After about 8 weeks of working on this project, I'm pretty satisfied how it came out. Our requirements were to create a silkscreened image of a portrait of some sort--not necessarily a human portrait. In addition, the work had to exemplify pop art in the style of Andy Warhol by reflecting desensitivity through repetition and consumerism/popular culture.
To make this work reflect Andy Warhol, I thought about three things: the way Warhol used bright, unreal colors over realistic prints, the way he repeated portraits of famous people, and (in the border) the way he haphazardly arranged prints (like in his Mona Lisa piece).
I chose to make a conventional idea of a portrait my subject: a head shot of John Lennon repeated 9 times in a simple repetition structure. However, I hoped to expand on this to bring my points across: I alternately colored and wrote text to show the two aspects of John Lennon's personality. The images with bold, almost jarring colors and the haphazard arrangement around the border represent the image Lennon projected to the world: a facade of toughness and edginess. Then, the images with text show the inner, sensitive side of him through his most profound song lyrics, the only means by which he could pour his whole soul into. I almost kept the original image as it was, but decided to add a border of a haphazard arrangement of John Lennons on colored backgrounds, almost like a symbolic border of outrageousness that he put around himself. Finally, I added further song lyrics to the top and bottom borders to try and unify the work more.
I chose to make a conventional idea of a portrait my subject: a head shot of John Lennon repeated 9 times in a simple repetition structure. However, I hoped to expand on this to bring my points across: I alternately colored and wrote text to show the two aspects of John Lennon's personality. The images with bold, almost jarring colors and the haphazard arrangement around the border represent the image Lennon projected to the world: a facade of toughness and edginess. Then, the images with text show the inner, sensitive side of him through his most profound song lyrics, the only means by which he could pour his whole soul into. I almost kept the original image as it was, but decided to add a border of a haphazard arrangement of John Lennons on colored backgrounds, almost like a symbolic border of outrageousness that he put around himself. Finally, I added further song lyrics to the top and bottom borders to try and unify the work more.
This work falls under the conventional definition of a portrait. It reflects consumerism and influence of the media because John Lennon was a very marketed figure and received much publicity for being the leader of the Beatles, his dramatic antics, and dramatic murder.
This is very interesting to look at because of the composition of the images and the various colors used. It is also engaging because the image of Lennon is so widely known that it immediately evokes a reaction from the viewer.
ReplyDeleteYour piece reminds me the most of Andy Warhol because of the colors you used and thats why i like it so much! i also really like the way you made a border kinda thing out of your images and the way you put words behind some on John Lennon's head really makes it sound out
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting to see how the different color schemes, textures, arrangements, etc. reveal different aspects of the image as well as of John Lennon himself. The lyrics are a definite risk and I think they make the work really engaging.
ReplyDeleteThis is one of my favorite silk screens, the picture is clear, you have great colors, and the lyrics are a great touch. Very cool dandan
ReplyDeleteDaniel- This is a very strong piece for you. It effectively integrates concept with design and I think is a real turning point in your work. The layering of the writing in and around the faces creates unity and balance through the black ink in the writing and in the silk screen. The border adds variety and certainly emphasizes the content of your imagery. It also helps you to create a voice in your artwork and an original vision. Finally, your technical mastery of the printing process is evident in the artwork. Way to go!
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