VI. Jaques-Louis David

Jaques-Louis David, The Death of Marat, oil on canvas, 65"x50", 1793.

 

Jacques-Louis David was born in 1748. He received an excellent education at the Collège des Quatre-Nations, but he was never a good student: he had a facial tumor that impeded his speech, and he was always preoccupied with drawing.

 

Statement:

The image is one of the most famous images of the Revolution, capturing the murder of the French Revolutionary leader Jean-Paul Marat. It shows the radical journalist lying dead in his bath on 13 July 1793 after his murder by Charlotte Corday. (Unknown, Wikipedia)

This image became the leading image of terror and immortalized both Marat and David in the world of revolution. David portrays Marat with all the marks of the real murder.

The image illustrates the climax of mortality--death.

Sources:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques-Louis_David



VII. Daniel Arsham

Daniel Arsham, One Peach Tree Center Proposal, Guache on mylar, 24"x20", 2004.

 

Born in 1980 in Cleveland Ohio, OH. He currently lives and works in New York, NY. He is a graduate of the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art. In 2003 he received the Gelman Trust Fellowship, an award that sustains the recipient while promoting the artist’s development into a mature artist.

 

Statement:

A gouache rendering of Le Corbusier’s modernist monastery La Tourette is pictured inside a cave. Arsham’s work blurs the lines between art, architecture and performance, and explores issues of natural versus manufactured or intention versus happenstance. (Viladas, P., Time Magazine)

Arsham's art work involves architecture which represented in this painting by a building.

This piece represents what we leave behind after we have perished will stay behind as a representation of how we lived and what we believed was important to us at the time.

Sources:
http://tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/09/imaginarium-of-mr-arsham/?_r=0
http://www.danielarsham.com/index.php

 

 

 



VIII. Hans Baldung Grien

Hans Baldung Grien, Three Ages of the Woman and the Death, oil on lime-wood, 48"x33", 1510

Hans Baldung Grien was estimated to have been born in 1484, Schwäbisch-Gmünd, Germany to a family of known intellectuals, academics and professionals. His artistic training may have first started around 1500 in the Upper Rhineland, Strasbourg(Now France), and later around 1503 he was apprenticed to the most renowned artist in Germany at the time, Albrecht Dürer. Here, he was given the nickname “Grien” and later used in his monogram. After he finished his apprenticeship Grien returned to Strasbourg, joined a guild the "zur Steltz", opened a workshop, and married. Not only concerned with painting, he was familiar to woodcuts, altarpieces, drawings, tapestries, allegories and mythological motifs. Hans Baldung Grien died in Strasbourg in 1545.

Statement:

The number of Hans Baldung's religious works diminished with the Protestant Reformation's discouragement of idolatry. Around the same time that he produced Adam and Eve, the artist became interested in themes related to death, the supernatural, witchcraft and sorcery. (About.com, Art History)

The authorship of the painting “Three Ages of the Women and the Death” was a mystery and was originally thought to have been created by Lucas Cranach and Albrecht Altdorfer, but was eventually discovered that it was pained by Hans Baldung Grien. The theme presented by the painting is a puzzle that has remained the subject of speculation ever since its creation in 1510. It is now housed in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Austria.

This particular painting has four figures, the three stages of a woman (life), and the fourth figure, the eventuality of all things, death. This painting is a stark example of the exhibition, showing that in the end we all must turn to death.
References:
http://arthistory.about.com/od/namesgg/l/bl_grien.htm
http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/baldung/

IX. Jacob Bannon

Jacob Bannon, Jane Doe (Ed of 90), 23.5"x35", 2001.

 

 

Jacob Bannon was born in 1976. He is an American artist, musician, and producer. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Fine Arts from the Art Institute of Boston. Bannon is the founder of Deathwish, a record label and brand, and he is the vocalist of Converge, a hardcore band out of Boston, Massachusetts.

 

Artist statement:

When I was young, I stumbled upon some paintings my father had painted. The day I found those is likely when my imagination started to race on its own. When I was 11-12 became obsessed with the vibrant artwork of the skateboard, bmx, and metal music cultures. I've been hooked ever since. I started painting and drawing on my own in a serious manner since I was 13 or so. I did this until I enrolled in college in 1994. In school I abandoned the "Fine Art" exclusive approach, and enrolled in the Design Program.  

 I don't consider myself a traditional musician/artist/writer. I see those definitions as a bit limiting. "Life" artist makes the most sense to me, as I see all of my creative outlets to be linked together, coming from the same place internally.

The Jane Doe Project by Jacob Bannon, which constitutes of 90 unique painting of the Jane Doe, was inspired from his bands album entitled Jane Doe.

The famous face of Jane Doe chosen for this work brings to mind the worst aspects of death, dying without a name.

References:
http://www.jacobbannon.com/history/



X. Chris Mars

Chris Mars, In Preparation of Barrier Transcendence, oil on panel, 24"x36", 2009.

 

Chris Mars was born in 1961; he is an American artist and musician. Mars is the former drummer for the Minneapolis, Minnesota, rock band The Replacements. After leaving the legendary band, Mars embarked on a solo career in the 1990's. Eventually, however, he left music for art. His art is inspired by his brothers struggle with schizophrenia.

 

Artist Statement:

 

The imagery that is my work stems from the very strong visual and emotional impact of growing up in a family marked by mental illness. My eldest brother Joe suffers from schizophrenia. Joe experienced his first pronounced episode at age 16, and was immediately institutionalized. As a result, I acquired an early and lasting fear that if you are not one of society’s “Normal” members, then you are likely to be labeled, whisked embarrassingly away from your family, stripped of your freedom, drugged and humiliated. Joe was hospitalized on and off throughout my childhood and adolescent years. The seemingly medieval hospital visuals etched into my consciousness, along with the trauma of my brother being repeatedly taken from us. The sights, sounds and smells I experienced as a small child visiting him there are prevalent throughout my work. 

 In each piece, I am freeing my brother. I am creating a monument to him and those like him. I rescue Joe from the oppressive institutions of the 1960s, the stereotypes of society here today. Through my work, I challenge the cultural system that finds it easier to turn their heads, their hearts, away. I urge the viewer to consider the beauty, on a grand level, of that which may appear ugly at first.

 As an adult I can comprehend mental illness, even the need to institutionalize people. But as a child, my brother’s schizophrenia was met with horror, depression, confusion and fear: Fear of the system, fear of the words, the hospitals, the demons others saw. Fear that it would happen to me next. Through my own need to create, to communicate, I have gained through my work an understanding and insight into these early, lasting, and tragic events. I am continually compelled to explore this.

 During my visits to the hospitals, looking into my brother's eyes, I knew so much more than the clinicians did. I knew the depth of this person, what made him laugh, his interests, what he was proud of. But what I could only and can only imagine is the hardship, confusion, embarrassment and despair that he suffered from being so singled out by a disease that at the time, they knew so much less about. Through my work, I try to understand this. I try to show my love. This is what I seek to share with you.

The art work entitled A Preparation of Barrier Transcendence refers to evaluations brought forth by society. It is a cry for break through of these labels. In 2009 the work was exhibited at La Luz de Jesus Gallery in Hollywood, California, and it was priced at $75,000.

The ill portrayed characters, monstrous faces, and living skeletons filling the painting are a grotesque reminder of human mortality; the images illustrate everyone's decaying destiny.

Sources:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Chris-Mars/40886515838
http://www.chrismarspublishing.com/home.htm
http://billyshirefinearts.com/09Mars/in_preparation_of_barrier.html

A Message from Pod Five

Putting this virtual gallery together was a revealing experience, in many ways. The teamwork involved was an opportunity for social growth. The search for artists, on the other hand, expanded every pod members' art horizons. Furthermore, the exposure to artists' biographies revealed special insight about the art, adding a new dimension to the perception of art. In addition, the process of organizing this gallery served as an introduction to the job of professional art curators. While this virtual presentation is merely a shadow of an art gallery, the stories of the artists are real and the images still poses their power, even after being blurred by the digital eye. In conclusion, organizing this virtual gallery, created a better art enthusiasts within each pod member.