Introductory Post

Art History Online-Final Exam

Gallery Name: Ayuda

Location: Yucaipa, California 

Manager: Gladys Espinoza
Type of work shown: There is no specific style of art that I show. My gallery's focus is to show artwork that promotes a human issue whether it be global warming, human trafficking, war, or abuse. My gallery's name is Ayuda (which in Spanish means help). My hope is that the artwork shown here would ignite indignation in people and make them want to do something to help people (or the planet) that are suffering.

Exhbition Intoduction

My exhibition's name: Global Warming Causes and Effects 

Artists in the exhibition: Chris Jordan, Bonnie Meltzer, Veronique Le Merre, Joseph Mallord William Turner, Mario Sanchez Nevado, Michael Freedman, Zaria Forman, Nathalie Chavieve, Paul Cumes, and Marie Wise.

Exhibition Statement:  My show is about global warming (I use climate change interchangeably) it causes and effects. My show focuses on the  human factors have caused global warming and why explains why they are contributing to global warming. My show also shows the horrendous effects global warming can have and the beautiful landscapes we can lose (like glaciers). My show is to make anyone who looks at it think- think about their inaction, their indifference, their contribution to global warming. The Majority of Scientists state the global warming is occurring and that there are some changes that can be stopped but others that can. Will you be part of the group that attempts to save the planet?

I did much research and wanted to find all types of artworks that showed what was causing global warming (like coal and our consumerist culture) and luckily I was able to find Chris Jordan's and Bonnie Meltzer's work. I then wanted to find artworks that showed what we risk losing because of global warming that is glaciers, trees, cities and marine animals so I then showed for artists whose focus was the previously states. I then found an artists (Paul Cumes) whose artwork emits a sense of fear of global warming-hopefully a wake up call to much. I then end with an artwork that shows how one of the many things we have to do to halt global warming.

      

Plastic Bottles

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Detail at actual size:

 

Artist: Chris Jordan

Title:  Plastic Bottles

Media: Photograph manipulation

Dimensions:  60" X 120"
Date: 2007

Chris Jordan is a photographer from Seattle. As stated by the Washington Speakers Bureau Website Chris Jordan's work tends to focus on American consumerism culture. His work has been featured in many magazine and websites and he has spoken at many colleges and universities. He also stated with an interview with PBS that "I might be an artist, but I also might be an activist. And I'm trying to be both in a way that honors both and doesn't stray too far into either." 

Kimberley Mok from the website Tree Hugger states that with his photography and digital manipulation skills, Chris's artworks, like Plastic Bottles shows a  "'slow-motion apocalypse' inflicted on the planet by the unbridled consumerism of a disposable society. Each of his pieces compels the second thought that many usually never give." She also states that Chris Jordan does a great job showing that each person's action does add up. As Mok states, Plastic bottles shows "two million plastic beverage bottles, the number used in the US every five minutes." 

The Huffington Post states that  bottles break down into smaller fragments and then "those fragments absorb toxins that pollute our waterways, contaminate our soil, and sicken animals (which we then eat).  Also posted on the Huffington post was the statement that "The Earth Policy Institute factors the energy used to pump, process, transport and refrigerate our bottled water as over 50 million barrels of oil every year."

As many people know oil, gas, and coal companies are big contributors to the green house gas emissions that are heating up our environment. However; all the blame of the global warming should not be put on the companies-our consumerists culture is a big factor in global warming. We need oil, gas, and coal companies to produce vast, cheap amounts of energy so the manufacturing of our, many times unnecessary products, can be made. We as consumers tend not to think that we are hurting the Earth by doing something so little as not recycling. But as previously stated by the Huffington post, millions of barrels are used just to make bottles and with that tons of greenhouse gases were emitted-it's just going to get hotter. Many people don't feel the need to advocate for the decrease of energy coming from  of oil, gas, and coal companies...but is it so hard  to recycle and feel at least a bit at peace with the Earth?

http://www.monoscope.com/2007/08/chris_jordan_plastic_bottles_2.html

http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/08072009/transcript3.html

http://www.treehugger.com/culture/top-5-environmental-artists-shaking-up-the-art-world/page2.html

3 Down 3 to Go

Artist: Bonnie Meltzer

Title:  3 Down, 3 To Go

Media: installation; found objects, paint, collage, fabric, beads, glitter, crocheted wire
Dimensions:  variable configurations and sizes, painting 46" diameter
Date: 2012

Bonnie Meltzer states on her website that she "lives with her husband in Portland, Oregon in a cottage with an outbuilding studio in the yard.  Both are surrounded by an enormous organic vegetable garden." Bonnie also states that she fell in love joining multiple objects, such as computer parts and wires, many years ago while in a surplus store. Bonnie's artworks often include subjects such as "global warming, elections, economics, and land use."

Bonnie Meltzer states on her website that she made the installation to "reflect the withdrawal of 3 coal port proposals which eliminated some train routes depicted."

I chose this artwork to be part of my exhibition because it shows that coal not only is hurtful to the environment, but it can disrupt current human lifestyle (as shown here, three train routes where going to be removed so coal ports could be installed." The coal companies are huge emitters of greenhouse gases (gases warming up our atmosphere) so there should be less coal ports around this world. I think this installation shows how toxic, unhealthy, and damaging coal can be.  The circular paintings shows the land with the train routes but the outer edge of the painting is black probably to symbolize how the land would look if coal port was installed. The hanging coal pieces also begs the question, do people want black, rock material in their backyard. The coal industry hurts our land, our atmosphere and will eventually hurt future generations living condition. My hope is that this installation will make people want to advocate, or thinking about less coal mining in our world..  

http://www.bonniemeltzer.com/

The Great Thirst

Artist: Veronique Le Merre

Title: The Great Thirst 

Media:  oil and pastels on canvas

Dimensions: 36 "x 48" 

Date: 2011

Veronique Le Merre doesn't state much in her about me on her website or on the Fine Art America website. All I know about Veronique Le Merre is that "she was born and raised in France...[and] received an education in art history at Sorbonne University, in Paris."

She states that she had the idea of painting The Great Thirst after a trip to Guatemala where a whole abandoned city had been swallowed up as a jungle.  Veronique Le Merre asks the question "so what if we are gone?"

I chose to use The Great Thirst as part of my exhibition because of the symbolism I interpret from the painting. A recent study showed that most of the emission of greenhouse gases (the ones contributing to the increase of temperature) come from oil, gas, and coal companies. If we don't stop polluting our planet it might become inhabitable and so we might perish. The inanimate objects would stay-such as the gas pumps. I hope this painting serves as a wake up call to everyone who does not take climate change serious. This painting brings up many questions for discussion. Will future generations have to pay the price for our inaction and live in a few restricted areas? How fast would the planet recover without us? can we live harmonious with the planet again? Can we stop gas, oil, and coal companies from ruining our planet? These are all questions I would hope this painting would place in people's heads. 

http://fineartamerica.com/featured/the-great-thirst-veronique-le-merre.html

The Lake, Petworth: Sunset, Fighting Bucks

Artist: Joseph Mallord William Turner 

Title: The Lake, Petworth: Sunset, Fighting Bucks

Media:  Oil paint on canvas

Dimensions: 620 x 1460 mm 

Date: 1829

According to the website Biography, Joseph Mallord William Turner was born on 1775 in London. Since he was a sickly child he was sent to live with his uncles during his childhood but luckily that is where Turner started his artistic career painting landscapes. He was educated at the Royal Academy of England. At first his paintings were realistic but as he aged his artworks became more romantic and poetic so he is often "regarded as a predecessor of impressionism." 

I included this painting because according to the Huffington post it was used by scientists to predict how "man-made aerosols will affect climate change today."Using artwork to help scientists predict our future is something that I had never heard of before! Art is already used to help promote the causes and effects of global warming and now it can add to it's list a data for climate change scientists.

What scientists were analyzing from the artworks were the amounts of aerosols depicted. Ashes from a volcanic eruption or desert dust can "become suspended in the atmosphere." The particles that become suspended in the atmosphere are called aerosols and the presence of air pollutants can cause the sky to appear reddish and cause "less sunlight [to] reach the surface of the earth -- which can lead to cooler weather." Scientists noted that three years after the eruption of the volcano  Tambora, in Indonesia, painters such as Turner painted redder skies for up to three years. Scientists also stated that their analysis of paintings noted an increase of aerosols over the past 100 years. 
The Earth's atmosphere is becoming more polluted as years go on which is contributing to global warming-if you don't believe the research than look at the artwork.

http://www.biography.com/people/jmw-turner-40806 
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/26/secrets-earth-climate-famous-paintings_n_5021573.html
http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/turner-the-lake-petworth-sunset-fighting-bucks-t03883

Betrayal

Artist: Mario Sanchez Nevado

Title: Betrayal

Media: Mixed Media; photo-manipulation 

Dimensions: 5000 x 5000 px @ 600dpi.

Date: 2012

Mario Sanchez Nevado was born in Barcelona Spain and currently resides in Spain's capital, Madrid. Mario states on his profile on Behance website that has over 10 years worth of experience illustrating for music bands and publishers. Mario also makes Photoshop tutorials for the Envato Network in Australia and he is the director of "international artistic collective Hysterical Mind" in Spain.

Mario's artistic statement about Betrayal on the website Deviant Art is quite short; he states "A take on civilization. This is what we did. No need to explain further...right."

Mixed Media didn't exist that long ago and it is absolutely amazing what artists can create with the help of technology. I had to include a few digital media medium in my exhibition because digital medium is becoming increasingly popular in this time period. Betrayal is a beautiful art piece that just made me want to sit and analyze it for a while. One of the things I really liked about this photo-manipulation is that if you just look at the left side the picture is colorful, warm, and gives off a good vibe, but looking at the entire picture gives you an entirely complete message. Just like Mario stated we (people) are killing our planet with our pollution that we are emitting. this photo-manipulation shows that by the illustration of a flaming human hand pulling the gun (emitting tons of pollution) to Earth which is killing her (I really like that the water fall appears to be tears).

http://www.behance.net/Aegis_Strife
http://aegis-strife.deviantart.com/art/Betrayal-332682048