c.l.a.s.s.m.a.t.e. c.r.i.t.i.q.u.e.s

It was great to read my fellow classmates' opinions about artists: Gregory Crewdson, Teun Hocks, Jeff Wall, & Cindy Sherman. I was able to see which opinions were similar to mine and I also got the opportunity to learn more about these artists then what I captured from my own critiques. Here are a few of my favorite excerpts from their blogs -

Gregory Crewdson ~

Keri: "Because his pieces were not titled, I was able to view with work without any "previously set" notions. It was completely up to me to set the scene, or "title," without considering the role the title may play.

Michelle: " Was this some sort of mockery of American life? I felt as if a crime just took place. His work is cohesive, very interesting and captures attention. With detail, I wanted to comb through the scenes like a detective, but finding nothing."

Teun Hocks ~

Tim - "Hock’s work I think is more interesting as a process than the actual work is when completed. I think its pretty cool to take the values and add color instead of the opposite that has been done countless times before."

Stephanie - "His works appear to be based in sections. Each section a continued piece of the section next to it. Some pieces are divided equally and others are divided with organic lines, giving it a feel of abstraction."

Liz - "Hocks main series uses the same model so that the focus is on the action, not the person. He has an isolated and obvious focal point and does not use excessive wide shots like Crewdson."

Cindy Sherman ~

Alayne - "Knowing the origin of Cindy Sherman's work, for example that they are all film stills, all conveying, pausing, particular emotions and ideas, has given me a new and towering respect for her."

Renee - "However, artist Cindy Sherman differs from her peers by setting her works in more of an enclosed space. Centralizing her works more upon the study of women, this could be to better capture the figure. Moreover, where the other artists manipulate color to shift the overall mood of their pieces, Sherman has set her works to tones of black and white."

Jeff Wall ~

Rahda - "Jeff Wall’s work refers to history of art and philosophical problems of representation. He captures social issues in life in a more realistic fashion than the other two artists."

Keith - "His photographs since the early 1970's have been on the cutting edge of the avant-garde and he is not even a New Yorker. Wall, a Canadian photographer, is know for his large scale Cibachrome prints (cibachrome being related to a positive to positive printing process that makes slides as opposed to prints on paper)."

Cristina - "They may not be as painterly as Hocks, or as visually exciting as Crewdons, but Wall's works are lyrical much as they come off street-wise and ordinary...his visual poetry evident in his philosophical and art historical references."