Compare and Contrast Essay on Visual Artists

Introduction

Visual art is a form of art that incorporates drawings, paintings, sculptures, crafts, photography, video making amongst other art forms. Notably, before the formation of the Arts and Crafts Movement, the term artist was mainly designated to an individual who in fine arts and not any other art form such as craft or even applied art media. The art schools were also precise in distinguishing between the fine arts and crafts and maintained that a craftsperson is not to be considered as a practitioner of the arts. The primary purpose of this paper will be based on comparing and contrasting different artists with a slight highlight on their biographies to explain their impact on the field of arts.

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Aaron Douglass

Aaron Douglas was born in the late 1800s, and he died in the late 1900s. He mainly emphasized painting, and graphics played a leading role in the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s (Douglas & Ater, 2007). He was actively involved in the teaching of arts after obtaining a bachelor's degree in arts, and later on, joined the burgeoning arts scene in Harlem. His artwork incorporated the synthetic cubist forms with some of the shapes retrieved from African art. His illustrations were energized using the rhythm of circles, diagonals, and wavelengths. It was through these creative techniques that he managed to address the aspirations of New Negro and illustrated the realities of the struggle for political and artistic freedom by the blacks.

Archibald Motley

Archibald Motley born in late 1800, also died in the late 1900s (Johnson, 2002).). He was an American painter who was also identified with the Harlem Renaissance and was well known with the illustrations of black social life and the jazz culture in a majority of the vibrant city scenes. He was enrolled at the school of art in Chicago whereby he pursued painting as a course. In the year 1917, the Negro artist privileged him to showcase his work in the exhibition paintings. His actions were profoundly influenced by writings of other black reformers and the Harlem Renaissance leader, and he had a strong belief that art was a vital instrument in ending racial prejudice.

Richard Bruce Nugent

Richard was born in the early 1900s and died in the late 1900s (Nugent, 2002). He was a well-renounced writer, artist, and actor who were significantly associated with the Harlem Renaissance. His artistry work involved the exploration of issues on sexuality and black identity which were well captured in a majority of his poems, short stories and more so the erotic drawings. His first career which he indulged in from the beginning was acting, which was entirely instrumental in supporting his financial requirements. Nugent was also actively involved in federal arts programs during the 1930s, which was also quite beneficial to him in catering for his finances.

Kara Walker

Kara Walker, born in 1969 is an African American artist who is well known for her use of large paper silhouettes in exploring the social issues in line with gender, race and black history (Reeder, 2015). Her work has been exhibited in a majority of galleries and museums from all over the world. Walker's work has stirred lots of controversies in spite of a majority of individuals appreciating her work. In 1997, she was exposed to criticism by a group of older African American artists for using black stereotypes in her art, which almost resulted in a boycott of her work. An equivalent case was also spotted in 2012. However, the drawing was later on uncovered.

Comparison

Notably, all these visual artists inhibit some form of similarities in their careers based on the autobiographies provided. Aaron and Archibald inhibit some resemblance in that they were both born in the late 1800s and died in the late 1900s. Similarly, both Richard and Kara Walker were born in the 90s. Secondly, the tasks of these artists aimed at illustrating the black social; life and aspects of racism, which were quite prevalent in America. Also, Aaron, Archibald, and Richard were significantly associated with the then Harlem Renaissance, which was a quite significant movement that marked a moment in which the whites started recognizing of the contributions of the black people.

Typically, artwork usually requires an individual to be self-inspired or obtain an equivalent source of inspiration to achieve success. The motivations in most cases were derived from the parents and in others, it was out of self-interest, and this made them pursue artwork at both the college level and career-wise. The tireless efforts portrayed in obtaining their success is what made them prosper and be of relevance to the field of arts. Also, their fight against racism was also a factor that contributed to their inspirations in that they were trying to figure out of a possible way to deal with racism and save the African Americans from the favoritism by the white Americans.

Contrasts

The main contrasts that exist between these artists are mainly based on the subject matter of their artwork. Notably, Aaron's artwork was based on the history of the Africans living in the United States, and he began his story from Africa. Archibald, on the other hand, indulged in the making of the lives of living Americans be the subject of a majority of his portraits. Kara Walker, on the other hand, seems to be quite controversial with her subject matter in that she has majored on the use of silhouettes to instill controversial responses from the targeted audiences. Bruce's subject matter, on the other hand, was based on bisexuality and the interracial male desire that was quite prevalent in America.

The other contrast lies in their view of arts. Kara Walker's view of art is to help in educating on the violence that is usually endured by slaves, which resulted in a majority of them to abandon their land (Reeder, 2015). She relates this aspect to her own story in which she recalled that they once were given a piece of land in which she cannot account on what happened to that specific piece of land. Nugent, on the other hand, was an openly gay writer and his visual art incorporated works on provocative figurative drawings on biblical narratives, erotism, and dance that was mainly to educate individuals on these aspects (Nugent, 2002).

Archibald's view on arts, on the other hand, was to offer support to portraiture and artists and as well as perpetuating the memories of great Australians (Johnson, 2002). A majority of his artwork is characterized by the portraits of both male and female sculptures to portray of the support that he had for these individuals. Aaron Douglas on the other hand who was the leading visual artist of the Harlem Renaissance view of artwork was to focus on the liberation and enlighten of the African Americans who were entirely enslaved by the whites to the point of no return (Douglas & Ater, 2007). His main aim was to end the persecution facing the blacks.

Film Artist - Reoccurring Themes

A film refers to an event that usually recorded as a set of moving images by cameras and later on shown in the media platforms, cinemas, and even televisions. It is a form of art, but the only difference lies in the manner in which it is represented to individuals. Also, unlike the visual arts, a majority of the films center on the same themes. However, this does not imply that they are the same. The only difference, in this case, lies in the manner in which the story gets to be told. This section will major on comparing and contrasting between different film artists.

D.W. Griffith - Birth of a Nation

This film is a silent epic drama that was directed and produced by D.W. Griffith. The three hours long, the show was released in 1915(Stokes, 2007). The main theme of the film features two families in the American civil war and reconstruction era. The film inhibited great success. However, it was linked with controversies in that it inhibited the portrayal of black men as unintelligent and being sexually aggressive towards the white women. Typically, this was an ideal form of racism captured in the film industry (Stokes, 2007). This resulted in some organizations campaigning towards the ban of the film, which led in Griffith producing yet another movie in the following year.

D.J. Spooky (Paul Miller) - Re-Birth of a Nation

Notably, Spooky's Rebirth of a Nation is based on a remix Griffith's film. His idea of this film was to apply his DJ techniques to the cinema to deconstruct the original concept. Spooky's idea has encompassed the engagement with film, music and contemporary art, to eliminate the silent film scores, which were usually experienced when watching such cinemas (Daspit, 2000). Also, Spooky has incorporated some racial complexities, which Griffin had worked so hard to suppress. His films are characterized with the hip-hop drumbeats, that sounds African and urban American, portraying that his idea was to eradicate the aspects of racism.

Nate Parker - Birth of a Nation

The above film is based on the story of an enslaved man who participated actively in a slave rebellion in the 1830s (Parker, Jackman & Celestin, 2017). This film also portrays some form of racism in the industry based on the unfolding of the events from the manner in which it was directed. The film was set to become popular and major award contender after having won in the Sundance film festival, but this was later on aborted after the director and co-writer were charged with rape and later on acquitted. Typically, all these tremendous accusations were aimed at destroying the production of the film and mostly it was meant to portray of the aspects of racism that in spite of in putting efforts to eradicate has still been so hard to resolve.

Comparisons

Typically, all these three films have sought out to capture the elements of racism prevalent in the United States at different levels. In Griffin's case, the black men were portrayed as unintelligent and sexually aggressive. Spooky's case, on the other hand, has incorporated some of the racial complexities that Griffin sought to eliminate and Parker, on the other side, has unfolded the aspect of racism based on the treatment received after the film became popular. Secondly, all these theses are based on the same theme in the reconstruction era in which the nation has sought to deal with the aspect of racism and implement equality in the country.

Contrasts

The main contrast in this films lies with the incorporation of ideas. Griffin's film is based on silence in that it does not incorporate the concepts of music, sounds and other factors captured in contemporary art. Spooky's film, on the other hand, has highly incorporated all these aspects and sought to implement creativity to attract a wide range of viewers. Parker's film, on the other hand, has not been described further based on the characteristics that it inhibits, only that it focuses on the storyline of an enslaved man, which can portray that its production is based on fewer sounds and incorporation of the modern art.

References

Daspit, T. (2000). Rap pedagogies: "Bring (ing) the noise" of "knowledge born on the microphone" to radical education. Popular culture and critical pedagogy: Reading, constructing, connecting, 163-182.

Douglas, A., & Ater, R. (2007). Aaron Douglas: African American Modernist. Yale University Press.

Johnson, J. W. (2002). Journeys through Art: Tracing the Great Migration in Three American Paintings. Art Education, 55(1), 25-31.

Nugent, B. (2002). Gay rebel of the Harlem Renaissance: Selections from the work of Richard Bruce Nugent. Duke University Press.

Parker, N., Jackman, H., & Celestin, J. M. (2017). The birth of a nation. Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment.

Reeder, L. K. (2015). Kara Walker: Subtlety as a big idea. Art Education, 68(1), 51-58.

Stokes, M. (2007). DW Griffith's the Birth of a...