Post-Modern Blog
In today's society, the celebrities shown in the media have such an influence over individuals that they must be very careful with their actions and words. Outlets such as Youtube, Instagram, and many other social media platforms make it easy for these celebrities to reach their audience with one click of a button. In some cases, these privileges are taken away as we saw the former US President Donald Trump get banned from certain media outlets for posting false information. In most cases, celebrities are singers, actors, athletes, and others who are shown in the news and media often. While most of these celebrities have positive influences on youth and inspire others to be better there are also celebrities who have negative influences on youth. Recently, Travis Scott who is a famous singer from Houston Texas held a music festival in his hometown where thousand of ruthless fans attended and to everyone's surprise left 8 individuals dead. I believe these deaths were a direct result of Scotts satanic stage setting and from his continuous encouragement to be crazy. This is just one example of how the reach which these celebrities have is so large that they should be responsible for setting a good example. In this post I will be going over some of the most influential celebrities in today's society and what they have done to obtain this role.
Beyonce & Jay-Z
This image was taken from The Carter's music video which was posted on Beyonce's Youtube channel in 2018. In the video, we see a very powerful contrast between time as the setting switches from current landmarks around the world to artwork in the Louvre museum from the previous generations. Having these contrast of time does a great job of recognizing previous influential pieces such as the Mona Lisa to today's modern influences that being Jay-Z and Beyonce. From this music video, I was very impressed with the closeups of paintings showing the age in which these pieces have shown over the years with creases and fainting of colors being evident. Also, the bright colors which the celebrities are wearing make them pop from the background in a way that makes them look bigger than the setting around them.
Justin Bieber
Justin Bieber can be considered one of the most influential celebrities to the youth of this generation. Being one of the most followed celebrities with an Instagram following of 204M shows just how much of a platform which the singer has. The photo shown was taken by Mike Rosenthal and was taken in 2019. The photo was also used as the artist's backdrop photo on his apple music profile. One of the most influential aspects of Bieber growing up was his hair and this was seen worldwide as most boys in elementary school and high school were seen imitating his hairstyle. Throughout the years his fashion, interest, and attitudes were replicated by many showing just how extensive his reach truly is. From this art piece, the neutral background really emphasizes the artist while also being shown in the center of the setting. The dark clothing being worn by the musician is just another example of how he is able to set himself apart from the background bringing the center of attention to himself.
Kobe Bryant
This mural was created in 2020 by Jonas Never and is located in downtown Los Angeles. Kobe Bryant was a name at the top of my list as being an athlete myself he has motivated me personally and has been an influence on athletes all around the world. The term momba mentality was created by Kobe with the meaning of being in a mental state where anything is possible when putting enough work and effort in. It was during his life that he used his celebrity status to influence others and create a better atmosphere for many children to play the sport of basketball. In this art piece, I enjoy how the artist painted all the surrounding bricks black to bring out the color that is in the painting. Also, the artist used the whole wall which is a great representation of how Kobe was such a large inspiration to many.
Tiger Woods
This piece was created by Steve Kaufman in 2008 and showcases one of many legendary moments of golfer Tiger Woods. Tiger has been considered one of the greatest golfers ever and has been in the spotlight for not only his skills but as an inspiration for many black people. Having all of this outside pressure Tiger has still found a way to succeed under the spotlight. Having a platform to so many people he has been considered a celebrity by many and has used his platform to bring up many social injustice issues and has been a great leader to many. The contrast in this photo is a different take on the usual photos which show this iconic moment. The detail in the shading of the background is a great touch to make the greenery.
Oprah Winfrey
Crazy to think that this is a painting seeing how realistic it looks but it was created by Queso Espinosa in 2015 and displays popular talk show host Oprah Winfrey. Oprah is most known for her talk show called The Oprah Winfrey Show but is seen as a pioneer in the women empowerment movement to many. Although she experienced a tough childhood and had many setbacks in her career, Oprah has found a way to use her platform to millions of followers to encourage a more inclusive and welcoming world to all genders and ethnicities. What amazes me about this painting is the brushwork in the hair catching every curl and stroke in such a detailed manner. Also, the mixture of coloring shown in her face creates great depth and uses shadowing to capture what looks light to be lighting from a photograph.
Drake
Being from Toronto, Drake has always been a celebrity I've kept a close eye on and have looked up to throughout the years. His influence through music has reached communities at a cultural level making many changes in the rap community. Being from a city such as Toronto where there were no large names in the music industry from this city he had to pave his own way and make it on his own. Since making it in the industry, he hasn't forgotten his roots and has helped out other artists from the city such as The weekend, and Justin Bieber gains the status they have today. In the art piece I choose Drakes Album cover called views from 2016. This was created by Drake's content creators and has been seen worldwide by people purchasing and listening to the album. What made this piece so special compared to the rest was the symbolism of the CN tower which is Toronto's landmark displayed over the cover. The use of photoshop is very impressive as you can see they photoshopped Drake sitting on top of the building. Also, the grey and black color scheme used creates a dark setting which is very fitting for the album cover since the music is aggressive and vulgar.
Sources
“Apple Music TV Commercial, 'Views: Tower' Song by Drake.” ISpot.tv | Realtime TV Advertising Performance Measurement, Apple Music, https://www.ispot.tv/ad/ATjP/apple-music-views-tower-song-by-drake.
Cascone, Sarah. “Within Hours of NBA Star Kobe Bryant's Death, Street Artists around the World Began Painting Tribute Murals-See Them Here.” Artnet News, Artnet News, 29 Jan. 2020, https://news.artnet.com/art-world/kobe-bryant-tribute-murals-1764546.
Cascone, Sarah. “Justin Bieber's Lawyers Tried to Shut down a Gallery Show by an Artist Impersonating the Pop Star to Sell $100,000 Paintings.” Artnet News, Artnet News, 5 Nov. 2021, https://news.artnet.com/art-world/brian-whiteley-justin-bieber-harry-gablowsian-2029793.
“More Stories.” Art Matters Podcast: When Beyoncé Goes APES**T | Art UK, https://artuk.org/discover/stories/art-matters-podcast-when-beyonce-goes-apest.
“Oprah Winfrey by Queso Espinosa.” Pixels, https://pixels.com/featured/oprah-winfrey-queso-espinosa.html.
“Tiger Woods by Steve Kaufman (Sold).” Art Encounter, 29 Apr. 2020, https://www.artencounter.com/product/tiger-woods-steve-kaufman/.
I like how you used celebrities as your base for this project, I think that it defiantly catches everyones eyes immediately when they can recognize the people.
ReplyDeleteFor the first piece, It's cool that this was from a music video. Also, I like how Mona Lisa is in the back and the Beyoncé and Jay-Z are standing in the front. To me it sends a powerful m message of there are new and better things ahead which is pretty neat.
For the second piece, I like how you mentioned that Justin Bieber was wearing black with a white background making all of the attention go to himself, because I feel like that's not something people would notice.
For the third piece, I think it's cool that you were able to make a personal connection to this one. That always makes me take a second look when people mentioned how it inspired them. I also love this iconic mural.
For the fourth piece, I like how the painting is blurred, but still gives off a powerful meaning of you can really do anything if you put the effort in it!
For the fifth piece, I love how realistic it is. Oprah in general has a lot of power and people always look up to her. That being said, most things that she is in has a meaning of power and feminism which you can really see in this painting.
For the last piece, my favorite, Drake's album. cover, I love it. I remember this time in my life and it was great, which brings back a lot of good memories!
Hi Garrett,
ReplyDeleteI really like the places you went with this project! I think this was a great way to show how much influence celebrities actually have and that art is a huge passion for many of them! I like that you did not just write about art such as paintings, but included fashion symbols like Justin Bieber, and also went to talk about murals and other expressions of art, - including even an album cover. At first I though it would be hard to describe the art elements, but I think you managed it well.
Great job on the post!
Hello Garrett,
ReplyDeleteI think that it is very original that you chose the topic of celebrities and their influence covering Post-Modern art. Out of all of the covered pieces I enjoy the one with Kobe Bryant the most. He was a very influential individual and his passing was a tragedy. Kobe had an influence on me and he was a great athlete as well as a motivator. I think that everything you have posted and described in this blog is applicable to the theme of Post-Modern. I enjoyed your descriptions and detail of this blog. Great post!
Hello Garrett,
ReplyDeleteI liked that you chose some celebrities influence on art and even better that I know of all these celebrities. It is clear to me that you did a lot of research in this blog post. The one that appeals me the most out of these ones is probably the one with Tiger Woods. That is someone I have looked up to all my life since I am playing a lot of golf during the summers. His focus and willingness to win is something that inspires me and having a art work with him involved would be a dream. You also did a great job connecting all of these works to the theme that you chose which was celebrities influence on art.
I also heard about the previous Travis Scott concert where people died, that is very tragic and I believe Travis could have done something to prevented it.
I know that your theme was celebrities influence on art but I did some research about celebrities that actually paint themselves and a cool one that I found was Sylvester Stallone. You should go check out some of his work.