Meramec Choice Art: composition

Jim Dine- The Heart Called Paris Spring

It's now February and the Valentines Day holiday is right around the corner. Everyday is a time to show love, kindness and care and many artists show kindness and care in their art.

The heart is a symbol. A symbol is a picture that has meaning. Can you think of other symbols we might know? What are some of the many meanings the image of a heart can hold? Let's look at artists who have HEART in their art!

"Girl With a Balloon" by Banksy.
Banksy is an artist who uses stencils and paint to make the viewer think, often about current events happening in the world that we should care about. This work, Girl with the Balloon makes us wonder. Is the floating heart balloon represent she has lost hope or perhaps she is GIVING hope and love to the world? or maybe she is reaching, grabbing at dreams and wishes. Artwork can be powerful.

'Hearts in art don't get much better than this! This art might make you feel immediately happy looking at this picture. Pop artist Jim Dine's bright red hearts surrounded by dabs of vibrant color seem to be bursting with happiness and love.'

One Heart, Two Heart, Blue Heart, Gold Hearts. Jim even made 3D hearts.

"Can you spot the heart in this picture? I wonder what this artwork is about? It's called Valentine, which suggests it's about romantic love. It looks like a crane has been used to lift the heart right up to the top of a town. Maybe the artist, Julian Trevelyan, was so much in love he wanted to shout about it from the rooftops...so he made this picture. What do you think?"

Damian Hurst gave heart art a spin. Spinning paint that looks like an explosion of color in all directions.

Damian not only filled hearts with rainbows of color he made the heart 'flutter' with butterflies. Have you ever heard this phrase, gives you butterflies, you might have a warm caring feeling or excited or nervous feeling.

Make a heart but make it Happy! Chris Uphues is a painter, designer and street artist. He is best known for colorful hearts that are often filled with smiley faces.

Chris uses mural artworks to send love and smiles out into communities. A mural is a large painting often on the side of buildings or a large wall. He has painted several murals in Chicago. How fun would it be to have one of his murals in St. Louis!

His colorful artwork is inspired by pop culture.

His work can be found on buildings, t-shirts, wood, stickers and paper. He believes his art work can spread love to the world.

Another mural artist is Jim Goldcrown, an international artist who has created the popular #LoveWall street art.

Several years ago James was hired by a NYC pizza shop to create a mural on their store wall for Valentines Day. Within days his artwork went viral on social media as a selfie backdrop.

He is a street artist, an artist whose art can be seen from the streets. His Love Walls are said to be the most photographed murals ever created. His Hearts became so popular that they went beyond the wall to be on shoes, suitcases, and clothing.

Keith Haring's Pop Art is full of signs and symbols. His heart art is often held up by a crowd of figures often a sign of hope and love. It can also be a sign of community, kindness and caring for others.

From a young age, Keith loved to draw. He grew up making art and visiting art museums. After high school he studied art in New York City. The NYC subway walls became a great place for Keith to share his art and visual messages with lots of people.

Will you use SYMBOLS in your art?

Will you share love and kindness with your art?

We hear people say, think outside the box. What does this mean?

Believe it or not, some artists work inside the frame of a box. Their art composition is contained within the sides. It's not that they aren't being creative, it's their way of actually creating.

Louise Nevelson (September 23, 1899 – April 17, 1988) was an American sculptor known for her large, monochromatic (one color), wooden wall pieces and outdoor sculptures. She would collect interesting objects that other people had discarded, arrange them together, and paint them all black, silver, gold or white!

Louise said that she knew she was an artist when she was 9 years old. Being an artist provided her an identity that she could make all her own. Louise expressed herself as an artist in every aspect of her life - and she certainly dressed the part. She favored a dramatic clothing and garments with piles of jewelry collected from her travels.

"when you put things together, things that other people have thrown out, you’re really bringing them to life."

- Louise Nevelson

Born in the Ukraine, Louise emigrated with her family to the United States over 100 years ago.

When she was a little girl, she loved to play with the wood scraps in her father’s lumberyard. As you look at Louise's art, do you suppose her childhood play with wooden pieces shows up in her art made as an adult? If so, what do you see that makes you say that?

“I always wanted to show the world that art is everywhere, except it has to pass through a creative mind.”

Louise Nevelson

Marisol Escobar, otherwise known simply as Marisol, was a Venezuelan-American sculptor born in Paris, who lived and worked in New York City.

Marisol created wooden sculptures out of rectangular pieces of wood and wooden boxes.

Another artist that worked inside the frame of a box was Joseph Cornell

Joseph created assemblages. Think of an assemblage like a 3-D collage--a grouping of found objects and things.

Some artist have a theme or imagery that is repeated in their works of art.

Do you notice something reoccurring in Joseph's work?

Joseph worked inside sealed boxes, and artist Betye Saar often creates assemblages inside the box of a window frame.

Betye has said that seeing Joseph Cornell's assemblages inspired her to start building three-dimensional works based on found objects. Artists inspire one another.

Betye has a way of telling her own stories and stories about the world through symbols and artifacts.

Betye was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. She has been a working artist for the past 60+ years. She is a mother to 3 daughters two of whom are also working artists. Betye is 94 years old and still creating new work.

To create her assemblage works, Betye Saar gathered items from her own life, including bits of fabric, photographs, and objects she found around the house.

"...it is my goal as an artist to create works that expose injustice and reveal beauty. the rainbow is literally a spectrum of color while...a symbol of hope and promise."
— Betye Saar

Will you create within a contained space?

Will you use found objects make your art?

Will you work in 3D?

Part two

We looked at artists who work with the idea of a frame or a box. Let's look at a few more artists who build their work with a box.

Alfredo and Isabel Aquilizan explore the idea of moving, community and memory in their cities and structures made of cardboard

Other artists who work with boxes

Mark Dion is a contemporary artist who explores our curiosity. A shed packed with hundreds of small boxes, containers, and tins – each filled with old trinkets, toys, debris, or dried plants. Few visitors know that you can enter and open any box (do it!) You are invited in and are welcome to take out the boxes and look inside.

Memory boxes can be all shapes and sizes. Objects inside bring about the senses of sight, touch, smell or sound will evoke some of the strongest memories.

Each box has an object or several objects that are waiting for discovery.

Artist Ibrahim Mahama transforms materials and found objects to explore themes.

Ibrahim lives and works in Ghana.

As you watch this clip:

What were the boxes in this artwork originally used for?

What doe Ibrahim compare the boxes to?

Ibrahim creates walls and installations constructed in common materials. He often works with found objects, transforming them and giving them new meaning.

Tiny collages, drawings and mixed-media works all created in Match Boxes are part of the series called Omri (My Life) by Moroccan artist Mohamed Larbi Rahhali.

These photos capture just a fraction of the hundreds of Match Boxes in Mohamed Larbi Rahhali‘s piece, and the work is still ongoing.

In Mexico a popular type of art is a Nicho. It's a small box where scenes are created inside. Nichos are a type of folk art popular throughout Central and South America. Resembling dioramas, they are made from common household objects and craft materials.

They can be religious, quirky or filled with images that are popular in the culture like cartoons, skeletons, artists or movie stars.

The shadow box itself is easily converted from a cigar box, wooden containers, but can also be constructed from any lightweight wood or recycled tin. Colorful designs are painted on the box and borders Sequins, decorative bits and baubles and glitter can embellish the box.