Assignment # 7

The cubist revolution took place in the early twentieth century that was influenced by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque. Cubism was the first style of abstract art that has evolved over time. This art style will show you many parts of the subject at one time, viewed from different angles, and reconstructed into a composition of planes, forms and color. An example would be “Young Man in a Gray Sweater (Jacques Lipchitz)” painted by Diego Rivera in Paris in 1914. The medium was oil on a canvas and the size is 61.1 cm by 34.9 cm. Diego Rivera uses geometric shapes to construct an image which creates the young man in a gray sweater. This painting is very abstract and the color choice helps create the geometric shapes. When you look at the image your eye cannot pay attention to the human form but your eyes are looking at the different angles the geometric shape creates. The black and gray create depth of spaces that looks as if the artist placed the different shapes on top and next to each other. The way he used his paintbrush to create a smudge feel also plays tricks on your eyes as if the image is fading away or looks blurred. It also looks like he gave some texture to the painting to help with the visual composition.

Imagery of pop culture in the 1950s and late 1960 defined Pop Art. During this time pop art was mass produced, low budge, comical and popular. Pop art challenged the idea of the definition of art and made ironic comments about contemporary life. Pop art is more of a fun intake of art that is comical and visually beautiful. Elements used vary from different hues, use of real objects, words and forms. “OOF” painted by Edward Ruscha was reworked in 1963. The medium was oil on a canvas and the size is 181.5 cm by 170.2 cm. Edward Ruscha had interest in monosyllabic word sounds that had a comical value to them. He was fascinated with pop culture that he had portrayed in his artwork. The word OOF is used in comic strips when someone get punched and the caption would be the word OOF to represent the sound the fictional character would make when getting hit. This painting is bold in color. The blue background and the off yellow wording is bold which compliments each other. While the capitalization of the whole word screams at you being loud but funny when trying to say the word. At first glance the word seems weird and your pronunciation is off, but when understanding beings to kick in the realization that comic book pops in your head along with the image with the word is quite fascinating.