Do you think the recent advances in technology have increased the opportunity for surreal art? Photoshop has given many artists nowadays an opportunity to make some of the most impossible things in reality very simple to create on a computer using programs such as Photoshop and the advances of other technology have most likely pleased many from photographers to illustrators and a larger range of artists as they can alter their art in a which no other generation would be able to obtain no matter how skilful. What I will be investigating in this essay is how the advances of technology and the use of software like Photoshop, Illustrator, Blender ect. Have increased the skill of many modern artists and the quality of work that is being produced. Some may believe that digital art shouldn’t be considered as “real art”, this is because the art that was created by artists prior to technology could be seen as equally as good as or even better than then the art that is created by contemporary artist because they didn’t have the aid of computers. For this reason I will investigate the differences in the process of creating historical surreal art and contemporary surreal art. The first artist I have chosen to look at is Max Ernst, a painter born in Germany in 1891. Max Ernst was one of the most popular artists in the dada movement, which most of the Dadaist’s art work was very similar or moved onto surrealism. The reason I chose this artist was because he was so popular and inspired many surrealists and became a historical icon for the work that he has created. The second artist of choice is Salvador Dali, also a painter born in 1904, Spain. Dali was also a very skilled surrealist using mixed media to create his work such as photography, painting sculpting and film. With such a wide range of usage of media it meant that Dali was quite an experienced in most areas allowing each form of art to compliment the other in his outcome. I chose to research Salvador Dali because he also had such a huge effect on surrealism and the majority of his work is intriguing and I wonder what methods he would have used to achieve the work he also had such a huge effect on surrealism and the majority of his work is intriguing and I wonder what methods he would have had to get that outcome without the technology we have today. The third artist to look into for me was Ryohei Hase, born in Japan in 1980. Ryohei is an artist/illustrator and he creates his work digitally using a graphics tablet. I have chosen this artist because he is a very skilled at the work he creates and it is at a high standard, interesting surreal pieces which relates with the other artists that did their work physically.
The fourth artist is Sarolta Bán who is a recent surreal artist from Poland. Although Sarolta’s work is not illustrative it shows the use and capability of software at a very advanced level. Sarolta’s work seems so realistic that it creates a feeling of discomfort and melancholy. The reason I chose this artist is because he shows how you can use different mediums to create a surreal piece as all the other artists tend to only use one medium. The overall reason I have for comparing these artists to each other is that they are all from different time periods and use different mediums and techniques to create their art, the only similarity they
all share is that they are surreal artists.
Max Ernst is a very all rounded artist therefore he has a variety of skills and uses of media, but for this essay I want to focus on his surreal paintings. Max Ernst was one of the leading Dadaists, “A European artistic movement and literary movement (1916-1923) that flouted conventional aesthetic and cultural values by painting works marked by nonsense.” From in depth research on Dadaism in the past, what I believe it to be in simple terms is that it is a mockery of the creation of something that is perceived to be art by society. The way of disdaining the work is to parody what is considered art in a humorous or humiliation way. It is also believed that Dadaism inspired surrealism because a lot of dada artists had surreal natures.
L’ange du foyer Max Ernst 1937 A popular piece from Ernst is “L’ange du foyer” which translates to “The angle from home”. This piece is very abstract as can be seen instantly there is a large monstrous figure centred in the composition catching immediate attention. The thing that catches most attention in my opinion is the head of the creature because it is central and has much more detail to it compared to the rest of the painting. The rest of the body however spreads across the corners of the canvas making it slightly complicated and slightly confusing for the audience as they are unsure of where to look next. There not being any leading lines in the composition makes it feel as the painting is out of control and seem very violent. The monstrous creature seems very contradictory, it’s texture looks soft and it seems light and graceful yet it also looks furious and there being a blur or less detail in the body of the creature make it feel as there is vigorous movement suggesting it is outraged. With the initial question being “Do you think the recent advances in technology have increased the opportunity for surreal art?” I can understand why some people may have an issue with digital art, because there is such an advantage because people who use it have such a high level of aid.
Elephant from the temptation of saint Anthony Salvador Dali 1937 The second artist Salvador Dali “Dali painted The Temptation of St Anthony in response to a contest held by David L. Loew-Albert Lewin film production company for a painting of The Temptation of St Anthony to be used in the film ‘The Private Affairs of Bel Ami’.” What the painting supposedly resembles is temptation and lust, which must be fought off by St Anthony (man in the lower left corner). The artist has painted figures in the foreground, middle and the background of the painting however the main focus point is the centre of the image as the figures in the middle seem to have most attention to detail and most colour and contrast incorporated into them. Much like the L’ange du Foyer the viewpoint of this painting is from a low angle making us feel vulnerable to the subjects that seem large and powerful which seems like a recurring thing in surrealism. After putting research into both artists I have found that scale, detail colour and perspective are important aspects in creating surreal art. All of these things make the image seem that much more realistic and getting small detail correct like shadows or the right lighting can help with the quality of the image a lot.
Their Feelings Ryohei Hase 2010 – 2012 The third artist brings us to the modern era, Ryohei Hase is an interesting digital artist. His work appears to be very realistic no matter how obscure the concept of it is. This piece is interesting because it is a roasted pig crowded by other pigs which is peculiar because I can only imaging as a viewer that the pigs planned to harvest and cook one of their own which is quite frightening thinking about all the pigs being cannibals but still feeling comfortable around other pigs, knowing they are cannibals. What makes this illustration even weirder is that there is a human body in the centre, once it is noticed it makes you slightly uncomfortable. This image leaves a lot of unanswered question which I think gives it that dark mysterious feeling. In my opinion this piece is quite similar in terms of the aspect of scale and detail towards the work as the other artists also included or at least the concept of it. I think the artist uses a roasted pig to set the perspective so we can just assume that is one of a normal size and make the ones around it appear to be obscure. Where I think the artist excel to the others is in detail, illustration with a computer/graphics tablet means you are able to work in finer detail with ease and fixing mistakes isn’t as difficult as physical paintings. For example detail like reflection, hair ripples weren’t that prominent in Dali and Ernst’s work. What I mean by this is I think it is easier to add a higher quality of detail in digital art because you are able to work with any sized brush or painting you want without having to worry about an enormous canvas or the smallest brush you can possibly find.
Sarolta Bรกn June 16, 2009 The art that Sarolta Bรกn creates is all quite similar, she tends to make prints that all show the capability of creating photo manipulation with the uses of photography and digital editing. Using both these methods to create surreal art in my opinion is perfect because it can give you the highest quality of work possible with very little faults if you are aware of what you are doing. Being able to use photography in art makes it possible to get a high
Bibliography-
-www.Ryohei-hase.deviantart.com
-www.photo.com/member/anapt&page=3
-www.facebook.com/pages/ryohei-hase/
- http://www.saroltaban.com/gallery
- http://www.saroltaban.com/about
-en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_temptaion_of_st_anthony_(Dali)
-http://surrealismtoday.com/category/digital-art/page/3/