Art Blog

Exhibition information

Artist: Oscar Pearson

Exhibition: Near Far

Media: oil paint, canvas, charcoal

Gallery: LBSU School of Art, Dennis W. Dutzi Gallery

Website: oscarpearsonart.wixsite.com

Instagram: @oscarpearsonofficial

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About the Artist

LBSU graduate student Oscar Pearson is working towards a Master’s degree in Fine Arts. Pearson was born in San Luis Obispo, California, but now lives and works in Grover Beach, California. His interests involve drawing and painting works that inspire people to think and talk about deeper meanings.

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Formal Analysis

The formal qualities of the first piece include a very bright color scheme. The artist did a very good job using shadows to contrast the highlights of the piece to create a life-like, three dimensional depth. The warm colors create a happy and peaceful tone. The floor of the bus is very roughly textured.

The formal qualities of the second piece include the very muted colors and monochromatic color scheme. The tone of this piece contrasts that of the first, leaving the viewer to feel weary and drained. The charcoal on canvas creates a very life-like portrayal of the boring and tired feeling people have while on a bus or train, waiting for their destination to arrive.

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Content Analysis

Both of these pieces take place on public take place on modes of public transportation. I think that the artist chose to illustrate people in this way to be more true to life in its actuality. Rather than choosing a more glamorous, the artist chose to capture a mundane scene. This piece, to me, tell the audience to find beauty in daily life.

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Synthesis/ My Experience

I was drawn to these painting immediately as I entered the gallery because they were directly across from the door. The painting and drawing looked so realistic that I was amazed that they were not photographs. I loved that the artist chose to just draws people on trains or buses because it shows truth. There are no poses or adjustments to what the artist saw in real life, and that really stuck out to me.

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I chose this idea because while I walked past the quad one day this art piece really stood out to me and made me think. In America, we often tend to forget that there is a whole world out there and that there are many unresolved social issues worldwide.

With these pictures, I hope to communicate how important it is to not be willfully ignorant of the world and the issues present in other countries. It is important to be aware of the problems and discrimination present between different races, classes, genders, and identities of people.

Although I think that this project was pretty successful in communicating what I wanted it to, this project would have been more effective if I was able to photograph actual acts of injustice that I saw happening in Long Beach or else where in America.

Another idea that I would love to explore would be climate change due to pollution caused by humans.

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I chose this story because while I was at the beach, I saw a ton of trash both on the shore and in the water. I think I did a pretty good job showing the proper life cycle of a bottle of soda (being recycled) rather than that bottle ending up as litter.

Individually, the best photo of the story would be the last picture because it tells the entire message that I am attempting to send– to recycle.

In contrast, the photo of the Fanta floating in the ocean is not great in itself, but it is needed in telling the whole story that I was telling with the pictures.

Next time, I would get an action shot of the bottle being thrown into the recycle bin.

In the future, another photo story I would want to tell would involve the endangerment of certain animal species due to the behavior and actions of the human race.

Exhibition Information

Artist: Madeline Taylor

Exhibition: Organic Matter

Media: oil and acrylic paints on canvas

Gallery: LBSU School of Art, Dennis W. Dutzi Gallery

Instagram: @Madeline_S_Taylor

Email: madelinetaylor@me.com

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About the Artist

LBSU undergraduate Madeline Taylor is working towards her BA degree in Studio Art. Her interests include painting, sculpting, and experimenting as a makeup artist. Taylor’s work explores abstract concepts with bright and interesting shapes.

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Formal Analysis

This work caught my eye initially because of its size. With a canvas that almost reaches from ceiling to floor, the artist uses a plethora of curved, wavy lines to create a larger shape. Mostly monochromatic in color, the bright oranges and yellows contrast nicely with the smaller cooler toned portions of the painting, creating depth and volume. The shapes themselves are abstract and create variety for the viewer to enjoy.

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Content Analysis

Though this work is very abstract on initial glance, I found myself drawn to it. Upon further inspection, I began to see the life that the artist was able to create on the canvas. The brighter colors emerge from the dark background showing life and positivity in the face of darkness and adversity. Everything started as a dark blob of matter, but life as we know it bloomed through and created thoughts and ideas.

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Synthesis/ My Experience

Overall, this exhibition stuck out the most to me because of how interesting every single piece was. The colors and the shapes really resonated with me and were my favorite abstract works. The artist talked about how she likes to find the crazy things in nature to emulate in her works and I tend to do the same when I’m hiking. This exhibition was truly beautiful and I enjoy beautiful things that do not have a clear intended meaning.

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This art project was very fun to take part in. I forgot how much I like to draw and this project inspired me to try to go out and draw more in the future.

That being said, I’m not a very good artist, and I would definitely benefit from more and more practice drawing and developing hand-eye coordination.

In school, I major in psychology and minor in criminal justice. Sketches are extremely useful in the scope of assailant identification during victim questioning.

Drawing is a language.

This quote is true because drawing and other forms of art do express emotions and ideas that words sometimes can not fully explain.

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Formal Qualities- this piece is small, with a muted and monochromatic color scheme. The smooth texture of the black pole contrast directly with the highly-textured and rough cement. The straight lines of the frame surrounding the piece contrast the curved and free-flowing motion of the actual art.

Aesthetics- because of it’s very clean and simple appearance, my group’s artwork is very pleasant to look at. It should inspire a sense of continuity in the viewer.

Content- the ideas I see when I see this piece are the ups and downs of life. Tenacity and endurance are required to live life successfully and to escape the plateaus and valleys we experience daily.

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My art was not art before we put the tape frame around it because it was an object with a purpose- a bike rack. Because the object has a clear purpose it does not inspire thought, and therefore cannot be classified as art. When we placed the tape around a certain section of the bike rack, it inspired thought and questions of why it stopped where it did, what it meant, etc. Therefore, when the tape is removed, the artistic qualities of the piece would no longer exist because it would again no longer inspire thought in the viewer.

Similarly, there is no way to tell definitely what objects are inherently art and which are not. Art does not reside in the body of the object but rather in the perception that the viewer has of the object. We can decipher which objects are art based on which objects inspire us to think deeper into the meaning of the object.

Art can be seen in other mediums such as music, dance, and film, not just in everyday objects with tape around them and paintings.

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Again, art lies in the perception of the viewer.

By taking the time to think deeper about the meaning of an object, one makes an object art, even if it usually isn’t regularly regarded as artistic or creative. The viewing experience one has of an object elevates the object into art.

Finger painting is not an activity that I find myself doing often. In fact, I think the last time I finger painted I was probably around 3 feet shorter and about 10 years younger.

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Being able to paint without a subject was especially nice because I could not get frustrated when my painting did not turn out as planned.

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Compared to other paintings I have seen, my painting (pictured above) is fantastic. In direct comparison to the painting done by my project partner (Sofia Narciso), I had the superior work with better use of colors and negative space. I LOVE my painting, but I would be willing to part with it for the right price.

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This week in art class, we participated in an activity of Maintenance art that made me feel like a glorified janitor.

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Mierle Laderman Ukeles cleaning the steps of an art museum differ from Richard Serra flinging molten lead against the walls of an art museum in that one is an action of art and one will produce a piece of art that will remain after the action that created the said art. They are the same in that they are both art because of the intentions that the artists put behind their actions.

The fact that Ukeles performed this action of cleaning stairs at an art museum makes it art because of the message she was sending by cleaning these steps.  Hired janitors do not perform maintenance art because their intention is not to make a statement or send a message with their actions, they are just people simply going to work and doing their job each day.

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An object does not become art because of the mediums used.

Just because a painting is not on canvas does not mean the painting is not art. Art lies within the intention of the artist not in the materials used to create the art nor where the art piece is located. A painting hung in a house can totally be considered art. Painting a house with a mural with the intention to beautify it will transform the act into art, whereas just painting a house to protect it from the elements would not be art.

Is “women’s work” ever art?

Thinking about this statement has definitely changed my opinion regarding typically domestic activities. The jobs that society usually asigns to women tend to revolve around caretaking and nurturing others and making life easier for those around them.

In this way, women have the intention to lighten the load of other with their actions making women’s work art. Women’s work beautifies and sends a message of care that allows these actions to be justified as art.

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P.s. If I had to choose one star on Hollywood Boulevard to clean on my hands and knees I would choose Ryan Reynolds.