National Gallery of Canada: Caravaggio

Besides going to Ottawa to visit Parliament Hill, this year I also went because the National Gallery of Canada had a Caravaggio exhibit. I have been a huge fan of Caravaggio for years, ever since high school when I took art history. I love his paint style because he makes people look so real and life-like, and because of the dark and light contrast (creating unspoken emotions). This baroque style never ceases to amaze me, because I can stare at a painting for hours and still be puzzled at how it looks so real. I also love how he pulls off such impossible to reproduce on paint bodily poses. So when I heard his art work would be on display at the art gallery I knew I had to go.

The National Gallery of Canada is located just a few blocks from Parliament Hill, and has an amazing view of Ottawa from all sides of the building. On the front of the gallery there is a massive giant spider to greet you as you walk in. My friend who I went to the exhibit with, told me that there were mixed reactions towards such a piece when it was first installed. I honestly liked the spider because the gallery building seems so serious and intimidating, and the spider adds a spice of imagination towards the area. Art galleries are meant to be different, abstract, and especially provided you with something to talk about. I also believe that all art takes a while before we get used to it and find the beauty in it. I’m sure artists such as van Gogh and Claude Monet must have faced criticism when they first displayed their pieces as well.

Entrance into the Caravaggio exhibit was $15, and it also allowed me to visit the rest of the art gallery. Unfortunately I was unable to take any pictures and videos of the paintings because of copyright issues. However I wasn’t totally disappointed because once you see these masterpieces up close and personal, there really isn’t any way else to describe how beautiful they are; you simply just need to see them in person. I was amazed at how close I go to these paintings because I thought they would be behind glass, but they weren’t. Instead I was able to get so close to them to inspect the brush strokes of Caravaggio. To me an artist’s brush stroke is as distinctive as a person’s signature, and I was amazed at how such a simple stroke could create such a piece of beauty. Up close you could see a stroke going one way with a certain colour, and then another way with a different colour; and yet when you move back you see it is a hand or a face that is highly realistic. Among those art pieces I felt inspired and I began to understand how the power of art can move a person.

The paintings I remember seeing at the exhibit are as follows:

The Fortune Teller

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fortune_Teller_(Caravaggio)

Cardsharps

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardsharps

The Musician

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Caravaggio_-_I_Musici.jpg

The Lute Player

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lute_Player_(Caravaggio)

Boy Bitten by a Lizard

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boy_Bitten_by_a_Lizard_(Caravaggio)

Martha and Mary Magdalene

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martha_and_Mary_Magdalene_(Caravaggio)

Sacrifice of Isaac

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacrifice_of_Isaac_(Caravaggio)

Saint Francis of Assisi in Ecstasy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Francis_of_Assisi_in_Ecstasy_(Caravaggio)

St Francis in Meditation

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:CaravaggioFrancisContemplation.jpg

Please excuse me if I left out a painting in this list. The paintings that weren’t at the exhibit that I would have loved to have seen are ‘Supper at Emmaus’, ‘The Calling of St Matthew’, ‘The Taking of Christ’, and ‘Conversion on the Way to Damascus’ (which is a fresco). Overall the exhibit is amazing and I would like to thank the National Gallery of Canada for bringing these pieces over. The exhibit of ‘Caravaggio and His Followers in Rome’ will run from June 17 to September 11, 2011.

National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa:

http://www.gallery.ca/caravaggio/en/index.htm

Caravaggio wiki:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caravaggio

Starry Night

A while back, I was planning to go visit a friend of mine for a couple of days who lives in a different city. However I didn’t have a clue what gift I could bring her. She’s the type that really doesn’t care about material things, so of course jewellery was out of the question. She’s more into sentimental things, so I decided to make her a gift. This idea came to me while I was cleaning out a closet and found a box of paint supplies. I opened it up and instantly remembered she once bought me those acrylic paints. So I then decided to paint her a picture. The only problem was I hadn’t painted in over a decade and had lost most of my skills.

That didn’t deter me though because I was thoroughly motivated. In the back of my mind I thought I was going to paint her a masterpiece. Yet when paint touched canvas, reality hit and it said I sucked. I just couldn’t express what I wanted the way I had imagined it. But again my motivation didn’t weaken considering the fact that my intentions were good. I just thought of the positive things my friend had brought into my life; and I realized that what she loved most about me was who I was and not who I was trying to be. So I decided to start fresh and think of a style that I loved and could imitate.

While I would have preferred to have been original, I felt painting a tribute painting was just as good as making a CD for a person you care about. In that, the songs are better able to express your feelings than you are capable of. My paint style of choice was van Gogh’s post-impressionist style; which combined bright or solid colors, which harsh brush strokes, and thick paint applications. I felt at ease and liberated with this style and decided to take on one of his most famous paintings, The Starry Night. Unfortunately I’m not rich so I had to settle with painting supplies (brushes and canvas) from the Dollar Store. Yet to my amazement once I had finished the project, the painting came out better than expected and my friend really loved it. I now hope to carry on this re-found hobby and start off with tribute paintings, and maybe one day create my own style. I also hope to give them out as presents to all my friends.

Vincent van Gogh wiki:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vincent_van_Gogh

YouTube link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKh6dsQlpTQ

Graffiti Art

Graffiti (singular: graffito; the plural is used as a mass noun) is the name for images or lettering scratched, scrawled, painted or marked in any manner on property. Graffiti is any type of public markings that may appear in the forms of simple written words to elaborate wall paintings. Graffiti has existed since ancient times, with examples dating back to Ancient Greece and the Roman Empire

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In modern times, paint, particularly spray paint, and marker pens have become the most commonly used graffiti materials. In most countries, marking or painting property without the property owner's consent is considered defacement and vandalism, which is a punishable crime. Sometimes graffiti expresses social and political messages and a whole genre of artistic expression is based upon spray paint graffiti styles. To some, it is an art form worthy of display in galleries and exhibitions; to others it is merely vandalism. Graffiti has evolved into a pop culture existence often related to underground hip hop music, b-boying, and a lifestyle that remains hidden from the general public.Graffiti 2011 can be used as a gang signal to mark territory or to serve as an indicator or "tag" for gang-related activity.

Controversies that surround graffiti continue to create disagreement amongst city officials/law enforcement and graffitists who wish to display and appreciate work in public locations. There are many different types and styles of graffiti and it is a rapidly developing artform whose value is highly contested, reviled by many authorities while also subject to protection, sometimes within the same jurisdiction.

This hub will show you where and how to find raw graffiti pictures