A2 ART PROJECT OVERVIEW

Proposal for my project:

I intend to investigate the act of Surrealism for my A2 Art project. I have chosen to study this because I like the juxtaposition of perhaps conflicting thoughts, ideas and emotions in one piece. This is something I find interesting, along with the imagination of Surrealist artists to conjure such strange creatures from everyday objects. 

Introduction: 

One of the artists I have chosen to study is Salvador Dali, one of the founders of the Surrealist movement. I love Dali’s work, as he built upon other Surrealist artist, Magritte’s, dream imagery with his own erotically charged, hallucinated visions; it’s as though Dali  sought to release the unbridled imagination of the subconscious. In particular I like his 1930s to early 1940s work, especially the Metamorphosis of Narcissus, Sleep and swans reflecting elephants; all of which were part of Dali’s “paranoiac – critical method”, in order to access what he called “irrational knowledge.” I like the way his work moves and contrasts, with good flow which is something I would like to achieve in my own work.

My second artist for this study is Marc Chagall. The main aspect of their work I will concentrate on is his use of oil on canvas and pen and ink on paper in order to create a dreamy, almost rough looking  texture; which I think allows his art work to flow, for example in The Cow with Sunshade. I think that by using his techniques and materials, I will also be able to achieve a dream like look, in combination with Dali’s hallucinated imagery to create my own surrealist work. I am particularly interested in Chagall’s 1941- 1948 period of work where he was in America; because I find that this move from France allowed him to “find a feeling of youth” which I found made his work flow more. Some of his work that especially interests me includes The Rooster in Love, Blue Concert and Homage to the Past.

My final artist of study is Giorgio de’ Chirico and the main aspect of his work will be his idea of “pittura Metafisica” – to free art from mechanical aspects of cubism. He painted a highly influential group of paintings evoking dream-like architectural visions of Italy. Further developed this style, was known as Metaphysical painting. I like that was that Chirico uses different materials in his work to create tone and depth, for example in one of my favourite piece’s of his, The Uncertainty of the Poet. This is something I want to accomplish in my own work in order to make my pieces not only look surreal and dream like, but to also make them seem real and vivid. Again, some of my favourite pieces are: The Painter’s Family, Two Heads and The Terrible Games.