BMA

André Masson- There is No Finished World

              What separates man from beast? I kept asking myself this when viewing this painting. Although the tone is somewhat generally negative, it doesn't fail to include the perception of good just as much as bad. It almost speaks as if the battle between the morality of good and bad are in a continuous fight. There are cry's of doom with many characteristics that emphasize the devil according to the bible. I am not for one to take this as a coincidence, the symbols are too evident. While all of the melancholic shapes take form, when closely observed you can see either souls or certain life forms trying to break away from an inseparable pest. A pest that thrives off the odd nature of a human at rest. The painting is rather a simple yet intricate piece all in one. Three beast like figures swaying within what looks like a chamber. The center of the painting a small shaped object. If looked at closely and then from a far it could possibly be concluded that this center object is the chamber in which they are all trapped and suffocating. The majority of hybrid mythological creatures were intended to be bad, causing harm to others which is why I think Masson chose to mix man with beast. This was painted just after many gruesome wars which is dully why man is depicted as lost creatures sitting and waiting to find there potential souls again.

Henri Matisse- Festival of Flowers

            Granted I am fifty percent french, I assume that's why I am so attracted to their art. This is an oil painting depicting the change in seasons. The focal point are two women but more importantly the flowers and choice of colors from left to right as a whole set the tone. The change in seasons from winter to spring is usually thought of as winter-white to spring-yellow. That is exactly was is happening here. The white shades and blackish white ground from left to right slowly brighten, turning to multi-color flowers and even a desert with a pale blue sky. The parade is also marching in celebration of the change is season. The flowers grab the eyes as if there are telling an enlightening story, one to look forward to and take the path down. The overall approach of the painting is a positive one. As in poetry winter is associated with death and spring with a new begging.

Jackson Pollock- Water Birds

          Jackson Pollock creates art that speaks the unspeakable. I chose this as my third option because chaos has never looked so beautiful. On the bottom left hand side of the painting there is a bird and toward the bottom right you can observe one of its feet. The painting oddly gives me the feeling of a bird/duck who has dunked its head under the water searching for food. The bird may not know exactly what it is seeing but it can feel for other life around him. The bird seems to be undergoing the feeling a human has when gravity pulls water into the nose upside down, a brain-washy feeling. The colors are very light contrasted with black splatters that gives it a very natural feeling. There seems to be nothing automatic about this piece which is truly where art is created to me.Despite all what speaks to me I just simply enjoy observing most of Pollock's work and to see him in BMA was a dream.