Fascination of Art

So recently (about a week ago), my class took a trip to the de Young Museum in San Francisco, at Golden Gate Park. Our assignment is to chose at least one piece of art that inspired us, moved us, or just caught our attention. 
During my walk-through of the permanent exhibits that we were allowed to view, I was able to see many different styles of artwork that have come from many places and time periods. 


For my assignment, I have chosen these pieces of art to write about:

Seattle Ladder 1970

<--- This piece of art is named Seattle Ladder. It was created by Therman Statom in 1992. Statom is known for his glass scuplture. He cuts, paints, and assembles the glass, as well as adds more glass to create spectacular artwork. This particular piece of work was created with plate glass, blown glass, glass fragments, paint, and silicone. I believe Statom named it as he did because he began his earliest years of education in glass art about an hour north of Seattle, in Stanwood, Washington. This piece caught my eye because I live between the two cities, and Seattle is very creative when it comes to art. I mean, we do have a wall of gum, that many people have placed there already-chewed gum onto a building, and people go to visit it. The artist chose a ladder because his best known pieces of art are architectural designs such as ladders, chairs, tables, miniature houses, and box-like paintings. I do not believe that this piece of art reveals anything about the time it was created in, but I do believe that it reveals a lot about the artist himself. The message I seemed to perceive when I saw the Seattle Ladder was that glass can be made into anything, and that the artist has a fine taste for architectural objects, as Seattle is a very industrial city. Time management and setting both had a lot of impact on Statom to create this piece because as I have said, it is very "Seattle-like." Being around the city or the area must have been his motivation, though I am not completely sure.

Coffin in the shape of a cocoa pod ca.1970

This next piece of art is called Coffin in the shape of a cocoa pod. It was created by Kane Kwei ca. 1970. It is made of wood, paint, and cloth and was of African; West African; Ghanain descent. It was created in Ghana as a ritual object. He owns a carpentry workshop that creates coffins intended for funerals. The reason this piece of art caught my eye was because of its unusual design; shape and color. Kwei was the inventor of fantasy coffins in the early 1950's and his work shows his pride in his home and his ethnic traditions. I do have to say, his coffin designs are interesting, because they are not boring by any means, and they do not convey death, sadness or scary images. 

Azaleas and Apple Blossoms 1879

<--- Azaleas and Apple Blossoms was painted on canvas with the oil paint in 1879 by Charles Caryl Coleman. The title is suitable due to the azaleas and apple blossoms in the painting, titling itself. This piece of artwork caught my eyes because of the simplicity of the setup of the painting, but yet how beautiful and intricate the flowers become when intertwined within each other. The colors of the flowers are soft, as the vases stick out in the painting. Though the European tabletop still-life tradition is in place, the Japanese art of flower arrangement called "Ikebana" really adds to it, and they both work together really well. I feel that while Coleman was in Rome post-Civil War, he was inspired by his European surroundings, he also wanted something a little different, that would work beautifully with the European style.
The oil painting on canvas also gives it a little more texture and really makes the painting "pop." 

Flanged cylinder vessel
with the god K'awiil A.D. 600-850

The intricate piece of art to the right is known as the Flanged cylinder vessel with the god K'awiil. It was created in Mexico as a late, classical Mayan piece. The Mayans were all about complexity and I feel that this piece was made to honor the god K'awiil, as it states in the title. It's a very detailed, symmetrical sculpture. A flanged cylinder is a piece of spun metal, and carved into this artwork. This definitely represents the historical era of the Mayans. I feel the motivation of this artwork was simply the time and surrounding of the Mayans and their gods, and what they believed in. We have all looked up to the Mayans, as we simply have based our calendar year and time off of their findings and writings. So far, we believe in the Mayans because many of what they have said was going to happen, has happened, even if they were off by a few years. The controversy of 2012 is still debatable, and we will not know until the time comes, but recent findings suggest they were off by around 50 years.