Michael DeGennaro -Art1010

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Write up your art story: What we we mean when we say art? What is art to you? How does it fit in to your life? What do you want to learn about in this class?

Art is a vehicle for expression.  It allows you to drive and explore your thoughts in creative ways.  It allows you you to express your feelings in ways beyond just speaking.  It comes in limitless forms such as music, dance, doodling, drawing, painting and much more.

Art is especially important to me in the form of decorating.  A very young me became infatuated with the holidays, not only for the love of being able to connect with my family on a traditional basis, but for the love of being able to express myself in my home creatively.  My favorite holiday to decorate for is Christmas.  This past year, I loved taking the non traditional Christmas color of cobalt blue, interweave it with traditional elements of Christmas,  and transforming my home into a white and blue winter-wonderland.  I look forward to my yearly trips to Pier One and Michaels, searching for ornaments and trying to find the perfect garlands  to turn my home into a piece of art for the holidays.

Beyond decorating however, art  connects me with the social issues of the world. One of my favorite artists has become Hannah Hoch.  Her pieces are extremely rooted in the issues that women face in society.  The piece below demonstrates that women in society are thought to be “doll- like”.  Their bodies are mangled and cut out and pasted on a piece of paper, which adopts a very chaotic, yet angry tone, drawing a parallel to the feelings of women in society.  Several eyes are pasted on the paper, entailing that women are constantly judged in society, based on beauty standards (nails, shoes, hair, makeup) , but also gives the idea of the reversal of the “status quo.”  Here the women are looking at the audience, and quite possibly judge the audience for a change.  I love that her artwork is open for analysis.

In this class, I hope to learn about specific pieces of art, that are rooted in social issues in the world, because I find those especially interesting.