Visual Culture Compare and Contrast - Assignment Example

Introduction Cessation of life which we call death occurs in many different forms. The Medical dictionary defines death as the ‘permanent cessation of all vital bodily functions’ or the ‘absence of voluntary or spontaneous functions of the cardiac and respiratory systems.’ (medicineNet.com, 2004) Death is a painful subject that we humans do not like to associate ourselves with. It fills our hearts and souls with a feeling of foreboding and melancholy. This essay is going to deal with the idea of death by comparing and contrasting the works of three great artists and see how they have depicted death according to their thoughts and feelings. “Death of Chatterton” (1856) by the artist Henry Wallis (1830 – 1916) is an oil on canvas presentation which is exhibited in the Tate Gallery in London. The painting measures 24 1/2 x 36 3/4 inches depicting the dead Chatterton lying across his bed with his right arm hanging down to the floor. Born in London Henry Wallis was not only a famous Pre- Raphaelite painter of the 18th century, but he was also a writer and a collector. Wallis’ biological father was unknown and he took the surname of his step – father Andrew Wallis, who was an affluent architect in London. He had a thorough training in the Arts after he got admitted into the Painting School in 1858 and thereafter furthered his artistic abilities by studying Art at the Marc – Charles – Gabriel – Gleyre at Paris and then at the Academia des Beaux Arts. Chatterton was quite a well known poet of the 18th century who is said to have written his poems in the guise of a 15th century monk called Rowley and these ‘Rowleian’ poems had almost passed for being authentic in their presentation which had even fooled the great Chaucer scholars. Even at the young age of 17 he was writing great eclogues, operas and political letters both in prose and poetry. However, he met an unfortunate death by taking an overdose of arsenic because his finances were almost zero and starvation imminent, due to people not being too receptive and acknowledging his works. Wallis saw instant success for his painting which he titled ‘Death of Chatterton’ depicting the impoverished condition of the 17 year old youth who was a poet during the 18th century. Chatterton was considered by many aspiring artists of his day to be a romantic hero, who in a fit of utter despair poisoned himself and died. In ‘Chatterton’ George Meredith was his model and Wallis makes use of bright colors and good symbolic detail to show his association with the Pre- Raphaelite era. He contrasted the rich bold colors by exploiting the beams of natural light that streamed through the open window in his own well loved style called ‘chiaroscuro’ where he saturated the initial sketch in water and then used a grey tint to give it shade. After this he painted using different colors which he allowed to dry before using a fine hair pencil to fill in more detail. This famous painting was sketched and painted on site in Chatterton’s small room, which was just a little bigger than his scope of the painting. Unlike the Chatterton painting, Izima Kaoru’s (1954) was a graphical photo titled ‘Hasegawa Kyoko wears Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche’ (2003) is a photo depicting the sad death of a girl that measured 39.3 x 31.5 in. / 99.7 x 80 cm. The photo of death is very visible in his work, portraying death as it occurs in everyday life. The model in this photograph is seen wearing a red dress with a black bra and black stockings and lying on the floor on a street among heaps of garbage bags. She is supposed to be his fourth model wearing the color red. Izima Kaoru was famous for his photos on a corpse series and his book had a Japanese title that meant “The Scene as Last seen.” This was his fourth book of photos and featured eleven well known ‘dead’ women who were either singers, actresses or models, fashionably dressed in highly branded clothes of the highest fashion who posed as corpses while being filmed in different places. This photo book was published in 2004 by Bijutsu in both Japanese and English. When comparing the two mediums we find that Henry Wallis had made use of models that closely resembled eminent figures in the world of art or literature, while Izima Kaoru used models who resembled actresses, singers or models. The medium used to present their ideas of death were unlike too. While Wallis used painting as his medium, Kaoru used the medium of photography for his works. It was a Chromogenic print depicting the model dead among the garbage bags lying on the floor. Wallis’ model of the dead Chatterton lay across bed in his own room and it was a death caused by suicide by Chatterton himself because he was disappointed and frustrated with his life. All of Izima’s models including the one in question, the people are murdered depicting the unnatural cause of death. Some of them are shot with a bullet (4 or 5 shots on each body) or an arrow and is supposed to be a ghastly sight, but even in this condition the artist does his best to make them pretty even in death. The models wear clothes of the rich and famous to look stylish also have on a lot of make up too as can be clearly seen in Izima’s photo on Hasegawa Kyoko wears Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche’ (2003) He gives the whole scene of the crime a pretty and eye- catching look. Izima uses unlikely places for his photography on death which could be a grassy plain or seashore or even a parlor. Distant and close up shots are used so one can see the crime scene as well as the corpse’s beautiful face. The artistic genius that Izima possess comes clearly through in all his photographs. The models chosen for the photograph are all beautiful women who are famous and from different walks of life. The overall fashion element, the make up and the realistic wide open eyes in combination with tasteful aesthetics are the attributes that arrests the viewer. The surrounding environment also plays a major role in that it is intelligently chosen and wonderfully crafted to highlight the scene of death. Michael Hussar, born in 1964 in Long Beach California, was one of the most eminent artists of his time describes his works as "a voyeuristic snapshot of perceived humanity”,.. ”the grey areas between truth and lies.” His works have been influenced by themes based on Death, Sin, Love, Hate and Redemption. Hussar’s paintings hold a deep meaning for him because it allows him to face his demons and get rid of them through the strokes of his brush. Many of his painting have been bought by great celebrities such as Warren Beaty, Leonardo Di Caprio and Francis Ford Coppolla. Hussar is featured in Metamorphosis 2 along with some of the most influential artists of today. Metamorphosis 2 is superb collection of art work comprising of imaginative and figurative art of great contemporary arts of high artistic caliber. Michael Hussar is also said to have been involved in the “lowbrow” scene along the West Coast. Hussar uses a master technique with meticulous precision and creates his portraits that are most unusual but yet speak volumes. Inspired by the Northern Renaissance each of Hussar’s work holds deep significance that relate to people living during different times. He also taught painting for about 10 years at an art college in Los Angeles and conducts a lot of workshops in painting across the United States. Hussar also had the great honor of placing his exhibits at the Washington DC’s Library of Congress. Hussar’s painting titled “Gummer” or “Gum Runner” as it is also called is an arresting oil on wood painting showing great contextual maturity but at the same time is evocative. In this painting, the model is a male unlike the female models in Wallis’ and Izima’s art work. This model is shown sitting in his bathtub with his arm resting on the border. Red flowers are seen scattered in the tub and on the floor of the bathing room. The oil painting also shows a beautiful swan with its slender neck lowered down. The face of the model is distorted by the use of red coloring around the mouth and eye areas and reminds me very much of the artist Sylvia whose arts works are quite unusual and arresting as she made use of the same technique of a grotesque representation of the model. The eyes in Hussar’s painting speak of a painful experience such as a jilted lover because the eyes are filled with tears. A red star depicts a wound on his forehead while his hair is totally disheveled as they fall to the shoulders. Bright red apples are also seen floating in the bathtub depicting that the person could have been eating the fruit prior to the incident. Both the arms are shown holding the rim of the marble bath- tub and are covered with hordes of insects which give it a very creepy appearance. The sheer irony of the way in which death is depicted always leaves his audience speechless. The 72” by 72” speaks volumes of the suffering of a human who meets his drastic end – death. Even though this death scene is gory, yet it has aesthetic beauty by the artist making use of flower petals and a beautiful and graceful swan. When comparing Wallis’ “Death of Chatterton” which had a peaceful and calm presentation, Hussar’s painting is more blatant in portrayal as he beautifully incorporates the human feelings and emotions with his brush strokes. In comparing it with Izima Kaoru’s photographic representation of death, ‘Hasegawa Kyoko wears Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche’, Hussar’s painting is more natural showing pain and distraught not only in the colors used but also the position of the body. In Izima’s photographic representation, it looks as if a scene had been set, with the model having a face that had make up and was peaceful despite the bullet shots received. In this respect Hussar’s painting “Gunner” stands out for its most natural representation of human emotions and death. References “Chatterton” by Henry Wallis http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/54/Chatterton.jpg Henry Wallis www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Wallis Izima Kaoru www.artnet.com/artist/21663/izima-kaoru.html Michael Hussar – Paintings www.beinart.org/artists/michael-hussar/ Photographs www.elogedelart.canalblog.com/archives/photographs_/index.html Sylvia www.sylviaji.com/ Underground Art Union www.undergroundartunion.com/code/gallery/.../hussar/hussar.html Read More