Its shape and color give me some gloomy, calm feeling at the same time. It makes me to see it again and again. Two strong and thick lines between colors are also interesting. They work as pattern and hold whole works movement which is created by the colors.

Nazare Feliciano

This is a piece of work that was done by my aunt, a professor at Palm Beach Community College. She has art galleries in Florida and also in Portugal. This was a piece that described the death of my grandmother and the small print on all of those blocks describe the relationship between them. The piece was created with a lot of ceramic blocks, pins, and took over a year to make and is very heavy. Unfortunately the wording doesnt translate very well as it was written in portuguese. She is an artist that specializes in ceramics but she does have a few paintings of her own as well. There is two or three pieces like this and you may be able to see more of them if you type in Nazare Feliciano into google.

Quilt, Eagle Pattern

this is a quilt with an eagle pattern. I found it on the Metropolitan museum of Art website http://www.metmuseum.org/works_of_art/collection_database/american_decorative_arts/quilt_eagle_pattern/objectview.aspx?page=61&sort=0&sortdir=asc&keyword=&fp=1&dd1=1&dd2=0&vw=1&collID=1&OID=10014424&vT=1

what drew me to this piece was the eagle in the middle with all the various border patterns that surround it. this piece is also symmetrical, which i found to be very cool. there are some elements of line including implied line, in-between the blue zigzag and the beige colored triangles that are more in the center. in-between these two is a blank space, but i feel as if the mind is forcing me to see another set of pattern there, even though there technically isn't.

VALERIE JAUDON,Toomsuba

1973, acrylic paint on canvas by Valerie Jaudon.
You can find this contemporary painting in Hudson River museum in Yonkers, NY. It is a part of pattern and decorative movement exhibition.
The pattern creates an image of woven basketry as the artist explains. Her later works are influenced by Islamic screens and tiles.
Looking at this painting I see the pattern creating circles starting in the middle and by moving outward increasing in size.