Thesis Crit 3/4

My current thesis took an new turn due to my further research of American industry, represented by GM.   In my earlier works, I was appropriating post-war advertisements and adding elements to implicate the message of these advertisements.  

Then, I thought to do two contrasting works: one with a post-war background and rusting Camaro, the other with a modern impoverished background with a shiny new Camaro.  The Camaro would allude to the America's strength in the opposite background.  At the height of America's strength, the post-war background, the car would be rusting to indicate the decline of American industry.  Conversely, the contemporary impoverished American landscape with the shiny camaro would allude to America's desire to regain its strength. 

Megan was the leader of the discussion, she thought the idea of American power conveyed with advertising was interesting. There was a lot of criticism revolved around the idea of supporting GM, commonly about their cars being gas-guzzlers, etc.  My paintings are not supporting GM, but using the iconic symbol as a lens to examine American industry.  I want to capture the transformative struggle to maintain America’s power and capture its soul through two 6ft x4ft oil paintings.  It is my hope that viewers will experience the importance of the automobile in not only the development of industrialization, but also in the construction of our national identity. Thus, I went back to the drawing board to make my idea more concise.  

I was thinking about pushing the idea of the car being a portal into a time.  I thought it would be interesting to omit the space of the subject, the car, and in place include a new space. I came up with these images on photoshop:

In the image (second from the top), the space of the car becomes a portal into an impoverished American landscape.  The car in the illustrative advertisement space, at height of American's strength, becomes a window into our current economic well-being.  Conversely, I placed an illustrative car in a impoverished American background to our struggle to regain that strength. I thought there was a weirdness in the play of space.  Questions of space, and the lack of space arose when painting my work.  What does it mean when the subject of the painting is removed, and in its siloutte replaced with another? Also, questions of color became important.  What does saturated color vs. non-satuarated do not only optically to the space, but conceptually to a time period? 

Gallery openings inspiring thesis!

This month I went to many art openings in Chelsea, in preparation for my thesis. William Steiger’s show, Manufactory, in Margaret Thatcher Projects gallery particularly caught my attention and as a great inspiration for my painting.  Steiger’s work in Manufactory included collages and paintings of various views of landscapes, mills, factories, water tower’s and railcars.   Across the room was a large railcar cleanly painted red-orange with slight tonal variations, and I was immediately drawn to it. 

I spent a considerable amount of time in front of it, trying to figure what exactly drew me to this large railcar with the white gesso background.   His use of bold and vibrant color, and clean graphic edges are something I am really interested in using for my thesis painting of cars.   William noticed my interest in his railcar, and we immediately started a conversation about his work.  His painting process, although seemly simple, involved an extensive process of layering flat color after his drawing his done.   He says patience is important in the work; often what was hard for him was to leave the studio with his painting in an awkward drying state but was necessary in his process.   Warhol’s flat and graphic imagery is an influence for not only my work but for Steiger’s graphic work.  An important question that arises in the work is how do you create a perspective plane contradicted by a flat picture plane?  William is successful in created such a space by his attention to line, form, and slight but importance shifts in color.  

I was inspired to layer clean flat color to create a more vibrant plane of color.  I also liked Steiger's used of high contrast and tried to emulate that in my work.