During my research surrounding 'the art of protest', I developed my project idea around the issue of racial inequality as it stood out to me as an important issue to raise awareness around. I covered areas including aspects of police brutality and black power. Within my project, I explored the effect of police lights/ coloured lighting on my photography - this theme of blue and red is carried on throughout my project.
This observational study of Bob Marley was inspired for this project as during my research, I discovered that Bob Marley himself is a human rights / black rights activist.
One of my favourite pieces from my project is my Jonathan Yeo style portrait. For this piece I decided to focus on the view of police violence from an alternative perspective - an outsiders view. The expression I captured within the painting demonstrates the distress caused from observers when this type of racist violence occurs. Within the background, I focused on the theme of police lights reflecting onto the observer.
For my photography I wanted to develop my idea of police lights. in order to create the coloured lighting effect, I used a set of sheet gels that I placed over the light source in the photo room.
The effect of the gel sheets are seen in these photographs - I loved how these pics turned out as I think it effectively translates my main message of police violence (and the police car lights).
For my third photo shoot for this project, I decided to focus on graffiti and street art as a form of visible protest. In order to produce this photography I went into Manchester and photographed any colourful, cool, and interesting street art I saw. I love this collection of pics as the colour within the photos are so vibrant and strong.
As well as the portraiture artist, Jonathan Yeo, my project took inspiration from various artists - including graffiti artists (which inspired the background of my final piece) such as Pichiavo and Tim Okamura.
Throughout this project I used my small sketchbook to portray my ideas and thought processes - including mainly pics, collages, mind maps and sketches.....
Wadsworth Jarrell
My final piece reflects all the work and research i have done throughout this project. The graffiti in the background is inspired by my own photography and my artist research. The colours in the background including red and blue reflect the idea of police lights. And finally, the foreground of my piece consists of my own photography and a secondary source.
The message within this painting is to demonstrate the resilience to racism - Barak Obama being the first black president of the united states portrays success and endeavour within black society. The young boy in this painting is seen to be looking up to Obama and his success and aspires to be like him.
The overall message of this painting is equality and a future where racism and discrimination doesn't exist.
For my component one project, I have decided to do an investigation into the south of France - covering areas such as french architecture, markets, lifestyle, french artists such as Claude Monet and Impressionism. This project is personal to me as my family and I have visited France every year for the majority of my life. I am excited to start this project and to start to produce research and a project surrounding this culture.
I would love to have the opportunity to exhibit my artwork at Manchester art fair. Im looking forward to helping out with various workshops and live painting. I think its important to exhibit work at the art fair as it allows for people to see my work that I have spent a lot of time on - it allows me to potentially meet artists, showcase my talent and showing younger art students what art at this level is like.
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