Yang Fudong's Honey Series

It is hard to talk about politically charged artwork without mentioning China and its highly analyzed “cultural revolution”.  In the 21^st century, China has been one of the world’s fastest growing countries and because of that it has seen some major cultural adjustments from strict traditional values into more contemporary ones.  In the current exhibition at Columbia College’s Museum of Contemporary Photography, Reversed Images: Representations of Shanghai and Its Contemporary Material Culture, work by more than twenty photographers deals with this very controversial issue. 

Yang Fudong’s photo series entitled Honey (2003) is comprised of nine photographs and is a particularly appealing asset to the MoCP’s current display.  Upon a first glance of the montage, it appears to be mimicking the layout and design of a spread in a high fashion magazine because of the model’s airbrushed look, her clothing and her flat, emotionless expression always directed away from the camera.  However, upon reading about the piece’s intent and its political meaning, its true significance and its earnest substance comes to life, shattering its initial ‘Vanity Fair’ appeal.

Yang Fudong is a Chinese filmmaker and photographer living in Shanghai.  Fudong is only in his late 30's but yet he has already developed a strong international reputation because of strongly charged and extraordinarily recognizable pieces like Honey. Yang was a finalist for the Guggenheim Museum’s Hugo Boss Prize in 2004, one of only three Chinese artists to earn such an honor.  Also, he was named one of the leading young artists by the Institution of Chinese Contemporary Art. 

In Honey, Fudong represents the young adult generation in China (who comprise the emerging middle class) through the portrayal of one young Chinese woman and the occasional appearance of three Chinese men inside of a high-rise apartment building (which exemplifies their new capitalistic values).  In all of the photos the young woman is dressed in couture-esque attire, sporting swanky fur, brown leather boots and fish net stockings.  She is adorned with jewelry and poised atop a pink leather sofa delicately dangling a cigarette on her fingertips at all times.  The woman’s edgy and rigid bright red bob of a hairstyle is a brilliant juxtaposition to the jutting calla lily which in the forefront of most of the photos.  Calla lilies are a prevalent symbol of traditional Chinese culture meaning magnificent beauty.  The combination of the traditional symbol of beauty to the modern idea of beauty is a key to Yang’s work and to his message of how the recent and rapid modernization of China has served to deteriorate its traditional values and culture into that of more corporate and urban.

It is hard to say if politically charged artwork like Honey is truly proactive or if it plays a significant part in the larger political realm, or if it is more or less empty, self-important attempt to draw attention to one’s work.  But what is evident is that with Honey, Fudong has provided an examination of feelings surrounding the matter instead of making a bold and opinionated statement about it.  Through this somewhat rare approach, he has been instrumental in providing a fresh and creative perspective on China’s controversial past and present that leaves the viewer with a lot to talk about! 

 

 

 

 

Gang's Innovative Aqua Tower

In a city known to have some of the world’s greatest architecture, Chicago’s skyline is comprised of some of the most phallic, virile and robust skyscrapers you have ever seen.  However, in the midst of the masculinity, a refreshing feminine energy has ascended in the form of a voluptuous buxom of a building named the Aqua Tower. Studio Gang’s principal architect Jeanne Gang designed the brand new tower, which is a luxury mixed-use skyscraper located at 225 North Columbus Drive. This building is nothing short of an absolute vision of Venus beauty. With its undulating waves and sparkling blue reflection mimicking that of Lake Michigan, it causes its surrounding structures to seem instantly mundane and straightedge. In her twirling ‘ballerina figurine’ framework, Gang has constructed 82 stories (making it the tallest building yet to be designed by a woman architect) which holds 740 studios, convertibles, and one- and two-bedroom apartments.  This swaggering beauty strategically offers some of the most amazing views of the city from its jutting balconies and green roof garden. And not only is this building designed to be environmentally friendly, but Gang (being the avid bird lover that she is) has taken specific consideration in creating tactically designed sheer glass walls to prevent the common fatality of birds flying into windows. 

When viewing this new skyscraper, it is easy to be reminded of Chicago’s famous twin Marina Towers located on 300 North State Street.  But at second glance, there is something much more special about the Aqua Tower that sets it worlds apart from the two futuristic mirror image buildings.  First of all, the Aqua is built on a rectangular base, but with its unique composition it is given the allusion of a circular and rounded form.  Contrarily, the Marina Towers are built on a circular base and, unsurprisingly, have a circular shape—no allusion involved.  The Aqua Tower is also far more complex because although it is a solid standing structure, its organic design gives the allusion of fluidity and motion.  The Aqua’s protruding balconies can definitely be compared to the Marina Tower’s similar “jutting” edges, however as the Marina’s are linear, lifeless and predictable the Aqua’s are deviating and biotic while still remaining alluringly harmonious.

Overall, the design of Jeanne Gang’s Aqua Tower is incredibly innovative.  Through her expertise, she has given the Chicago skyline a much-needed graceful, feminine twist.  The tower’s topographic contours and intricate thoughtful design process represent, as well as, uphold the great historic integrity of Chicago architecture.

Degas' Woman in Tub

With most art that came from the Impressionist movement, it is easy to confuse which paintings go with which artists because of the similarity of the subject matter.  Monet, Renior, and Van Gogh—all famous impressionist painters—depicted many a whimsical, romantic and beautiful portraits of people and scenes of nature, and unquestionably so!  But there is one impressionist painter in particular that can be almost unmistakably identified by subject matter alone, and that is Edgar Degas.  This Parisan painter’s body of work is characterized almost completely by his obsession with ballet dancers.  But was it really the obsession with the art of classical ballet that enticed him to paint?  History says no.  History also says that Degas was an outright misogynist.  In his 1884 piece entitled Woman in the Tub, Degas depicts a what it is that really kept him coming back to the ballet studio time and time again: the (near nude) female body.  Here we see the backside of a naked woman as she bends forward to clean her buttocks.  Not only is it an awkward view, but also it is in no way idealizing (much less flattering) of the female form.  Just as he does in many of his ballet portraits, he causes women to look much less attractive and much more dull and frumpy then they actually are.  It seems he could have chosen to take a different approach to representing these beautiful, disciplined and hard working women, but instead we have here an unbecoming view of a woman wiping her ass in the tub.  Thanks a lot, Degas. 

 

 

Salvador Dali's Persistence of Memory

Not only is Salvador Dali’s The Persistence of Memory one of his most famous masterpieces, but it is arguably one of the most recognizable paintings to come from the Surrealist movement.  Within its claim to fame are the symbolic, warped looking clocks melting over tree branches with a single intact pocket watch in the corner covered with swarming ants (one of Dali’s signature symbols).  Rendered in Dali’s hallmark hues of brown, blue, and yellow, this highly universal painting was completed by the Spanish painter in 1931 and since then it has been widely interpreted.  For instance, the most central figure of the piece is a fetus-like head washed up on the shore seemingly gasping for air.  The figure has been interpreted in a multitude of ways, some saying it’s a monster others saying it’s a depiction of Dali himself.  Also, many would dispute the symbolism between the melting clocks and the pocket watch with the ants. Although Dali never outwardly explained their meaning, they are widely acknowledged as symbolizing Dali’s perception of time and anxiety, reality, birth and death, and sexual desire.  But what, you ask, makes this strange and deranged painting so incredibly popular?  Well, perhaps it could be the stoner’s allure to the trippy, hallucinatory vibe and its almost dream-like quality.  Perhaps it could be the philosopher’s enticement to decipher the science and psychology behind Dali’s motivations.  Or maybe it is the intellectual’s drive to uncover the mystery sealed up inside the profound meaning and symbolism of this complex piece.  Whatever the reason, the viewer cannot help but become attracted to this particular Dali painting and all of its fascinating intricacies.