National Portait Prize

so we went to the new exhibition at the Portrait gallery called the National Portrait Prize and here is our assignment for the day.

I choose one photo i loved and one i hated and thought should not have made the finalists.

The first photo i loved is called The Boy 2008 by Petrina Hicks. This portrait is an amazing classic portrait, The emotions the viewers feel i would say come from personal experiences as everyone will see this sad expression differently. I see this as a child about to go to school that lives with his very controlled perants. I see this from he is very clean as a child doesnt usually like to be. This portrait tells the amazing story and i would have chosen this to win.

This portrait looks good in digital form though in the gallery it has been printed way to dark and the presentation is horrible. The photo is framed in a over polished glass which gives huge reflections distracting the viewer from the photo. In the print you cannot see the body very well and cant tell he is a body builder and therefore doesn't tell a story as a good portrait should.

rhys =]

Primitivism

Today at the National Gallery we studied Primitivism in groups. Here is my summary of the questions.

Primitivism is a very controversial subject as it has so many different styles to portray this way of art some of the characteristics include the subject being unaware of the artist with no eye contact, Abstraction of the figure and disfigured bodies, sexuality, flatness and some even made to be portrayed that a child has done the painting.

There is a big difference between Primitive and Primitivism. Primitive refers to the harsh lifestyle of indigenous people and primitivism is the style of art rebelling against the modernist style art movement.

I found a photograph in the National Gallery that used Primitivism.
Eduardo Masserre - Woman Planting Rice 1934 -
I couldn't find a digital version of this photograph as it is very old. The photograph uses primitivism in the way of the subject appears to be unaware of the artist taking the photo with no eye contact. The subject is also a indigenous phillipino woman from the poor lower class as you can tell by her job and her clothes

rhys =]

NPG & NAA

National Portrait Gallery

Firstly i choose the portrait of Micheal Kilm 1999 by Jonathan Anderson and Edwin Low
This Portrait expresses the strength of Australian sport. The powerful shape of the his muscles are symbolic of the Australian strength in international sport. Also The composition is amazing with the leading lines and framing.

The next one is called Nothings as Precious as a Hole in the Ground Midnight Oil, 2001 by Ex De Medici
I couldn't find the image to add to the blog, sorry guys. This portrait is a very abstract painting of the political band Midnight Oil. It expresses the Political side off Australia with huge oil mounds in the background and the band with abstract lizard necks. This image stood out to me as being the most up front portraits in the gallery.
Now to the National Achieves of Australia
First I choose a photography from the Faces Of Australia photo wall - Photo number 54
It is a documentary photo expressing the Australian lifestyle in the heart of the Sydney city. It shows the modern side of Australia. The business men and women walking through the light shining from the modern Achiteture. It shows that both men and women working and are equal.

Lastly I choose the Constitution Alterations 1967.
This is the document that ended discrimination of Aboriginals and that now Aboriginals will have equal rights. Over 90% of Australians voted and it got passed. This shows the Australian push for freedom.
rhys =]=]

NWM

Today we visited the National War Memorial, we were giving the assignment to find 2 significant examples of technoglical change in fashion and photography and here are my examples.

Photography

Anzac 1915, A Trench scene at Gallipoli.

This photo was taken in 1915, a time with large camera's that were very hard to carry and almost impossible to take a action shot because of the long exposures. This is why the soiders are just posing for camera and showing the trench conditions as this was their home for a long time. In more modern times they can now get into the action and show the true gore of war.

FashionI had a bit of trouble getting the titles for these outfits.
The first uniform i choose was the first ever uniform, it is a dark blue navey uniform that consisted of a dark blue coat with a square shaped skarf with lines used to keep the tar they put in their hair of their jacket and also to show rank. It also has a dark blue silk ribbon wrapped around the neck used for ear protection when they fired the cannons although it would not have helped at all.

The second uniform i choose was the first ever army uniform. It is a very simple khaki uniform with a high belt used for when the soldiers left down they could reach their gear. Also the khaki colour is used for camoflage. This was also made of wool for warmth.

reference for photo - National War Memorial http://cas.awm.gov.au/PROD/cst.acct_master?surl=1826709415ZZADIDKEHDYW63584&stype=4&simplesearch=&v_umo=&v_product_id=&screen_name=&screen_parms=&screen_type=RIGHT&bvers=4&bplatform=Microsoft%20Internet%20Explorer&bos=Win32

NGA

Last week we went to the National Gallery of Australia and got assigned the task of finding some art work that jumped out at you and was either attractive or not to yourself and here is some of mine.

Minimalism and Concepual ArtJO Baer, United States of America, Untitled, 1966-76

This is the famous art work known for being only 2 blank canvas's. When i first looked at this art work i got a huge shock. I belive that the artist was stating a point about how art is portrayed, i belive that because art is very complicated and it is hard to evaluate what is art. The artist has used these blank canvas's to portray that by making people think this he has created art.

Pop ArtClaes Oldenberg, Leopard Chair 1968

The artist i think is pointing you in a direction about polictics. The artist has used the leopard skin to maybe portray hunting either as a positive or a negitive depending on your personal beliefs. The artist has made the arms of the chair point in a certain direction this could be pointing you in a direction about this issue.

AbstrationHenri Matisse, Oceania, The Sky

I personaly could'nt relate to this art work at all and could find nothing that the artist was tring to achieve by creating this work of art. All i could see was a floor mat with some abstract birds on it.

This was some of my views on some of the art work at the NGA thanx Rhys