Four Artists

Today is January 25, 2010.

Today we were assigned to compare four artists in which I will post in order of my favorites: Teun Hocks, Gregory Crewsdon, Cindy Sherman and last, and certainly least, Jeff Wall.

Teun Hocks


The reason I liked Teun Hocks the best is because, though his paintings have a social message, it had a lot of humor. And what I find genius is how he takes photos of himself and then places it in a painted scenery. So, for example, the one in which he's sleeping in a cardboard box I find to be absolutely brilliant. Though I'm not exactly sure what it represents I have two guesses. 1. The ridiculous living conditions in the city...small enough to compare living in a cardboard box. 2. It brings attention to homeless people. Now, these interpretations are probably way off, but I love his use of muted colors, use of humor and almost dreamlike scenery.



Gregory Crewsdon


I love Crewsdon's work because it brings together situations that are uncomfortable or awkward together which creates not only humor, but an uneasy feeling. For example, the photo on the left shows a man in his living room, presumably, sitting in grass or dirt and starting a fire as if he's in the wilderness. This photo is awkward and almost uncomfortable because we as people do not expect to see such conditions in our homes, and by literally bringing the outdoors indoors, it just feels out of place and awkward.


Cindy Sherman

Cindy Sherman, though she takes amazing photos, has a more classic view on art. Most of her photos are in black and white, which I absolutely love. Black and white not only brings you back to the forties or fifties glam era, but it also has a certain mood associated with it that cannot be replicated with colored photos. The thing that separates Sherman from the rest is that her photos aren't strange. They don't necessarily have any humor or any oddities. In fact, though they are photographed beautifully, they seem more like fashion ads rather than art with a deeper meaning. Regardless of this, I love the portraits of not only herself but other women.

Jeff Wall


Jeff Wall is my least favorite. Though I can see where he's coming from, I just can't appreciate a trashed room. He uses many materials that can be seen as trash by others and he brings it together to create one unified piece. However, for me, I feel that there's too much going. It makes me feel really just, uncomfortable, which, I suppose is what he wants to do, somewhat like Crewsdon. Crewsdon's work, however, I enjoy more so than Wall because Wall's seems all over the place.

All artists all convey their messages beautifully, some better than others. Hocks uses humor, muted colors and a combination of reality and painting in order to suggest moral themes. Crewsdon brings awkward, almost unbelievable situations together to make a creepy almost uneasy situation. Sherman, however, doesn't use any color. She uses black and white and photographs mostly herself or women. Though sometimes it creates more of a magazine photo, it creates a very nice mood and feelings. Wall brings a lot of items that could be used as trash and brings many objects into a room. He makes it on a human scale which let us wonder in, but I almost don't want to because of the anxious and almost uneasy feeling the mess creates.