: Describe the subject and elements of art. How is the artwork organized (principles of design)? What mood, feelings, ideas, are communicated by the artwork? Discuss the merits and value of the artwork. Include two references to music or everyday objects to enliven your description. For example, a specific piece of music that could be listened to while looking at the artwork. Music can complement certain aspects of the composition such as dynamic movement, a repeated pattern, or the mood of the artwork. Specific everyday objects could be touched or held to simulate the feel of a specific texture, weight, or shape in the artwork. The Broad Museum in Los Angeles and there was a plethora of imaginative artworks at the site. However, the one that caught my attention the most was the ” Late Afternoon in the Forest,” artwork by David Wojnarowicz. Wojnarowicz’s artwork is collaged, and painted imagery in a dreamlike scene with a native American figurine, gears, angels, a centaur, a veiled airplane, and two blue head outlines made up of painted and collaged material. A repeating depiction of the Parthenon appears at the top left corner, combined with a White House. Green columns border a tunnel system close to the center, a gritty spot in 1980s New York where Wojnarowicz resided and worked. In this abandoned habitat, red ant-like critters having human heads creep out from the columns with both bodies and spaces split (“Late afternoon in the forest – David Wojnarowicz | The broad,” .). A human skull with its lips stitched shut is depicted on the left side of the painting, a horrific mutilation Wojnarowicz would later do on himself in the HIV/AIDS film Silence = Death in 1990. Wojnarowicz’s classic portrait’s symbolic overtones, notably the tragic repercussions of self-censorship, are still widely felt today. Equally, David Wojnarowicz’s “Late Afternoon in the Forest” is an acrylic, spray paint, and collages on muslin painting. The artwork is a fanciful twilit spectacle depicted in hues of blue, dark grey, and green, depicting a mountainous landscape in the forest populated by the wrecks of a concealed jet fighter-cum-skeletal monstrosity and a gigantic Olmec-style face with its lips stitched together, a direct comparison to Wojnarowicz’s own stitched lips in the legendarily harrowing film featuring Rosa von Praunheim. The painting’s point is ambiguous; however, the documentary depicted a protest against the Reagan administration’s blatant disregard of people living with AIDS, which eventually caused Wojnarowicz’s life in 1992. The warplane, huntress, and lapith allotted from the Parthenon glimpsed in the top left corner in repeated sun-drenched images, two of which adjoin a poster vision of the south exterior wall of the White House collude to insinuate that endless conflict as seen from the presence of the jet fighter, centaur, and lapith can be considered God’s blessings in the form of an angel as explained by the profound shading and intriguing specifics in the painting. However, the painting specifics may also mean anything as it can be interpreted in a variety of perspectives, none of which are reassuring to the prevailing culture (“Late afternoon in the forest – David Wojnarowicz | The broad,” .). Whatever the intention, the picture discloses a blatantly complex collection of pictorial clues whose solidity and originality provide its strength. Wojnarowicz was an HIV/AIDS activist and artist from the United States. He employed art, performances, video, and cinematography to bring civil rights and LGBT identity into the United States popular culture. Wojnarowicz’s creations are inspired by his personal life or the people he encountered while travelling (Beckhurst, 2020). Wojnarowicz began travelling across the United States, finally landing in the New York art community. He rose to fame in New York in the 1980s, an era characterized by creative talent, economic precarity, and tremendous societal changes. Wojnarowicz was essentially a self-taught artist. Street art, innovative and no wave songs, abstract photography, neo-expressionism paint artistry, and performance intersect in New York, making it a testing ground for new ideas. However, Wojnarowicz declined to have a signature style instead of employing a wide range of approaches with an open mind (Beckhurst, 2020). He diversified his repertory to penetrate the dominant culture better, distrusting traditional constructs heightened by the return of social conservatism. Most of Wojnarowiczs artwork is still utilized in the contemporary world for various reasons. For example, his black-and-white video, A Fire in My Belly, shot between1986 and 1987, stirred national debate 18 years after Wojnarowicz’s death (Beckhurst, 2020). When the sculpture was shown at the Smithsonian in Washington, ., in 2010, demonstrations organized by the Catholic League reignited a conservative battle of ideas, rekindling attention to Wojnarowicz’s life and career. When looking at a work of art, paying close attention and patiently investigating it allows one to perceive the world from various perspectives. Through this observation process, one can connect arts and the present world through in-depth analysis of the latter. Paying attention to art develops the skills necessary for critical thinking. As a result, crucial attention to art facilitates self-evaluation processes (Hoecherl-Alden & Fegely, 2019). Critical awareness and creative expression improve compassion and tolerance in humans by improving perception and appreciation, increasing feelings for other people, and raising one’s empathy and humanity levels. Artwork awareness facilitates thoughtful dialogue and recognizing that there are multiple approaches to anything by allowing individuals to listen to diverse perspectives and ideas and assessments of the artwork. According to new research, looking at art can help prospective doctors and nurses improve their observation abilities and prevent prejudice. Diagnosis relies heavily on observation, and art can help nursing staff, scholars, and practitioners carefully regulate their actions and thoughts (Dumitru, 2019). As a result, art may be a helpful teaching instrument as it assists nurses and doctors in improving their observation skills and encouraging them to avoid making preconceptions. Figure 1: Late Afternoon in the Forest created by David Wojnarowicz in 1986 Source: References Beckhurst, G. (2020). David Wojnarowicz: History Keeps Me Awake at Night. The Sculpture Journal, 29(1), 95-121. Dumitru, D. (2019). Creating meaning. The importance of Arts, Humanities and Culture for critical thinking development. Studies in Higher Education, 44(5), 870-879. Hoecherl-Alden, G., & Fegely, K. (2019). Picturing Another Culture: Developing Language Proficiency, Empathy, and Visual Literacy through Art. NECTFL Review, 83, 57-78. Late afternoon in the forest – David Wojnarowicz | The broad. (.). The Broad. Show more
