The word ‘union’ signifies the act of joining together, forming a cohesive whole from different elements. It can refer to relationships, communities, politics and more. A union represents strength in togetherness, emphasising the idea that combined efforts can lead to greater impact.
Union in photography can be captured in many ways. For example, you could capture physical things intertwined or connected, reflections, symmetry. Oppositely, you can record the contrast and tension with in unity and division.
David Hockney was born on the 9th of July 1937 in Bradford, England. He is an English painter, draughtsman, printmaker, stage designer, and photographer who became well known for his involvement in the Pop-art artist movement. As an important contributor to the pop art movement of the 1960s, he is considered one of the most influential British artists of the 20th and 21st centuries. His early worked focusses on landscapes, portraiture and still life but as technology evolved so did his techniques where he was able to implement new methods and technologies to his artwork which moved him to also take in interest in photography and not just the artist side.
The artist’s style ranges from collaged photography and opera posters to Cubist-inspired abstractions and paintings of the English countryside. Hockney has many art pieces of swimming pools where he makes them abstract and more unique to his own artistic style. he is renowned for his own takes on perspective and use of colour which make his work noticeable and very obviously belonging to him. David Hockney uses the artist movement of Cubism in his artwork and photography. Cubism is a movement that was originated by artists such as Pablo Picasso. It presents photos in unique and abstract ways by breaking objects down into geometric shapes. Cubism is able to show multiple perspectives where it is able to give many viewpoints to the photo giving the viewer an opportunity to interpret the images in the way they think is correct for them. The movement steers away from realistic views and creates images you wouldn’t be able to capture without further disfigurement and so it mostly focusses on shape and structure. Though Hockney may not fully link all of his work to cubism he definitely manages to create artwork with the fragmented and abstract affects. he is able to deconstruct his photographs to make them more complex and interesting to the viewer. He created these fragmented images by taking many individual photographs and turning it into one piece.
Hockney has been inspired by many artists. Pablo Picasso has one of the biggest influences in Hockney’s life and oeuvre. This profound admiration is eloquently expressed in two significant works from this series: The Student and Artist And Model. These prints, produced during a time when Hockney resided in Paris following Picasso’s death, offer a visual dialogue that explores the depth of Hockney’s sense of indebtedness to one of the 20th century’s most revolutionary artists. Hockney found himself in a city with a rich artistic heritage that had been the subject of countless artworks. Hockney chose to honour the individuals who contributed to its vibrant art scene. Man Ray, an American who had made Paris his home for much of his life, became a natural subject for Hockney’s work. Richard Wagner, Known for his complex operas and innovative compositions, has been a lifelong influence on Hockney, influencing his professional endeavours such as the stage designs for Wagner’s Tristan Und Isolde in 1987 and inspiring his personal ‘Wagner drive’ initiative.
Hockney is well known for his work that were labelled ‘Joiners’. This was his closest link with the cubism approach. The joiners series was created by Hockney using multiple snapshots from one picture and creating it into one image altogether. He took simple photos and turned them into disfigured art pieces which created the cubism affect and they became fragmented and unusual. Many people would describe his type of work like this as collages which is where pieces of the image can be seen to be set out in little pieces. this can be done in a usual art way where cut up paper is replaced onto another piece in the same layout but usually with some sort of overlapping affect. Hockney changed this norm and changed certain perspectives of his image where he might increase the size of a part of an and keep the rest at different sizes to create the collage affect but not in its usual way.
This image is an example of one of David Hockney’s joiners. In the image, it depicts a scene of an older woman asleep on a chair in where may be her own house. Hockney has taken this image in different sections as you can see some colour difference in certain fragments of the image. For example the fragment showing her arm looks more purple that the top of the woman’s clothing where her head is. Hockney has made the woman the focus of this image but hasn’t failed to represent the woman’s surroundings as has extended the image so that we can see out of the door behind her and get abetter understanding of her environment. Hockney’s joiners are usually seen as visual representation of time as a sequence of fragmented moments. the idea of fragmented time is prominent in this image as it could be representing the time the woman has left and how fragmented that time may be. as well as this is could be representing the woman’s age and possible fragments of her memory she has left as she could possibly slowly be losing it. the fragments of time could also represent being forgotten and how when the lady passes only fragments of her will be remembered as time passes on. The colour in this image isn’t focussed on the woman and only surrounds her. Hockney has made sure to add in the pop colours such as the blanket on the woman or the painting leaning against the wall. however the dark clothes of the woman and lack of colour that is actually on her could also represent how time is catching up to her and how it begins to fade away and all the colour is only just left behind.
“The action of joining together or the fact of being joined together, especially in a political context”
or
“A society or association formed by people with a common interest or purpose”
Mind map:
Mood board:
When I think about the word ‘union’, the initial idea that comes into my head would be the human connection, yet I feel this idea would be too stereotypical and original. Instead, I will be exploring ‘union’ through surrealism. Here are some examples:
Within my ideas for my photoshoots, Union makes me think about how things work together in order to function. For example, nature, body parts, and human relationships and connections. My idea is to present union through the combination of intangible and physical objects or body parts. I chose to do this as I feel it is interesting and unique from other types of union photography.
Cubism is an artistic movement lead by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque. Cubism focuses on geometric shapes being used to depict humans and other forms. Overtime the geometric aspects became so intense that they sometimes overtook the represented forms, creating a more pure level of visual abstraction. Though the movements prime era was in the early 20th century, the ideas and techniques have continued to grow and are used to inspire works created today.
Pablo Picasso
Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) was a Spanish painter and sculptor, and is well known for his involvement in the Cubism movement. Picasso is seen as one of the most influential artists in the 20th century, with his ability to produce works in a wide-range of styles made him well respected within his lifetime. After his death his value as an artist and inspiration to other artists has only grown. Picasso is without a doubt going to be referred to as one of the greatest artists of all time.
Picasso’s most famous painting is Guernica, a large 1937 oil painting. It is regarded as one of his best-known works. Art critics have described it as the most moving and powerful anti-war paintings in history.
Georges Braque
Georges Braque (1882-1963) was a major French painter. He is mainly known for working alongside Picasso to create the cubist movement. Braque was not only a painter but he also created collages. Braque’s cubism pieces were based off of landscapes, These paintings were scenes which were distilled into basic shapes and colours and they inspired the French art critic Louis Vauxcelles to coin the term cubism, by describing Braque’s work as “Bizarreries cubiques”.
Houses at l’Estaque is an oil-on-canvas painting by Braque executed in 1908. It is though to be a highly important Photo-cubist landscape, it may even be the first one.
The First Era Of Cubism
Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque first met in 1905, but it wasn’t until 1907 that Picasso showed Braque what is considered the first Cubist painting, Les Demoiselles d’Avignon. This portrait depicts five women and draws heavy influence from African tribal art, which Picasso had recently been exposed to at the Palais du Trocadéro, a Paris ethnographic museum.
This piece went against every rule of tradition Western painting and was a huge leap from his previous blue and pin periods, which were far more representational and emotional. Due to this Picasso was hesitant to display this work to the public and it went unseen until 1916.
Braque, who painted in the Fauvist movement, was both repelled and intrigued by the painting. Picasso worked with him privately on the implications of the piece, developing together the Cubist form. Braque is the only artist to ever collaborate with Picasso, and over a period of two years, they spent every evening together, with neither artist pronouncing a finished work until agreed on by the other.
Braque’s response to Picasso’s initial work was his 1908 painting Large Nude, noted for incorporating the techniques of Paul Cézanne as an influence. This painting kickstarted the first era of Cubism, known as Analytical Cubism, which was defined by depictions of a subject from multiple points of view at once, creating a fractured, multi-dimensional effect expressed through a limited palette of colors.
The term Cubism was first used by French critic Louis Vauxcelles in 1908 to describe Braque’s landscape paintings. Painter Henri Matisse had previously described them to Vauxcelles as looking comprised of cubes. The term wasn’t widely used until the press adopted it to describe the style in 1911.
In 1909, Picasso and Braque decided to move their focus from humans to objects to keep Cubism fresh, starting with Braque’s Violin and Palette.
Others Join the Cubist Movement
As the movement grew wider in popularity others joined in. Polish artist Louis Marcossis discovered Braque’s work during 1910, and his Cubist paintings are considered to have more of a human quality and lighter touch compared to other cubist painters work.
Spanish artist Juan Gris remained on the fringes of the movement until 1911. He distinguished himself by refusing to make the abstraction of the object more essential than the object itself. Cubism represents a significant proportion of his life’s work as he died during 1927.
The second era of Cubism
By 1912, Picasso and Braque had begun to incorporate words in their paintings, this evolved into collage which dominated the second era of cubism, this era was known as Synthetic Cubism. This phase also included flattening the subjects and brightening the colours.
Braque further experimented with collage, this led to his creation of the papier colle technique. This technique can be seen in Braques 1912 Fruit dish and Glass, a concoction of wallpaper placed within te gouache. The introduction of collage broadened the form’s colour palette further.
Sculptors also explored Cubist forms. For example the Russian artist Alexander Archipenko first publicly showed his pieces during 1910.
Orphic Cubism
Orphic cubism was an offshoot movement formed in 1913 by French painter Jacques Villon and his brother, sculptor Raymond Duchamp-Villon, this branch embraced even brighter hues and augmented abstraction.
Robert Delaunay is considered a primary representation of this wing, sharing similar architectural interests as Leger, which can be seen multiple times in his cubist depiction of the Eiffel Tower along with other notable Parisian structures.
Cubism: World war I and beyond
Cubism was effectively halted by world war I as a number of artists including Braque, Lhote, de la Fresnaye and Legar, got called up for duty. De la Fresnaye was discharged during 1917 due to tuberculosis however he never fully recovered, he attempted to continue making art but died during 1925.
By 1917, Picasso returned to his practice of injecting more realism into his paintings, though his refusal to be pinned down to one type of art meant that Cubism reappeared in some works over the years, such as The Three Musicians (1921) and The Weeping Woman (1937), a response to the Spanish civil war.
Cubist Influence
Although Cubism never regained its place as an organised force within the art world, it influenced future art movements such as Futurism and Abstract Expressionism. Cubism also influenced other forms such as literature, music, photography, film, and graphic design.
How will cubism influence my project?
I will be studying the photographer Mandy Barker, who creates collages by combining photos of litter which she has found from beaches across the world. This links to cubism as it is the idea of combining different things to create a new thing, a collage.
