Kenney Mencher

There are two works of art by artist Barbara Kruger that are as relevant today as they were when they were created in 1980s and should be part of everyone’s vocabulary of known works of art.

In terms of her historical context, Kruger is probably the inventor of what we call today as “memes.” Kruger is probably the first artist to embrace the idea of collaging text and historical image as a way of sending a message rather than creating an advertisement. I suppose that this is at the heart of what Kruger was about was she was propagandist in some ways for fairness and reasonableness in a most basic way. She believed that a feminist agenda and an antifascist agenda were appropriate subject matter for great art. Today, if she were to publish her work it would probably be lost in the flood of political memes we see on Facebook. She was also commenting and warning about consumerism and materialism.

Although these two works were labeled or titled “Untitled,” and then refer to them by the text in them.

The formal qualities of “I shop therefore I am,” are pretty simple it’s a contrasty black and white photo that even in the 1980s would have looked dated. It has a sense of nostalgia from the 1950s. The Bureau that consumer culture began. The red text placed on top of it sort of modernizes it or brings it up to date with the 1980s and the technology of printing at that time.

The combination of the text “I shop therefore I am,” and how it relates to the philosopher René Descartes, “I think therefore I am.” Is just meant as an irony about how we view ourselves because a lot of us feel as if the things we own make us who we are or at least make us think we are who we think we are. Relating it to the 1950s and then into the money glut of the 1980s is just a way of updating the message that what you own is not who you are.

In the other piece, “your gaze hits the side of my face,” Kruger is doing the same thing in terms of juxtaposing or contrasting text with a nostalgic image. However, the sculpture that is represented here is actually a piece of Nazi fascists sculpture from World War II. This brings in not just the idea that fascism is wrong but that Nazis and fascists are antifeminist in some way because they believe in an unreal ideal of both humanity and femininity. The text itself is kind of self-explanatory, however some men might not get it, the idea that very often men harass women simply in the way that they look at the woman and the parts of the woman they look at.

In this age of Donald Trump, many of Kruger’s messages are as relevant as they were in the 80s but it’s kind of sad that were still doing the same crap.

Study with me here: https://www.udemy.com/user/kenneymencher/

I got asked this question this morning so I thought I'd post it here.

I am looking at artists like Theodore Bradley or Niclas Castello for example that mimic that idea of Jean Michel Basquiat. What about those two artists is it that people say that they have great art?

I know a lot about Basquiat but I wasn’t aware of the other two artists you mentioned so I googled them. I must say I’m not very impressed with either of them in terms of my own opinion. But it is just an opinion. So let me support my ideas and opinions with my rationale.

What makes Basquiat a very good artist are several things which include the physical form, the ideas in the art, and his placement in the context of the art world in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Basquiat_self-portrait_1982

In terms of his ideas first, Basquiat was working with a lot of art historical notions such as the Gestalt or collective unconscious. He combined words images texts and even a little bit of contemporary culture in his art along with some biographical notions of who he was as a black man living in the United States. Some of the stuff has political overtones some of it is just stream of consciousness. However, the way he introduced his art to the public or the context that surrounds him is one of the things that created his acceptance and popularity in the art world.

When Basquiat came on the art scene he’d already been living in New York for most of his life and was really part of the New York avant-garde. He introduced the majority of his work by making it public art as a form of graffiti that was very different from the other graffiti writers and artists of the same time. He also hung out in New York with people who were already known as important people in the art scene. All of that combined with the physical qualities of his work made him and his work popular.

The physical qualities of his work really tie in with a lot of art historical ideas starting with the abstract expressionists in action painters like Pollock and deKooning. He experimented with found objects and with nontraditional art materials very much like Robert Rauschenberg and Jasper Johns. He wasn’t interested in traditional drawing skills and he also wasn’t interested in traditional representation in terms of art history from the 19th century and earlier. He embraced his awkward drawing skills and his improvisational use of art materials.

I don’t think that many artists have been able to establish a reputation by a mimicking or emulating other artists without being very unique.Theodore Bradley is really mimicking Basquiat in his personal appearance and some of his content and symbols but they are really not good paintings because he is trying to draw almost realistically but doesn’t have the skill, and also unable to commit to the abstraction that Basquiat did.

Theodore Bradley Google Search

Niclas Castello Almost seems like he is mimicking Jeff Koons and Jasper Johns. However, I don’t think he is well-known because he’s almost like a third-generation copy of the pop art movement.

Niclas Castello Google Search

Of course, all of the stuff above is just my opinion based on some things that I know about art history and the art world.

Artist Andrew Moncrief

Bearded Chubster in an Orange Beanie, Toasting, with a fleur de lis Pattern, oil on masonite panel, 16x20 inches by KennEy Mencher

17th C Baroque Art The Gentileschi cc

18th C French Baroque and Rococo Art cc

Bear it All, 11x14 inches oil on panel by KennEy Mencher

Artist: Douglas Blanchard

Bathroom Tiles, 11x14 inches, oil on canvas panel by Kenney Mencher

Artist: Mark Horst

17th C Baroque Art Chardin and Greuze cc

Painting and Proportions of the Head and Skull in Black and White Oil Paint

Lascaux Bird Headed Man with a Wounded Bison?

Barbara Kruger

Barbara Kruger

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