De Paul Museum!

DE Paul Museum Group Project

On our last but not least project, we had to go as a group to a museum.  We picked the museum of De Paul University.

De Paul University has a museum of two floors and its free of charge.  The museum was almost empty as we were the only visitors plus a couple.  We found out that they had a special exhibit at that time named "The Justice Chair". 

The Justice Chair addresses the detention of the nearly 150 prisoners who are still incarcerated at Guantanamo Bay without their basic rights to legal representation or trail.

The strips we see in the right picture are made from X-Ray films on the floor, and it bears the name of prisoners who held there as of 2012, as                                                                      well as their countries of origin and internment dates.


This Special exhibit was made from wood fiber, found materials and X-Ray film.  It reminds me of the movie Pirates of Caribbean as it  gives the idea that it has been in the ocean for years.


 Other paintings we found there was a portrait of Martin Luther King.

It was a great experience walking around with some classmates and making reports for our project.  We also took an interview from a visitor there and from the staff.  

Some other great paintings we found at the De Paul museum!!!

Dymitris Mytaras a Contemporary Artist

Dymitris Mytaras

Dymitris Mytaras born in Chalkis in 1934.  He is one of the most known contemporary artist in Greece of the 20th Century. Dymitris Mytaras in his works the most prominent features are the intense movement of the design and the vivid colors.  An expressionistic atmopshere, along with an obvious mood for social antique are prevalent in all the periods in the last thirty years.

He started his studies in 1953 and graduated in 1957 from the Athens School of fine Arts, his professor was Yiannis Moralis another great visual artist and he was a part of the so called "Generation of the 30's".  A few years later he went to Paris, France and studied stage Design at the Ecole Nationale Superieure des Arts Decoratifs.  Later on, he found a job from 1964 until 1972 in the Interior Decoration Workshop as he directed  in the Athens School of Fine Arts.  His works has been in more than thirty international group show in many world's capitals including the 1972 Venice Biennale.  

Venice Biennale:  Is an International Art Exhibition, is a major contemporary art exhibition that takes place once every 2 years in Venice, Italy.  It started in 1985, and it focus on contemporary art, which includes specific events about art, contemporary dance, architecture, cinema and theater.

One of his best art works are included in the Photographic Documents.  During the time of the Greek military junta of 1967-1974, Mytaras sought out to comment critically on Greek life through a series of realistic works.  The Greek Military junta, as some preferred to call it as the "revolution to save the nation".  The reason their justification was that a "communist conspiracy", effected Greece's bureaucracy, academia, press and military to such an extent that drastic action was needed to protect the country from communist takeover.  To a conclusion for this period of junta, which it was clearly an important period for the Greeks.  It was the time of hippies, when everyone should believe in peace.  However, many Greek artists have been influenced from this period.

After his Photographic Documents, from that historical event in Greece, especially in Athens he turned towards classical themes.  Classical antiques, is from the civilizations of ancient Greece and ancient Rome, mostly known as the Greco-Roman world.  In that period Greek and Roman had a great impact in Europe, North Africa and Middle East.  It started from the great mythology- poetry of Homer.  The ancient Greeks prevailed through out classical antiquity as the basis of art, philosophy, society and educational ideas.

Moreover, he created one of the official posters of the Summer Olympic Games, which took place in Athens in 2004. Since the revival of the Games in 1986 posters were designed by painters and graphic artists to promote the Games and demonstrate the artistic level of the host country.  The Organizing Committee create a panel formed by personalities of the art world and asked them to identify a list of 28 Greek artists.  Two of them where Dymitris Mytaras and Yiannis Moralis his college professor.  Those artists were invited to create a work of art especially for the Athens Games, which would be used to develop 28 posters symbolizing the number of the Games.

The theme of the posters was the Sports Pictograms. Each poster could function independently.  All 28 combined together produced a giant composition.  They were printed in two sizes normal and mini poster size.  The mini posters were presented together as a collection and the normal ones individually. 

Some of his works....

 He mostly used acrylic colors.

Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago- David's Bowie exhibit!

Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago- David's Bowie exhibit!

On our last class, we visited the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago, and we had the luck to see David's Bowie exhibit.  I haven't heard about David Bowie before, I knew that he was a singer but didn't knew that he was a painter too.  Also, the exhibition offered audio tour which it was interesting to hear the artist speak or sing while going around his art works.  The way he was dressing up caught my attention, his costumes always were breathtaking, I can't believe that a person would ever wear those things.  The cloth by itself was a piece of art, so many details and different than the casual clothes.  

One of the paintings he painted while he was trying to stay away from drugs.

The magazine Rolling Stones its mentioning that David Bowie shows some of his paintings in the exhibition which its clearly shows that he had a talent from an early age.  He drew aliens when he was in the late Fifties when he was school, but also when he got older he drew his planning tours by sketching them.  However, something I learned from the exhibition and it’s not being mentioned is that article is  Bowie found painting as a way to get away from his addiction in drugs.

  

The David Bowie exhibition has been first been showed to London and then to Chicago.  The exhibition will only be showed in the city of Chicago at the Museum of Contemporary Art.  However, the exhibition contains more than 300 artifacts selected from an incredible 75,000 items Bowie has archived over the years.

This exhibition has really got my attention as long as, a singer has been an idol in his whole life.  He didn't just sing, but he tried every single way to express his feelings and ideas trough his closet, paintings, and his songs.   From the whole exhibition we see David Bowie trying different things in his life and experiment himself.  Moreover, he always make a different appearance at his concerts or performances, and he always find ways to surprise his fans.

I think that David Bowie is PHENOMENON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I believe that the Museum of Contemporary Art was the most interesting of all of those we have visited in this Semester.  The art works were not normal and you can actually stop and look at them, and they made you think, Why the artist might have created something like that?  What he wants to show with it?  How it has been made?  All the necessary questions a person should make to understand clearly an art work.  

An art work from the Double Body Exhibition, which really got my attention for the weird idea sculpture it had was the art work called "She Man" which it was created from Paul McCartly. It was made from Silicone, aluminism wood, latex, foam, urethane and metal collection of Rena Conti.  The questions I had when I saw this sculpture was why would he choose to make a naked woman with an old mans face on her head?  Also, whether the artist wanted to pass a message with it?  My point of view about this art work was that some men are control women's lives and they are not letting them decide what they want and what they need to.  They are making decisions for them and might take advantage of their bodies.  In some cultures women don't have the right to speak and express their feelings and with this art work is like the man is being the brain of those women and control every action of them and their thoughts.

The pieces that I am keeping from our visit in The Museum of Contemporary Art is the exhibition of David Bowie, which I was lucky to see it and learn about him and his works, about the Double Body Exhibit and also, two beautiful paintings that where in the Earthly Delights exhibition.

Oddie and Odette I (on the left)
Oddie and Odette II (on the right)

Those two paintings have really stayed in my memory, because I love ballet and I have friends that are trying to be professional Dancers and it reminded me of them.  However, in the 1st painting we see a skin white ballerina who is looking her reflection in the mirror and her reflection, reflects a black skin ballerina.  I believe that it wants to show that art does not agree with racism, and everyone is equal.  Also, that is not what you show on your outside that matters, but the deep and different character each person has.  That's the real beauty.

Public Art Project!

Public Art Project!

   The purpose of this project was to walk around Chicago's Down Town and look the Public Art.  We had to take pictures of the art works and listen to an audio tour.  It was a unique project as we had to listen to the audio tour, while we were visiting the art works. The audio tour was helpful as it gave details about the art works and with what materials it have been made, it made the whole project a little bit more interesting. 

The Cloud Gate made by Anish Kapoor

To be honest, at the beginning the idea of listening to an audio, while I had to walk around and find the art works and take pictures didn't get my interest.  However, I gave it a try, maybe a little to late, but when I did it was pretty interesting hearing about things that no one is ever going to tell you.  The audio that I found more interesting was the one about the "Cloud Gate", which is famous as the Bean.  I liked the idea that artist had, while he was making it he wanted to be an entrance way to the sky and the clouds will drift through there reflection at the Bean.  Also, the part that said that when you look at the Cloud Gate and you see your reflection you are the frontier center and you are being the star of reflection, that made me laugh, because at that moment I was looking my reflection.

The Crown Foundation made by Jaume Plensa

I would definitely recommend this art tour to my brothers, because I am sure that they don't know the existence of some art pieces, which are being include in the tour and it would be something new for them.  I might made a small cheating, as I didn't heard all the audios from the beginning of my tour, but when I was already on the half of my tour. 

Agora made by Magdalena Abakonwicz

   

Moreover, I didn't had such a good beginning with my tour.  While, I was walking to find Agora, which it was the first art work I visited, I got lost and I didn't knew where I was and my phone went off battery.  I think, I wasn't lucky and I recommend that no one should do this tour alone!  The chances to get lost are huge.  I got lost more than 2 times in one day.  However, it was a great experience.

The Bocuman made by Ivan Mestrovic

Visiting the Art Institute of Chicago!

Art Institute!

In our last class we visited the art institute and we had the chance to see paintings from famous painters.  We saw paintings from Monet, Vincent Van Gogh, Picasso, George Saurat, Gauguin and other artists. 

 In George Seurat's gallery we were able to see one of the 24 studies he made and then the final art work.  There were differences between the two paintings, the study was way smaller and details were unclear.  However, the final piece was bigger and had more details and parts that the small one did have.  Also, in his final painting he worked in several campaigns beginning in 1984 with a layer of small horizontal brushstrokes of complementary colors.  Later he added small dots, in complementary colors, that appear as solid and luminous forms, when seen from a distance.  

On the left we see the study painting and on the right the final paint.




















Moreover, there were paintings from Van Gogh too.  It was his self portrait , The poet's Garden and Terrace and Observation.  It was interesting watching so close those paintings and getting the chance to see the details the artist used.  Also, it helped me personally to understand everything we have mentioned in our class, when we were talking about Van Gogh.  

At the end of the exhibition we had to talk about a painting and represent it to our classmates.  Gite made pairs of two at the beginning of the exhibition and then we had to represent something. Fattimah and I represented a Picasso's painting called "The Red Armchair".  This painting had color contrast, also he used vertical lines in the chair and horizontal in the background.  This painting had shapes as square in the belt, and circles.  We came into a conclusion that Picasso with this painting wants to show us that men and women are equal and they have the same rights. 

It was a great experience and a great opportunity to visit the Art Institute as it was the very first time that I visited the Institute!!! 

Mid term exam

QUESTION 9


Leonardo Da Vinci 
The last supper

QUESTION 19




Representational picture

Cultural Center!

The Chicago Cultural Center

The last lesson we have been to The Chicago Cultural Center.  The Cultural Center has been build after The Great Chicago fire, and it has been architect from Loui Selevent.  The architecture of the building is Neoclassical style with Italian Renaissance elements.  The original purpose of the building was to be the Central library, and it has been converted in 1987.  I liked the architecture of the building as it has different patterns and interesting design.  I especially liked the domes, how they are being designed and how the light comes in the building from them especially in the Tiffany South Dome.

The Domes

Each Exhibit at the Michigan Gallery was interesting, none of the exhibits had any similarity.  Every designer had a different perspective and point of view about their art.

Patricia Rieger
In the first exhibit of Patricia Rieger we have seen beautiful sculptures and paintings and some of them weren't clear with one look.   There is a silence in her work, the intent of which emphasizes the passionate desire for poetic and the ephemeral.  That stillness helps to create a tension, a quiet moment whereby a transformation takes place, in a place of the mind.  The sculpture i liked the most is the one with the kid lying on the floor and holding a piece of fabric, but in my mind I translated it as a balloon and the mirror which was opposite the sculpture was reflecting the one side of the kid giving as the opportunity to see it from both sides.

Drury Brennan:  Die Welt

The second exhibit was wall designs from Drury Brennan, and he called his exhibition Die Welt.  When I saw this exhibition it reminded me room wallpapers, where most teenagers write on their bedroom walls or they choose wallpapers with Quotes and Lyrics.  I thought that he wanted to pass a message to others, that he was writing powerful and motivating words.  He composed three different writing systems in his art, he used Graffiti, Zen calligraphy and Conviction in gesture as in jazz.  He tried to mix these three art forms, to use Roman letter forms as the back beat while he solo tale of each letter's construction.  Each of his piece contains  a short form of poetic meditation on a variety of subjects from loss to love to contemporary art.  Ultimate the work is about untangling preconceptions about letters, form, writing and art, and recombining them to create new, pretty possibilities for writing to come.  In the next picture it's my favorite art piece from his exhibit, as I found phrases that I found interesting, as "Bless your little heart", where we can see it down on the left of the picture.

CHGO DSGN

This was the last exhibit we have seen at Michigan Gallery.  Chicago welcomed innovative design educators of the new Bauhaus in the 30s, however in the 70s, American modernism came to life in Chicago.  CHGO DSGN is all about modernism and technology.  In this exhibition, I have seen some art pieces which were part of a house, like a living room, or  a kitchen and others.  I can't describe what I have seen, because the pieces was really fascinating and interesting.  You can get an idea from the following pictures:

                                               

It was a great experience and opportunity, because I wouldn't have seen those art pieces and it was interesting to see them.

My artist toolkit

This is my pictures from the Artist Toolkit!

This is my picture I create with Lines.  I used all the kinds of lines.
  A sailing boat in a day with rainbow,

This is my picture I create with shapes.
Egyptian pyramids and reptiles!

This is my picture I create with colors.
 The color flower! (Inspired from the color wheel)

This is the picture I choose to make by my own. is not that clear, but I tried my best!
Pikatchu!

Shadow Hunting!

This is the best shot I took while I was studying shadows around the room.  I asked my brother to give me his guitar to see how it shadow reflects and while he was giving me the guitar our shadows seemed like that.  Firstly, I liked the idea to take a picture of my shadow, while I was holding the guitar, but this picture seemed more interesting.   This picture was the best of all, and I really like it, because it reminds me of a quote, which says that "Music connects people".  And our hands and the guitar shadows reflect clearly, and its clearly to recognize the hands and the guitar.

Water Taxi Reflection!

I couldn't imagine how different the buildings were from the river.   Our water taxi experience gave me the chance to see more clearly and closer all the buildings, and even more see buildings I've never seen before.  I think it was a great experience.  I have learned that Merchandise Mart, is the largest building in the world, with 4,000,000 square feet of floor, and it was build from mr. Marshall Field.  Also, in Merchandise Mart you can find shops, the Chicago Campus of Art Institute of Illinois and others.  My favourite building was The Civic Opera building, which i really like it's architecture, especially on the round shapes which seams like windows.  To others it may seem just another building, which has nothing special, but I really like it.  I feel it has something special.

My Photostory about Pablo Picasso

My photo story is based on Pablo's Picasso painting timeline.  Pablo Picasso had different techniques as the years were passing.  He started with the blue period, when he was only using blue colors.  After that he continued with the rose period, when he was using more warm colours such as red, orange, pink and others.  Three years later in 1907 we see Picasso painting Les Demoiselles d' Avignon.  One year later Pablo and Braque a French painter invented cubism in 1908.  In 1910 Picasso made many pieces of analytic cubism.  Moreover Picasso made his first collage in transition to Synthetic cubism in 1912.  After 9 years, Picasso's first son was born and his paintings started being more classical and monumental.  In 1933 Pablo made his first cover painting for the magazine "Minotaur".  Picasso wasn't only a painter, but he wrote poetry too especially when he was stressed.  Picasso was really influenced by the Spanish Civil war that he painted NGV's Weeping Woman and one of the most famous paintings he ever made Guernica.  Guernica was a piece of art which was showing the tragedy and the pain that wars made to people.  At 1947 Picasso tried other ways of art, different from the classic sketches, he started painting ceramics in Vallauris.  Picasso never stopped experiment himself and his ability with art, so in 1959-1960 he started working with lino cuts and designing large sheet metal sculpture.  In 8th of April in 1973 Pablo Picasso dies.

Architectural Experience

An Architectural Experience I've had is two years ago at London.  A memorable Architectural experience I had it was at Tower of London.  It's a huge castle, has been found since 1066.  Inside the castle there are attractions, one of them was actors dressed with the clothes of 13th century.  The actors were suited with the atmosphere and the architecture of the castle.  The castle is a very old building with huge walls to protect royals from the enemies.  It was a great experience to be able to visit such a place, which a big part of England's history has been written.