SELF-Portrait
Exhibition Text
Title: Self-Portrait I.)
Medium: Acrylic on canvas Size: 36in. x 36in. Date: 3 November 2016 Self-Portrait I.) is inspired by Egon Schiele as well as a combination of the Expressionism period, and some Modernism. The mutilations and disproportions allow the piece to be classified as Expressionism, because it greatly rebels against the pre-existing notions of what beautiful art is. |
CRitical Investigation
Egon Schiele was always an outsider of sorts. He did not care much for standard academics, and often did not apply himself to the fullest of his potential for the simple reason that he was not interested in learning. He did, however, have a great burning passion for the fine arts. Schiele’s father passed away when he was fifteen years old. From then on, he lived under the care of his uncle who helped nurture his nephew’s love of the arts.
Schile applied to the School of Arts and Crafts in 1906, and was accepted. He quickly demonstrated his obvious to talents to which many of the professors took interest. Specifically, young Schiele caught the attention of Gustav Klimt. They worked together for a number of years, trading pieces and offering tips. Schiele was frustrated by the conservatism of the school. He felt as if he was being contained, and was not able to reach his full potential there. Shortly after his third year, Schiele left the school.
The pieces that Schiele created were often criticized as much as they were praised. They [his paintings] were often erotic and even pornographic, something that at this point in the art world was frowned upon greatly. Schiele liked to explore themes such as sex, death, and discovery. He enjoyed playing with common misconceptions of the main media at that time period, as well as changing perspective. Schiele believed in women’s rights and the equality of the sexes.
Schile applied to the School of Arts and Crafts in 1906, and was accepted. He quickly demonstrated his obvious to talents to which many of the professors took interest. Specifically, young Schiele caught the attention of Gustav Klimt. They worked together for a number of years, trading pieces and offering tips. Schiele was frustrated by the conservatism of the school. He felt as if he was being contained, and was not able to reach his full potential there. Shortly after his third year, Schiele left the school.
The pieces that Schiele created were often criticized as much as they were praised. They [his paintings] were often erotic and even pornographic, something that at this point in the art world was frowned upon greatly. Schiele liked to explore themes such as sex, death, and discovery. He enjoyed playing with common misconceptions of the main media at that time period, as well as changing perspective. Schiele believed in women’s rights and the equality of the sexes.
For experimentation, I decided to practice somemore with Schiele's style, not only in acrylic, but watercolor as well.
Connecting to the ACT
- Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause-effect relationships between your inspiration and its effect on your artwork.
- I opted to use my own face in the work from myinspiration, Schiele. This is evidenced by the disproportions of the face as well as similar color schemes, and blending techniques.
- What is the overall approach (point of view) the author (from your research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
- Moving forward with my theme of beauty, Schiele believed in distorting the everyday normsand concepts,especially when it came to art. There is a sense of wonder and beauty in things that are abnormal because they are unique. The idea was that something or someone does not have to conform to society's standards in order to be beautiful.
- What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
- There are always people who are going to be rooting against you; it is best to do what makes you happy.
- What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
- My idea was that something can be theoretically ugly, but art is not about what is beautiful, rather the emotion that is felt by it. If a piece makes someone feel a certain way, then it was successful.
- What kind of inferences (conclusions reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning) did you make while reading your research?
- Art and the community for art is much morereceptive to new ideas and themes concerning the subject of art.It is important to be differentand to have a purpose for your work.