Martin Parr

Martin Parr is a photojournalist, British documentary photographer and photobook collector. He was born on May 23, 1952. Martin is well known for his well known photographic projects which have been called "intimate, satirical and anthropological", these words have been used because this is the way they say he 'looks at aspects of modern life, in particular documenting the social classes of England, and more broadly the wealth of the Western world.'

Martin has featured in about 80 exhibitions around the world and has published around 40 books by himself. Martin was also part of photographic cooperative called Magnum Photos.


Martin's Parr's photos:









Martin said,"The fundamental thing I'm exploring constantly is the difference between the mythology of the place and the reality of it. Remember I make serious photographs disguised as entertainment. That's part of my mantra. I make the pictures acceptable in order to find the audience but deep down there is actually a lot going on that's not sharply written in your face. If you want to read it you can read it"about his photography.

Martin is said to have a close-up aesthetic about his work and this is achieved by using a micro lens and 'employing saturated colour', this creates an effect which can only be achieved by the type of film used and/or using a ring flash.  This way Martin is able to capture people and/or food within their ow environment and within their natural forms, this gives them the space to expose and explore  in ways that often involve 'inadvertent humour', because of this his work has become very well known and famous.

Antoni Gaudi

Antoni Gaudi was born 25th June 1852 and died 10th June 1926. He was a Spanish Catalan architect from Reus and the best known practitioner of Catalan Modernism. Gaudi was most influenced by the passions he held including architecture, nature, and religion. He integrated crafts such as ceramics, stained glass, wrought ironwork forging and carpentry. He also found new techniques such as trencadis which used waste ceramic pieces. Gaudi's work transcended mainstream Modernisme, using and organic style, inspired by nature. He preferred to create three dimensional scale models of his works, continuously molding details into them.

I really like Gaudi's style of architecture and sculpture because of the imperfect organic feel it has. Instead of creating perfect forms of symmetry, he looked at nature to create unique, pieces of art and architecture. I have noticed that Gaudi's creations often incorporate a flowing aspect to them, giving the effect of moving fluidity to each of his works. I really like this changeability because it makes his architecture blend in well with the natural landscape, instead of generic rectangular buildings which stand out. This makes his work seem more organic and integrates it into the period he lived in.

I would really like to incorporate these aspects into my own work to make it appear to have its own movement. I can do this in my final piece by using flowing lines in the handrails of the building. I believe this will aid my work in making it one of a kind by using the surreal element of fluidity.

Michael Craig-Martin

Michael Craig-Martin is a contemporary conceptual artist and painter was born on August 28, 1941. He is well known for his conceptual artwork. He is also a Emeritus
Professor of Fine Art at Goldsmiths. 

Micheal grew up in Dublin where he was born and during his early years of life, he grew up with a religious education in a Roman Catholic school run by nuns. One of the priests in the school was an artist and this is where Michael gained an interest in art.

Examples of Michael's works:




Martin began to make line drawings of ordinary objects in the early 70's, creating over the years an expanding array of images which form the foundation of his work to this day. The focus of his work  eventually shifted to painting after the 1990's, but followed his previous style using boldly outlined motifs, featuring vivid colour schemes. He applied this style to his works on canvas as well as complex wall painting installations. This bold style gives a pop art inspired style which fits well with the period before and after the 90's.

I like Martin's work because of its simple two dimensional style using bright colours and bold lines. I have realised that he often uses colour theory in his paintings by using warm colours such as red and yellow in the foreground and cold colours such as blue and purple in the background to give a sense of dimension in his flattened drawing style. I really like the busy composition of his work because it includes many found objects from everyday life such as books, buckets and light-bulbs. One of the unique aspects of Michael's work is his surreal use of perspective and proportion, bringing an unrealistic, electric feel to his work.

After studying Martin's work I have been inspired to create my own compositions, using his style and techniques. I would like to develop my own style by  adjusting my use of colour, perspective and proportion in my own work. I would like to try using vivid colours using primary, secondary and tertiary colours as a base. 

Jennifer McCurdy

Jennifer McCurdy was born in Newport, Rhode Island in 1955.  She became interested in pottery because her grandmothers vast collection of unusual vases. She specialises in porcelain and uses it to create functional objects such as mugs, mixing bowls and wall pieces.








Examples of McCurdy's work:





The main inspiration for McCurdy's work derives from the perfect nature that surrounds her in everyday life. For example many of her pieces incorporate perfectly asymmetrical spirals as inspired from the cracked conch shells on the beach. Her use of translucent porcelain creates a beautiful surface on the body of her work, conveying the picturesque nature of light and shadow. This gives her work a sense of wavering movement through the spectrum of light.

I love the style of McCurdy's work because of its organic style and intricate attention to detail. It has shown me that ordered symmetry and asymmetry can be assembled to depict natural forms in our environment revealing not only the beautiful essence captured in her work, but also the growth and movement of life. I really like how she portrays this movement through the carvings she makes adding a balance of energy in each work of pottery. This shows how she values the importance of the balance in nature, creating a bond between herself and the environment she lives in.

I would like to create some work inspired by her because I like the reasons behind each method she encompasses in her work. I have been inspired to follow her thought processes in looking closer at the environment produce work that is as complex like the world around me. 



  

Peter Randall

Peter Randall is a British artist who was born on July 2nd, 1954. He is famously known for his unique sculptures. Also, Peter was part of the design team for the Education Resource Centre (The Core) at the Eden Project, this is also said to have influenced the overall design which also includes the large granite sculpture at the heart of Eden.








Examples of Peter's work:




Some things which have been said about his work work are think like the fact that his work "has always been informed and inspired by the study of organic form and the natural world. His beautiful, often deceptively simple, sculpture offers a unique insight into nature’s microcosm by gently teasing out and exploring fundamental elements on a macro scale.
By scrutinising the complicated systems and mathematical sequences that are the blueprint of growth and form much of Randall-Page’s work focuses on the tension and wonder of the symbiotic relationship between order and randomness".
Peter also says, "I am very interested in the idea of theme and variation, in natural phenomena as well as in music and visual art. Our universe seems to be driven by the dynamic tension between a ubiquitous tendency for spontaneous pattern formation, mitigated by an equally pervasive tendency for random variation. In fact, the evolutionary process itself can be seen as a result of these polarities. Theme without variation would be stasis and variation without theme is inconceivable chaos".

Both what was said about Peter's work and what he says about his own work pretty much sums up what I would say about his work but what I would like to add is that I really like his work because of its natural beauty. I really like the fact that although he is able to show the complexity of natures beauty, it is clear to show that it was very difficult to achieve. I also like the fact that his work can be placed anywhere within nature and would blend in perfectly because it is almost exactly how nature would have done it. There are not enough good things I could possibly say about his work. I would like to create a piece which would imitate Peter's accuracy of natures geometry because I feel that is what really gives his work the edge and I would like to have that same edge.

Kate Malone

Kate Malone is a British potter who was born March 30th, 1959. She is also a judge on a show on BBC2 called The Great Pottery Throw Down. Malone is widely know fr her bright glazes and her large sculptures.



Examples of Malone's wok:

Much of Malone's works are inspired by nature and natural forms and this is clear because you can see that many of her vessels are covered in seeds or are in the shape of a fruit. Within my research I found out that "there are two most popular glazes that you can find on the work of Kate Malone. You can see both in crystalline stoneware and ‘pebbled’ earthenware."  This gives the pieces a shiny but distorted look.

I really like Malone's style of work because it really goes along with my thinking which is that things do not have to be structured to be beautiful. Her crystal glazes also help to create the essence of beauty through distortion. I also really like her way of making natural forms because I feel that it shows that she has not lost her touch with earth. I especially like the fish in the lake sculpture because it not only displays the beauty of nature but it also places her work among nature itself and it sort of creates that bond between her work and nature itself.

I would really like to create something which has been inspired by her because I feel as though me and Malone have a similar way of thinking and I would really like to see how I would go about trying to imitate nature in creating something in a structured way in it's own sense but also in the way where it cant be made in exactly the same way because no two things in nature have the exact same structure.

Antonio Sant'Elia

Antonio Sante'Elia was an Italian architect was born in April 30, 1960 but sadly died on October 10, 1916. He is said to have been a key member of the Futurist Movement within architecture. He is also said to have been primarily known for his bold sketches and influence on modern architecture.

Antonio was influenced by architects and engineers such as Adolf Loos, Otto Wagner, and Renzo Picasso. These people are who influenced most of the design drawings for a "New City". Also, a lot of the drawing were shown in an exhibition in May/June 1914 at the Famiglia Artistica gallery. Some of Antonio's pieces are said to be on permanent display at Como's art gallery. 

Examples of Antonio's work:



His work was quite distinctive at the time and that due to the fact that his designs included many skyscraper buildings with terraces, aerial walkways and bridges which at the time was very exciting because technology and architecture was not as advanced as he envisioned it to be. The reason as to why his works are so futuristic is because he is said to have felt that a break needed to have been taken from the 'architectural styles of the past and historic solutions to urban design'. 

Some aspects of Antonio's work is also said to have been influenced by Art Nouveau architect Giuseppe Sommaruga. Antonio's work has influenced many architects, his influence can clearly be seen within the works of architects such as Helmut Jahn and John Portman, and has also influenced filmmakers such as Fritz Lang.

Personally I quite like the way Antonio's work is because its really makes me feel like I should change the way in which I think or see things especially the fact that he portrayed his work in a futuristic manner. The fact that his works were out of the ordinary showed that he was not thinking to really create the same thing as those that were already alive. Although not many of his works were made a reality I still like the fact that his ideas were quite distinct in the aspect of being in the future. If more architects thought the way he did, I feel as though the world would be able advance much quicker.