Art for KjARTan’s Sake?
Sorry for the cringy title. I put it down as a placeholder figuring I’d come up with something better by the time I got done writing this. You know what else was hard? Coming up with a project for Kjartan Slettemark! He was edgy and political. As much as I admire his work, political is…
Of Passports and Performance Art – The Work of Kjartan Slettemark
The first thing I noticed when researching the life of Kjartan Slettemark is that there aren’t many sources to reference. He was such an interesting artist – how can this be?? We’ll dive as deep as we can in this post, but it’s worth checking out the sources and seeing what else there is. If…
Innovation and Controversy – August Artist of the Month
Kjartan Slettemark was a name I’d never heard until a month ago when I was asked if I would cover a Nordic artist. As soon as I began reading about him I wanted to know more and he’s now our August Artist of the Month! Information about him is a little light, but he was…
Sesame Street Drama
Tenebrism is one of my favorite art concepts! The only problem is I get a little heavy handed with my shading. So for this month’s project, which centers on tenebrism and chiaroscuro, I wrangled that urge to make every shadow pitch black. (If you missed my last blog, there’s a quick overview of tenebrism vs.…
A Woman’s Perspective in Baroque Art
(Artemisia Gentileschi, Part II) What is Baroque Art For the last two months I’ve been talking about Baroque art this and Baroque art that, but what is it really? This little blurb sums it up better than I could in an entire blog post: “The Baroque artists were particularly focused on natural forms, spaces, colors,…
June Artist of the Month
I’m talking thicc boat this month, people. We’re exploring the life and art of none other than Peter Paul Rubens. Maybe you know his art for his Rubenesque women or maybe even the drama-filled Marie de Medici cycle. Did you know he was also a successful diplomat that spoke several languages and painted for some…
May Artist of the Month – Tamara de Lempicka
The May Artist of the Month is Tamara de Lempicka – a Polish artist that painted in the Art Deco style. I don’t know much about her or Art Deco, but I feel like I’ve seen her work before. After a few quick reads it was clear that she led a fascinating life that I…
Op Art April
Have you been wondering when we’ll talk about an artist that’s still alive? Then April is your month! We’ll be taking a look at the life and art of Bridget Riley. She was a prominent artist in the Op Art movement of the 1960s, first exploring geometric patterns in black and white and then moving…
March Artist of the Month – Changed!
Originally I was going to write about Francisco Goya for the March Artist of the Month, but there was one problem (at least to me). We’ve spent the last two months in the late 19th and early 20th century and Goya’s work is only slightly earlier than that. We need to break at least a…
February Artist of the Month: Franz Marc
What is Expressionism? Expressionism began around 1905 in Germany and Austria. Recognizable by its bright, artificial color palettes and simplified forms, it introduced distortions of reality designed to elicit an emotional reaction from the viewer while simultaneously taking inspiration from and rejecting art movements of the past. German Expressionism was a response to two things. …
