Artists have HEART

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?