Visual Storytelling

Purpose:

To become familiar with the way artists are responding to the issues in today’s world (as well as the past);

To understand characteristics of storytelling, both historically and contemporary;

To learn about contemporary artists, as well as Peter Bruegel and their work.

All of these contemporary artists are meticulous and make their art with immense care. One specific connection I noticed was that they all came from places other than America or Europe or they were not stereotypical Americans, and these unique backgrounds helped shape their art. For example, Marshall, although from the United States, is a black man. His childhood and what he grew up around shaped his passion for art and what he displayed. Growing up in America, which is overall a country that can be quite hateful to people of color, Marshall recognized this historical bias to white people, especially in art. In the video, after the interviewer inquired about his decision at 14 to only paint black people, he says “I did because [white people] are already enough, and the truth is is that the white population is pretty good at projecting image of its ideal self into the world.” Not only this, but Marshall’s art only features particularly dark-skinned individuals. In many ways, his art portrays the power, influence, and beauty of Black people all across the world, putting forth a message of awareness and bringing attention to this group that oftentimes doesn’t receive much appreciation. Similar to Marshall, another artist, Crosby, was born in Nigeria. This artist uses her work to demonstrate cultural unity and concepts or events dear to her. For example, she talked a lot in her video about her painting on cultural weddings. In one painting titled "Wedding Portrait," she painted herself in this gorgeous, vibrant cultural attire to show her own culture and how she sees herself in it. She features her husband, who is white, in many of her pieces to engrain this idea of unity. One unique technique in her work is how she features smaller paintings and art work within one, including ideas that sometimes repeat or overlap. Lastly, Nisenbaum is an artist who grew up in Mexico. She grew up surrounded by vibrant murals and artwork, and it was a way for society to illustrate history and culture. For her, she claims her work is “about the everyday people that work the labor it takes to put together an airport and putting a face to all that labor.” This specific quote is in reference to a piece she did about airport workers, titled "The Ones who Make it Run," which overall brings appreciation and recognition to hard work that is not commonly recognized. Overall, it is evident that contemporary artists use their art to relate to the times and push meaningful messages. 

Bruegel art typically displays landscapes or nature with people around it. His work is quite busy, and what makes it so interesting and intricate is all of the different concepts he loops in. “Hunters in the Snow” is one of his art pieces, made interesting because it is considered the first display of winter in modern art. This is one unique thing about his artwork, how he stemmed off of other artwork at that time to create something of his own. His technique was also picked up through x-ray work, showing intricate undersketches for all of his work. In the “Hunters in the Snow” piece, there were multiple undersketches, and in a later one, it shows him adding a third hunter. This displays the immense care and precision in his work. Additionally, religion was largely featured in his work, relevant as it was a prominent concept in society at that time. His pieces provide insight into life at that time through beautiful and thoughtful art work.

One of the main differences I noticed was that the contemporary artists all typically centered the people. This is very prevalent in Marshall’s work, as he makes it a point to bring these Black people into focus. Differently, Bruegel approaches art through drawing landscapes featuring people. His work is less obvious, and more sporadic, in the sense that you have to really look at the painting to see all of the meanings and concepts. An additional note was the themes. Contemporary art now is a lot more focused on culture, rights, and recognition, whereas Bruegel's work featured a lot of religion.