Andres Serrano Ana Mendietas Artworks - Essay Example

Andres Serrano Ana Mendieta's artworks "Only he who can view his own past as an abortion sprung from compulsion and need can use itto full advantage in the present. For what one has lived is at best comparable to a beautiful statue which has had all its limbs knocked off in transit, and now yields nothing but the precious block out of which the image of one's future must be hewn (qtd. In Hobbs et al, 1995)." Serranos work as photographer deals with large prints .The size ranges from 20 by 30 inches (51 cm x 76 cm ). The technique he uses is conventional. Serrano does not apply digital manipulation to his work. Of the Work done he has photographed corpses, burn victim's portraits of Klansmen. Apart from this to capture art he travels with his equipment to the most mundane places and picks up his subjects randomly yet always creating a stir (Ontani, 2000). Way of Work By carrying his photographic background paper and lights in New York subways he was able to capture the homeless in their bedraggled clothes .His most recent shows contained another example of this fashion in which he photographed couples in Bizarre way and although caught in tender moments yet were provocative which Adrian Searle of the Guardian described as a "young couple, she with a strap on dildo he with a mildly expectant expression (Nairne & Howgate, 2006)". Examples Of His Work: Serrano has incorporated body fluids in his work in some form or the other, like blood, menstrual blood, semen and mother's milk. The examples of such works out of many are : Blood and Semen II 1990 Piss Christ 1987 Blood and Semen III Many of his works have received much controversy especially true was in the case of Piss Christ which is a photograph of the crucifix submerged in a glass of his own urine. There are other works that too are subjected to the submerged forms of bodily fluids. Yet it is to be observed that although the much contrived Piss Christ was not appreciated when first exhibited it nevertheless sold for $ 162,000 in 1999 in a London Museum and was originally estimated at $20,000- $30,000. Still many slandered him for producing offensive art but nevertheless he got scot-free from circles who believed in artistic freedom (Stilles and Selz, 1995). Expression In Art Serranos work has received a lot of criticism it has been labeled notorious, lurid, offensive, at one point yet on the other it has also gained popularity and is famous .What makes him popular and notorious at the same time is the fact that perhaps he picks up controversial subjects for his work and has a provocative mind for the application of contrasting beautiful serene images with offensive material (Cahan & Kocur, 1996). To the mind of Serrano what at one instant is pure is also containing the darker side to it as well. There is always a twist to the most ordinary and leaves one to wonder if not everything is not as we have always imagined but there is more to it than just what we had always imagined. Applications Of Seranos Work Some of his most famous works are seen as Blood and Semen III on metal band Metallica's " load" Piss and Blood is used on Metallica's "Re Load" Indirect Approach: Serrano's has a very indirect approach to all his art work and he utilizes this in a very cool and subtle manner. Much of his mature work began as early as in the 80's. His focus initially remained mainly on catholic iconography. However he soon turned his attention to be more taboo stuff. This included his use of bodily fluids for his artwork. For much of his creations he received death threats and hate mails. Yet this did not deter the artist in the least and he remained focused on his work as before. The fuss created for his artwork only resulted in the increase of price of his work pieces. Piss Christ It is a 30 by 40 inch color photograph of the crucifix in which the artist has submerged it in the body fluid semen. This piece of art met many disagreeable circles who voiced their opinions very openly calling him a jerk and labeling his work as nothing but offensive and degrading. Many protesters protested openly at his exhibitions and wanted a ban on the funding of such vulgar material exhibited in the name of art (Bal, 2001). Of the many reputable who voiced their disgust were Senator Jesse Helms, and groups like American Family Association. All this controversy and criticism led to Serranos popularity and his artwork became symbolic to circles who felt that art should be one singular form that could evoke strong and powerful emotions and they opinioned that his work definitely did that and bring out those very emotions in public. Some thought his picture Piss Christ equated with Christianity and the American values. Some believed it to be a political icon and to all that was said in so many different circles the artist himself simply commented on "Fox" that his use of bodily fluids was just a means of redefining his relationship with Christ (Hobbs et al, 1995). Material Used His earlier works have seen use of other body fluids like blood, milk and water. He himself feels the need to use them as material because of the fact that they are already rich in content meaning thereby that he finds what he needs to express in his work is available in these very materials which to any might feel a bit out of the ordinary yet he again has explored and touched something that does not come naturally to all.and feels a natural knack in painting with fluids. It has been quite some time that Serrano has been using animal blood to create his masterpieces. In his works he has used butchered cows heads and other body parts (Ontani et al, 2000). Making Ripples The heightened criticism of Serranos work was felt in the united States Senate as well and members there felt that it was time to lobby for changes in the funding plan for National Endowment for the Arts (NEA).Serranos work was named "deplorable, despicable display of vulgarity" on the Senate floor as reported by "ARTnews".To such expressions members of the artistic community were only too happy to support the artists work and answering to the senate's comments promptly as the Artist having explored new medium for the use as his material and the topics as being related to the outcome of his Hispanic Catholic Culture. This very aspect is recognized by Walter Benjamin in his works the "Art of Mechanical Reproduction". He saw this politicization of art as an achievement of communism compared to Fascism which projected politics as a means of gaining social control (Hobbs et al, 1995). Altering Notions To answer whether photography is an art form or not we analyze the results of a piece of art that a painter captures verses to that of a cameraman. The painter at one hand naturally maintains some distance from his desired object whereas the cameraman literally penetrates his desired object to achieve the result with his camera. This concept is so true when one looks at the photographs of Serrano. How the materials he uses on the objects catch the light of the camera to produce the illuminating results of his photographs (Warren, 2005). His photography is unconventional and traditional both in some ways .His photographs produce direct results whereas Serranos himself says things indirectly. So it is this second medium that he chooses that he lets out what he does not want to say. Photography versus Paint The result obtained by both is markedly different that of the painter being a total one and that of the cameraman as consisting of multiple fragments rendering this image as more significant to a contemporary man than the image obtained by the painter. Hence the mechanical incorporation in the process changes the whole look of art form providing more depth and perception to the viewer (Warren, 2005). Early Influence Looking at the artists work at the time of his start of the career one is reminded of the filmmaker Luis Bunuel and painter Salvador Dali, who also incorporated the use of rituals and symbols of Roman Catholicism in their work. Maybe it was what initially fascinated the artist to take up as his subject. Many of his pictures present duality of nature and in some form contradicts what is depicted in them (Andres et al, 2000). Dual Nature His portraits to a casual onlooker seem harmless, even to the point of being beautiful pieces of art which beckons ones eye to come and have a closer look, for the materials used in it are such that create a softness to them, yet on closer inspection the brutal harshness of the subject matter is repelling in the very next instance. It is his form of unique expression that renders the onlookers to be mesmerized by a certain piece for some time until they realize the whole object (Serrano & Wilson, 1997). Probably it is this shock and surprise that the artist wants his work to produce on art lovers' .Perhaps it is two sides of reality that he wants to portray or simply that beautiful could be provocative at the same time, and that tender could feel lurid at the same time. In fact true to this very concept the "piss Christ" gained notoriety only when it caught Senator Helmes attention (Warren, 2005). Criticism Although much hue and alarm was created for his artwork, Serrano calmly continued to produce work of similar nature and found his art to be in great demand in the bigger art galleries. He was even invited as a spokesperson for artistic freedom on Television's Face the Nation, several universities and museums. By 1991 his prints started selling for 5,000-8,000. 1991 saw his Nomad series which he got inspired to produce by the very fact that he saw the Indians as a diminishing race and that he admired Curtis work who had similar opinion about the Indians (Hobbs et al, 1995). Klansmen And The Homeless: November 1990 saw a new phase of his career. He opened up an exhibition which contained pictures of homeless and the famous Klansmen, thus depicting the sharp contrasts of society focusing on racial hatred and depicting the outcasts of society. His other portraits contained subjects to whom he paid mere $ 10 for their sitting. His fascination for such acts and subjects stems from the fact that he feels himself in touch with a little of how the homeless go about as he sees himself on the outside. He himself often feels that in some way he identifies with his subjects .Nevertheless it is only this piece of Serranos work that actually evokes in one the feelings of being connected to the subjects, or simply humanist sentiments arise when one looks upon his work of Nomads and the Klansmen . He sometimes learnt a lot from his subjects, like in the photography of Klansmen where he learnt their point of view and witnessed their poverty, how acutely he felt when they talked of white supremacy and they being out casted and thought different. His portraits of both the homeless and the Klansmen depicted extreme poverty and extreme prejudice. Such subjects and their portrayal confront us with social and moral dilemmas. Although there is nothing declaratory about Serranos work yet he leaves a very strong impact on one's mind and touches some very important issues in his own frontal way. Alteration of Conception The fusion of visual and emotional enjoyment as a resultant of this process is of great social significance. What ones naked eye could miss the camera lens picks up in detail, giving a whole new meaning and concept to something one could not imagine through naked eye observation. Hence the artist in this manner is able to attract masses for he has attained results beyond the ordinary and has provoked the mind to think differently by providing broader spectrums as never before. Through Serranos eyes: Serrano sees nothing wrong in his artwork and calls it religious not sacrilegious. He confesses of the love with Christ but of having problems with the Catholic Church. He further insists that his icons especially piss Christ has its best place in the church. Serrano considers his work as personal and not in the least Hispanic and where people have commented on him he merely is of the opinion that as he is not very vocal about his work people often fills in for him in their own ways. He sees nothing wrong in being called Hispanic or being Hispanic on the other hand and was surprised at students he met in Boulder who used the terms Latino or Chicano .He considered them politicized. Political Nature Serranos approach being indirect and his stance towards ethnicity has received much politically volatile results. His art has definitely led to many political implications but Serrano maintains that even when born of color in itself is a political statement yet he himself has nothing to do with politics. He sees his work to have only social implications and not of political nature. He confesses to have lived a lonesome life not tolerating any social life or having to do anything with it and it was his work that brought him closer to people and he let them in onto his life.His latest work is based in which he uses his own feces as material. Bibliography Andres, Serrano et al. Andres Serrano: Placing Time and Evil. Stiftelsen, 2000 Bal, Mieke. Quoting Caravaggio: Contemporary Art, Preposterous History. University Of Chicago Press, 2001 Cahan, Susan and Zoya Kocur. Contemporary Art and Multicultural Education. Routledge, 1996 Hobbs, Robert et al. Andres Serrano: Works 1983-1993. Inst of Contemporary Art,1995 Nairne, Sandy and Sarah Howgate. The Portrait Now. Yale University Press, 2006 Ontani, Luigi et al. Appearance. Charta, 2000 Serrano, Andres and Mark Wilson. A History of Andres Serrano: A History of Sex. Groninger Museum, 1997 Serrano, Andres et al. Andres Serrano. Galleri Susanne Ottesen, 1991 Stiles, Kristine and Peter Selz. Theories and Documents of Contemporary Art: A Sourcebook of Artists' Writings. University of California Press, 1995 Warren, Lynne. Encyclopedia of Twentieth-Century Photography. Routledge, 2005 Read More