Exploring the Essence of Abstraction and Pop Art: Masterpieces by Chillida and Warhol
**In Praise of Water**
Doc January
Cron: 1987
Style: Abstract Art
Tech: Mat casing: steel and concrete
Forms: Sculpture without Chromium
Monochrome
Dimens: 720cm x 650cm x 1200cm
Loc: Park Cruet Cervical
Historical Context
Abstraction, an art movement that belongs entirely to sculpture, came from the hand of new materials. The Basque Eduardo Chillida created great structures of iron or concrete forms that reflect the simple tension forces of nature.
Formal Composition Analysis
The work, a large mass of concrete of 54 tons, is suspended in 80cm of water from a pond artificially by 4 steel cables. The sculpture includes a top of the cuboid from which 4 arms encargolats emerge. There is a contrast between the weight of the volume and the lightness due to the fact that it is hung in the air.
Style
The style of Chillida departs from figuration to abstraction, making its own way. His works were progressively increasing in dimension. Their style is characterized by the intersections of different surfaces. Chillida studied the balance between the plains and empty spaces, accurately calculating the light and shadow contrast. In the works of large reinforced concrete, Chillida followed these steps:
- Carry out a mock-up
- Built-size polystyrene sculpture
- Cover the wooden structure
- Dismount and mount again in the place where the work had to be exposed
- Fill the mold with concrete
- Withdrawing the timber formwork
Content Interpretation and Significance
The reflection in the water is part of the same work as it represents the Greek myth of Narcissus. Narcissus was a young man of such great beauty that nobody could resist him, but he never allowed himself to be touched by anyone. One day, while drinking in a pond, he was seduced by the image that was in front of him but could not touch it. Discovering that it was his own reflection, he was consumed by melancholy and impotence. The arms symbolize the work being able to join with its other half.
Function
The sculpture is the result of an invitation by the Barcelona City Council to make a play for the city. The piece ended up becoming the real center of the visual area of the park where it is located.
**Campbell’s Soup**
Doc January
Cron: 1965
Style: Pop Art
Tech: Acrylic and silkscreen ink
Support: Canvas 92.1 cm x 61.6 cm
Loc: There are versions of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, Leo Castelli Gallery in New York, and private collections.
Historical Context
The most important figurative movement of the last thirty years has been Pop Art, an abbreviation of the English folk art, which appeared in the early years of the 1960s and was enshrined in the 1964 Valencia Biennale and Documenta in Kassel 1968. Pop Art material becomes an artistic alluvium of images that creates a mass culture: advertising images, banners, film artists, comics, etc. This movement is mainly in the USA.
Formal Analysis
In Campbell’s Soup, the artist relegates the red label that appears at the ends of the original tin metal and gives prominence to the tag colors: blue rough the upper part, acid green bottom, the rose of the arms of the Universal Exhibition, ombre letters”sou” and lower senefa, and the yellow”Campbell'” and”condensed” Every time Warhol painted a new soup can, it differed from the others.
The image composition of Campbell’s soup is rendered totally flat and lacking depth, but even so, the can was faithfully reproduced from the original.
Style
Recurrent themes of Warhol’s art were commercial products, entertainment stars, political leaders, and some symbols and typical topics such as the Statue of Liberty. The discovery of the silk screen, which lets you print photos on canvas, was revealing to Warhol, who called his studio The Factory to stress that there was art in series, that the piece of art had lost its quality of unique. Here, Warhol and other artists painted pictures, rolled movies, and organized music happenings.
Content Interpretation and Significance
Choosing a can of soup as the main character collects the same essence of pop art, an artistic trend that explores the relationships between art and popular culture. These representations were also a protest against the institutionalized art that is outside the scope of the public. Through the can of soup, Warhol denounced the problem of detention in the technological society: the rendered image was an object of consumption, devouring their own individuality.
Function
Pop Art was not only an artistic response but also an ideological reaction. It was a movement that sprang from the gay scene and wanted to bring art to everyone through the ability to call some people and of a very popular brand. Their goal was to break the boundary between art and life and make objects and everyday use entered popular use in museums.