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Art 3/Artist Spotlights

You will be introduced to selected works of art and artists as they relate to the curriculum. In your sketchbook:
1. Complete a thumbnail sketch of the work
2. Document the #, heading, and credit line
3. Review all provided resources - take notes
4. Answer the questions completely and with specificity; complete sentences should reveal the question (write legibly or type/print)

Entries started in class must be completed as homework by the same day/next week

MORE ART HISTORY!

#13 - Alexander Calder (1898 - 1976)

3/18/2019

Tom's
1974
Painted sheet metal
National Gallery of Art East Building

FIRST - read about Calder's mobile, "Untitled" in the National Gallery's East Building:

http://www.nga.gov/content/ngaweb/Collection/art-object-page.56517.html

NEXT - watch this video and takes notes with particular focus on his:

development and innovation as an artist
use of line in his sculptures
transition from narration to abstraction
ability to engage the viewer
mobiles v. stabiles v. wall-hangings v. wire sculptures
use of space & response to environment ("off the plinth")

THEN - answer the following questions:

There are reasons why an artist would title a work "Untitled".... what was Calder's reason for using this title for the mobile, which hangs in the East Building of The National Gallery, D.C.
Consider the points made in the video; how could one or more of them apply to YOUR sculpture?

#12 Louise Nevelson (1899–1988)

3/11/2019

Sky Cathedral
1958
Painted wood
11' 3 1/2" x 10' 1/4" x 18" (343.9 x 305.4 x 45.7 cm)
MoMA, New York City

FIRST - Use these links to learn about the artist and to explore the style and media in which she and other artists worked:

Louise Nevelson - biography and important works
Assemblage - A Brief History and important artists
Abstract Expressionist sculpture

NEXT - Watch these videos to make further connections:

THEN - Complete the following:

1. List important facts about Nevelson's life and work.
2. Investigate one or more of the artists (beyond Nevelson) included in the provided resources.
3. What are your thoughts about Nevelson's work and/or the work of another assemblage sculptor? Make any connections between this artist(s) and what you've learned and experienced in art class (think back to Art 1!)?
4. Do you have any ideas for a sculpture after seeing Nevelson's and others' work (form, materials, content, etc.)? What found objects do you think you'd be drawn to? Why?

#11 Martin Puryear (b. 1941)

3/4/2019

Untitled
1995
Wire mesh, steel, tar, cedar, particleboard
Overall: 87 × 49 × 24 in. (220.98 × 124.46 × 60.96 cm)
VMFA

USE THIS LINK FOR A HIGH RESOLUTION IMAGE - AS YOU DRAW, LOOK CLOSELY AT THE DETAILS OF THE MATERIALS AND THE LEVEL OF CRAFTSMANSHIP

From VMFA: "Puryear’s abstract sculptures, while often simple in shape and materials, are richly allusive. This combination of qualities links him to a group of artists loosely called Post-Minimalists. The dark, monolithic form of this piece suggests a colossal head or a primitive totem, although its asymmetry and its vessel-like quality recall organic forms like seedpods or gourds. Puryear finished the piece—a metal grid overlaid with squares of wire mesh—with a coating of tar. The coating defines the sculpture’s massive form, but viewers can peer into the piece and out the other side."

“What I’m interested in is work that has a myriad of associations but is also extremely pared down.”
—Martin Puryear

Use this link to learn about Martin Puryear and to view more of his work: Martin Puryear @ Matthew Marks Gallery

Watch this video:

Complete the following:

1. Choose a work of Puryear's to sketch, beyond the primary thumbnail you have already completed. Feel free to look at images beyond those provided on the included website. Include the credit line info.
2. List the important facts about Puryear's life, work, and his inspirations (so that you can better understand the content of his work and what makes him the artist that he is).
3. Explain your thoughts about his work and how you might be able to draw inspiration from it.

Art 3/Artist Spotlights

#13 - Alexander Calder (1898 - 1976)

#12 Louise Nevelson (1899–1988)

#11 Martin Puryear (b. 1941)

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