Works That Shaped How I View Art by Jan Randen Bautista

Works that fundamentally shaped how I view art and my poor attempt at recreating them.

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Cyan Dream T

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Therapy Fumi Nakamura graphite, color pencils. 2011.

This dates back to year 9/10, back when all I knew of art mostly came from anime. Back then, pretty much we were just copying artworks that were given to us. Nakamura’s work lingered, partly becaue of her skilful use of pencil and graphite but also because she was a first generation immigrant in America who pursued a creative career. I don’t know if this transcends western culture but art, particularly in the east isn’t really seen as a valid career. It’s seen as more of a hobby, a temporary phase until the desire wears out and eventually the individual decides to do something more conventional. It was validating seeing a first generation immigrant doing what they love, something I connect with.

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A Bigger Hockney oil, 1998.

A n a b a s i s

Twombly’s great. His mark-making skills is just great.

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Cy Twombly mixed media, 1983.

Grand Canyon

I’m just really allured to the shade of orange/red he used. The scale of the piece captures the grandness of the iconic canyon.

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Poster for

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Salon des Cent Grasset lithography, 1894

In A level we were each asked to look at an art movement that we were interested in and I picked Art Nouveau. The whole project, I think, affected me so much that to this day aspects of the movement exists to my present work. I am obsessed with their muted color palette which is very me, it’s calm, non-aggressive. The flat compositions that paved way to abstraction and the subjects they’ve chosen to depict all tying in to this one beautiful period of art that I wish I was alive to witness. I also find it interesting that

it was all possible due to trading with eastern countires, namely Japan. When they opened their borders, their culture was exposed to the rest of the world.

The imported ukiyo-e prints undoubtedly inspired the artists and it can be taken as Art Nouveau was their response to it and maybe their attempt at recreating/ stealing it?

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Perfect Lovers Gonzales-Torres Clocks, paint on wall. 1991

This radically shaped how I view conceptual art. My knowledge of contemporary art then was limited to Tracey Emin and Hirst, which put me off.

Those two are too pretentious for me.

However, with this the idea behind it is so simple yet so profound. The title alone gives a massive clue on how to read this piece. I love how it touches everything I’m into, time, it passing and the whole concept of it, the fragility of life, stillness, metaphors, symbolisms, and of course the underlying political message. They’re all embodied on these two clocks being in sync. Knowing that this concept was birthed by the death of his partner drives the idea that art purely comes from the need to express and how art fundamentally is a tool to shape and reshape societal notions, cultures,to question norms and serve as a mirror reflecting contemporary values.

Seeing this piece definitely reshaped how I view conceptual art, and art in general; that art is first and foremost a concept. It shouldn’t matter how a concept is executed, whether that be by traditional means or as a performance, so long as it resonates with its spectators.

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The Snail Matisse collage, paper, gouache. 1952-53

I was watching a Buzzfeed video about people trying to guess whether a piece was a kid’s art or modern art. One of which was this. By this time, I was familiar with Matisse’s work but I never really got the idea of abstract art. Only when I got this one right that I realized, that in abstract art, everything is left to the foundations of visual language. In this piece, the placement of colors isn’t random, it is very much considered, the reds with the greens, warm colors interacting with cool ones.

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Thanks for reading, Jan