Tuesday, July 4, 2017

Picasso (1937). Guernica [oil on canvas]. Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid, Spain/Superstock. Art © 2008 Estate of Pablo Picasso/Artists Rights Society, NY.

Human and animal forms are forced into flat shapes and arranged in a way that pushes eye movement from right to left across the top of the picture plane and somewhat downward and in the opposite direction. The result is a sort of current. It seems three decorative planes are fragmented and arranged adjacent to each other into a single plane. Natural and inorganic shapes are forced into similar flat, jagged shapes. | 

The subject is a handful of human, wolf, bull and inorganic shapes arranged together in a way that seems forced. The animals are personified, displaying screaming expressions repeated by the human figures. The work is infused with a sort of radical, frantic energy that is organized by the alignment of directional forces; the undeniable sense of movement this work creates is probably the centerpiece to its content. Oil on canvas. 


Jagged shapes are the primary element used. Even the rounded forms seem abrasive due to the emotional tension of the work. Three basic values are used. Generally speaking, the light objects encapsulate the recognizable objects, middle values begin the transition to the background and contain primitive textures, and dark values create the background. 
Space is largely built through the gestalt principle of proximity. Well-defined, decorative shapes overlap, touch and merge together to create one of the few organized strategies of this work: shallow, well-defined depth.

When elements are considered in the context of their directional thrust, this work is balanced by both dimensions roughly at their mid-axis. I
n many ways this work is quite balanced. Jagged, inorganic shapes are roughly equivalent to biomorphic ones; Areas of low, medium and high-key values occupy the same amount of space; all edge directions are used (horizontal, vertical, curved and diagonal). Spatially, the shapes with expression are arranged in an evenly-spaced manner. The work is dominated by shape, value and to a lesser degree texture, however. 

Directional forces carry the eye from the lower-right quadrant of the work in an upward, hill-like motion to the middle top and then back down to the lower-left quadrant, to return to the high key area in the lower right quad. There are vertical forces toward the center of the work that are subordinate. 
This work respects the picture frame and actually draws attention to the picture plane. Elements are built irrespective of perspective; they are all flat, with fractional representation used as required to maintain shallow depth. 

The volume, format and grouping of this works elements support the sense of movement, chaotic emotion and shallow space it is trying to create. The radical tone might be off-putting for some, but I believe this is a generally unified work. 



No comments:

Post a Comment