Rene Magritte was a painter who liked to play with your head. He’s dead now, but when he was alive he found ways to use everyday imagery to challenge common conceptions about life, meaning, and identity. The first time I saw one of Magritte’s paintings, I felt as though I couldn’t stop my mind from grinding. His razor sharp wit and clever meanings found their way into my brain through my eyes. At first, his paintings seemed dull, bland, and full of dead space. For example, my favorite Magritte painting, The Treachery of Images, pretty much only consists of two browns, a dark brown bear brown, and a burlap sack brown, with a tinge of black for emphasis. It seems boring at first glance; however, as my first glimpse lingered for a moment on the image, I gently tapped at a nearby friend’s hairy forearms and asked if I was seeing the image correctly. The paradox of what I was seeing challenged my conception of language, of identity, and of meaning itself. Ultimately, Magritte found a way to make his deceptively plain visuals appeal to more than just his audience’s eyes. Here are a few examples of Magritte’s smart work:
The Treachery of Images, the text reads, "This is not a pipe."
The Son of Man
The Human Condition
Posts
2 comments:
Hello, Mr.Butts! Yes, I'm technologically challenged so I didn't know how to join this blog but I did create my own. My url is http://www.theweezesullivan.blogspot.com/
I know that's kind of inconvenient for you so I'll get with someone to figure this out. The video that I tried to upload did not ever finish so I don't have that either! Sorry. So my "Favorite Artist" post is actually on my blog.
I still cant figure out how to post it.
My Favorite Artist
After many art classes throughout my life I have learned to really love Salvador Dali. His work is very smart. He uses everything he knows to his advantage when he creates his work. Avery deep understanding for how the human brain works as well as how the eye sees and interprets things helps his creations. Dali knows how to twist imagery and our brains. For instance, his Lincoln piece from far looks like a rough image of President Lincoln, however close up you realize it is so much more. It contains two women, one smaller in size both looking out of the squares. Then in the bottom left hand corner a actual portrait of Lincoln is there. I just love how you could stare at it all day and see something different every time. It is just a cool little mind mess. Dali is known for his intriguing surrealist work, and is a practiced draftsman, which as a graphic design major I greatly appreciate. He was well rounded and contributed to film as well as sculpture and photography. He even collaborated with Walt Disney to produce the cartoon Destino. He was a eccentric fellow and that echoed in his art.
Post a Comment