Burning Earth

Artist: Michael Freedman 

Title: Burning Earth

Media:  Acrylic, mixed media, collage, foil, scorching 

Dimensions: 106 cm x 96 cm

Date: 2013 


Michael Freedman was born in 1942. On his website he states that he "had never painted or drawn" until he retired and took some lessons from "Gavin Maughfling, an inspirational artist and tutor at Putney School of Art and Design." Michael then went on two earn his fine arts degree. Before Michael's retirement, he enjoyed an international business career and was able to visit over 60 countries throughout his life. 
Burning Earth was made by Michael Freedman so he could express that "his awareness that we cannot live much longer ignoring decisive action on the environment." He also states on his website that he is "angry that everywhere is evidence of man-made climate change, pollution, resource exploitation and pesticide poisoning mostly in the quest for super profits." Michael Freedman uses a variety of media like in Burning Earth to get his audience to think critically about  the damage that is being caused to the environment.  


I included Burning Earth as part of my exhibition because it shows the harm global warming can have on forests in a way that makes you wonder more about the trees (this art is more abstract). Abstract art like Michael's is a good way to make people start thinking critically about a variety of issues. Burning fire ppears to be a piece of wood remnant of a once grandous tree. The sides are black showing the effects the fire had on the wood and on the middle there is a red that appears as though a flame. Burning Earth shows the relationship between global warming and forest fires. 

Astated by an article by the University of Arizona, as temperatures increase there will be an increase in forest fires. Trees are important because they provide us with oxygen and also "consume" part of the carbon dioxide that remains in our environment. More forest fires will lead to more release of carbon dioxide (because the trees will release the CO2 they had consumed) when they are burning; thus creating a positive feedback cycle with greenhouses gases (like CO2)  greenhouse gases make the Earth hotter which increases the amount of forest fires, which releases more CO2 and so the cycle continues. 

http://www.michaelfreedman.co.uk/portfolios/self-destruct-mans-devastation-of-his-environment/

Greenland #52

Artist: Zaria Forman

Title: Greenland #52

Media:  Soft pastel on paper

Dimensions: 45” x 60”

Date: 2012  

Zaria Forman’s mother was a fine art photographer of landscapes and Zaria would accompany her mother to remote landscapes and that is how Zaria’s love for landscapes began. Zaria had formal training at Skidmore College. She states on her website that “Ten of my drawings were also used in the set design for House of Cards.”  

In August of 2012, Zaria led an expedition to Greenland to document the effects climate change has had on icebergs. Zaria stated on Bored Panda magazine that her drawing of icebergs will “ bring awareness, and invite viewers to share the urgency in a hopeful and meaningful way. Art can facilitate a deeper understanding of any crisis, helping us find meaning and optimism in shifting landscapes.”

When I first found Greenland #52 I thought it was a photograph-I was utterly shocked to find out that what I was looking at was a drawing and not a photograph of an Iceberg. One of the reasons I decided to display this photo in my exhibition is because I wanted people to see the magic artists can do (like making a drawing appear like a photograph).  Although I have only seen photographs and drawings of icebergs they are one of my favorite landscapes to look at because each iceberg differs in shape,size, and texture which just fascinates me. NASA states that icebergs are formed when they are “calved” from a glacier. Once the Icebergs melt it releases the freshwater stored and contributes to rising ocean levels. It's sad how an increase of such a beautiful site, such as those of icebergs, may lead to catastrophic events. 

http://www.boredpanda.com/hyper-realistic-pastel-iceberg-drawings-greenland-zaria-forman/

http://www.zariaforman.com/#!greenland/c2067

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/PolarIce/polar_ice2.php 

The Fisherman's Nightmare

Artist: Nathalie Chavieve

Title: The Fisherman's Nightmare

Media:  Oil on Canvas

Dimensions: 50 X 60 cm

Date: 2012

Nathalie Chavieve was born on December 19, 1970. She states on her website that her love of art started at the age of four when her grandfather taught her how to draw with crayons. She also states that her “ultimate aim is to fill up each of my paintings with very deep philosophical statement, great thoughts, secrets and symbols to be revealed by the viewer.”

On Fine Art America Nathalie states that she is a lover of nature and animals and so she is worried about climate change. Nathalie stated that The Fisherman’s Nightmare is a representation of part of  her thought on climate change. She states that The Fisherman’s Nightmare “is her little contribution to the process of the saving of our planet.”

I chose to display The Fisherman’s Nightmare in my exhibition because it shows (in a surrealism form) the effects of global warming. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has stated that global warming could lead to an increase of ocean temperatures which can affect much of the marine habitat that is not able to adapt-this is precisely what The Fisherman's Nightmare symbolizes. The Fisherman’s Nightmare shows a fisherman on a dried up ocean with dead fish and in the distance buildings emitting gases that contributed to the death of the ocean. To me the dried up ocean symbolizes an increase in ocean temperature which will lead to  many marine animal deaths. I find surrealist paintings quite interesting because of the symbol interpretation and I hope my viewers will too. 

http://www.nathaliechavieve.com/surrealism3.html
http://fineartamerica.com/featured/the-fishermans-nightmare-nathalie-chavieve.html
IPCC, 2007: Summary for Policymakers. In: Climate Change 2007: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. Contribution of Working Group II to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, M.L. Parry, O.F. Canziani, 

 

Global Warming

Artist: Paul Cumes
Title: Global warming
Media:  Mixed Media
Dimensions: 72" X 54"
Date: 2001  

Paul Cumes was born in South Africa in 1973. According to his twitter account he alternates on living in Santa Barba and New England. According to his YouTube channel he believes “in freedom in art. I bring life and energy into what I paint.”

On the site Coast to Coast Paul stated that Global warming is about the “effects of global warming on our coastlines. It shows large storm generated waves in succession coming into an already disheveled coastal community, causing erosion and bringing destruction to homes in a symbolic end to our shoreline habitations and communities.” Paul made Global warming after reading articles in which Scientists hypothesized that one of global warming’s effects would be raising sea levels and with that the inundation of coastal cities.

Global warming gave me chills when I first saw it. The waves look unstoppable and like they would destroy more than just coastal cities-the waves sent fear down my spine.  I then noted that Paul Cumes made the sky appear to have multiple suns that made the sky appear as if it were on flames which is a great way to symbolize the increase of temperature global warming will cause. I chose this painting to be part of my exhibition because it sent chills through my spine and I hope it does the same to other people. Global warming will not cause there to be enormous tsunami like waves (at least I haven’t read any articles that have stated so). Reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) have stated that there will be an increase in water level which will lead to inundation and increase temperatures that will effect crop development. Global warming does an excellent job showing the horrendous effects global warming can have while emitting fear down one’s spine which I would hope would make people research about global warming and take action. 

http://www.veritas.at/sbo/ebook/px/31239/files/assets/basic-html/page21.html
https://www.youtube.com/user/paulcumes/about
https://twitter.com/paulcumes  

IPCC, 2007: Summary for Policymakers. In: Climate Change 2007: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. Contribution of Working Group II to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, M.L. Parry, O.F. Canziani,

Sunset Wind

Artist: Marie Wise
Title: Sunset Wind
Media:  Oil on panel
Dimensions: 5" X 7"
Date: 2008  

Marie lives in Kalama, Washington.  She is an artists as well as a public relationship professional.  Her interests include “Oil paintings in the old masters style, blogging about life as an artist.”

Artist Marie Wise states on her blog that she painted Sunset Wind from a photograph that she took in Washington. She loves bright colors and wanted the shape of the clouds to match the turbine so she painted everything “loose and brushy”.  She states that the painting being such a small size probably added to her enjoyment of drawing a wind turbine.

Marie Wise doesn't state that she painted Sunset Wind in relation to climate change but her stating that she enjoyed drawing the wind turbine and the sunset is what made me select her artwork.  My previous posts have all been about what has caused global warming and the dangers of global warming which is why I thought I would end my exhibition with a painting that emits hope. We can take action to stop global warming and one of the things we can do is invest in renewable energies that release no greenhouse gases (the gases causing the Earth to heat up) such as wind turbines. According to the Climate Accountability Institute, since 1751, sixty-three percent of the greenhouse gases have been emitted by ninety companies; the majority of the companies are in the oil, gas, and coal (Goldenberg). There are no artworks that (I have seen) show such a  beautiful colorful sunset with a coal mine or oil pump and I doubt an artist would say that she enjoyed drawing and oil pump and a  sunset .  I think Artists like Marie can draw such a beautiful sunset and a wind turbine at center because the wind turbine and the sunset are harmonious with each other-neither one is effecting the other. People can still see beautiful sunsets, like Marie Wise drew, and live in a hospitable place with wind turbines…but how much longer can we with oil, gas, and coal industries? 

http://mariesartjourney.blogspot.com/2008/06/sunset-wind.html

Goldenberg, Suzanne. "Just 90 Companies Caused Two-thirds of Man-made Global Warming Emissions." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 21 Nov. 2013. Web. 12 May 2014. <http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/nov/20/90-companies-man-made-global-warming-emissions-climate-change>. 

Conclusion

      Organizing an exhibition of works by various artists took much more effort than I expected. I had to dedicate a whole day to just research about artists  because I had to make sure that the artworks  went with my theme, had all the labeling information required, and the artist’s statement. Finding a variety of artworks that connected to one theme came naturally to me-probably because I am a big advocate on the need to take action to stop global warming. The artists I chose for my exhibition perceive global warming differently and I think that is what makes an exhibition successful. I think it is best to have different takes on one theme because it will help get your message better across. For example, some artworks may resonate to a certain group of people while other artworks will not resonate with the same group of people. I found it extremely challenging to find artworks that fulfilled all the requirements so I can post it; at one point I considered switching themes because I was not finding everything I needed about the artwork. For example,  I  wanted to use 1 or 2 more photographs in the exhibition that showed the environmental impacts of global warming (such as two boys drawing on dry, cracked land) but I could not find everything I needed to use the photograph.  

      The selection process must be even harder for those that organize actual exhibitions because not only would they have to research about artworks that go with the theme of the exhibition, but they would have to talk to the artist, invite the artists to attend, make sure the artists comes up with an artistic statement, organize when the artwork will arrive. Next time I go to an art gallery or art museum, I will make sure to praise the curator and any other member of the gallery and art museum for their hard work because I was somewhat stressed in the process of finding ten artworks!