Whitney Biennial compare/contrast

Untitled (I Do Not Always Feel Colored)
Glenn Ligon
Oil Sticks on primed surface door
80"x 15"x 1 1/2"





















Remember With Membry
Trenton Doyle Hancock
Acrylic plastic and Canvas
56"x66"


Both Pieces of work are word based art. The palette is similar with the addition of blue in Hancock's work. While Ligon's Untitled piece is set up in rows of text that get progressivley harder to read the text as the stencil built up residue toward the bottom. In Remember With Membry the text also has a way of becoming illegible but only as the text becomes smaller and twisted within the work. This is aided by the cutout portions and layers of text within to the piece. While Ligon uses only text Hancock combines his with visual elements. Both pieces replicate a phrase in their piece. There is also a story line behind each piece that gives it character. Ligon's Untitled tells about how she didn't see herself as black until she was sent to a school outside her tightly knit community of Eatonville, FL. This realistic background is quite different from Remember With Membry where Hancock depicts a world based more on personal mythology. Ligon looks back on the process of what has happened and Hancock depicts the result of a battle of his mythological creatures. While Ligon's work is slightly taller then Hancock's, the width of Hancock's piece seems to be about four times that of Ligon's. The materials used in each work shows Untitled more as a declaration of self and Remember With Membry a warning flag or relic from the past.

Artist presentation comments

When Video Game Worlds Collide

Andrew Matlack and Bryan Borut

Sid Meier and Shigeru Miyamoto

Andrew and Bryan did a good job of comparing a strategy type video game with one that had a storyline that was to be completed. The lack of reality vs the supposed reality of the strategy games was another great contrast. The comparison of a pc based game vs a console system game was nice too. I learned a great deal about these two game designers. The exhibit theme seems to be a little vague, and collide seems a little strong.

Reality, Virtuality, and Digital Synergy

Joey Gambatese and Ceire Parker

Rafael Lozano-Hemmer and Masaki Fujihata

The comparison of Lozano-Hemmer and Fujihata was a good selection. I enjoyed the differently scaled pieces of each artist. Joey and Ceire did a good job of going beyond what is described about the work of Lozano-Hemmer. I enjoyed learning about both artists learning about both specific works of art and generalities of each artist. The exhibit theme really encapsulates how these artist work.

Expressions of Color

Lindsey and Matt

Peter Jaworowski, Joe Mcnally, and Neil Duerden

The comparison of three commercial artist who use different levels of photo manipulation was interesting. Many days we see ads for various products yet know nothing about who created them. It seemed there was not quite the depth seen in knowledge of the artists as in other presentations. The information presented and comparison was of good quality. While not original the exhibit theme speaks directly of what each artist highlights in their work.

Untitled

Ryan Janelli andLizz Lesso

Feng Mengbo and Paul M. Smith

We are told that both artist put themselves in their work, it seems there could have been a stronger connection between the two artists. Seeing the artists' work right after speaking about them would have been less confusing. The lack of a title leaves nothing to say about the exhibit theme.

Synthesizing Nature: Digital Art in Music

Annea Lockwood,Kuljntansta, and Hildegard Westerkamp

I thoroughly enjoyed this presentation. I felt the depth to which these artists were compared was thorough. The comparison of the way noises were manipulated gives more information than covered in the text book. The title specifically tells the viewer that what they are going to see or rather hear.

Marina Abramovic/Frida Kahlo/Cui Xiuwen Comparison

The time in which these artists have created their artwork has spanned many years, each living in a different time, yet all deal with some sort of feminine portrayal. Frida Kahlo was the first of the three artists who lived in Mexico, growing up during the time of social change, and died in the 1950’s. Kahlo paints self-portraits most of the time because she claims she is the person she knows best. The main elements portrayed in her work are the emotions of joy, love, creativity, and passion. Physical and emotional pains are important factors but not the main elements of her work. Kahlo This is not long before the time of Marina Abramovic started her work in Yugoslavia around the time of WWII. Her work was always on the cutting edge, pushing the boundaries of art and use the body as an expression of form. Her current work at MOMA is a retrospective, recreating several of her prior works and in her eyes the finishing of a huge amount of works. Her interest right now is legacy because she is “in the third act” of her life. This is quite the opposite spectrum of where Cui Xiuwen is. Xiuwen was born in 1970 in Haerbin, China. In her work she portrays a young, Chinese girls and the social expectations of women of the time. Some of her recent work portrays the issues of the female at a time of motherhood and related issues such as pregnancy and maternity. The mediums with which each works is different, although all have been painters at some point in their art career. Kahlo’s work has always been painting and is best described as surrealistic although Kahlo herself argues that she says, “ I do not paint dreams…I paint my reality.” Both Abramovic and Xiuwen had begun painting and had epiphanies to cause them to feel like the medium wasn’t able to convey their work any longer. Abramovic has worked in several mediums such as interventions, sound, video, and performances. Her work often tests the limits of the body and elicits cultural critiques and these are often of a feminist kind. Xiuwen addresses emotions of anxiety, concerns, vulnerability, ambition, and compassion for women in her work. This is done through photography and video. For Xiuwen painting wasn’t able to present time lapse and switch of space nor able to have the narration her current work does. Each woman deals with a struggle and deals with it a little differently. For Kahlo it was that of boredom and physical constraints when bedfast. Her work however has a positive outlook on life, which made her work become both a cultural and historical icon. Abramovic has strong feministic influences and is a reaction against the cultural restrictions on the females of the time, pushing boundaries, and having resolute emotion. Xiuwen follows some in Abramovic’s steps but just highlights the struggle and not screaming for attention. Yet the overall mood created by Xiuwen is cooler and one of stress and despair. Kahlo produced work about herself, Abramovic the female artist, and Xiuwen’s work is about every woman in China.