The Renaissance Trilogy
During the Renaissance Trilogy Project we learned about three different renaissances: the Italian Renaissance, the Harlem Renaissance, and the Chicano Renaissance. Below are a couple of the activities we did with each renaissance to gain a deeper understanding of it.
Harlem Renaissance Mash-Up
Painting Analysis:
In Three Folk Musicians, Romare Bearden portrays the struggle artists faced to express themselves while still striving in a socially and economically difficult time period. The painting is split up into three pieces: The first third is shows a happy man posing in front of his instrument and a blue background, and the other two-thirds is red with two sad looking men playing their instruments. The man on the left is happy because he doesn’t have to compromise his artistic expression because he has already “made it.” Whereas the other two men on the red side of the painting don’t have the fortune of doing this because they are not yet respected in the same light and probably need to put food on the table. The two men on the right side would be the type of artists performing at the Cotton Club, but not being able to watch others perform there. All three of the men wear blue, striped outfits because they are striving to be socially respected but still keep their individuality. Only the guy posing with his guitar fits in with his blue striped clothing because his artistic ideas were valued. Even though the many economical, social, and maybe racial differences between these men, they all are connected through their string instruments. The fact that Bearden does this artwork in a collage format has no additional impact because all of his works are in this style. The message of this painting is of this disillusioned hope. In Bearden’s mind, the American Dream means that only a small percent will be content and the majority will always be striving for that small percent of success.
In Three Folk Musicians, Romare Bearden portrays the struggle artists faced to express themselves while still striving in a socially and economically difficult time period. The painting is split up into three pieces: The first third is shows a happy man posing in front of his instrument and a blue background, and the other two-thirds is red with two sad looking men playing their instruments. The man on the left is happy because he doesn’t have to compromise his artistic expression because he has already “made it.” Whereas the other two men on the red side of the painting don’t have the fortune of doing this because they are not yet respected in the same light and probably need to put food on the table. The two men on the right side would be the type of artists performing at the Cotton Club, but not being able to watch others perform there. All three of the men wear blue, striped outfits because they are striving to be socially respected but still keep their individuality. Only the guy posing with his guitar fits in with his blue striped clothing because his artistic ideas were valued. Even though the many economical, social, and maybe racial differences between these men, they all are connected through their string instruments. The fact that Bearden does this artwork in a collage format has no additional impact because all of his works are in this style. The message of this painting is of this disillusioned hope. In Bearden’s mind, the American Dream means that only a small percent will be content and the majority will always be striving for that small percent of success.
Artist Statement:
This piece is an interpretation of the Three Folk Musicians painted by Rebecca Markowitz and Danny Valencia. The intention of the translation is to keep the same beautiful and meaningful imagery of three musicians while blending in some of our own artistic styles. The original image portrays the idea of the American Dream: only a small percent were content while the majority strove for that small chance of success. This was illustrated in the Three Folk Musicians by portraying one happy man posing in front of his instrument while two, sad-looking men play their instruments. Keeping this message was very important us as we re-envisioned Romare Bearden’s work because we wanted to keep Bearden’s voice and the Harlem Renaissance’s spirit alive. Although we kept the underlying message the same, we added a more contemporary spin on this fifty-year-old painting. We added squiggles and music notes to illustrate the lively music and art scene during the Harlem Renaissance. We gravitated to the artistic re-birth of a culture during the Harlem Renaissance and wanted to portray this lively time period in our painting.
This piece is an interpretation of the Three Folk Musicians painted by Rebecca Markowitz and Danny Valencia. The intention of the translation is to keep the same beautiful and meaningful imagery of three musicians while blending in some of our own artistic styles. The original image portrays the idea of the American Dream: only a small percent were content while the majority strove for that small chance of success. This was illustrated in the Three Folk Musicians by portraying one happy man posing in front of his instrument while two, sad-looking men play their instruments. Keeping this message was very important us as we re-envisioned Romare Bearden’s work because we wanted to keep Bearden’s voice and the Harlem Renaissance’s spirit alive. Although we kept the underlying message the same, we added a more contemporary spin on this fifty-year-old painting. We added squiggles and music notes to illustrate the lively music and art scene during the Harlem Renaissance. We gravitated to the artistic re-birth of a culture during the Harlem Renaissance and wanted to portray this lively time period in our painting.
Chicano Park Field Trip
Directly to the right is my favorite mural that I saw at Chicano Park during our field trip. “The Quetzalcóatl mural was the first attempt at collective mural painting in Chicano Park. In the early stages of the mural, hundreds of Barrio Logan residents participated in replacing the grey of the wall with vibrant color. A core group of artists worked on the mural for one year, attempting to unify the various images.” The current painting depicts a beautiful central image of a male and women figure met in the middle by a swastika. The swastika is not intended to be offensive. The symbol represents movement or transformation. The tour guide talked a lot about the duality portrayed in the murals at Chicano Park and this is a key example. There is also a piece of the mural that illustrates a family heading down to the waterfront. This was always the goal of Logan Heights: “All the way to the bay.” This is my favorite piece because of all the symbolism. It is especially memorable because I replicated a piece of it in my renaissance book. In person the colors are very vibrant and it even sparkles a little.
Renaissance Book
The Renaissance book is a collection of different mediums of artwork we did to portray each renaissance. Unfortunately I forgot to take pictures of the book, but will update this section when I do.