Crocker Art Museum Visit

Crocker Art Museum Visit 

Art Imitates Life and Life Imitates Art 

Location: Crocker Art Museum 216 O Street
Date: April 16, 2019

 Local visits at the Crocker art museum are always pretty exciting. I found a lot of interest in the artwork  titled; Portait of Simon George II (2007). I had been learning a lot about the work of Kehinde Wiley in my American art class and was fascinated with the way the artist portrayed African American males in a state of power - replacing old history portraits with portraits of empowerment.

Portrait of Simon George II 

Wiley often practices with a technique called; "street casting" he began in Harlem. He asked African American men to pose for portraits inspired by the old masters. This painting pays and homage to the work of Rembrandt titled; Woman with a Pink ; by using a similar pose. The artist is known for subverting traditional representations of masculinity and male beauty, and portrays his subjects as complex individuals.

 

                                       Disasters of War

                                                    Political Artworks



The Disasters of War by Gottfried Helnwein

This work in the Crocker art museum realty captivated me. At first I thought it was a photograph until I read the medium on the artwork description label. The hyperrealism of this piece really adds to the meaning behind it. This work develops and addresses difficult topics, past or present, political or social. Helnweins emphasis on the child is sincerely rooted in his own deficient childhood which he describes as his gray period. The realistic portrayal of hardship that children face; taking away the innocence really gives the insight of a child's perspective and how they react to the world around them. Children are often portrayed in Helnweins pieces in  a wounded/ damaged sense. In this portrait, a young girl is depicted with an adult military uniform. The weight of the past seemingly rests on her shoulders; her future presumably hangs in the balance. 



Candid of  a Stranger Admiring Art