Belger Arts Center For Creative Studies

Belger Arts Center
For Creative Studies
2100 Walnut Street ◊
Kansas City, MO 64108 ◊
Myra Morgan, Director ◊
Voice: 816-474-3250 ◊
Fax: 816-221-1621
E-mail: [email protected]
2004 – 2005 Exhibition Schedule
September 3, 2004 – January 7, 2005
Photo-Realism
February 4 – May 6, 2005
African Textiles
May 27 – August 5, 2005
Contemporary Textiles
The Belger Arts Center for Creative Studies provides, at no charge, docent-led
tours of exhibitions. School groups can be accommodated by appointment.
Hours:
10am – 4pm Thursdays and Fridays
11am – 4pm Saturdays
6pm – 9pm First Fridays
Please call 816.474.3250 to arrange tours.
Belger Arts Center for Creative Studies
Press Release
Manipulated Realities
From Pop Art to New Realism
Dates:
September 3- January 7, 2004
Location:
Belger Arts Center for Creative Studies
2100 Walnut, Kansas City, Missouri 64108
816-474-3250
Thursdays/Fridays 10am-4pm
Saturdays
11am- 4pm
First Fridays
6pm-9pm
Phone:
Hours:
Belger Art Center Contact: Myra Morgan 816-474-3250 or email
[email protected]
The Belger Arts Center for Creative Studies will present Manipulated Realities, From
Pop Art to New Realism an exhibition of work from Kansas City collections. This
exhibition will include a diverse group of paintings and sculptures from the “realistic” art
movements of the early 1960s to the present. The exhibition will begin with the
reintroduction of the common object by Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg, and will
take us through Photo-Realism to “New Realism”. Manipulated Realities will give us an
opportunity to revisit the influence of the camera on painting, drawing, and sculpture of
the last 30 years.
Dear Educator,
The Belger Arts Center for Creative Study is pleased to announce that three exhibits are
planned for the 2004-2005 school year. The exhibits are as follows: Manipulated
Realities: Pop Art to New Realism; African Textiles; and a textile show that will run
concurrently with the Surface Design meetings to be held in Kansas City during May,
2005.
Please find enclosed information regarding our upcoming exhibition that will feature
works from Kansas City area collections. Manipulated Realities: Pop Art to New
Realism will follow the object’s reintroduction into American art in the 1950’s with Pop
Art, and follow through to Super-Realism or Photo-Realism. It is our goal to investigate
the development of Realism in the latter half of the twentieth century. We want your
students to see the variety of styles that exist under the very hard to define term
“Realism”. We will schedule talks and have available videos dealing with the styles on
exhibit. Please feel free to contact us at Belger Arts Center for Creative Studies at 816474-3250.
We are eager for you and your students to take advantage of this important educational
resource in Kansas City. Our trained docents are available, free of charge, to guide tours,
lead discussions, and offer art historical background. To further integrate our exhibit into
your classroom we have included some images with interesting facts and some
suggestions for lesson plans.
The Belger Arts Center for Creative Studies is located at 2100 Walnut Street, Kansas
City, Missouri, in downtown Kansas City’s vibrant Crossroads Art District. The large
renovated warehouse gallery space hosts changing exhibitions of works in all media by
internationally known artists. Our century-old building is also the headquarters of Belger
Cartage Service and the Belger Family Foundation collection of contemporary American
art. Please call to schedule a tour of Manipulated Realities, Pop Art to New Realism at
816-474-3250. We are looking forward to seeing you.
Manipulated Realities
From Pop Art to New Realism
David Parrish, Harley Davidson, 1973, oil on canvas, 64 x 64 in.
Educational Packet for Teachers
Prepared by The Belger Arts Center For Creative Studies
New Realism
Art reflects the ideas of the time in which it is produced; by following realism and
abstraction throughout history we see how art reflects the philosophy of its era. Realism
refers to works of art where the average observer can easily identify the subject matter.
Realistic renderings have been popular in western culture since the time of the Greeks.
There was a classical Greek artist in the fifth century BC who was said to have painted an
image of grapes that was so realistic that birds pecked at it. The ancient Romans left us
wonderful fresco paintings that were realistic renditions of images of architectural
fantasies, mythological stories and garden scenes. When Christianity took over as the
dominant religion (350 A.D.) realism faded from the scene because Christian leaders
wanted abstracted scenes (flattened images and shallow space) that represented the next
world. They feared that images of this world could cause people to think of something
other than God and heaven. Because the church controlled the patronage of art, realism
does not surface again until after the Medieval and Gothic periods (350-1400 A.D.).
Around 1400 A.D. a renaissance took place in Florence, Italy. The Renaissance was a
rebirth of classical humanism (from the Greek and Roman classical periods c. 400 B.C.400 A.D.). Emphasis returned from the next world to this world. Artists looked for new
ways to represent this world and the objects that surrounded us. Artists turned to science
for answers and they began to apply science to art in an effort to make more convincing
renderings of the world they inhabited. Realism dominated art in Europe from the Italian
Renaissance (1400 A.D.) until well into the 19th century. Realism was popular in
American Art from the beginning of the country until the 1940’s.
In the 19th and early 20th century, styles such as Post-Impressionism, Dada, Fauvism,
Cubism, and Abstract Expressionism, came into being and “realism” began to fall out of
favor. Artists started using color and shape to communicate a very personal reaction to
the world. Artists did not paint the world around them but instead painted how they
reacted to it. Abstract painting was considered the superior style in Europe and America.
This idea held from about 1910 until the 1950’s when a group of artists labeled Neodadaists, Robert Rauschenberg and Jasper Johns, and Pop artists, Andy Warhol, and Roy
Lichtenstein, brought the object back to the art scene.
Robert Rauschenberg and Jasper Johns are often referred to as Neo-Dadaist because,
like Marcel Duchamp (the leader of the original Dada movement) they included everyday
objects in their art. Rauschenberg collected actual objects and incorporated them into his
art in an effort to blur the line between art and life. Johns painted and drew numbers,
targets, and flags, items so common we hardly notice them in our day-to-day lives. The
next generation of artists was labeled Pop Artists and they took the idea of using
everyday objects as subject matter one step further. These artists worked with images of
objects that were mass-produced and part of popular culture. Soap powder boxes, comic
strips, soft drinks, soup cans, and movie stars started to appear as subjects in fine art. Pop
Artists like Warhol and Lichtenstein explored mass produced objects and experimented
with methods of mass production, such as lithography and serigraphy, for use in their art.
Pop artists produced art that resembled the slickest advertising images and thus they
further blurred the line between art and life. Later Pop Artists such as Tom Wesselman
and James Rosenquist produced works that were made up of juxtaposed images taken
from advertisements and objects from popular culture. These later artists give us images
of unrelated subjects together in the style of a collage impacting the viewer with many
different references and perspectives at once.
A new group of artists working in the 1960’s and 1970’s built on the ideas of the Pop
Artists. These artists were interested in the slick finishes of the paintings, and the media
(silk screen printing, and photo offset lithography for example) used in commercial
printing. They however brought new ideas and subject matter into the art scene. Their
new ideas focused on the photograph as subject matter. Photo-Realists produced art that
looks like a faithful reproduction of the real world, but is actually a reinterpretation of
reality.
Photo-Realists were fascinated with the camera and its ability to catch
reflections, stop action, capture fleeting moments, and record interesting light effects.
Photographs can make records of the subject matter from many different perspectives
with some areas in or out of focus. These photos can be brought back to the studio and
edited. This information is then used to create compositions that are a composite of the
subject at different times of the day or from different angles. Louis Meisel, art dealer and
publisher, is credited with inventing the label of Photo-Realists for these artists who
gathered ideas for their work from photographs
Each of these Photo-Realists has a particular subject matter they enjoy painting.
For instance Richard Estes paints city street scenes, Richard McLean is interested in
horses, John Baeder uses diners for his subject matter, and Chuck Close does close up
portraits. Other realists like Renee Stout use Photo-Realism to tell very personal stories,
and some artists like Chris Cross use the techniques of the Photo Realist to produce
wonderful trompe l’oeil compositions. Sculptors were also interested in New Realism;
Duane Hanson and John De Andrea produced life like sculptures of people. Hanson’s
early figures are images of people who were on the fringes of society, while his later
work dealt with social commentary on the working class. John De Andrea is famous for
his youthful serene nudes.
The New Realists are varied in their pursuits. Realism as a label should not imply that
there is a slavish copying of the world around us, but rather that each of these artists has
used Realism in a personal investigation of the outside world. Each artist manipulates
reality in an effort to send an individual message.
John Baeder
American Grille
oil on cloth 30 x 48 in.
John Baeder paints the Great American Diner. His compositions are straightforward with
the subject directly in the middle. His images are nostalgic recordings of times gone by.
Some businesses have created new diners after seeing his images.
Chuck Close
John R
drawing 30 x 22 in.
Close paints people, warts and all. Like the camera he captures an image that is not
necessarily flattering. Close is fascinated with the way photographs show parts of an
image in focus and other parts out of focus. He uses a grid system and pointillism to
create paintings that at first seem as if they are photographic.
Robert Cottingham
Italian Grill
oil on canvas 78 x 78 in.
Robert Cottingham is one the most important American Photo-Realist painters. He draws
his influences from the works of Edward Hopper, Charles DeMuth, Stuart Davis and
Marsden Hartley. He uses photographs as a sketchbook and uses techniques learned in
printmaking to aid in his painting. His subject matter deals with Americana. He works in
series: signs, buildings, words, numbers, letters, and railroad images. Many of his works
deal with signs and buildings that are from the forties and fifties.
Richard Estes
Shoe Outlet
oil on canvas 42 x 33 in.
Richard Estes is often referred to as a pioneer in Photo-Realism, but he considers himself
an old fashioned painter attempting to paint only what he sees. His images are mainly of
New York City. Estes likes to take his photographs on Sundays when streets are quiet
and empty. Estes takes many photos from different angles, studies them, and composes
his images from different vantage points.
Duane Hanson
Dockman
Polyvinyl, poly-chromed in oil, life-size
Duane Hanson casts his figures in polyester resin and fiberglass. He paints the surface in
oil-based paints. He then attaches hairs individually, and dresses them. He is interested
in working class people; those we hardly notice as we go about our daily lives.
Steven Posen
Untitled
oil on canvas 50 x 40 in.
Posen is comfortable working in both abstract and realistic styles. The precision of super
realism is used here to produce a trompe l’oeil image.
David Parrish
Harley Davidson
oil on canvas 64 x64 in.
David Parrish’s Harley Davidson is one of the best examples of Photo-Realism. In this
work we can see all the major characteristics of Photo-Realism. These characteristics are
a fascination with reflections, technical virtuosity, a large scale, and cropping similar to
that possible with a camera.
John Salt
Albuquerque Wreck
oil on canvas 49 x72 in.
John Salt is originally from Birmingham England. However, while visiting America he
became intrigued by our fascination with large automobiles. Almost all of Salt’s
automobiles are abandoned, wrecked and decaying. This is probably not some kind of
statement by the artist but rather an interest in the surfaces of deteriorating cars. Salt uses
airbrush or spray gun to create his work just as the factory workers do on the automobile
assembly line. Salt takes hundreds of photos to study for his work. He just points the
camera and clicks. If interesting cropping occurs in his photos he uses the cropping in his
composition.
Renee Stout
Maull It
acrylic on canvas 24 x 30 in.
Ms. Stout was fascinated with Edward Hopper and therefore was drawn to realism. She
attended Carnegie-Mellon University in the 1970’s where she studied the new style of
Photo-Realism. Stout also worked with a sign painter and incorporates a lot of the tricks
of that trade in her work. After studying African art and the art of Betty Saar, Stout began
to embrace her African and African-American heritage. Now she uses the skills gained in
working in Photo-Realism and sign painting to render images that reflect her personal
history as well as the history of African-Americans. In Farewell to Pittsburgh Renee
Stout says good-bye to Pittsburgh by painting images of two products that are produced
there.
Photo Realism
Lesson One
Pre Visit:
What does Realism mean in art? What does abstract mean in art?
What is 2d art and what is 3d art?
What is subject matter?
On site:
How many 2d works, how many 3d works can you find?
How many paintings have people in them, how many don’t?
How many paintings have animals in them?
How many paintings of cars and trucks are in the exhibit?
How many interior scenes, how many landscapes or cityscapes?
Post Visit:
Show your students art works and have them figure out what the subject matter is.
What would they choose as subject matter in order to tell us about themselves?
Have them pick their favorite subject matter and gather photographs for a collage.
How does the collage tell us about the person who created it?
Photo Realism
Lesson Two
Pre Visit:
Have your students look at photographs and discuss how space is flattened.
Ask your students to look at how cameras focus. How do artists use the idea of some
areas being in sharp focus and other areas being out of focus?
Discuss how cameras record everything in front of them. How would we see the same
scene differently? How do we filter what we see? Can we possibly see everything in front
of us?
Why are Photo-Realists fascinated with reflections?
On Site:
How have artists used the flattened space that we see in photographs?
Does the art really look like a photograph?
How many works in the exhibit look like they were done from photographs?
Post Visit:
If your students have access to a camera you could have them photograph an object or a
scene from several angles and have them make a work of art combining the different
views.
Students can look through magazines and pull out images of similar subjects from
different views or images with reflections. Once they have the images, have them make a
collage. You can also have them draw the collage.
Photo Realism
Lesson Three
Pre Visit:
Have your students pick a photograph that they feel represents them. This could be a
portrait or a photograph of objects that represent them. Images could be taken from
magazines, if a camera is not available.
On Site:
Have your students look at how artists represent reality, and particularly how they think
the artists may have used photographs.
Some Photo-Realists projected photographs and painted the projection; others used a grid
system to enlarge the photograph, and some artists work freehand from the photos.
Post Visit:
Have your students take their photographs and use a grid system to draw them. Have your
students draw grids on the photograph and the corresponding surface they are to draw on.
Use this to reproduce the photograph.
Photo Realism
Lesson Four
Pre Visit:
Talk to your students about the history of realism in art and the photograph.
How did artists of the 19th century use the photograph in their work?
How does the Photo-Realist use photography differently?
Have them look at works from 19th century realism and compare that work to a New
Realists work (20th century). How do artists use reality differently today? How does
realism reflect what is happening during the time it is produced?
Why is it that some Photo-Realists leave the human figure out of their work?
Why do some Photo-Realists work only with the human body as subject matter?
Have your students look at Photo-Realist paintings and ask them how realistic are the
images? In other words, has the artist manipulated or changed reality?
On Site:
Have your students write about the works remembering the following questions, have
them take notes, and make sure they get title and artist.
What is the subject matter?
What is the medium of the work?
What style is the Work?
Do you see the artist’s individual style, and if so explain?
What was the artist trying to tell us about what he observed?
What is the context of the work?
Has the artist distorted reality? If so, to what end?
Post visit:
Have your students write a couple of paragraphs about the work they have observed.
Ask your students to share their ideas and encourage discussion.
Manipulated Realities
In this exhibit the viewer will see the evolution of the New Realism. Robert
Rauschenberg and Jasper Johns (1950’s) are credited with bringing the object back into
art. They took objects from everyday life and incorporated them into their work. The
PopArtists(1960’s) took items from popular culture and made them their subject matter.
The Photo-Realist used the photograph as subject mater. Each of these artists used
realism for different reasons and distorted reality to reflect their ideas.
Fauvism-
French term for wild beasts. These artists used arbitrary color and
painted with broad loose strokes.
Dada-
Art movement that stressed anti-art. Art that happened behind the eye
not in front of it. Duchamp took a urinal and a bottle rack, put them
on a pedestal, and called them art, thus blending art and life by bringing
ordinary objects from life and calling them art.
Abstract
Expressionism- A style of art in which artists use shape and color to express
feelings and emotions.
New Realism- Art that is representational and produced after the 1950’s and 60’s.
Neo-Dada, Pop Art, Super-Realism, and Photo-Realism.
Neo-Dadaist-
Rauschenberg and Johns received this label because they included
objects from everyday life and called them art.
Pop-Art-
Soup cans, movie stars, Coca-Cola, cars, and any consumer items become
subject matter.
Photo-Realism- Hyper Realism, Super Realism- are all used to describe the realism that
followed Pop Art. The reality is heightened in these works. These works
are based on photographs. The artists are looking at the world as if
through a camera, without human filters.
Super-Realism- Often used to refer to realistic sculptures by Duane Hanson and John
De Andrea. People are used to make molds and then cast in polyurethane
and painted usually in oil paint. These sculptures are convincingly real.
Location Information:
Belger Arts Center for Creative Studies
Belger Building, 3rd Floor
2100 Walnut Street
Kansas City, MO 64108-1885
Website: www.BelgerArtsCenter.org
Director: Myra Morgan
[email protected]
Phone:
Fax:
(816) 474-3250 ext. 308
(816) 221-1621