Underground Up: Visual Arts Gallery

The three artist that were presented to us in the Visual Arts Gallery are all local street artists, mainly New York and New Jersey. Mustart, Clarence and DISTORT grew up expressing their art through graffiti. Mustart and DISTORT studied painting when they went for their BFA in college, while Clarence has strictly been a street artist. These three men were brought together to show their talents and vice their opinions

When I walked into the gallery, I immediately encountered DISTORTS art work on the wall. His use of light in his art is what really caught my eye. The art piece that I chose was The Beheading of the King. DISTORT used a car hood and engraved these beautiful structures to complete his vision. I love how he used depth to portray how certain figures "come out at you." Out of all four of his pieces, this one seemed to use the most color. The bottom of the hood shows chaos in the city of Bethulia, which was being taken over by King Holofernes. Judith, the woman on the right is shown as the savior of her city by beheading Holofernes while he's intoxicated. Although that scene isn't pictured, the symbolism of the tower tilting shows how their city is now free from Holofernes. These woman "were making their presence felt in an explicitly political sphere" by standing up to a man that was killing their city (Thompson p. 20). In order to stop deportation of Hispanic citizens, people took to the streets to plead their case. "Black Lives Matter!" stand together in communion to protest the unarmed killings of Black men, woman, and children at the hands of police. Woman took to the streets of Washington, DC to advocate for equal pay, and sexual reproduction rights. We have to fight in order to bring change.

Artist: DISTORT
Title: The Beheading of the King

Mustarts artwork entitled The All Thinking Brain was pretty hard to miss when walking into the gallery. His piece took up an entire wall. The bright colors is what initially caught my eye. As I continued to walk closer, I could make out that there was more than what meets the eye. There was a picture of a woman with a look of determination in the chaos. There is also a monkey in the bottom of the painting. To me this shows how the brain can multitask, how there can be numerous things going on at one time. It also symbolizes how we can be determined (the woman) and foolish (the monkey) simultaneously. Say you see a new pair of shoes on television and you really want them. Social capitalism will play on your ability to distinguish between wants and needs. You may be aware of the fact that you cant afford those shoes, but what about the recognition from other people when you wear them? Whats in style is always changing so we need the media to think for us. This shows how many people "remain lost inside the commotion of a constantly shifting cultural environment" (Thompson p. 94). 

Artist: Mustart
Title: The All Thinking Brain (2017)

Clarence Rich was the artist that I spent the most time on analyzing because his pieces weren't as straight forward as the other two artist. Baby Jane caught my eye because there were multiple emotions that I could attach to the painting. This piece composed "multiple implications at once, and the dissonance between them produces a complicated web of interpretability" (Thompson p. 44). Immediately I thought that the girl was shy, or maybe she's hiding something. Then when I really looked at the painting and I got a sense of maybe she's skeptical of me. The way her head is slightly to right as if she's trying to figure something out. Or maybe it's in the way Rich used light to show depth to what she was holding which plays on your curiosity. Baby Jane portrays the notion that everything isn't so black and white.While Rich's artwork is composed of life like characters, he describes is work as "letting his hand run wild." (Rich).

Artist: Clarence Rich
Title: Baby Jane (2017)

Each artist brought what they thought was important into the art gallery. People have different ideas on what constitutes as art because we encounter different experiences through life. These three artist are brought together by Street Art, but each of their pieces tell different stories. That's what makes art amazing, it can "think, and create in response to the world around us" (Thompson p. 55). They knew that "the world of meaning and potential could not be confined to the gallery or museum" (Thompson p. 20).

References:

• Rich, Clarence. Clarence Rich. Sky Sister Studio: 2017. Web. 25 Oct. 2017. http://clarencerich.com
• Thompson, Nato. Seeing Power: Art and Activism In The 21st Century. Brooklyn, NY: Melvile House Publishing, 2015. Print.