stefanie vd merwe
Subjective Objects
Subjective Objects
Subjective Objects
Subjective Objects
Subjective Objects
Subjective Objects
Subjective Objects
Subjective Objects
Subjective Objects
Investigation - 'Looks Like' vs 'Is Like'
September 9, 2017
Deborah Mailman
by Evert Ploeg
The first piece of portrait artwork that I found was this piece titled "Deborah Mailman" and was done by an artist by the name of Evert Ploeg. According to the National Portrait Gallery site (National Portrait Gallery, 2017), I assume that this painting was created in around 1999, in honor of the famous Australian actress Deborah Mailman. I chose to look and study this artwork as it absolutely gave me a clear imagine of a portrait representing what someone "is like", rather than simple an imagine of what they appear like. As I continued to view portraits after portraits, I felt this one immediately caught my eye the most. When I view this piece, I instantly notice the use of color throughout. I admire the adoption of natural and simple colors. For example there is a lot of nude colors; brown, white and beige. When I view the artwork closer, I notice the smaller parts of the painting that draw my attention as well. For example, I adore that one pop of color that appears from the figures lips. How the surrounding colors remain simple and natural, but that one pop of bright red color ties it all together. Other than what I see, when I look at this painting I begin to feel calm and serene. I feel the artist portrayed the figure in the painting as a kind and composed person. Her eyes are soft and she seems to have a slight casual smile. She sits in a position where she is confident and fearless, as she sits up with her hands behind her, in a comfortable position, keeping her position open and exposed. As well, when I first saw this piece, I thought this woman was an African American portraying an image from the civil rights movement in the 19th century. I assumed that she wore the clothing to represents the rags of those who oppressed during the civil rights movement. However, as I researched more, I realized that it was completely different, and much more than this.
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The artist that created this painting is Evert Ploeg. He was born in
1963 in Sydney, New South Wales. He is an Australian portrait painter, and began his career as an artist during the mid-1980s as a fashion illustrator. Later, he settled in Sydney's northern beaches where he set up his own studio at Dee Why in Sydney, where he lives and works. His portrait painting Deborah Mailman gained him a lot of recognition and is now one of his most famous portrait artworks. Obviously, this artwork was made in honor of Deborah Mailman herself; an Australian television actress. She is famous for her many awards. For example, in 1998, when Deborah performed in the film Radiance, she was announced the first aboriginal woman to get an award for the Best Actress in the Australian Film Industry (AFI). According to an article on the National Portrait Gallery (National Portrait Gallery, 2017), written by Michelle Fracaro titled "The Secret Life of Deb", explains that even though Ploeg was born and raised in Australia, the artist states that his dutch heritage was his main form of inspiration for his style of art. He does this in a way where he combines the classic style with the more contemporary and modern style of today. As well, Ploeg has also found an interest in creating impastoed textures and surfaces, which is the use of heavy amounts of paint that are built up in layers, creating a high texture on the painting. By using his idea of combining classic with contemporary that originated from his inspiration of his dutch heritage, I feel that Ploeg was illustrating both the contemporary view of Australians today with the historical aboriginals that shaped the Australian society and brought it where it was today. From the article that I stated before, Ploeg also explains how; "I needed someone who was earthy, Australian, and my mind just naturally went to Deborah".
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As Ploeg is known for his amazing talent as a portraiture artist, this painting of Deborah Mailman would be assumed to obviously be associated with the portraiture genre of art. However, as I look deeper and continue to do more research, to me this painting could also be classified as a historical painting, as before we noticed that the story behind this painting actually has a lot to do with not only Ploeg's history but the history of Australia as well. Along with that, I feel that this specific artwork can link to other types of art during this time, such as literature. To me this painting has many stories behind it; the story of Deborah Mailman, the story of Ploeg and his art and history, and the story of fundamental historical figures that brought up Australia.
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Overall, this extraordinary painting seems to have so much more to it than paint on paper. After my thorough research I feel I am able to truly understand the essence of what the artist is trying to communicate. Ploeg is attempting to bring back that classic style of art, and combine it with the contemporary art that we see today, to create a unique and wonderful style of his own. The message behind the painting is representing the idea of honoring his heritage in general, and appreciating everything that took place to bring up places that he is part of and has a connection with. To me, I feel that this painting was so successful in communicating Ploeg's ideas, and truly showed us not only who Deborah Mailman is, but also who Evert Ploeg really is.
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Formal Elements:
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Subject Matter:
This artwork by Evert Ploeg represents a specific woman named Deborah Mailman, sitting casually with a basic piece of clothing draped on her. The artist depicted the woman by attempting to express her true inner beauty. Deborah sits on the ground with a wooden type background. The artist stated himself that on the background he put little details like "class 1a", figuratively saying she is very classy. As well as putting her initials "DM" in the background. When we first view the painting our attention goes straight to Deborah's beautiful face. The artist intentionally did this by making her wear a simple piece of clothing that does not draw too much attention, unlike pockets, jeans and shoes. As well, the artist thought carefully by making her wear a piece of clothing that was not specific to any era, and that was something different and unique. To link this back to my previous explanation, I feel the earthy and natural colors used helps to link this back to the Australian history of aboriginals, as well as depicting the woman as part of that.
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Composition:
This artwork remains very simple, with little objects around, however, we can notice that the woman remains the center of attention, with her position casual and open, making her seem relaxed and approachable. The only other "objects" remains the background; a brown, wood type background with words stamped like ones you often find on crates. Other than that, Deborah remains the center of attention. The author does this by making the background plain and simple, then adding detail and color to the woman's face and body, making her stand out the most.
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Materials/ Techniques/ Processes:
This painting was done using oil paint, sticking to natural colors like brown and white and red as well. Ploeg used a paint brush to achieve the texture and finished look of this painting. As well, Ploeg is a fan of using a technique called impasto painting, where layers of paint are painted very thickly, to show the brush strokes of the paint brush and create an overall interesting texture. This technique can be used to sort of bring the painting to life, with a slight 3D texture, rather than just 2D.
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Color:
Personally, I feel that the use of color stands out the most in this painting. With the use of nude and natural colors, like brown white and beige, it can represent a feeling of serenity and calmness, rather than big bold colors. The most dominant colors are light and dark brown, white and beige. The artist definitely uses majority of harmonious colors, except for the one pop of red of Deborah's lips.
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Mood/ Atmosphere/ Environment:
The atmosphere of this painting definitely has a warm atmosphere as well as a feeling of relaxation and serenity. The artist achieves this by using colors that give off a warm and calm feeling. The way that the woman sits, in a comfortable and approachable position, allows the viewer to feel calm and relaxed. I feel that if I were to leap into the art all of my senses would be activated. I know that I would immediately feel comfortable around the woman in the painting, for she has a kind face and an approachable position. I would be able to smell the smell of freshly brewed coffee and a the smell and sound of a fire crackling.
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Shape/Form:
There is not many objects in the painting, so shape is not as evident. However, the shape of the woman is clearly represented, as the artist makes good use of shading to make her stand out and to highlight all the little details on her.
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Space:
I feel that the artist used a slight linear perspective to portray his artwork. With the woman centered in the middle and the horizon line, the artist could have used linear perspective to create depth in the painting.
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Size/Shape:
The painting is sized 167.0 x 137.0 cm, making this piece quite large. This size effects the way it is viewed because it makes it stand out quite a lot, and with the woman taking up most of the space, we would see that she would seem life size and real. However, I feel that this would actually make the viewer feel alike to the woman. They would neither feel small and powerless or giant and monumental, just equal.
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Pattern:
There is no pattern that is shown in this painting, just one image.
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Surface and Texture:
Since Ploeg stated he found interest in impasto painting, I would assume that the surface of this painting would have a rough texture, rather than a smooth and soft texture. When I view the artwork as an image I do not notice any brushstrokes from the artist's own hand, however, in real life I am sure they would be more obvious.
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Untitled
by Harding Meyer
The second piece of artwork that I found was this piece painted by a famous portrait artist named Harding Meyer. This piece, and many of his others, is actually untitled. This painting was made recently in 2016 and is part of a collection that Meyer has, including numerous portraits after portraits that he has painted. I chose to look at this art, as it stood out to me most whilst looking through famous portrait artists. As well, this is a portrait that I feel simple shows what someone looks like; in this case a portrait of a woman. This goes back to the purpose of our project, and I feel this painting clearly supports that. When I view this piece, my first reaction is simply aw; awe in the use of colors and awe in the amazing technique used. What I noticed first was the overall use of color. How there is so many colors that really make this paining eye-catching and interesting. For example, the use of that bright pink color for her cheeks, and the bold green color for her eyes. Her lips stained red, and her hair golden. More specifically, an aspect of the artwork that drew my attention the most has to be the eyes. They stare directly at the viewer, and have so much life and color in them. They are truly detailed and stand out the most. When I look at this painting, I feel it does give off a certain emotion. To me the expression on her face gives of a melancholy feeling, that jumps on to the viewer. I feel the artist achieved this by making the woman stare directly at the viewer, making the viewer connect more with the painting, and begin to feel those emotions. When I look at this painting, immediately the first thing that came to my
mind was a scene from the newer Romeo and Juliet movie. Her complexion and face reminded me of Juliet, especially during the end where Juliet perishes after finding out that her true love has killed himself, where she then proceeds to kill herself. The woman's face seems so empty and emotionless, as if she is dead, yet she is still beautiful.
The artist that created this painting is Harding Meyer. He was born in 1964 in Porto Alegre, Brazil. Meyer is a contemporary Brazilian artist that studied at the Staatliche Akademi der Bildenden Künst in Karlruhe, Germany, where he actually lives and works now. This specific painting was not made for anyone or anything, and simply adds to his collection of fantastic portrait paintings. However, Meyer is known for creating portraits of close crops of human faces that are taken from magazines, films and television. I am unclear where this specific artwork is taken from but it is still based around that idea. Since Meyer grew up in Germany, I assume that he was exposed to many magazines, shows, commercials, and many other digital media that is popular in Europe especially. As well, since Meyer lives in such a modern time in history, he is more exposed to this than ever before. Nowadays, we cannot imagine a world without the digital media, like commercials, shows, movies and music videos, providing us with all types entertainment. When we see the individual characters in these media, we usually put aside the personal life and emotion of the characters, and simply side them by one another. According to a site named Widewalls (Widewalls, 2017), Meyer has this grand style of artwork where he brings the characters out of this media, and portrays them in a completely different media that shows their true emotion and depth. Widewalls states; "Meyer shows us a whole new side to the all-too-familiar faces." He takes the faces in TV shows, movies, magazines, commercials, and gives them back their original character; depicting a whole new personnality that we are not familiar with. He also chose to create giant paintings of close up images, to make it even more personal to the character in the painting. One could say that "the eyes are the doors to the soul" , and Meyer absolutely brings this forward. As well, this could link to a wider concept related to the social aspect of today, as the debate springs where people question whether the media completely misinterprets celebrities or famous people due to media, and does not depict their true personality and emotions.
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From what I just stated, I definitely feel that Meyer is involved in an art movement of his own. He has the goal of changing how people are depicted in media, and gives more meaning to these people. Obviously, Meyer's paintings are associated with the portraiture genre in art, and I believe that that is the only one out of the art genres. I feel that the idea and concept behind this painting could definitely link to other art in the period, such as film and fashion, as he is depicting characters from these arts, just in a different media.
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Overall, I feel that as one goes deeper into the background behind Harding Meyer and his paintings, they discover a whole new message that he is communicating. I feel that now, I can truly understand the concept behind Meyer's work. He is trying to communicate the idea of media today, and the depictions of people nowadays. He wants to bring out the pure essence of characters found in media, as their true self. This is definitely portraying a moral meaning. He wants to bring out the greater good and prove the wrong in media nowadays. I feel that when I view this piece, I simply see a face of a beautiful woman. However, when I look more into it, I realize the meaning behind this. Although, one technique that Meyer purposely used was his palette knife. When we view the painting, we can see some smudged area and some very fine horizontal and vertical lines. Meyer purposely did this to achieve the look of an image seen on a computer screen or tv screen. So although the concept is not very clear at first glance, the little details do support his ideas.
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Formal elements:
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Subject Matter:
In this painting by Harding Meyer, it depicts a image of a close up view of a woman's face. There is definitely a focal point to this painting; the eyes. The eyes of this woman stare deeply and directly into the viewer. This creates a more personal connection between the viewer and the painting. This painting is very basic in terms of objects, as it is simply an image of a woman's face, very close up. From my thorough research, I know now that the artist used the eyes as the focal point to attempt to express the idea of the eyes being the gate to the true soul. As in the eyes can say a lot about a person.
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Composition:
Once again, this painting is very basic and is not busy with objects. There is a woman's face surrounded by many colors. As well, slightly showing parts of her hair and her detailed eyes as the focus point. The artist is able to draw our attention to the eyes as he puts a lot of detail into the eyes, as well as using a strong and meaningful color for the eyes that attract the viewer. Another important tactic that the author used to draw your eye is making the woman stare directly at the viewer. It creates an eerie and mysterious feeling that definitely attracts the viewer. This is carefully designed and thought about.
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Materials/techniques/processes:
This painting was done using oil paint, where Meyer used many different colors to achieve his final painting. He creates many layers using a paint brush and a palette knife. We notice how he has created some lines using the palette knife, which actually add to his technique of impersonating pixels that could be seen on a tv or computer. As well as the slightly smudged areas, representing an image from a computer or tv that is not always clear.
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Color:
In this artwork, I feel that the use of color is so clever and fascinating. I feel that Meyer used the color to represent the woman descriptively, rather than emotionally. The main colors are highlighted on her face; the use of red, beige and pink. I think that Meyer used this to portray the typical way that people are seen as in media. How her cheeks are rosy and her lips, a rich red. I feel the dominant colors in this painting are red, green, yellow and blue. The artist definitely used more complementary colors, as there is a wide variety of bold colors being used.
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Mood/Atmosphere/Environment:
The atmosphere of this painting seems quite lifeless but striking at the same time. Words like colorful, striking, laid back, calm, sincere, harmonious and even lifeless and spiritless. The facial expression in the woman's face definitely supports evidence as to why the atmosphere might feel lifeless or spiritless. She represents an expression of no emotion, although, this could also represent how calm the atmosphere is. I feel that if I were to leap into this artwork, I would feel so calm that I experience no emotions, no feeling.
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Shape/Form:
There is not many objects in the painting, so I cannot clearly recognize shape. However, I can see the shape of the woman's face, since the artist use a lot of detail and shading to make everything clear and show all the edges and ridges of a face.
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Space:
In this photo, the artist used the whole canvas to create a great closeup of a woman's face. The idea of making the face and eyes the focal point showed us how he intended on using his space to highlight and emphasize aspects.
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Size/Shape:
The painting is sized 230 x 230 cm, making this piece a very large artwork. The size of this painting definitely has an affect on the way it is viewed, as the artist wanted to make the image extremely close up, making sure he captures every little detail. This could definitely make the viewer feel small and powerless, as the entire painting is massive, making those mysterious eyes massive as well, staring directly at the viewer.
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Pattern:
There is no repeated pattern that is shown in this painting, just one image.
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Surface & Texture:
I assume that since Meyer used many layers of paint and a palette knife, there must be some rough texture on the surface, unlike a smooth and soft texture. When I look at this painting, I can definitely notice the work of the artist's own hand, with brush strokes obvious and the use of the palette knife as well.
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Comparison:
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When I view both pieces individually, I notice that each one of them has their own unique touch to it that makes it interesting and different compared to others. However, as I continued with my analysis, I did notice some similarities, along with differences, between these two paintings. When we talk about the story behind the painting, Ploeg's painting we see that his painting is about a using an individual to portray a concept. When we see Meyer's painting, he has this same idea; the idea where he is communicating an important message by using and painting an individual. Another similarity that I noticed was that both paintings were quite straightforward. Ploeg's painting simply represented a woman with a simple background, and even though Meyer's was slightly more simple and straightforward, he still showed this as well. Regarding the materials and tools that constructed these paintings, both were very similar; they both used oil paint and a paint brush and palette knife. To add on to that, both artists were found to enjoy using the technique of layering paint to create a texture on the painting.
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Both paintings were unique in their own way and similar in some ways. One of the main differences that I noticed was the use of color in either painting. For Ploeg's painting, he based his palette around harmonious colors, that were mainly warm colors. He had the intention of creating an "earthy" feel so these colors matched his concept. Whereas Meyer's painting was a mix of many colors, all complementary colors, however, this matched his unique concept. Another obvious difference was how Ploeg created a full body painting with room to spare, whereas Meyer completely covered his painting with a close up of a face. The use of space differentiated between the paintings. Lastly, one more difference that I recognized was the mood and atmosphere in either painting. I feel Ploeg's painting represented a cool and serene atmosphere, with the warm colors complementing this. Whereas Meyer's painting was slightly more bold and striking. The use of colors definitely effected this.
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Citations:
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H. (2016, August 30). (12-2016) 230x230cm oil on canvas . Retrieved September 10, 2017, from http://hardingmeyer.tumblr.com/post/149706813120/12-2016-230x230cm-oil-on-canvas
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Carr, E. L. (2012, October 04). 25 Awesome Contemporary Portrait ArtistsToyin Odutola. Retrieved September 10, 2017, from http://www.complex.com/style/2012/10/25-awesome-contemporary-portrait-artists/toyin-odutola
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Deborah Mailman, 1999. (n.d.). Retrieved September 10, 2017, from http://www.portrait.gov.au/portraits/2000.4/deborah-mailman
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Harding Meyer. (n.d.). Retrieved September 10, 2017, from http://www.artnet.com/artists/harding-meyer/
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Jackson, A. K. (2017, January 0). Oil Portraits by Harding Meyer. Retrieved September 10, 2017, from http://www.thecoolist.com/oil-portraits-by-harding-meyer/
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K, D. (2017). Harding Meyer. Retrieved September 10, 2017, from http://www.widewalls.ch/artist/harding-meyer/
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Kurze, C. (2013, October 09). Vibrant paintings of Harding Meyer. Retrieved September 10, 2017, from https://www.ignant.com/2013/10/09/vibrant-paintings-of-harding-meyer/
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OT by Harding Meyer. (2017, January 0). Retrieved September 10, 2017, from http://www.artnet.com/artists/harding-meyer/ot-a-Qx3nEgVqXEenq8ukMVZo1A2
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The Secret Life of Deb. (n.d.). Retrieved September 10, 2017, from http://www.portrait.gov.au/magazines/9/the-secret-life-of-deb
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