The news isn’t your only source for
current event updates and commentary…just visit your local art gallery. For
over six decades, artist James Rosenquist
has used his art to foster dialogue on everything from politics and advertising
to celebrities and science.
With a career that began as a billboard
painter, he made the transition to fine art, continuing his use of large scale
designs that began to get attention in the 1960s.
"The Bird of Paradise," 1989
Though rooted in the Pop Art
movement alongside artists like Andy Warhol, Rosenquist
also integrated Surrealist techniques by placing seemingly unrelated images
together to create a larger statement.
"China Bugle," 1988
This juxtaposition technique was
clearly
used in his
portrait of Marilyn from 1962. The pin up beauty immortalized by Andy Warhol as a sex
symbol, was
portrayed by Rosenquist in a
fragmented form alongside pieces of the classic Coca-Cola
logo.
With his interest in advertising, this was perhaps one way of looking at
the portrayals of the film starlet. As a consuming public, we were only exposed
to pieces of who she really was, and when those pieces were revealed, they were
neatly packaged by media in ways that never truly allowed anyone to see the
real Marilyn.
The fragmented designs and collage techniques
used throughout many of Rosenquist’s
works remind me of Anna Sui’s Spring 2017 collection.
"Sand of the Cosmic Desert in Every Direction," 2012
Using different colored, textured and printed fabrics, the designer found ways of taking a 2D collage technique and translating it into a 3D form to be worn.
"Shriek," 1986
Her designs exist outside the confines of a time period or single style as she combines details from sources as varied as 1970s folk art, 1950s Navy uniforms, vintage postcards, western wear and tropical imagery.
"Electrical Nymphs on a Non-objective Ground," 1984
By combining images, fabrics, time periods and styles together, both artists prove that every subject is multifaceted. There are always new ways of looking at an idea and we must take a step back to see the full context and all the pieces that make the whole.
Runway Photos: Vogue.com
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