Matta and Motherwell by Katy Rogers - Essay Example

Reading Response Name: Lecturer: Course: Date: Matta and Motherwell by Katy Rogers Throughout his work, Rogers seeks to show how the emigrant youths in America transformed the art world by integrating the theory of automatism to Surrealism resulting to a free art movement called Abstract Expression1. Their new type of art was later be adopted by the younger generation of artists. His main argument is that Surrealism appealed to the youth in America as a practice for pursuing freedom of expression to allow them to adjust into the European traditions. Surrealism was also and a means of pursuing artistic revolution. Surrealism and Abstract Expression movement also sought for a form of social revolution. Surrealism linked the American Emigrants, who had originated from different regions, and the American painters, who yearned to break away from the realist styles that predominated the earlier periods of art. This is showed by Rogers when he describes how two young men met to transform the art world: Sebastian Matta, who was a Chilean but had travelled across Europe, and Robert Motherwell, who was an American. Matta and Motherwell introduced the theory of automatism into the perspectives in their paintings that led to the birth of Abstract Expression. Rogers further argues that Matta and Motherwell collobarated due to the prevailing social conditions of New York at the time. Like other youths, the two shared the drive to change the world through art. Rogers further shows that Motherwell and Matta were a symbol of what New York and the art world looked like during the 1940s. The two showed how American artists and émigrés interacted to share social circles, art studios, ideas, and support. The community of expatriates and natives created a new culture of collaboration and exchange to bring revolution to the art world. Art gave Matta and Motherwell a means to seek social revolution and to realign their traditions in America. Indeed, as the author shows, being of European descent, Matta became a strong link to the American and European artists who were in New York during the World War II. He was therefore a mediator between the youth who cherished the Surrealist cult and the actual youth of the American painters. Through their collaboration, Matta and Motherwell brought together young artists while hoping to bring up a new movement that would replace Surrealism. The movement was centred on psychic automatism. The two dwelt on the possibilities of bringing the philosophy of Automatism to art in order to break the barriers between the subconscious and conscious mind, which were a major principle of Surrealism. This triggered their desire to create a new type of art. Consequently, Matte introduced Motherwell to the idea of exploring the inner states of being in art. It is based on this backdrop that the two visited studios frequented by young American artists to discuss the possibility of creating such a revolution. As an outcome, the two left a horde of young artists who would expound their ideas of Abstract Expression, and who turned America into the international art scene. The American young artists created a strong relationship, who sought to make their own way even after Matte left them 'in a lurch."2 Overall, New York was a centre of social integration and artistic movements. It allowed Matta and Motherwell's paths to cross. Therefore, despite their earlier inexperience and different in culture, the two met and changed the art world, which would afterwards be a guiding principle to the artists of later generation. Fridah Kahlo by Oriana Baddely Baddely’s main argument is that the media has made marginalised artists to become mythical personalities by centering attention their tragic details and anecdotal details regarding their fascinating lives rather than their works of art. This has led to misplaced interpretation of their works3. According to Baddely, Kahlo is a beneficiary of this transformation by the media. He shows that in the 1990s witnessed a change in the attitudes towards art outside the traditional boundaries, where the work of art of arts who were traditionally marginalised transformed into an area of interests and value. His reputation expanded outside of Mexico as the sale room estimates of her works rose from $40,000 to $1 million. The media led to the rise of economic and social value earlier marginalised works. Indeed, the rise in economic value of her work developed at the same time when a rise in the popular and critical response to how she blended her incisive content and naive style. Baddely shows this by arguing that Kahlo's first popular wave came about after her works was exhibited at Laura Mulvey Whitechapel and as well as when her biography was written by Hayden Herrera in 1983. Indeed, it is after this point in time that Kahlo became the subject of TV documentaries, various other publications, and stage plays. For instance, Elle magazine ran a feature story on her work entitled the 'spirit of Mexico.' in 1989. In 1990, Madonna commissioned a film on her works. Baddely shows that while the attention given by the media to fascinating lives of artists has made them popular, the audience have been misled on the meanings intended by artists. Baddely shows this by illustrating that for Kahlo, her audience was fascinated with her life story. This allowed access to her work. This is however different to the artists who take to art to deal with the variations in their fortunes and circumstances of their lives. Indeed, Baddelo argues that while Kahlo was interested in dealing with the vicissitudes of her life through her art works, her audience was interested in her life story. Baddely shows that the media makes the artists into fashionable items rather than expressionists. He further shows how the media makes the artists into celebrities or fashionable artists by presenting an example of Van Gogh who was transformed into an icon by the media in 1990s long after his death. However, Baddelly draws a contrast between Kahlo and Gogh. In his view, in spite of the iconic status of Gogh's tragic life, it is how his work appeared that was celebrated. However, for Kahlo, it is the interest in her life, and her image, which became popular. Indeed, most other publications such as The Independent, Vogue and Elle emphasised on 'her' as a stereotypical image of Mexico rather than her works. Hence, Kahlo’s fans failed to see the symbolic significance of her works or choice of clothing. While she attempted to show the changes in Mexico culture from patriarchal or matriarchal society, the media focused on her role as an archetypical woman painter perhaps due to the dominations of feminist movement ear of the 1970s. She had attempted to redress the wrongs of history through the colonised body that she dressed, hence lost its function as a symbol of nationhood, and instead became a symbol of female suffering4. Wilfredo Lam by Nathan Timpano Timpano’s main argument is that Eurocentric models of interpreting art tend to see other works as lacking originality, which has led scholars to approach Lam’s avante-gardism with Eurocentric views. The polarising revolutionary works from the perspective of traditional European and those from non-Western perspective has created interest in exploring the interrelationship that may have thrived between the Latin American avant-garde artists and their European equivalents5. Hence, Timpano shows that some historians have attempted to show the connection of Lam's works to the European modernists such as Pablo Picasso. It is based on this that Timpano attacks scholars how argue that Lam's earlier connection with Western painters that shaped his artistic style. Indeed, Timpano shows that Lam's early works were shaped by European formalism such as Surrealism as well as awareness of symbolic meanings also attributed to non-Western perspectives. Timpano further argues that scholarly works on Lam have promoted the idea that an interest in the Oceanic and African art perspectives came up through Lam's study of European Cubism, especially Picasso's works. While this is mistaken, it is primarily why focus has been on whether Picasso inspired Lam’s modernist works as Latin American avant-garde artist. Timpano6 argues that Lam was not interested in criticising European interpretations of art. Rather, he was more interested in putting many multicultural iconographies side by side. This inspired the production of artistic styled fashions from his own experimentations instead of his sense of revolutionary that characterised the Cuban nationalism. The author also shows that much of the scholarly works have misinterpreted Lam’s works. Timpano shows that this may have been due to overreliance on Lam's biography and his involvement with Afro-Cuban religious studies as well as his racial heritage. Because of Lam's involvement in Cuba and Europe during much of his lifetime, it is easy to conclude that most scholars have misinterpreted Lam’s work just by searching for 'otherness' in his avant-gardist activities. Hence, while it could be argued that race did play a role in informing much of Lam's works, the problem with 'otherness' is that when some scholars sought examine Lam's works, they accidentally led to further 'othering' his works (or make his works appear primitive) by overemphasising on racial legitimacy. The reason for this is that the debate surrounding the historical avant-gardes of the 20th century has mostly revolved around European artist, especially Pablo Picasso. This has led to canon Latin American artists such as Lam to be addressed outside of their centre. Hence, Lams works were classified as derivative versions of Picasso’s compositions. As Timpano further argues, contrary to the existing discourse, the process of interrelating cultural dualities or the differences expressed through translation, and use of various idioms also produced the exceptionality inherent in Lam's revolutionary works. Timpano shows that Lam's expression of revolutionary ideas throughout the Cuban period has largely been explained through the processes of transcultural similarity rather than the artistic agency through the lens of Cuban nationalism. References Baddeley, Orian. "'Her Dress Hangs Here': De-frocking the Kahlo Cult." Oxford Art Journal, 14, no. 1 (1991): 10-17 Timpano, Nathan. "Translating Vanguardia: Wilfredo Lam, Transuclturation, and the Crux of Avant-gardism.” Rutgers Art Review 23 (2007): 49-63 Rogers, Katy, To Transform the World: Matta and Motherwell in New York and Mexico (Nexus New York, 2009) 185-192 Read More

It allowed Matta and Motherwell's paths to cross. Therefore, despite their earlier inexperience and different in culture, the two met and changed the art world, which would afterwards be a guiding principle to the artists of later generation. Fridah Kahlo by Oriana Baddely Baddely’s main argument is that the media has made marginalised artists to become mythical personalities by centering attention their tragic details and anecdotal details regarding their fascinating lives rather than their works of art.

This has led to misplaced interpretation of their works3. According to Baddely, Kahlo is a beneficiary of this transformation by the media. He shows that in the 1990s witnessed a change in the attitudes towards art outside the traditional boundaries, where the work of art of arts who were traditionally marginalised transformed into an area of interests and value. His reputation expanded outside of Mexico as the sale room estimates of her works rose from $40,000 to $1 million. The media led to the rise of economic and social value earlier marginalised works.

Indeed, the rise in economic value of her work developed at the same time when a rise in the popular and critical response to how she blended her incisive content and naive style. Baddely shows this by arguing that Kahlo's first popular wave came about after her works was exhibited at Laura Mulvey Whitechapel and as well as when her biography was written by Hayden Herrera in 1983. Indeed, it is after this point in time that Kahlo became the subject of TV documentaries, various other publications, and stage plays.

For instance, Elle magazine ran a feature story on her work entitled the 'spirit of Mexico.' in 1989. In 1990, Madonna commissioned a film on her works. Baddely shows that while the attention given by the media to fascinating lives of artists has made them popular, the audience have been misled on the meanings intended by artists. Baddely shows this by illustrating that for Kahlo, her audience was fascinated with her life story. This allowed access to her work. This is however different to the artists who take to art to deal with the variations in their fortunes and circumstances of their lives.

Indeed, Baddelo argues that while Kahlo was interested in dealing with the vicissitudes of her life through her art works, her audience was interested in her life story. Baddely shows that the media makes the artists into fashionable items rather than expressionists. He further shows how the media makes the artists into celebrities or fashionable artists by presenting an example of Van Gogh who was transformed into an icon by the media in 1990s long after his death. However, Baddelly draws a contrast between Kahlo and Gogh.

In his view, in spite of the iconic status of Gogh's tragic life, it is how his work appeared that was celebrated. However, for Kahlo, it is the interest in her life, and her image, which became popular. Indeed, most other publications such as The Independent, Vogue and Elle emphasised on 'her' as a stereotypical image of Mexico rather than her works. Hence, Kahlo’s fans failed to see the symbolic significance of her works or choice of clothing. While she attempted to show the changes in Mexico culture from patriarchal or matriarchal society, the media focused on her role as an archetypical woman painter perhaps due to the dominations of feminist movement ear of the 1970s.

She had attempted to redress the wrongs of history through the colonised body that she dressed, hence lost its function as a symbol of nationhood, and instead became a symbol of female suffering4. Wilfredo Lam by Nathan Timpano Timpano’s main argument is that Eurocentric models of interpreting art tend to see other works as lacking originality, which has led scholars to approach Lam’s avante-gardism with Eurocentric views. The polarising revolutionary works from the perspective of traditional European and those from non-Western perspective has created interest in exploring the interrelationship that may have thrived between the Latin American avant-garde artists and their European equivalents5.

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