Happy Birthday Louise Nevelson!

Utilizing wooden objects found on the street, Nevelson placed these items into groupings or gridded boxes, creating surrealistic environments.  To learn more about the "Grand Dame of Contemporary Sculpture," visit this site.

Fortune Cookie Collage Illustrations and Assemblage Sculptures

Using classic fortune cookie messages as a impetus, students will be creating either collage illustrations or assemblage sculptures.  Students should look at the work of Hannah Hoch, Joseph Cornell, Max Ernst and John Heartfield.

Field Trip?

So the Date Farmers' show at Fifty24SF Gallery is coming to a close soon- and it looks pretty amazing.  Would anyone like to go?
Check out this video-keep me posted.  

Happy Birthday Jean (Hans) Arp!

Jean (Hans) Arp's work often evokes sensuous human-like forms, giving the term bootylicious and Beyonce a run for their money.  He was a member of both the Dada and Surrealist movements, and was a founder of Abstraction-Creation.   To learn more about Arp, visit this site.

Homework for Friday

By Friday, you should have read all the packets I have given to you, as well as finished your self portrait and come up with 20 different concentration ideas.  I will be giving you some more input on how to come up your concentration concepts today.

Happy Birthday Ben Shahn!

Known for his social-realistic work and left wing politics, Shahn created paintings, illustrations and drawings depicting the beauty, sorrows and gritty elements of life.  To learn more about his life and work, visit this site.

Artists to Check Out

For your new project, you're creating a self portrait in the style of an artist.  Here is a listing of people you may want to search on google:


ooh, too long.

 Check out the document on my site with the whole listing

or you could check out what the UK's Times Online voters thought the top 200 artists are here

Happy Birthday Jacob Lawrence!

Utilizing oral histories, Jacob Lawrence depicted many aspects of the African American experience,
such as the Great Migration, cultural heroes like Harriet Tubman, Toussaint L'Overture and Frederick Douglass, as well every day life.  To learn more about Lawrence, visit this site.

Weekend Homework

Just to remind everyone, you have homework this weekend-you need to purchase some supplies:

• a 2-4 GB Thumbdrive
• a 18 x 24 Portfolio
• a spiral or sewn bound sketchbook

In addition, you need to come up with 20 concentration ideas.  I will post up all the documents I have regarding concentrations, but be sure to check out the posting from July 6th.  (Right now, I'm out of town and my interwebs connection is pretty poor so I can't put up the documents, but will on Monday.)

Back in the city, and have posted the pdfs to my google site:
Ah, here we go, hope they help!

Field Trip Ideas for September

Part of taking an advanced placement or college art course is viewing the work of other artists.  I have found several shows that I think would be fun and beneficial for you to see:

Sandow Birk at Catherine Clark, 9/3 - 10/17
Date Farmers at Fifty24SF, 9/3 - 9/23
Moki at Jack Fischer Gallery , 8/6 - 9/19
Independent Visions at John Berggruen
Martin Lipofsky at Michaela , Sept - Oct.
Bella Feldman and JP Long at Sculpturesite , 9/3 - Nov.
Erik Otto and Kevin E. Taylor at Shooting Gallery, 9/10
Deborah Oropallo at Stephen Wirtz , 9/10 - 10/31
Mike Shine at Soap Gallery, til 9/28

Tell me what you think!

Happy Birthday Romare Bearden!

Romare Bearden was a master storyteller of the African American experience through the use of collage and paint.  Learn more about Bearden here.