Modern Art History – Pseudo Critique

Posted on December 12, 2014 by bmontgo2

Berkley Montgomery

Dr. Brantl

ARTS 3339-01

Dec 2 2014

Pseudo Exhibition – “Escaping the Cocoon”

Blanton Objects

Marcelo Pombo, The Gallery of the Poor – found in the exiting corner of room L, to the right of the entryway that leads into room M

Emilio Renart, Untitled paint and ink with colored pencil – found in room L, on the right side of the only wall without entryway

Hercules Barsotti, Untitled ink on paper – found in room K, group of 3 works on right side of only wall without an entryway

Luis Lizardo, Untitled paper and nylon filament – found in room J, hangs above circular platform in the corner diagonally between two entryways

Carlos Cruz-Diez, Vibrations in Space – found in room J, to the left of the entryway that leads into room C

Frida Kahlo, Karma II – found in room H, to the left of the entryway that leads to room A

Doris Salcedo, Thou-less –sculpture found in the Klein Gallery, displayed right ahead of the entryway in open space

Personal Objects by Berkley Montgomery

Cross Guard – clay

Turning Circles in A Memory Maze – relief print

Beauty in the Breakdown – graphite

Introductory Wall Text

While I would tend to see myself as a fiery pit of emotion, many of the people I have come across over the past few years might depict me as introverted, reserved and empty. I have found it challenging to communicate my feelings in my lifetime and have let the processes of art mend my soul and designate blank compositions and untouched materials the perfect listener. My art is full of passion not derived from encouragement or inspiration but instead is powered by all of the energy I want out of my mind and body. Most of my works will contain an array of florid figures or flowing patterns that will not address a specific concept but instead induce the attitude that I was feeling while creating the work. I do not design to communicate an idea so much as I try to share a feeling, make the audience feel less alone and ultimately harvest a connection that shows light at the end of the tunnel. I am oddly comforted by both warm and fun colors that serve as an upper, as well as disturbing and distorted figures that serve as a downer. The combination of the two opposing attitudes gives the viewer something real to grasp onto as well as something to be relaxed about. While I honestly feel that my life has been a series of unfortunate events since I have turned eighteen, I have also become a person entirely focused on happiness and optimistic wellbeing. The exhibition I have organized consists of personal and outside works that help to portray this sense of balance I have battled to achieve through meditation, practice and prayer. As an artist I have played heavily with highlighting and shadowing and leaving an emphasis on the negative space in my designs. I see the extremes in all situations and use this frequent visual contrast to demonstrate the darkness at play and purity of what I hope is to come. I have always left room for improvisation and abstraction because focusing too closely on a harsh idea will cause the process of creation to be suppressive instead of freeing. Balance should be aesthetically evident throughout the objects but also in this sense of duality throughout the works themselves and their intimate elements. This collection of works, outside and personal, reflects on my value of craftsmanship and intricate line work. I am a person of detail so am attracted to pieces that radiate phenomenal execution. This is because so much ugliness and mess comes out of the uncontrollable aspects of life, so why not put out more beauty and care into the world in the ways which we’re capable.

Klein Gallery Wall Texts

1. Marcelo Pombo

The Gallery of the Poor, 2008

Enamel on panel

Marcelo Pombo has managed to create a prismatic fantasy of hanging portraits that bleed electric colors down from a dark and gloomy sky that are all pinned above the dead landscape like square, obsessive piñatas. The organized capsules of brightly colored patterns and organic imagery placed on top of a gritty and sad background is the ultimate composition to celebrate the achievement of happiness and management of the darkness in life. All of the tiny pigments of paint and color are organic, unique and disruptive yet still have a beautiful place in the overall harmonious work. Each frame encompasses its own story or memory and while the thought will remain immortal through the composition, the perimeter that locks in each anecdote is what is actually most freeing. I feel as if I am the lonely unit stuck in this muted world, living and feeding off of the silver lining found in my past, presence and future. While from the outside it seems very strange and closed off, on the inside it is very active, passionate and bursting with emotions. This daunting environment in undeniable, and ultimately unavoidable, yet the beautiful colors and patterns are all the eye really cares to focus on.

Emilio Renart

Untitled, 1964

Paint and ink with colored pencil

Emilio Renart beautifully contrasts the raw and organic spirit of the wood grain against wiry line work that statics in a tangled web of contours. The sharp edginess of the creepy figure is softened by its surrounding halo of luminous timber. The chaotic application of tallies is apparent and adds a buzzing vibration to the veiny marks. The solitary network peers out from the panel with abstract, beady eyes that communicate both of the senses wonder and fear. While the individual lines float astray in unique currents, they all exist as a whole to form the greater being a hold a more meaningful purpose. The lonely marks in the top center of the wood panel seem like mistakes until stepping back and looking at the work as a whole. This compositional concept should be implemented in everyday life as I have grown to put major emphasis on letting go of the little things and maintaining focus on only what is genuinely valued at heart.

Hercules Barsotti

Untitled, 1959

Ink on paper

Hercules Barsotti uses three different compositions to capture multiple perspectives and contains varying emotions due to their sleek shapes and bold contrasts. While each piece carries a sense of stability and balance, both primarily white pieces on the left have a touch of uneasiness about them. The dark vertical lines jag through the creamy paper, cutting into the viewer consistently inconsistent. The portions fit together like defective puzzle pieces. The most right work, predominantly black, gives off a contrary feel and balances out this disorderly overtone. The pieces of paper do not feel placed together but instead like they’re a whole closing, like the turning off of a television screen. They seem to actually belong together instead of trying to adjust or force a fit. This state of awareness is very similar to the naturalness found behind channeling energies on a daily basis. You cannot force pleasure to conceal the darkness in life or expect the virtuous to always remain visible behind obscurity. There is a soothing naturalness that comes from the diminishing sliver fading into blackness. While it is easy to identify with the anxious moods transferred from the white compositions, there is peace to find in the black horizon.

Luis Lizardo

Untitled, 2004-5

Paper and nylon filament

Luis Lizardo has created a hanging sculpture to shape a patterned figure that plays off of its environment and ultimately itself and its relationship with the viewer. The grids of squared material craft an organized dream catcher that creates various moods with its differentiating perspectives. The organic structure is made up of the blackness of the materials and contrasts the persistent breaks within the monument that are occupied by the brightness of the surrounding white walls. What is most meaningfully striking about the structure is how its current place in time is what shines through the fragments, while its history and hardship dwells as a shadow behind it. This work has complete control to radiate whatever atmosphere or sensation possible and is free from the anguish of the past. This sculpture hangs free of its own burden, capable to embrace anything positive that shines in its way. Not only does this concept suggest a vast amount of growth and maturity but also the figure itself is a product of development and experimentation.

Carlos Cruz-Diez

Vibrations in Space, 1958

Oil on wood with paper

Carlos Cruz-Diez really captures emotion and puts actual passion into abstract design with the way he plays with the weight of the lines and their presence on the wood. The constant overlapping of horizontal and vertical line work creates a chunky illusion that is disturbingly interesting. The varying shapes and peeling edges of the paper stipulate additional texture to the choppy composition. All of the slanted, fragmented portions seem to balance one another out either being matched by size or opposing color. Cruz-Diez played with opposites to find a perfect balance.

Frida Kahlo

Karma II, 1946

Graphite on paper

Frida Kahlo features lively subjects that I frequently use, such as the sun and plants, as well as her method of collaging the imagery together in an abstract but unnaturally balanced fashion. The balance of the highlighting and shadowing throughout the composition allows the viewer to give every inch of paper equal attention to detail. While this may seem to lack contrast or simplify the overall appearance, it actually deepens the experience because it calls for the viewer to look closer and almost guarantees detail to be missed at first glance. The intricately designed layout of overlapping shapes and meanings is what makes this Kahlo graphite such a treasure.

Doris Salcedo

Thou-less, 2004-05

Stainless steel (acero inoxidable)

Doris Salcedo creates a sculpture that just reads as simply broken, in pieces and on edge. This seat is placed at the entrance of the exhibit to represent where I was not only as an artist but also as a person and lost soul when I moved to Austin and started at St. Edwards in 2011. The cold and slick material keep a tough guard up but ultimately the object is broken itself internally. I started off with rough edges to mend and pieces to put back together before I could really start building off of myself and that changed the course of my college, and artistic, career.

Berkley Montgomery

Cross Guard, 2012

Clay

When I created this clay hamsa hand I was really relying on the process of the medium for comfort and support. I was living alone in the smallest apartment I think was ever to exist and was searching for company and for joy in life. I was struggling with finding happiness and was at the beginning of my struggle to find balance in my life. This marked the point in my life when I began meditating and much more involved with astrology being why I incorporated the harmonizing of the sun and moon. Although it is much more metaphorical, the contrasting darkness and lightness is still very prevalent with the Holy Cross and Evil Eye. There is much individual detail and flowing pattern going on in different sections but the piece works together cohesively as a whole and requires every portion to finish the story.

Berkley Montgomery

Turning Circles in A Memory, 2014

Relief Print

Although completely imperfect, balance is seen all throughout my figurative print inspired by Bright Eyes music group. The two figures set each other off just as the phases of the moon and the carefully placed stars scattered throughout the skyline. The abstract figures are meant to identify with darker emotions but the mysteriousness of the being is meant to produce a mood of its own. This work is representational of how every element of life can have many outcomes and multiple perspectives depending on where you stand.

Berkley Montgomery

Beauty in the Breakdown, 2011

Graphite

This drawing was the last piece of artwork I made before starting college as an artist. It marks the beginning of the exhibit and purely explains the confusion and surrealism I was facing as I was turning into an adult, moving away from home and losing a parent. I felt like I was uprooted and throw on the floor to be trampled on by the rest of the world. I literally felt as delicate as the abstract fluid matter and plant life depicted in the imagery. Time and memories started to blur and warp together and eventually an overbearing numbness took over. This detachment is what triggered the future need for constant grounding of myself and is why I find myself focusing on balance so much. I was still heavily playing with highlighting and shadowing and very much utilizing the negative space.

Turning Circles in A Memory Maze – relief print

Cross Guard – clay

Beauty in the Breakdown – graphite

DIGITAL PORTFOLIO (2D~3D)

Image

Beauty in the Breakdown – Pencil – 18 x 12 Spring 2011

Ab. Ex. Mannequin – Colored Pencil – 9 x 7 ~Spring 2011

Mirror – Photograph – 18 x 24 ~ Spring 2011

Paper Sculpture – Photograph – 24 x 18 ~ Fall 2011

Skull Study – Chalk – 18 x 24 ~Spring 2012

Collage Portrait – Colored Pencil – 14 x 22 ~ Fall 2012

High Eyes – Watercolor & Micron – 9 x 11 ~ Spring 2013

Abstract – Watercolor & Micron – 9 x 11 ~ Spring 2013

Tattoo Skeleton – Watercolor & Micron – 10 x 8.5 – Spring 2013

Sweet Sixteen – Watercolor & Micron – 9 x 11 – Spring 2013

Pencil Pattern Tray – Terra Cotta Clay – 2.5 x 13.5 x .25 – Spring 2013

Hamsa Hand – Terra Cotta Clay – 20 x 18 x 1 – Spring 2013

Fire Monument – Photograph ~ Fall 2013

God Head – Graphic Collage ~ Fall 2013

All Lovers Should Be Tied Together – Relief Print – 11 x 15 ~ Spring 2014

Turning Circles in a Memory Maze – Relief Print – 10 x 13.5 – Spring 2014

What’s Simple in Monnlight, by Morning Never Is – Relief Print – 15 x 8 ~ Spring 2014

Typography – Photograph – 18 x 24 – Fall 2013

Reproduction – Oil Paint – 15 x 18 – Fall 2013

Artist Statement

Posted on November 2, 2013 by bmontgo2

My work echoes the gloomiest emotions I have experienced in my life thus far. In particular, the past two years that compose the darkest place I’ve ever found myself. I rely on the ideas of beauty and death to create a balanced composition. None of my work is very realistic or obvious and a simple explanation is that I myself have felt lost and moving at a different pace than the rest of the world. A lot of my subject matters show unusual flow and movement to reiterate the time that has undeniably passed even though I’ve felt stuck in place.

I like to warp and distort my subjects to connect to the ways I’ve lost myself or rather changed overtime. My portfolio really emphasizes an identity crisis that happens when your whole world is turned upside down. In many situations I depict a breakdown functioning in reverse. Instead of deteriorating, subjects become more complex. This represents the obligations and responsibilities that have piled on my shoulders while I silently take life in day by day. I have slowly introduced more color, which is an encouraging realization. I believe that the sadness conquered all happiness in this timeline that my art creates. Sometimes it seems so impossible to talk about sufferings so all I could do was churn those emotions into art.

Portfolio Review Questions

Posted on November 2, 2013 by bmontgo2

What resources do you use for your ideas?

Although I am unsurprisingly inspired by other artists and their works, I find that most of my art comes from within. I like to keep most of my ideas very organic and original. Rarely do I see something, like it and then want to reproduce it. I find that I produce my best artwork when it connects to my emotions and whatever is happening in my life. My artwork feels the most real when it is something that is entirely derived from my experiences.

What motivates you to make art?

Art has always been so special to me because it lets me embrace my individualism. It is so easy for me to get lost in my work because I am creating something from scratch that immortalizes my feelings and story. The freedom that comes with crafting art is endless and entirely in my own hands. I always have a constant urge to design something new because it’s the purest way I can express myself without any rules.

How do you use color, space, form, and other dynamics in your work?

I like using color to help create the mood in my compositions. Sometimes this process begins with picking an unorthodox colored material to draw on or by limiting my color palette to two colors. For the most part, I see the colors I want to see and communicate them in an unrealistic and exaggerated way. I tend to use colors in a way that creates a new perception of a subject. I play with space by playing with layers in my artwork. I like the subjects to be bold in comparison to whatever is going on in the background. One of my favorite visual effects provided by space is when a piece appears to be coming out of the paper. I focus a lot on defining my forms to create emphasis on the subject. When I first started experimenting in watercolor, it took major self-control to not go in and detail with bolder mediums. I like using dynamics in an unconventional way to help create more eccentric art.

How do you view your craftsmanship?

I feel like I am an overachiever when it comes to craftsmanship because I was raised that way. I always had the coolest posters and crafts throughout grade school because my mom was a perfectionist and it definitely rubbed off on me. I can’t stand when lines don’t match up or when things are put together incorrectly. My work has to look clean and crisp or else I want to burn it and bury the ashes. I stress about anything and everything that has affect on my presentation.

What do you consider to be your strengths?

I believe that I excel in creating a balanced and interesting composition. I think that some people are born with a creative eye that dictates artistic potential. Even if I start out with a completely different idea in the beginning, I feel like my ending results are almost always satisfying. I feel confident enough to “go with the flow” when it comes to making art because I trust my taste even if it runs in multiple directions. The artistic process has always come easy to me and happy accidents usually take place.

Are there skills you feel need further development?

Time. I am such a slow worker that it makes finishing pieces the hardest part of the process. I have not determined if it is because I am a perfectionist or because I like to see the piece grow as my feelings grow which takes time. If I lose interest in a piece, it is really hard for me to go back and reconnect with it. I have to be excited and invested in my work if I expect to finish it. Eventually, I hope I can turn anything into something worth finishing without even considering scrapping it or “coming back to it.” Also, I am happy to see my painting skills develop because they need much practice. I took Watercolor last semester and am currently in Painting 1, which are my first stabs at painting.

How does your work relate to art historical precedents and contemporary trends?

I like to distort my images and subjects to represent my outlook on life like seen before with artists such as Frida Kahlo and Francis Bacon. My work is more abstract than realistic and I like my pieces to make the audience wonder rather than see something they have seen before in life. I like to use economy, especially in mixed media, like the contemporary street artist Shepard Fairey.

What are your expectations for yourself over the next five years?

I graduated from high school a year early and came straight to college. I feel like once I graduate, I will want to take a breather and gain some new perspective by traveling. I have a giant list of concentration ideas I’ve compiled over the past few years and having time to complete multiple portfolios would be ideal. I am still unsure about where I see myself working for the rest of my life. I would almost prefer to keep my artwork to myself as a hobby and start learning the craft of designing jewelry. In five years, I hope to of seen more of the world and document all of my experiences through artwork. Just like anybody else, I also hope to have a decent paying job doing something I love and artistically based.

Why do you want to be an artist?

Art has always been and will always be “my thing.” I realized as a young child that art was my forte and my passion. I knew coming to college that I could not see myself doing anything else. It is impossible for me to invest myself in something that I don’t truly feel for. I feel like I was born to create and would be simply miserable and unsuccessful doing anything else. I want to be an artist because that’s what I’ve always felt confident calling myself.