Flag Day
"Keep yourself off balance because the process allows for a certain amount of discovery."
-Benny Andrews
-Benny Andrews
Flag Day is a piece inspired by the combination of Picasso's "Les Demoiselles d'Avignon", and Benny Andrews' "Flag Day". In "Flag Day", Andrews created a piece which aimed to discuss the issues facing minorities, which I took into my own work, in Picasso's style(as seen in Les Demoiselles d'Avignon). In this work, the female is hidden by the bars of the American flag, as seen in Andrews' work, similar to that of a jail cell. The female is nude to show the objectification and the ways of how women are seen in the United States.
Historical Investigation
Benny Andrews was a nationally recognized teacher, artist as well as activist. Throughout his lifetime, he created many work which would show the life of Americans. This was done through the use of memory and imagination, as well as his own stylistic choices. His work is build on a combination of abstract expressionism, surrealism, social realism, and the American scene. By inspiration of both of his mother and father’s creative backgrounds, he was able to flourish as an artist. In “Flag Day” (1966), Andrews showed an African American man, being trapped by the flag. In this work. The stripes of the American flag create a cell for the figure which remains inside. This shows the repression of minorities by the United States. The symbolism is quite apparent in this piece, as it is apparent in many of Andrew's Works. He wants to discuss the importance of progression in the US, and the specifics of who is being opressed and targeted. He used his surroundings to make his artwork, similar to the work of Pablo Picasso.
Both Pablo Picasso and Benny Andrews created works of art based off of their surroundings. In Picasso’s piece “Les Demoiselles D’avignon”(1907), he depicted 5 prostitutes in Barcelona. While Andrews used people in the USA, Picasso focused on those in Barcelona. “Les Demoiselles D’avignon” shows how the females are viewed exclusively as prostitutes, and how dehumanized they are. The dehumanization of the figures occurs through Picasso’s distortion and known rendering of the females figures. Picasso’s depiction of the females makes them almost even appear as savages. The faces of 2 of the women are made to be similar to the traditional African masks. This could be interpreted by how society views the women, or how the women view themselves. However dehumanized they may appear to be, the seem to be confident. Their poses and body language show that they aren’t ashamed of themselves or their bodies. The context of this piece was that it was also made to discuss the threat of STD’s to people in this time.
Both of the artists aim to discuss issues facing the world at their own time period. Andrews wanted to discuss how minorities were being oppressed, and Picasso aimed to discuss the problem of sexually transmitted diseases. My goal with my piece was more to discuss the challenges met by woman in America, while using Picasso's style of cubism.
Both Pablo Picasso and Benny Andrews created works of art based off of their surroundings. In Picasso’s piece “Les Demoiselles D’avignon”(1907), he depicted 5 prostitutes in Barcelona. While Andrews used people in the USA, Picasso focused on those in Barcelona. “Les Demoiselles D’avignon” shows how the females are viewed exclusively as prostitutes, and how dehumanized they are. The dehumanization of the figures occurs through Picasso’s distortion and known rendering of the females figures. Picasso’s depiction of the females makes them almost even appear as savages. The faces of 2 of the women are made to be similar to the traditional African masks. This could be interpreted by how society views the women, or how the women view themselves. However dehumanized they may appear to be, the seem to be confident. Their poses and body language show that they aren’t ashamed of themselves or their bodies. The context of this piece was that it was also made to discuss the threat of STD’s to people in this time.
Both of the artists aim to discuss issues facing the world at their own time period. Andrews wanted to discuss how minorities were being oppressed, and Picasso aimed to discuss the problem of sexually transmitted diseases. My goal with my piece was more to discuss the challenges met by woman in America, while using Picasso's style of cubism.
Sketching & Planning
As I began to draft this piece, it took me a very long time to figure out exactly what I wanted to o with it. I was debating if I wanted to more closely emulate the style of Andrews or PIcasso, while using an image most similar to that of Andrews. In the first planning sketch I considered distorting the face of the female, like Picasso's “Les Demoiselles D’avignon”. I thought it would also be best to make the red parts of the flag similar to the bars and have the body peeking through the white parts, would be left open. I went against distortion of the face so that it would look more cohesive. In the second sketch I considered displaying the work 3x4 feet, with the flag made to look very similar to jail cells. The female was still standing proud in the sketch, but with the face more similar to that of Andrews. The last planning sketch shows how I wanted the female to look slightly uncomfortable, due to her objectification. This image was more to show the nudity and vulgarity of how people view women. I decided to use this sketch mostly while creating the piece. I also combined this with the dark red bars cutting across the canvas to make it appear more like a jail cell.
Gathering Images
In order to get a better idea of how the fabric would fold in my hands, i took these pictures. I also wanted to get a better depiction of how to create the flag of the USA, as well as my own figure. My figure was then translated from real-life to cubist style painting.
Experimentation
To begin creating the work, I made a large quantity of skin tone base coat, so that I would have enough to cover the entire canvas in layers while creating the work. The skin tone which I made originally was very light and pasty, so as I was painting I added more orange to it. I also mixed paint while adding different hues and shades to the piece to give it more dimension. Different tones of red, white, blue, and skin were added to make the piece more similar to real-life, while maintaining the cubist style. I used two different brands of paint for the blue and red, so that there would be more emphasis on the difference, while maintaining the true colors.
Process
To begin the process, I outlined a base coat which would allow for me to build off of as I progressed throughout the piece. As I continued to work on it, I'd realized the mistakes in outlining which I had made. I used artsits tape to apply to the canvas, and create the geometric shapes of Cubist style paintings. I added the female body parts in harsh outlines with black paint. I'd debated if I should draw a line or do multiple strokes to show the natual hair. I made it hairy so that it made the piece more visually appealing and cohesive to the eye. Without this, it looked more like poorly drawn underwear. I went up and down the red with the white paint, attempting to make the lines look as clean as possible. I also filled in the background in the less white spots, where the canvases original color was showing through. I did this so that all of the colors would be as pure and bold as possible, so that no message or meaning was taken away from the piece. I also had initially thought it would be best to color the hair with my golden tone, but I recognized this wasn't what Picasso had done. Picasso used an almost black paint for the hair in his work, so I did the same.
Reflection & Evaluation
My piece has a very clear connection to Picasso's “Les Demoiselles D’avignon”, and Benny Andrews "Flag Day". While Picasso's style was a defined as cubism, Andrews' work laid more in the grey area. My piece has similar features to that of cubism (as seen through the geometric features), but doesn't seem to have a defined style. This is because as I was painting, I was holding myself back from blending and creating shapes through shadowing, as this did not follow my inspiration. However, it does slightly show in the final product. the similarities to cubism still hold true, and the almost unsure of the style works for this piece, as Andrews' did the same. My colors are bolder in vibrancy than that of Picasso, but not that of Andrews. While Picasso focused on using more muted and earthy tones, Andrews' used bold and pure colors on the American flag. Andrews used a more teal-toned blue in his work, while I used a primary blue. The blue I used on the flag created a stronger contrast than the lighter blue would have. it also made the piece more visually appealing as it showed unity with the primary red.
The work itself is a decent piece. I acknowledge that the figure is still distorted like Picasso, but I strongly struggled to make it feel more cubist than pop art. I feel like the eyes make this piece hardest to read. There's a clear connection to my artist inspiration, but there's something about it that takes the viewer away from Picasso. You would have to see “Les Demoiselles D’avignon” in order to understand how the figure was meant to be seen as it is. I think that I would have enjoyed this piece more if it was done in a style which allowed for more blending and tones rather than creating the body out of shapes. However, there's also a quality about the female figure behind the flag which drags me in. The way the piece was painted seems like there wasn't much effort put into it, but here this is where art is easier said than done. I spent so much time in trying to make everything look clean and easy on the eye. Due to the time spent on the piece and knowing that any other steps may have taken away from my inspiration, I'm satisfied with the work. The only thing that I remain unsure about is the stars. They seem to be too different from the work itself due to their clean lines. I tried to add more grey in the stars which made it look slightly better, but in my opinion, they're still too distinguished from the rest of the piece. Although the contrast is nice, it's not what I had initially wanted for the work.
The work itself is a decent piece. I acknowledge that the figure is still distorted like Picasso, but I strongly struggled to make it feel more cubist than pop art. I feel like the eyes make this piece hardest to read. There's a clear connection to my artist inspiration, but there's something about it that takes the viewer away from Picasso. You would have to see “Les Demoiselles D’avignon” in order to understand how the figure was meant to be seen as it is. I think that I would have enjoyed this piece more if it was done in a style which allowed for more blending and tones rather than creating the body out of shapes. However, there's also a quality about the female figure behind the flag which drags me in. The way the piece was painted seems like there wasn't much effort put into it, but here this is where art is easier said than done. I spent so much time in trying to make everything look clean and easy on the eye. Due to the time spent on the piece and knowing that any other steps may have taken away from my inspiration, I'm satisfied with the work. The only thing that I remain unsure about is the stars. They seem to be too different from the work itself due to their clean lines. I tried to add more grey in the stars which made it look slightly better, but in my opinion, they're still too distinguished from the rest of the piece. Although the contrast is nice, it's not what I had initially wanted for the work.
Connection to the ACT
1.) Andrews' use of figures strapped in America, and Picasso's cubist style show the cause-effect relationship on my work.
2.) Both Picasso and Andrews acknowledge that many people are viewed as less than human. Whether it be females, or a black man, minorities play a large role in society. For a problem so expansive and large, it's hard to understand how the issues faced aren't discussed more.
3.)While researching my inspiration I concluded that oppression and misunderstanding is everywhere. The extent which the lack of respect is seen for one and other is too expansive for just one person to be able to solve.
4.) While researching I was looking for something that would be incorporated into a common theme of my artwork is human vulnerability as well as controversies. Although something like acknowledging the treatment of different genders and ethnicity shouldn't be viewed as controversial, there's still people who don't agree that this is the way things actually are worldwide.
5.) While researching it could be concluded that although these pieces were made almost 60 years apart from each other, and my work over 50 years apart from Andrews, the issues of minorities are timeless.
2.) Both Picasso and Andrews acknowledge that many people are viewed as less than human. Whether it be females, or a black man, minorities play a large role in society. For a problem so expansive and large, it's hard to understand how the issues faced aren't discussed more.
3.)While researching my inspiration I concluded that oppression and misunderstanding is everywhere. The extent which the lack of respect is seen for one and other is too expansive for just one person to be able to solve.
4.) While researching I was looking for something that would be incorporated into a common theme of my artwork is human vulnerability as well as controversies. Although something like acknowledging the treatment of different genders and ethnicity shouldn't be viewed as controversial, there's still people who don't agree that this is the way things actually are worldwide.
5.) While researching it could be concluded that although these pieces were made almost 60 years apart from each other, and my work over 50 years apart from Andrews, the issues of minorities are timeless.
Citations
“Benny Andrews (1930-2006).” New Georgia Encyclopedia, Georgia Humanities Council, 8 Apr. 2005, www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/arts-culture/benny-andrews-1930-2006.
“Les Demoiselles d'Avignon. Paris, June-July 1907 | MoMA.” MOMA, The Museum of Modern Art, 2004, www.moma.org/collection/works/79766.
“Les Demoiselles d'Avignon. Paris, June-July 1907 | MoMA.” MOMA, The Museum of Modern Art, 2004, www.moma.org/collection/works/79766.