AQA A2 Art and Design Themes 2013 Resource Pack

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Lauren Byrd
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1 AQA A2 Art and Design Themes 2013 Resource Pack Impact of Colour Bright, dull, mood, B&W, contrasting, clashing, complimentary. Weather/ Weathering Worn, stark, muddy, marked, wet. Body Language Up-front, reserved, aggressive, inviting, closed off, open, closed. Cultural Influences History, politics, music, art, people, nationality, environment. Music/ Musical Instruments Sound, noise, tunes, tones, banging, emotion, memory. Urban Societies Groups, masses, people, isolation, architecture, gangs, businesses. Closely Observed Watched, spied on, concerned, stalking, magnified. Art as Propaganda Posters, symbols, politics. When collecting research and contextual influences: Consider how the artist has made the work. Look at what materials have they used. Why do you think they used these materials? Do you think the medium effectively portrays the concept/ theme of the work? Do you think there is more than one theme in the work? Do you see inspiration/ influences from other artists, art movements or events in the work?

2 It is usually the case that Artists and Designers use materials specific to the theme of their work, so they can illustrate a specific meaning, mood or story. They may also consider composition, scale, colour, text and style. They will develop their ideas, refine them though testing, reflect and record their work in writing and practical outcomes and present their work to reflect the theme running through it. The following artists particularly illustrate some of the themes listed above within their work: Impact of Colour Sergei Vasiliev/ Gosha Ostretsov/ Dasha Shishkin Weather/ Weathering Nika Neelova/ Roman Savchenko/ Valery Koshlyakov Body Language Sergei Vasiliev/ Vikenti Nilin Cultural Influences Sergei Vasiliev/ Anna Parkina/ Gosha Ostretsov Urban Societies Vikenti Nilin Closely Observed Sergei Vasiliev/ Vikenti Nilin Art as Propaganda Anna Parkina

Sergei Vasiliev Gallery 1 Impact of Colour/ Body Language/ Cultural Influences/ Closely Observed Vasiliev worked for several years as a prison warden in Russia.

3 Sergei Vasiliev Gallery 1 Impact of Colour/ Body Language/ Cultural Influences/ Closely Observed Vasiliev worked for several years as a prison warden in Russia. During this time, Vasiliev took a number of photographs of the prisoners he was warding. Together with around 3000 illustrations drawn by fellow warden Danzig Baldaev, Vasiliev s photographs act as a narrative documentation of coded massages against the regime and crimes committed by the prisoners in the pictures. Vasiliev s use of photography, in comparison with Baldaev s solitary illustrations of the tattoos, enhances and underpins the story behind the inscriptions, as the viewer is forced to engage with the subjects pictured. Photography as a medium offers a stronger sense of reality, making the aesthetics and concept of the work more meaningful. It also highlights the physical transformation the men have gone through. The use of black and white heightens the sense of tension in the work, as the lighter and darker contrasting shades become exaggerated. It also emphasizes a sense of the traditional and the past and allows the image to remain pure. This specific piece for example is extremely busy. Black and white heightens the various body illustrations, where colour would saturate and brighten the image, causing a conflict with the nature and mood of the piece. As each tattoo, which were applied to the prisoners by themselves or other inmates whilst inside, have a specific meaning, it is important that the medium shows them clearly. This is important both for the visual impact of work and the narrative, which runs throughout it. Seeing the prisoners in close up, also encourages the narrative to flow, as the viewer can relate the meanings behind the tattoos to the person, making the tattoos gritty and real. This can range from seeing a tattoo of a tiger, which means the prisoner is aggressive, or a sailing ship on the forearm, meaning they are longing for freedom, to a rose on the shoulder, meaning the prisoner turned 18 whilst in prison. This series of images shows a collection of crimes, messages and importantly, people.

Anna Parkina Gallery 2 Cultural Influences/ Art as Propaganda Anna Parkina s work includes a variety of media, ranging from collage to sculpture to performance.

Born and raised in the Soviet Union, Parkina moved to Paris and California to study before returning to post-soviet Moscow.

4 Anna Parkina Gallery 2 Cultural Influences/ Art as Propaganda Anna Parkina s work includes a variety of media, ranging from collage to sculpture to performance. Her collages and sculptures, which are reminiscent of Constructivist and Soviet Propaganda Art (look up Rodchenko), are portholes from which to consider contemporary Russian culture and society. Born and raised in the Soviet Union, Parkina moved to Paris and California to study before returning to post-soviet Moscow. Like her own physical journey from East to West and back again, her collages illustrate the journey she has undertaken. They combine elements of the East (Constructivism) and West (images of popular characters and English text), to create a body of work, which show the journey and evolution of her as an artist, as well as her home country. The layering of the collage and cut-outs makes the viewer feel like they are moving through a passage or a puzzle, travelling through positive and negative spaces. The similar tonal range of colour used throughout the series, allow the materials to fuse and become a collection of pieces, rather than separate individual pieces.

Gosha Ostretsov Gallery 3 Impact of Colour/ Cultural Influences Gosha Ostretsov works at the junction between contemporary art and the avant-garde fashion inspired by the aesthetics of Constructivism.

5 Gosha Ostretsov Gallery 3 Impact of Colour/ Cultural Influences Gosha Ostretsov works at the junction between contemporary art and the avant-garde fashion inspired by the aesthetics of Constructivism. From 1988 to 1998 he lived and worked in Paris, where he pushed his practice to become an extreme form of costume-object. This tied in and was heavily influenced by his interest in comic-strip culture. Comics were banned in Russia until recently, being seen by the system as an extreme form of Western capitalist propaganda. The legalisation of the suppressed comic book becomes a strong and forceful feature in his work, making itself apparent through an explosion of bold lines and bright colours. Using comic book imagery allows the artist to comment upon the end of the Cold War and the integration of West and East. The grotesque latex masks on display offer a sense of obscurity and hidden identities. They are almost suggestive of men who have been transformed, having had their appearance or ideas modified and altered. Much of the artists work depicts a strong sense of struggle, which can be seen as a power struggle. The look of the work is striking and intoxicating with its bright saturated and contrasting colours. There is an element of the fantastical in the work, although one can easily relate to it due to the imagery i.e. iconic style buildings representing the United States of America. The piece featured here is particularly eye-catching. It captures the viewer s attention with its large scale and sense of narrative, inviting the viewer to step in. It also has a strong sense of energy, movement and speed, with the bright lightning bolts and sharp, multiple lines.

Vikenti Nilin Gallery 4 Body Language/ Urban Societies/ Closely Observed Vikenti Nilin s Neighbours series (1993-present), represents different people, who all find themselves in the same situation.

6 Vikenti Nilin Gallery 4 Body Language/ Urban Societies/ Closely Observed Vikenti Nilin s Neighbours series (1993-present), represents different people, who all find themselves in the same situation. The uniformity of the scale, format and use of photography, together with the commonplace Soviet tower block, allows the work to be viewed as a series. Viewing the work as a series is important, as it bind the people in the pictures together, making the work more than a set of snap shots. Indeed the work becomes a commentary upon a section of urban society, their life and their situation. The use of black and white helps heighten the feeling of depression in the work, with its plain tonal range. Black and white also offers a sense of the real, as it is reminiscent of journalistic photography in newspapers. Colour would have brightened the images, making them seem less dramatic. However look a little closer and you will notice that while the people are perched on the edge of high ledges, staring into the abyss, they do not seem in the least bit worried. In fact they look rather bored. This provides an interesting contradiction to the dangerous appearance built up in the images, which has been achieved through the use of sharp angles and an extreme perspective. There are many elements of pull and push (will the subject s jump- do they want to?), tension (perspective verses emotion) and stress (the feeling instilled within the viewer) within the work.

7 Nika Neelova Gallery 5 Weather/ Weathering Nika Neelova makes sculptural installations. She uses found, often weathered, reclaimed objects from buildings, as well as making new objects from recyclable materials. This will include using materials like paper mulch with wire in moulds to re-create rope, like in the image displayed. This alteration of materials helps to create a transformation in both the original work and in the audience s perspective of it. By changing the materials to become something else, the artist has fused the found and the altered together, to exist as one piece. By combining and mixing original objects like burnt timber with modified materials, the new becomes the old, fusing the two together to become ultimately equal. For the artist it is important to show the historical memory that is embedded in materials. Nika Neelova.

8 Dasha Shishkin Gallery 9 Impact of Colour Dasha Shishkin works as a drawer, not a painter. The artist herself feels this is an important differentiation, as it describes the method and meaning in her work. She is primarily concerned with the use of line, which she draws. She then uses paint on the reverse of her paper (Mylar paper, which is like thick tracing paper) to fill in the background. The drawn line ultimately tells the story in her work. Her large-scale compositions, like the one displayed here, are inhabited with scenes of unusual characters, who exist somewhere between comedy and horror. Usually in overcrowded spaces, the figures appear to lounge and lunge over one another. The intensely patterned rooms and spaces add a quality of distraction and overwhelming commotion, as does the colour, which is sugary sweet and intoxicating. Even the figures that are stationary or sitting seem to be engaged in deep thought involving the other members of the social gathering. There is a real feeling of space and occasion in this work, which the artist has created by establishing a sweeping scene filled to capacity with gathered people engaged in a variety of activities.

9 Roman Savchenko Gallery 9 Weather/ Weathering Roman Savchenko s ballpoint pen drawing is made up of many layers. With only a light wash of paint over certain areas of the paper, the image of the swirling cloud has been worked over and over with a quick hand. The pressure varies at different points, highlighting the different levels of motion and character in the image. There is a strong sense of texture and feeling in the work, as the layers of pen have crinkled the surface of the paper, allowing the cloud to assume power and personality. The direction and sharpness of the rain gives the cloud movement, as they almost impersonate legs ready to carry the cloud away. This serves as a reminder of the artist s performance-like process when working and ties in with his use of performance and dance (under the name Roman Ass). Cloud (2010) is large in scale and uses mixed media drawing techniques. The scale and depth of the layering and lines applied, transforms the piece into more than a doodle or a sketch. Instead it becomes an image of energy, mass and layered space, which the viewer is invited to explore.

Valery Koshlyakov Gallery 10 Weather/ Weathering Valery Koshlyakov s overwhelmingly large paintings are reminiscent of stage backdrops in the theatre.

10 Valery Koshlyakov Gallery 10 Weather/ Weathering Valery Koshlyakov s overwhelmingly large paintings are reminiscent of stage backdrops in the theatre. This adds a sense of narrative to the work and makes them intensely grand. The use of a tight tonal range compliments and ties together the paint and the cardboard, making the surface an important visual part of the piece. Painted with a fast and furious hand however, the images are full of marks and meaning. These are not simply paintings of great architectural buildings. They are a depiction of the symbols of great Empires, which have begun to erode. The colour scheme and use of materials evokes a feeling of memory, as does the layering of the cardboard, alluding to the many layers a dream or memory may have. The dashes of paint, layering of cardboard and rips and tares also highlight a feeling of weathered decay and alteration. There is a feeling of seeing familiar sights, which have been broken down, making them the same but different.

AQA A2 Art and Design Themes 2013 Resource Pack

AQA A2 Art and Design Themes 2013 Resource Pack Transformations Change, morph, journey, emotions, growth, ideas, revolution, makeover, alteration. Circles Journeys, round, rotation, phases, series, ring,