Are Shoes Art?

I am a lucky owner of Louboutin's work. I originally purchased them because of the flair they give my small feet and ankles. But, if you look at Louboutin for his passion in his work, you will see that he is indeed creating art for us to wear. But art is beyond just looking at it, art can be a functional yet beautiful part of our lives. It is art, the creative part of function, that adds to our life that function cannot do. :) Here's a quick article about Louboutin for those who are not familiar with this shoe designer:

To the fans of his red-soled, leg-lengthening and tiptoe inducing footwear, Christian Louboutin's shoes symbolise much more than just something pretty to adorn a pair of feet. His creations - which can cost upwards of £2,000 per pair - are considered by some to be works of art, and in recognition of the craftsmanship that goes into producing each shoe, the Parisian designer had chosen to photograph a selection of his autumn/winter 2011 collection in the style of world-famous historical paintings.

Related articles

• Christian Louboutin sees red

• Celebrities who love Christian Louboutin shoes

Christian Louboutin sees red
Having collaborated with photographer Peter Lipmann, well-known portraits such as Arrangement in Grey and Black: The Artist's Mother, by James McNeill Whistler, have been given a Louboutin makeover. Under Lipmann's eye, instead of clutching a handkerchief, Whistler's Mother can be seen holding the fashion-forward 'Tootsie' ankle boot (£1,895), adorned with roccia leathers and studded piping.
In pictures: Celebrities who love Christian Louboutin
In another image, Marie-Guillemine Benoist's Portrait d'une Negresse totes a 'Balda Booty' (£695), meanwhile upon the lap Renaissance artist Francois Clouet's Elizabeth of Austria rests a 'Catalina' sequinned clutch bag (£795) and a golden spiked 'Pigalilli' platform (£2,295) - a style popular with the likes of celebrities Rihanna and Victoria Beckham.
Even a leopard-print shoulder bag has managed to find a home nestled under the arm of Jean-Marc Nattier's Marquise de Pompadour, while Francisco de Zurbaran's Santa Dorotea carefully holds a fruit platter bearing the new '8 Mignon' strappy sandals (£765).
High heels at dawn for Christian Louboutin and Yves Saint Laurent
With such precious detail and eye-watering price tags to boot, we think Louboutin's new works might have to be stored in a museum of their own.
http://fashion.telegraph.co.uk/article/TMG8582008/Christian-Louboutins-shoes-of-art.html

Impressionism

Impressionism is a new type of art from the 19th century. While the French Royal Academy firmly stood behind their highest forms of painting ( landscape, historical landscape, and portrait), Impression broke away from them and was created to rebel against Realism.  Impressionism mainly consisted of contemporary still life and landscape.  This was unacceptable in the eyes of the Academy as they saw still life, landscape, and genre paintings as a low form; it was a complete mockery and received very negative attention.  Artists such as Claude Monet, Camille Pissarro and Pierre-Auguste Renoir, were interested more in landscape and in contemporary life.  They were fascinated by the contemporary urban life, from lunches in the park to menial labor.   While Impressionists were rejected from presenting their work at the Salon de Paris, they threw their own exhibit.  They received little affection from the public in the beginning, but slowly they gained and attracted appreciators of their work.  Traditionally, paintings and other forms of art were performed indoors and in studios.  But the Impressionist movement has moved from indoors to the open air.  Impressionists worked in the open-air, or "au plein-air".  Doing so, capturing light and time was easier since the artist was in the natural light. Impressionist paintings were created differently then other type of paintings, like Realism.  Short, and choppy brush strokes with heavy-loaded paint were used, the heavy use of chiaroscuro was stopped, and pure color was directly applied to the painting without mixing before hand.  Complementary colors used in Impressionism intensified contrasts.   As we learned in class, Impressionism experiments were put on hold for a couple years because of the Franco-Prussian War.  Napoleon III declared war on Prussia, and was soon forced to surrender.  Monet and other Impressionists leave the city, while Degas, Renoir, and Bazille stayed behind.   I quite enjoy Impressionism paintings, so much, that I even experimented in it during my Introduction to Painting and Intermediate Painting courses at Chaffey College. Art work from top to bottom: Camille Pissarro, Hay Harvest at Eragny, 1901, Claude Monet, Woman With a Parasol, 1875, and Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Dance at Le Moulin de la Galatte, 1876.


-Carlos Cardona, Art 3 and 5

Levitated Mass

Michael Heizer's Levitated Mass opens today at LACMA. 

Way back in the twentieth century—1969, to be precise—Michael Heizer had the idea for an artwork he’d call Levitated Mass. It would be a massive rock perched atop a long slot in the earth. He even got so far as to start creating the artwork in the Nevada desert: he had a 120-ton rock and he dug out the slot. Unfortunately, one of two cranes he was using to mount the rock buckled under the weight, and the project was not completed.

Here we are more than four decades later, and Levitated Mass is complete. The rock is a little heavier (340 tons), the slot is a little longer (456 feet), and the site is a little more accessible (right in the middle of Los Angeles). Also, a few more people know all about it: back in March you couldn’t change the channel or open your local paper without hitting upon the story of the transport of the boulder from Jurupa Valley to LACMA. Thousands of people came out every single day and night to see this boulder move across Southern California to its destination at the museum. And now we’re inviting all of those people—and everyone else, too!—to come see Levitated Mass as it officially opens to the public this Sunday.

http://www.lacma.org/

Sam Maloof

I grew up knowing Sam Maloof and Alfreda Maloof. Their bio on Wikipedia and other websites doesn't really show the religious side of this amazing couple. I had always wanted to have parents were more like Sam and Alfreda than the ones I had because they were intelligent, well spoken, kind, gentle, open and creative. They were devout Methodists who attended the Trinity United Methodist Church on the corner of Campus and I street for many years. I used to visit their home before it was moved to the top of Carnelian when it was subjected to eminent domain where the 210 now goes through their old vineyards.

There isn't much on Alfreda however she was a very earthy type woman who was always wearing cultural type jewelry and simple outfits. I mostly remember American Indian type jewelry she adorned herself with. She kept her hair simple and was always a willing shoulder for one of any age.

Here is the bio that is on them from Wikipedia with plenty of citation sources to check upon:

Sam Maloof (born Samuel Solomon Maloof, a member of the large Maalouf family) (January 24, 1916^[1] - May 21, 2009^[2]) was a furniture designer and woodworker. He was born in Chino, California, USA, to parents who emigrated to the United States from Lebanon.^[3] He attended high school first at Chaffey High School in Ontario, California, where he took his first woodworking class and was recognized by his art teacher as having extraordinary skill. Later he attended Chino High School. Shortly after completing high school, he began working in the art department of the Vortox Manufacturing Company in Claremont, California. He was drafted into the United States Army on October 11, 1941.^[4] After serving in the Pacific theater and then transferring to a post in Alaska, Maloof left the army in 1945 to return to Southern California.
Maloof married Alfreda Louise Ward on June 27, 1948 and the couple moved into a house at 921 Plaza Serena, Ontario, California where Sam set up a furniture workshop in the garage. Mostly from necessity, Maloof designed and built a suite of furniture for his home using salvaged materials. Commissioned pieces followed, and from 1949-1952 Maloof continued working in the garage of his Ontario home. In 1953, Maloof relocated to Alta Loma, California where he built a studio to continue making furniture.^[5]
Maloof's work is in the collections of several major American museums, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the Smithsonian American Art Museum.^[6] In 1985 he was awarded a MacArthur "Genius" grant. Presidents Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan have both owned Maloof rockers.^[1][3][7]
Sam Maloof resided in Alta Loma, California, a neighborhood community in the City of Rancho Cucamonga. On a former citrus orchard are his home, his furniture shops and the site of the Sam and Alfreda Maloof Foundation for Arts and Crafts.
He was described by the Smithsonian Institution as "America's most renowned contemporary furniture craftsman" and People magazine dubbed him "The Hemingway of Hardwood." But his business card always said "woodworker." "I like the word," he told a Los Angeles Times reporter, his eyes brightening behind large, owl-eyed glass frames. "It's an honest word."^[8]
In 1985 Mr. Maloof became the first craftsman to receive a MacArthur fellowship; and despite such recognition, he declined to identify himself as an artist. His autobiography was titled Sam Maloof: Woodworker.<sup>[5]

This is the church we all attended during my childhood:</sup> 

^{This is Sam and one of his famous pieces of work:}

^{This is Sam and Alfreda as I knew them. This is their older home before they moved to Alta Loma at the top of Carnelian where their foundation now operates:}

^{I last saw Sam Maloof alive in 2008 after my final surgery and was out of the wheelchair. Promising to visit again, I got busy and he passed before I could see him again.} 

First love letter

When looking into the past it is difficult to feel any sort of attachment to the people. It's difficult to understand because it was a different time, it was a different world. One thing that has not changed are the basic human emotions and actions towards each other. This tablet reeled me in closer to the daily life closer than any agricultural detail or technique used within that time frame. It showed me that not just now, but always has their been human affection towards one another. The dialog is very much intense but it does captivate how much she cared and loved her husband. I believe this is just one of the many attributes that make us human. The person that wrote this was named Inanna's who was a priestess and it was wrote for her husband Shu-Sin who was her Sumerian husband. The translation was taken from http://mristanblue.wordpress.com/first-love-letter-of-the-world-istanbul-archaeological-museum/. 

Bridegroom, dear to my heart,
Goodly is your beauty, honeysweet,
Lion, dear to my heart,
Goodly is your beauty, honeysweet.
You have captivated me,
Let me stand tremblingly before you.
Bridegroom, I would be taken by you to the bedchamber,
You have captivated me,
Let me stand tremblingly before you.
Lion, I would be taken by you to the bedchamber.
Bridegroom, let me caress you,
My precious caress is more savory than honey,
In the bedchamber, honey-filled,
Let me enjoy your goodly beauty,
Lion, let me caress you,
My precious caress is more savory than honey.
Bridegroom, you have taken your pleasure of me,
Tell my mother, she will give you delicacies,
My father, he will give you gifts.
Your spirit, I know where to cheer your spirit,
Bridegroom, sleep in our house until dawn,
Your heart, I know where to gladden your heart,
Lion, sleep in our house until dawn.
You, because you love me,
Give me pray of your caresses,
My lord god, my lord protector,
My Shu-Sin, who gladdens Enlil’s heart,
Give my pray of your caresses.
Your place goodly as honey, pray lay your hand on it,
Bring your hand over like a gishban-garment,
Cup your hand over it like a gishban-sikin-garment.

Vandalism in Houston

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia

I was watching the news the other day and they showed a story of a man vandalizing Picasso's 'Woman in a Red Armchair'. The man was caught on camera by another person in the museum using his cellphone. The vandal told the man who recorded the video that he was an "up-and-coming artist, who wanted to honor Picasso." I personally would be furious if someone did this to my artwork, and I would not feel honored at all.

This is a link to the news story, and it includes the video.
http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/entertainment&id=8706970



Hannah Comeau (Art 5)

Forms of Art

In our everyday lives, we have fallen oblivious to everything in which we can perceive as art. We go from point A to point B without time to appreciate the art around us. Our daily activities all contain art, whether it be watching television, cooking, cleaning. The house you live in is a work of art. However art drives us to do many of the things we do and just neglect; whatever our hobby is.

Art is what is used to get someone interested. Simple colors can stimulate one to even become hungry. Art is useful especially in advertisements, where we see an ideal form of foods, whether it be McDonalds or the fanciest restaurant, it stimulates our brain to want to eat. The reason why I like Chemistry and will future be furthering my studies in that subject is because of art, all the physical and chemical properties are works of art.

All these pictures drive our lives; art has genuinely driven mine and I have a newfound appreciation for it.

As well as this. Even as simple as my vary hobby: I am a competitive 'Super Street Fighter 4: Arcade Edition 2012' player (fighting video games). Here, I chose my character, 'Rose', who is just so much more depth to her now that I understand how her character model has been made. She is a form of art. The methodical way that the video game designers created a two-dimensional plane with three-dimensional characters is art within itself; it requires a ridiculous amount of technique.

What am I getting to? Take in consideration everything you do. I'm 100% sure that each activity involves some sort of Art, whether it be physical or mental. That's something that's now engraved in my brain; I used to think that Art was ridiculous and it was not worth my time. And yes, these two classes that I'm taking have opened my eyes, that there is so much more to art than just simply drawing.

Gerald Anton Herrera (Art 5)

Mona Lisa

I remember last summer going to France and Rome. We went to Musee du Louvre, an extravagant museum. I'm not sure what really caught my eye, the Mona Lisa or just the many people surrounding the painting. I heard so many things about it, how amazing this portrait is. But finally when I was able to get up to the front of the crowd, I felt like I understand what was so great about this portrait. The realism, and emotion you can feel from the painting. And the one thing that stuck with me, was her eyes. Every time you would move, it felt like her eyes would be watching you, amazing indeed. Have you ever saw a portrait, painting, sculptor that really caught your eye and made you think differently after seeing the real thing instead of hearing about it, or in pictures?


Lynsie Chu (Art 5)

The Sistine Chapel

As a young girl in elementary school my teachers always seemed to talk about the Sistine Chapel. I have always known what it was but never focused on the details. I found it quite interesting how meticulous Michelangelo was about his art. He was able to prove the other artists wrong and painted something extremely beautiful. I feel like I relate to Michelangelo and I would say he is extremely OCD. Do you have a Michelangelo in you?

Sana Hadyeh, Art-3 and Art-5

Sofonisba Anguissola

Sofonisba Anguissola was an unusual artist. Unusual not only because she was a female artist, but because she was not a daughter of an artist. Most female artists were descended from an artist's lineage. But not Anguissola. Her father encouraged his children to pursue careers in literature, music, and especially painting. He consulted Michelangelo about Sofonisba's artistic talent in 1557, asking for a drawing that she might copy and return it to be critiqued. Michelangelo evidently obliged because Sonfonisba Anguissola's father wrote an enthusiastic letter of thanks. Anguissola was also skilled at miniatures and portraits, an important kind of painting in the 16th centruy. Anguissola painted herself holding a medallion, the border of which spells out her name and home town, Cremona. I really enjoy this piece. It is a self-portrait of Anguissola. I find it remarkable because it is a miniature portrait that shows great detail. From the delicate laces around her neck to the inscription around the medallion. She shows such great detail in the strands of hair and in the folds of the clothing. This is actually the first piece I have ever seen by Anguissola, and it is by far my favorite of her work.

-Carlos Cardona, Art 3 and 5

Viewing Art

When I look at paintings or sculptures, people tell me to ask myself this question: What do I feel when I see this artwork? However, there are times when those certain types of feeling cannot be put into words. For example, looking at The Last Supper made by Leonardo, I am only able to describe a religious feeling, but that is the extent to how I can describe the paint. Are there any other methods to help me describe how I feel when look at art?

Art 5 (Heywood Yee)

Here is a picture if you want to point out something:

The Last Supper by Leonardo Da Vinci

Art of the Third Reich

I have had an interest in WWII because of my ex father in law who was a Nazi Youth. Their mentality is very different. This was in the 1980s that I was exposed to this thinking and I then embarked on learning as much as possible about that period. Most of my research has been on the psychological side reading about lives in camps as both worker or officer.

Art embraces psychology on many levels. I thought I would look at art from that era. While looking at it, it reminds me of when I watched the movie 1984 the other day. Here is a brief summary about Nazi Art:

The art of the Third Reich, the officially approved art produced in Nazi Germany between 1933 and 1945, was characterized by a style of Romantic realism based on classical models. While banning modern styles as degenerate, the Nazis promoted paintings and sculptures that were narrowly traditional in manner and that exalted the "blood and soil" values of racial purity, militarism, and obedience. Other popular themes for Nazi art were the Volk at work in the fields, a return to the simple virtues of Heimat (love of homeland), the manly virtues of the National Socialist struggle, and the lauding of the female activities of child bearing and raising (Kinder, Küche, Kirche).
Similarly, music was expected to be tonal and free of jazz influence; films and plays were censored.
Nazi art bears a close similarity to the Soviet propaganda art style of Socialist Realism, and the term heroic realism has sometimes been used to describe both artistic styles.
Among the well-known artists endorsed by the Nazis were the sculptors Josef Thorak and Arno Breker, and painters Werner Peiner, Adolf Wissel and Conrad Hommel.

I don't mind using Wikipedia for basic searches because they also have citations. The links are the citations as well as I'll post some artists from that area in the next couple of days.

 Die Partei, Arno Breker's statue representing the spirit of the Nazi Party

Sindukht Comes to Sam Bearing Gifts

Sindukht Comes to Sam Bearing Gifts, Folio from the Shahnama of Shah Tahmasp, Iran, Tabriz, 1525–35, 18 3/8 x 12 3/8 in. Aga Khan Museum Collection, Geneva (AKM00496) Photo © Aga Khan Trust for Culture, Geneva.

Although the description of this image states it is Iranian, please note the style on the faces and the artwork. It is very Asian in appearance because trade was active between Iran and China back then. The influence on Iranian art from trade is remarkable.

ArtHistory5
Janet (Gidget) Smith

Student Expo 2012

Student Expo 2012

June 4 - 23, 2012 

Reception: June 4, 5pm - 7pm

Chaffey College and the Wignall Museum of Contemporary Art proudly present Student Expo 2012.  This annual student exhibition features work from art and photography classes from the academic year (2011-2012). All work is chosen by faculty in each discipline and features hundreds of the year's best student works of art. The exhibition is organized by the Art and Photography Departments.

Summer Hours

Monday - Thursday: 10am - 4pm

Closed Friday, Saturday and Sunday