I will post more updates about the mugshot paintings as I progress. As for now I need to prep the surfaces to paint on, and that will take a while. Thanks for reading.
Friday, December 12, 2008
more about mug shots
I have now taken pictures of 12 people all responding to my craigslist postings for models. I have a couple more this next week. I think this is a bad time to start a new project because I am spending so much time applying for jobs. An anonymous person responded to one of my postings, I would be interested to know who the person is. I didn't think I would like teaching art until I started to teach. Now I love it so maybe I should just find a full time teaching job so I don't have to do all the meetings,.... actually I really like meeting, at least the ones I have been in and the type that get things done. I figure I won't know what I will like until I try it and right now it is a good reason to move out of Utah and experience something new.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Mug Shots
That's right I am working on a series of Mug Shot paintings, this is the first drawing for the series. I am thinking of doing at least 20 to start off, nice thing about these, it is endless on how many I can paint.... much like everything else people paint. Anyways here is my artist statement with the mugshots and I will start painting beginning next year, projected time to paint all 20 is about a year possibly more depending on if I teach or not. Thanks for checking out my blog. I need to be better at doing this.
With this mug shot the guy loved the Big Lebowski, still have not seen the movie, dont know if I will but he fits the profile, and he is an official dudeist minister.
Artist Statement:
In the mid 19th century Allan Pinkerton started using photographs for booking criminals and created a database of known offenders. The information contained within the booking photograph or ‘mug shot’ covered names, booking number, and location of arrest. These booking numbers were associated with a file that contained detailed information about the individual convict.
Traditionally, portraits have been a resemblance or likeness of a person. Occasionally portraits had props in them to provide a sense of context. When photography was invented, the demand for painted portraits declined significantly. Photography made it possible to capture the appearance of a person without the time required to generate a painted portrait.
Portraits have always fascinated me due to the intricacies involved in capturing the likeness of an individual. In order to explore the application of contemporary art to a traditional portrait I have decided to create a series of paintings that involve mug shots.
These portraits include a label on the text-board that contains an abstract description of the individual and a number associated with the individuals ‘booking file.’
‘Mug shots’ are viewed in a negative context by society. They generally label an individual as incapable of operating according to a set of laws or guidelines adopted by the rest of that society. The label or concept of a criminal is fairly static. Society has developed a biased view of what criminal appearance, behavior, and personality should be.
The portraits are still traditional ‘mug shots’ with poor lighting, authentic expression, and captured without the subject being ready for the photograph. They attempt to capture an image of the individual as they would be if they were actually booked as a criminal.
The only non-traditional portion of the ‘mug shots’ are the abstract labels. These labels are based on the individual answers to a series of personal questions. The labels are designed to evoke a controversial response from the viewer as they may not be in agreement with the labels or the booking file found with each portrait.
In the mid 19th century Allan Pinkerton started using photographs for booking criminals and created a database of known offenders. The information contained within the booking photograph or ‘mug shot’ covered names, booking number, and location of arrest. These booking numbers were associated with a file that contained detailed information about the individual convict.
Traditionally, portraits have been a resemblance or likeness of a person. Occasionally portraits had props in them to provide a sense of context. When photography was invented, the demand for painted portraits declined significantly. Photography made it possible to capture the appearance of a person without the time required to generate a painted portrait.
Portraits have always fascinated me due to the intricacies involved in capturing the likeness of an individual. In order to explore the application of contemporary art to a traditional portrait I have decided to create a series of paintings that involve mug shots.
These portraits include a label on the text-board that contains an abstract description of the individual and a number associated with the individuals ‘booking file.’
‘Mug shots’ are viewed in a negative context by society. They generally label an individual as incapable of operating according to a set of laws or guidelines adopted by the rest of that society. The label or concept of a criminal is fairly static. Society has developed a biased view of what criminal appearance, behavior, and personality should be.
The portraits are still traditional ‘mug shots’ with poor lighting, authentic expression, and captured without the subject being ready for the photograph. They attempt to capture an image of the individual as they would be if they were actually booked as a criminal.
The only non-traditional portion of the ‘mug shots’ are the abstract labels. These labels are based on the individual answers to a series of personal questions. The labels are designed to evoke a controversial response from the viewer as they may not be in agreement with the labels or the booking file found with each portrait.
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