Neriah's Perspective of Art: June 2012

Recently I took on the role of curator; I curated an online exhibition whose theme was "The importance of Intensity in the eyes of a Portrait." The reason why I decided to explore this theme was because I am an artist and one of the things I have difficulty with is Portraits. To me, I believe that the eye of a portrait capture the viewer’s attention and allows the viewer to share that special moment with the work of art. After watching almost all of the museum’s collections from the website, I chose 15 artworks which were from three different departments, painting, drawing and print to represent my theme. At my exhibition, three artworks stood out for me the most. Their forms were different and they represented different kinds of beauty of the human face.

Blind Star: Mirror Blind Vivien by, Douglas Gordon is a portrait of glamorous woman. This piece happens to be a piece that was drawn. I found that to be absolutely amazing and impressive. There are so many details that contribute to the beautiful outcome of this portrait. The shading in to highlight the dark and light features of the face and how even the architecture is of the face with the eyes, mouth, eyebrows, lips and nose. This piece is outstanding. It gives me the chills. Although this woman is blind, her eyes are piercing and give the portrait an intense feel. Also this work of art was created in the 1960's; around this time mean were more proactive while women didn't have much of a voice. This woman eyes in this drawing spoke for her.

The “Untitled” painting by, Dan McCarthy is another piece that I really enjoyed. In this painting McCarthy positions a young woman on the left side of a canvas and painted these big blue eyes glazing over at something that happens to have this young woman lost in a daze, or in other words, “googlely-eyed.” The white background also forces the viewer to use their imagination. To me when I see this portrait, I picture with young woman at her favorite bands concert, and she is just captivated by the performance. In this portrait this young woman shares a special moment with someone or something and I find it amazing how clear this is delivered with the eye of this young woman.

Elena, schoolgirl (with lotus blossom) By, Julian Opie is a printed portrait of a school girl. In this portrait this little school girls eyes gives off the feeling that this little girl maybe lost, or confused. I find it extraordinary that the viewer can capture that message and feel the coldness through her eyes that are pretty simple.

In conclusion, I enjoyed exploring the MoMA and studying the theme of was "The importance of Intensity in the eyes of a Portrait." By studying this it helped me develop more as an artist. I am now more aware of how important it is to master the eyes in a portrait. To me, it takes a an portrait to the next level.