The Modern Egyptian

                                             http://prezi.com/is2i776j2pta/the-modern-egyptian/

"Peplos" Kore

   

    The “Peplos” Kore is a statue created before the Persian invasion.  I found this statue very interesting along with others like it because of the history surrounding them.  This statue is fairly static much like the Berlin Kore.  It does depict a somewhat more realistic or naturalistic representation of a person, but it is still archaic looking.  The style in which this statue was made is very connected to the interaction of cultures at this time. The person has patterned hair and a smile (the archaic smile) that are very much related to middle eastern styles. This region was not far from the Greek city states and was fairly integrated into "Greek" society through trade.  What is more interesting is that this artistic tradition would end with the Persian invasion of Athens, and a new completely naturalistic (although idealized) artistic tradition would begin.  Pericles began this renewal even though earlier leaders had vowed to never rebuild.  They decided to bury the defaced city monuments, like the “Peplos” Kore, as if they were real people.  You can see that the Persians ripped the arm from the statue, because they too viewed the statues and symbols for real people.  After this event, the archaic smile and patterned hair were no longer incorporated into Athenian styles.  Instead the new style celebrated the human and the capability of man, and was a response to Persian 'barbarism'.

Individual Blog Part 2

This artists name is Susanna Shap and she creates contemporary modern paintings.  She says that contemporary modern art can come in different styles and that the focus is either on color or design.  She focuses first on the composition, the heavy texture.  The color is the second thing she adds.  She enjoys modern and abstract art mostly for the freeing nature of the art and not having to worry about whether anyone else likes it.  She creates her textured abstract paintings with a palette knife using oils, acrylics, and anything else the paintings might need.  In response to textured art being just “globs of paint”, she says that she “feels there can never bee too much texture, even if in globs…so long as it is done right and does no come out looking amateur and sloppy.  She explains that there is a lot of control that goes into her pieces that has come with time, experience, and experimentation.  Since, each painting is one of a kind original and each palette knife stroke is done by hand, no piece is ever exactly the same.  This just goes to show that her creative process is fluid even though it can look very repetitive.  I think her paintings are very “wall worthy” for the house I don’t have yet. They all look “good”, the repetitive flow of texture and vibrant colors, even the sameness in tone of each single painting works to the advantage of each piece.  Do you like them?

http://www.modernhouseart.com

Downtown Presbyterian Church

The Downtown Presbyterian Church was a good example of converging cultures in architecture, something discussed in my visual communications class. The Church is designed after ancient Egypt artistic conventions, which were revisited during an Egyptian revival period. This Church mixes strong Egyptian influences with Christian ideas. Crosses are shaped in a way to fit with the Egyptian style. The logo printed on the bibles also has an ancient hieroglyphic-like feeling. However, the pillars with papyrus depictions and the geometric patterns used throughout the Church are very Egypt specific, with no Christian influence. Egyptomania spread throughout much of the art world at this time, but many still thought the use of these aesthetics in a Christian world was offensive because of their cultural implications (design elements can become attached to a entire people and their way of living)

Personally, I would never have guessed the two styles would have been mixed so deliberately. I would like to understand more of the images in the Church such as the large "God" hieroglyphic. I'm sure there is someone who could have explained the image to me, and I would still like to know how it is interpreted in that christian church.  The rest of the Egyptian elements, pillars and patterns were quite aesthetically pleasing.  The pillars were painted with vibrant colors and rose to the ceiling, dwarfing those standing nearby.  They created a rhythm that continued around the room with impressions of pillars on the walls.  The symmetry created with two groupings of three pillars towards the front guides your eyes towards a central point (the organ during worship or the speaker during a message). The ceiling was also intensely decorated with ornate crown molding like pieces that may have actually been more in style of European churches.  Ornate decoration was popular earlier in Europe and during the time of this church's construction. One of the characteristics I really liked was the openness of the Church. This along with sky blue ceilings really created an amazing lofty effect, which I'm sure was intentional and adds to the spiritual space.  Also, pillars were painted behind the actual pillars which added depth to this part of the church.  The area seemed to have normal lighting, but did have stained glass windows (commonly found in churches) with an Egyptian spin which cast a jewel-like glow.  The positioning of the church right inside a city (next to modern skyscrapers) just made me think that it would be "old" maybe even dark and dull, but I was very surprised with how bright and interesting the church ended up being. My group and I briefly discussed some of these elements. We agreed that the Church was unlike most churches we had seen before and that the experience was very worth while.