Co

mp

arative S

tud

y: Ab

stract Art

Co

mp

ositio

n

VIII (19

23

) W

assily K

an

din

sky O

il on

Can

vas 140

x20

1 cm

Bro

adw

ay Bo

og

ie

Wo

og

ie (19

43

) P

iet M

on

dria

n

Oil o

n C

anvas 12

7 x 127 cm

Ce

nts S

ign

Travellin

g fro

m B

road

way to

Africa

via Gu

ade

lou

pe

(196

8)

Ch

ryssa

Ne

on

Tub

ing

& P

lexig

lass 109

.2x8

8.9

x72.4

cm

IntroductionI chose to do m

y visual arts comparative study on the artists W

assily Kandinsky, Piet Mondrian

and Chryssa. Before I discovered abstract art, m

y artistic preferences lied in pop art and comic

book art. My favourite artist at the tim

e was Roy Lichtenstein as he m

orphed both pop art and com

ic book art into his artwork. H

owever, once I discovered abstract art, I w

as quickly drawn by

the ambiguity abstract art presented to m

e. I imm

ediately fell in love with w

orks of Wassily

Kandinsky, Piet Mondrian, Frank Stella and Ilya Bolotow

sky. I therefore decided to do my visual

comparative study on using the w

orks of these artists. After all, who better is there than the father

of Abstract art, Wassily Kandinsky? I then looked and found out that Piet M

ondrian and Kandinsky w

orked in almost the sam

e time period, and that M

ondrian was actually inspired by som

e of Kandinsky’s w

ork. How

ever, both the artists had different cultural influences in their piece. Finally, I looked into the 3D

neon sculpture artist, Chryssa. H

er work, although in a com

pletely different tim

e, shows clear influences of form

al elements as w

ell as a symbolic m

eaning from both W

assily Kandinsky’s and Piet M

ondrian’s work in her ow

n work. I then picked w

orks from the three artists

that were visually com

parable formally, functionally and culturally.

figure afigure b

2

Abstract art by definition is “art that does not attempt to represent an accurate depiction of a visual

reality but instead uses shapes, colours, forms and gestural m

arks to achieve its effect” (abstract art). It is art that aim

s at deriving a simpler form

of an object from its com

plex form. Although

abstract art can be used to simplify a particular setting by com

posing it from a elem

entary shapes, it can also be used to create w

orks that is completely unrecognisable and not representational of

anything at all. Cubism

, which w

as an art movem

ent that abandoned the use of a single view point

in favour of using simple geom

etrical shapes to compose w

ork (“Cubism

”). Fauvism, w

hich was a

short-lived art movem

ent that vivid expressionistic and unnatural colours for the works, depended on

the visual world to create their w

orks but they opened possibilities for more different approaches in

the outside world (“Fauvism

”). Abstract art can also be used for works that uses form

s like geom

etrical shapes and gestural marks that aren’t representative of anything. W

orks of Wassily

Kandinsky are considered to be one of the first ‘truly’ abstract art. How

ever, the ‘pure’ inventors of abstract art are considered to be Kazim

ir Malevich and Piet M

ondrian.

There are many theories that attem

pt to describe the intention behind abstract art, some of m

ost notable ones are that are is should be purely about about the visual appearance, another theory is that art is just as m

usic is in patterns and finally another theory derives the idea from G

reek philosopher Plato, that “the highest form

of beauty lies not in the form of the real w

orld but in geometry” (“abstract art”) .

Wa

ssily Ka

nd

insky

Pie

t Mo

nd

rian

Ch

ryssa V

ard

ea

-Ma

vrom

icha

li19

33

- 20

1318

72 - 19

44

186

6 - 19

44

Ch

ryssa w

as a

Gre

ek

Am

erican

artist

wh

o’s

wo

rk w

as in

d

iffere

nt

me

diu

ms.

Sh

e

wa

s th

e

pio

ne

er

of

ligh

t a

nd

lu

min

ou

s scu

lptu

res

mad

e

from

n

eo

n

tub

ing

and

ple

xiglass.

Pie

t Mo

nd

rian w

as a Du

tch p

ainte

r wh

o

was a co

ntrib

uto

r to th

e fam

ou

s De

Stijl

art mo

vem

en

t. He

imp

rove

d o

n th

e n

on

-re

pre

sen

tation

al art

wh

ich

he

n

ame

d

Ne

op

lasticism.

Wassily K

and

insky w

as a Ru

ssian p

ainte

r an

d an

art the

orist. H

e is accre

dite

d w

ith

pain

ting

on

e o

f the

very first ‘tru

ly’ abstract

pain

ting

. He

also tau

gh

t at the

scho

ol o

f B

auh

aus an

d d

eve

lop

ed

the

colo

ur th

eo

ry.

figure cfigure d

figure e

Fo

rmal A

nalysis: C

om

po

sition

VIII

Kandinsky’s Composition VIII is a sm

all, about 140 x 201 cm, oil on canvas

painting which w

as made in 1923 (“W

assily Kandinsky”). Wassily Kandinsky’s

Composition VIII can be form

ally described as a geometrically abstract piece.

The observer of the painting is instantly introduced to the painting’s large concentric circles that have a “radiating” effect of different colours m

uch like m

any of the other elements present in Kandinsky’s com

position. Some of the

other areas of the painting consist of seemingly random

shapes and lines such as triangles, sem

i-circles, circles, quadrangles and grids. While m

ost of the shapes are com

plete, a lot of the shapes in the painting are left open or incom

plete, possibly to provide “breathing” space to the painting’s chaotic layout. The intense black and purple colour of the top left side circle adds a stronger em

otion to the painting, that balances out with the am

biguous feeling that the design of the painting provides. The subtle beige colour of the background provides a calm

emotion the painting w

hilst the juxtaposing colour of the foreground elem

ents present a rich and flat look to the painting.

The arrangement of the shapes tow

ards the right side of the painting is cluttered w

hilst the left side is more spacious. The individual shapes feel fragm

ented how

ever, combined w

ith angled lines, the flow of the painting is directed tow

ards the a slightly off centred focal point. Elem

ents are continuously overlapped and intersected over other neighbouring elem

ents. Although most elem

ents possess a flat colour, som

e of the other elements have a translucent colours m

ainly due to the darker shade of colour w

here the elements overlap. A few

quadrangles and circles have textured colour fills.

Com

position VIII has had a extensive and arcane history. Reportedly, Kandinsky him

self regarded Com

position VIII as one his greatest works during his prelim

inary years at Bauhaus because the w

ork contained various elements and styles that Kandinsky w

orked on over many years. This abstract piece cannot be identified by

one “formal elem

ent” however can be related to m

ultiple personified and figurative examples. Kandinsky’s geom

etric style appears to be consistent of generic shapes like circles, sem

icircles, angled lines, rectangles and lines. The most spectacular aspect about Kandinsky’s paintings, how

ever, it the way he uses theses m

undane shapes to create interesting and aesthetically pleasing layouts that are overall balanced and unique. According to Kandinsky, the m

ost interesting aspect of a truly abstract art is “the am

biguity it presents to the audience” (“Wassily Kandinsky Bio”). 4

Fu

nctio

n + P

urp

ose

: Co

mp

ositio

n V

IIIW

assily Kandinsky was a Russian painter w

ho was accredited w

ith creating some of the

first ‘truly abstract works’(“W

assily Kandinsky”, wikipedia). The painting currently resides

in the Guggenheim

Museum

in New York. M

uch like as the name of the paintings

suggests, Composition VIII is the 8th painting in the series of painting Kandinsky painted

during the course of his life. These series name com

position (Komposition) began in

1911, during which Kandinsky expressed w

hat he was trying to achieve during his

paintings. Com

position II (figure 13) and Com

position VII (figure 14) are considered to be som

e of the more im

portant pieces from the series. Kandinsky w

as never concerned w

ith subject, object or the topic of his paintings, but rather was m

ore interested in the w

ay he used his medium

s to achieve completely different paintings (Bow

lt). The name of

the series, Composition, also im

plies how one of Kandinsky’s goal w

as also to paint how

music could be visually represented. Interestingly, the w

ord composition could also refer

to the balance and harmony of beats, tones, and other elem

ents of music. Perhaps that

is why Kandinsky’s w

ork was also carefully balanced and laid out.

Kandinsky believed

“that total

abstraction offered

the possibility

for profound,

transcendental expression

and that

copying from

nature

only interfered

with

his process” (“W

assily Kandinsky”, theartstory). Kandinsky also “viewed non-objective,

abstract art as the ideal visual mode to express the ‘inner necessity’ of the artist and to

convey the universal human em

otions and ideas” (“Wassily Kandinsky”, theartstory).

Kandinsky thought of himself as an clairvoyant, w

hose one purpose was to teach this

ideal to the world, ultim

ately, for the betterment of the society.

The end outcome of this process and areas that Kandinsky focused on led him

to create unidentifiable w

orks which although seem

s to hold many m

eanings, was visually

appealing and forced the audience to interact with his w

ork and deduce all his possible m

eanings.

5

figure 13

figure 14

Cu

ltural S

ign

ificance

: Co

mp

ositio

n V

IIIKandinsky w

orked in several different places including Moscow, M

unich and Paris. He also spent a great part of his life travelling around Europe w

ith the Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider). During this stage in this life, Kandinsky also lived and taught at Bauhaus (“W

assily Kandinsky”, W

assily). Staatliches Bauhaus, or just simply know

n as Bauhaus, is a design school in Germ

any that used both fine art skills and craft skills to m

ake intuitive designs. Works originating from

Bauhaus has had influence on m

any recognisable products from com

panies like Braun and Apple; com

panies which are applauded for their sim

ple and functional designs (Bauhaus).

During this time, Kandinsky taught basic design classes and advanced colour theory classes.

During his time at Bauhaus, he also taught painting classes and w

orkshops in which he w

orked and elaborated his colour theory w

ith elements from

psychology leading him to w

rite books like “Point and Line to Plane” (1926) in w

hich he analysed his use of geometric shapes in his w

orks (“Bauhaus”). This naturally lead Kandinsky to give m

ore importance to geom

etrical elements and

design in his works. During this period, w

hich seems to the tim

e during which Kandinsky w

as rapidly producing good w

orks like Sm

all Worlds I (figure 1), C

ircles in a Circle (figure 2) and O

n W

hite II (figure 3). Kandinsky’s Composition VIII therefore, naturally show

s clear links to these pieces in term

s of design and elements used. These elem

ents included rich planes of colour spectrum

s through which Kandinsky seem

ed to show his rejection of constructivism

and suprem

atism m

ovements w

hich were very influential w

ith artists during that time (“W

assily Kandinsky”, theartstory).

Contrastingly, the work that Kadinsky produced being a part of the Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue

Rider), which w

as a group of several artists including Kandinsky himself. Der Blaue Reiter, as a

group rejected the Neue Künstlervereinigung München (M

unich’s New Artists Association),

which w

as accredited with pioneering and experim

enting with styles and techniques w

hich led to M

odern Art in Germ

any (“Der Blaue Reiter").

Due to the unstable and erratic condition of Bauhaus during a Nazi Smear Cam

paign, which

consisted of large scale book burning, Kandinsky left Bauhaus to finally put his roots down in

Paris.

figure 1

figure 2

figure 3

6

Fo

rmal A

nalysis: B

road

way B

oo

gie

Wo

og

ie (19

43

)Piet M

ondrian’s Broadway Boogie W

oogie (1943), can accurately be described has one of his param

ount works. The thick and thin black lines that for long filled the

canvases of his works, w

ere finally removed in favour for bright, governing yellow

lights that seem

ed to be inspired by the famous yellow

cabs of New York city.

Apparently, M

ondrian w

as inspired

by the

“exuberance” (“Piet

Mondrian”,

theartstory) of the New York city life. Naturally, paintings done during this tim

e clearly expressed this “exuberance” (“Piet M

ondrian”, theartstory) in Mondrian.

Much like his other w

orks, the yellow lines intersect at points m

arked by squares and rectangles of red and blue colours. M

ondrian aimed to represent the im

patient m

otion or the livelihood of New York city; these yellow

lines or “bands” (“Piet M

ondrian”, theartstory) repeat a group of different yellow tones to create the

flashing lights of nighttime New

York city. These yellow “bands” (“Piet M

ondrian”, theartstory) are occasionally interrupted by different coloured squares like light grey, red and blue. W

hilst, these colour choices appear to be based on aesthetics, one m

ay also argue that these colours are representative of different things about New

York. For example, the light grey squares that interrupt the yellow

bands, can be related to the fam

ous term ‘concrete jungle’ that has often been used to describe

New York. The arrangem

ent of these yellow “bands” (“Piet M

ondrian”, theartstory), w

hile horizontal and vertical, come together to form

a grid that may be interpreted

as the aerial view of New

York city’s layout. Much like Kandinsky, M

ondrian too seem

s to be inspired by the visualisation of music, in particular jazz m

usic.

The painting’s asymm

etrical layout manages to achieve a balance despite the

different coloured squares that dominate the canvas of M

ondrian’s Broadway

Boogie Woogie. This delicate balance is achieved by providing big open spaces or

‘breathing spaces’ to the foreground which is created by the slight off-w

hite colour of the background.

7

Fu

nctio

n + P

urp

ose

: Bro

adw

ay Bo

og

ie

Wo

og

ie (19

43

)M

ondrian decided to filter his visualisation of the world into the

rudimentary form

s of horizontal and vertical lines; seemingly to

personify the two opposing forces: the good and the bad, the changed

and the unchanged, the masculine and the fem

inine. It would seem

as if M

ondrian deeply believed in this omnipresent balance of these opposite

forces (“Piet Mondrian”, W

ikipedia).

For many iterations of his w

orks, Mondrian stubbornly stuck to the use

of bold black lines that travelled his canvases. Broadway Boogie

Woogie, how

ever, seems to be a com

pletely different story. Mondrian

favoured red, yellow. blue and light grey instead of the dominating black

lines. Unlike the m

ultiple iterations of his previous pieces, Mondrian

seemed to be influenced by the elated lifestyle of N

ew York city.

Especially with this piece, M

ondrian seems to be representing the

nightlife of New

York city as the yellow in this pieces appears to be

almost “illum

inating”.

Another theory that seems to aptly explain the inspiration behind

Mondrian’s inspiration w

ith this piece is that, the large use of yellow in

the piece may be representing the iconic yellow

cabs of New

York city. Even the nam

e of the painting, Broadway Boogie W

oogie, is named

after the well know

n Broadway theatre in M

anhattan, New

York. Since one of the m

ost iconic aspects of Broadway is, its lights, it w

ould appear as if this m

ay have been Mondrian’s m

ain source of inspiration. 8

figure 8

Cu

ltural S

ign

ificance

: Bro

adw

ay Bo

og

ie

Wo

og

ie (19

43

)In 1938, due to the rapid adoption of fascism

, which w

as “a form of radical authoritarian

nationalism” after W

orld War I (“Fascism

”), Mondrian relocated from

Paris to London. During

this dreary time, M

ondrian’s work w

as chaotic, filled with lines and overall, his w

orks seemed to

have lost the delicate balance of their predecessors (“Piet Mondrian Biography”). In som

e of his w

orks, he portraits a more fragm

ents and “messy” layout of lines w

hich almost looked like as if

they were cracks or scars.There w

ere also reports of how M

ondrian would paint for very long

hours until his hands blistered, cry and make him

self sick (“Piet Mondrian”, W

ikipedia). The afterm

ath of the Battle of Netherlands, resulted in the N

etherlands and Paris conceding to the G

ermany forces. M

ondrian, once again moved from

London to Manhattan w

here he spent the rest of his days. Because M

ondrian’s relocation was so abrupt and erratic, it is enigm

atic to pin-point and place his w

orks to one particular location (“Piet Mondrian Biography”). Therefore, it

would seem

as if Mondrian had w

orked on the paintings in different locations, but really finished them

in Manhattan, N

ew York. D

uring the time M

ondrian moved, his w

orks expressed fear and confusion. W

orks like Com

position / Place de la Concorde (figure 6) and

Com

position N

o. 10

Pier and

Ocean

(figure 7)

used bold

blank lines.

Especially C

omposition / Place de la C

oncorde (figure 6) used a more fragm

ented lines, which show

ed the fear and confusion M

ondrian was possibly going through.

Once M

ondrian settled in New

York, his paintings, like Lozenge Com

position With Four

Yellow Lines (figure 5), w

ere now once again, sim

ple paintings, with one drastic change of

using coloured lines instead of bold black lines. Mondrian also started introducing prim

ary colours in his com

positions, adding a new sense of depth into his paintings.

The impacts of M

anhattan on Mondrian started show

ing further as his work becam

e more

bright and cheerful as compared to som

e of his previous works. H

e started to experiment w

ith his w

ork, for example, he started overlapping elem

ents and shapes over each other and defying the grid system

. The fruits of these experimentations and changes led to pieces like

Broadway Boogie W

oogie and Victory Boogie Woogie before his untim

ely death in 1944.

figure 5

figure 7

figure 6

9

Fo

rmal A

nalysis: C

en

ts Sig

n

Travellin

g fro

m B

road

way to

Africa

via Gu

ade

lou

pe

The Greek-Am

erican artist, Chryssa Vardea-Mavrom

ichali was

inspired by the big billboards and flashing lights of Times

Square when she m

oved to America (Schultz).

Cen

ts S

ign

Travelling

from

B

road

way

to A

frica via

Guadeloupe (1968), w

as one of the last pieces that Chryssa m

ade. Incased in a clear plexiglass, the piece showcases the

cent symbol, m

ade from florescent neon tubes, layered four

times in four different colours: red, blue, green and yellow. The

symbols form

8 layers altogether; blue paired with green and

red paired with yellow.

Each coloured symbol is segm

ented into its own area, therefore

creating a total of 4 segments, separated by intersecting clear

plexiglass. The outer glass of the sculpture creates multiple

reflections of the florescent lights which add to the beauty of

the sculpture. Below the neon tubed sym

bols, the piece is separated in tw

o segments.

The larger segments of the tw

o, is in a solid black colour which serves the purpose of concealing the electrical com

ponents of the piece whilst also

providing aesthetic beauty. The use of black also pushes the attention of the audience to the bright, colourful arrangement of the sym

bols above. The sm

aller segment of the tw

o, is in a pure white colour w

hich serves the purpose of being a base for the entire piece to rest on. The combination of the tw

o segm

ents provide the piece with a m

inimal feel as w

ell as a modern and contem

porary look. The piece is displayed in an open area, surrounded by paintings by different artists. The open area allow

s the viewers to w

alk around the sculpture itself and appreciate its beauty from different angles and

perspectives. Even the colour of the wooden floor seem

s to complim

ent the sculpture.10

Fu

nctio

n + P

urp

ose

: Ce

nts S

ign

Travellin

g

from

Bro

adw

ay to A

frica via Gu

ade

lou

pe

When C

hryssa moved to N

ew York city in 1954, she felt as if a revelation took over her. She w

as m

esmerised by the light of N

ew York city. As a part of this, C

hryssa started working w

ith symbols and

icons by taking them out of their context. As a result of this, C

hryssa worked and created several

paintings, prints, and sculptures which each spoke to her and the audience in very different w

ays. She took these seem

ingly mundane and banal icons and sym

bols; using them as the subject m

atter of her com

positions to produce works like A

rrow: H

omage to Tim

es Square (1958) (figure 9), Letter “T” (1959), and the Three A

rrows (1960). C

hryssa didn’t limit herself to just lexicons, she also started

to use fragments of new

spaper articles to use in a series of paintings to accomplish outcom

es similar to

those of her other works (Schultz).

Chryssa w

rote: “Since 1957, I have worked in fragm

ents. Entire areas of my new

spaper paintings were

covered with fragm

ents of printed materials. I repeat these fragm

ents and in their entity I reach reality. Ic over the entire area w

ith a fragment repeated precisely. this is the w

ay my m

ind works, it has m

any intersections and im

pacts. Diagram

s occur between the conscious and the unconscious, instinctive

directions” (Schultz). To fully realise a complete sculptural piece, C

hryssa made several prelim

inary w

orks that lead to her one work. D

eveloping a abstract vocabulary for herself, Chryssa defined her ow

n visual system

of expression. Using these m

otifs, she created her “masterw

ork” (Schultz), The Gates to

Times Square (figure 11), possibly one of m

ost well-know

n pieces made by C

hryssa.

Cents Sign Travelling from

Broadw

ay to Africa via G

uadeloupe (1968), was a result of the intense

process Chryssa w

ent through on a daily basis. For this piece, Chryssa w

as still inspired by the lights and billboards in Tim

e Square, New

York city. She used the symbolism

of a cent sign, which could hold

several interpretations as to why she chose this sym

bol. How

ever, even more unique than the

symbolism

of this piece is the title of the piece, Cents Sign Travelling from

Broadway to Africa via

Guadeloupe. Analysis of the title w

ould suggest that during this time, C

hryssa was som

ehow talking

about the events happening in Africa, quite possibly, the decolonisations after the World W

ar II. G

uadeloupe, a french colonised island in the Caribbean, resem

bles a butterfly, maybe that’s w

hy C

hryssa used it in the title of this piece. Linking the symbolism

of cents to the title of the piece makes

more sense. D

uring the decolonisation of Africa, people were agitated for “independence and colonial

powers”. Som

ething that money sym

bolises. Maybe this is som

ething Chryssa w

as trying to say with

this piece.

11

figure 9

Cu

ltural S

ign

ificance

: Ce

nts S

ign

Travellin

g

from

Bro

adw

ay to A

frica via Gu

ade

lou

pe

The greek artist, Chryssa Vardea-M

avromichali, w

as born in Athens in 1933. On the

recomm

endation of “a leading art critic” (Schultz), Chryssa’s parents sent her to Paris to

study art. Later, at the age of 22, Chryssa m

oved to San Francisco where she studied Fine

Arts at the California School of Fine Arts. She then m

oved to New

York, where she becam

e an Am

erican citizen and spent the rest of her days producing some great art pieces.

Much like M

ondrian, Chryssa too w

as inspired by the dazzling lights of New

York city (Schultz). W

hilst Mondrian focused m

ore on the lifestyle in New

York city, Chryssa w

as heavily influenced by the city’s urbanism

. She inspired and derived her visual language from

the huge glass and steel towers, flam

boyant neon billboards, sculptured symbols and the

tremendous

scale of

almost

everything. C

hryssa said:

“America

is very

stimulating,

intoxicating to me. Believe m

e when I say there is w

isdom, indeed, in the flashing lights of

Times Square, the sky is like the gold background of Byzantine m

osaics of icons” (Schultz). U

sing these elements as inspiration, C

hryssa started making paintings, prints and m

ost substantially her sculptures.

Being accredited with truly originally creating the m

edium of using neon tube lights in a

sculpture, Chryssa used her ow

n tailored European sense of style, creating works that are “in

their very essence, American in their heroic scale and technical audacity” (Schultz). C

hryssa originally started w

ith creating paintings of repeating fragments. She used rubber stam

ps from

the printing presses of The New

York Times, by m

ethodically and precisely creating repetitions on the canvas, a technique that Andy W

arhol would then later show

case in his ow

n work. W

hen Chryssa began w

orking on sculptures, she made num

erous model pieces,

sort of experiments, that w

ork are now know

n as the sculpture series, The Gates.

Although it appears as if the symbols and fragm

ents that Chryssa uses in her w

ork, are unrelated, som

e may argue that she indeed, had a hidden m

essage behind each icon.

12figure 11

Formal Comparison:

Use

or p

rima

ry co

lou

rs

Ab

stract

So

lid C

olo

urs

Use

of n

eg

ative

sp

ace

Oil o

n C

an

vas

Grid

Layo

ut

Kandinsky vs Mondrian vs Chryssa

Use

of stra

igh

t, strict co

rne

rs

Use

of C

urve

d

Line

s

Glo

win

g Eff

ect

Bo

ld u

se o

f Bla

ck

Inte

rsectin

g a

nd

O

verla

pp

ing

ele

me

nts

Ma

ke

s use

of

mu

ltiple

sha

pe

s (circle

s, squ

are

s, tria

ng

le)

Ma

ke

s use

of o

nly

straig

ht lin

es a

nd

sq

ua

res

Ma

ke

s use

of N

eo

n

tub

ing

an

d p

lexig

lass.

3D

Scu

lptu

re

2D

Pa

intin

g

Use

of G

ree

n

13

Cultural and Functional Comparison:

Ab

stract

Sym

bo

lism

Aim

s to m

ak

e n

on

-re

pre

sen

tative

art

Visu

alisa

tion

o

f Mu

sic

Kandinsky vs Mondrian vs Chryssa

Visu

alisa

tion

of

ma

n m

ad

e

ob

jects a

nd

n

igh

tlife o

f NY

C

N/A

Visu

alisa

tion

of N

ew

Y

ork

City —

grid

la

you

t of th

e city a

nd

n

igh

t ligh

ts

Visu

alisa

tion

of m

on

ey

— ce

nts sym

bo

l is see

n

Visu

alisa

tion

of n

atu

re

— re

fere

nce

s to su

n,

mo

un

tain

an

d

atm

osp

he

re

14

Am

erica

n

Cu

rren

cy - Ce

nts

Gre

ek-A

me

rican

P

ain

ter &

Scu

lpto

r

De

velo

pe

d b

y in

flu

en

ces o

f the

co

lou

r the

ory

Ka

nd

insk

y wa

s w

ork

ing

on

Ru

ssian

Pa

inte

r

Sh

ow

s the

Ne

w

Yo

rk city g

rid a

nd

ye

llow

cab

sDu

tch P

ain

ter

Insp

ired

by e

lem

en

ts fro

m N

ew

Yo

rk city

Infl

ue

nce

s from

A

me

rican

Cu

lture

Influ

en

ce o

n P

erso

nal W

ork

Composition VIII (1923)

Oil on Canvas

Wassily Kandinsky

140x201 cm

The Time Travelling O

wl (2014)

Acrylic on CanvasShivam

SinhaInspired by W

assily Kandinsky 15

fig

ure

12

Initia

l Insp

iratio

n: T

he

Pe

rsisten

ce o

f Me

mo

ryTo

find

a c

entra

l them

e fo

r my p

iece, I fo

und

insp

iratio

n fro

m th

e w

ell kn

ow

n

pie

ce; T

he P

ersiste

nce o

f Mem

ory b

y Salva

do

r Dali. I w

as a

westru

ck b

y the

deep

hid

den m

eanin

g b

y the p

iece. T

he c

oncep

t of tim

e d

idn’t a

ctu

ally e

xist. It w

as a

co

ncep

t that h

um

ans d

eve

lop

ed

to ke

ep

track o

f the c

onsta

nt

chang

e th

at ta

kes p

lace. M

y inte

rpre

tatio

ns o

f time w

ere

alte

red

the m

ore

I th

oug

ht a

bo

ut th

e c

oncep

t. Afte

r seve

ral ite

ratio

ns o

f my th

eo

ry, I cam

e to

th

e c

onclu

sion th

at tim

e is a

n e

nd

less c

ycle

of life

and

death

.

I need

ed

to e

xpre

ss this id

ea o

f time, h

ow

eve

r, I did

n’t w

ant to

just g

ive th

e

idea a

way u

sing

som

eth

ing

mund

ane a

nd

straig

ht-fo

rward

. I decid

ed

to u

se

a fo

rm o

f ab

stractio

n to

intro

duce th

e id

ea to

the vie

wers a

nd

then le

t them

in

terp

ret th

eir o

wn m

eanin

g o

f time. I sta

rted

loo

king

at d

iffere

nt a

rtwo

rks th

at w

ere

co

mm

end

ed

thro

ug

ho

ut h

istory fo

r their a

bstra

ct vo

cab

ula

ry. All

the a

bstra

ct a

rtwo

rk that I lo

oke

d a

t were

bo

th visu

ally a

pp

ealin

g a

nd

had

a

hid

den m

eanin

g o

r som

eth

ing

to e

xpre

ss behin

d th

em

. But to

me, th

e m

ost

inte

restin

g w

as th

e w

ork o

f Wassily K

and

insky. T

he w

ay h

e a

chie

ved

bala

nce

with

his

seem

ing

ly ra

nd

om

la

yout

intrig

ued

and

in

spire

d m

e.

There

w

as

som

eth

ing

were

peacefu

l and

calm

ab

out h

is use

of c

olo

ur a

nd

textu

re.

What a

pp

eale

d to

me th

e m

ost h

ow

eve

r, was th

e u

se o

f geo

metric

shap

es

and

“gestu

ral” m

arks to

geth

er to

form

som

eth

ing

mechanic

ally p

erfe

ct b

ut

with

a slig

htly m

ore

“hum

an” e

lem

ent.

16

figure 10

Th

e P

roce

ss: Th

e T

ime

Travellin

g O

wl

The goal with the painting w

as to express the meaning of tim

e in a completely new

and different w

ay. To express this meaning of tim

e, I chose the symbolism

of the owl to

express this ‘cycle of life’ and therefore expressing the meaning of tim

e. The owl to m

e, is a fascinating bird that lends itself to diverse treatm

ent much like it's significance in various

cultures.

Around the world, the ow

l has various symbols and m

eanings. For example, in G

reece and Rom

e, the owl holds the sym

bol of wisdom

, knowledge, fem

ininity and guardianship. Contrastingly, in Am

erica and Europe, the owl holds the sym

bol of death while in other

parts of the world, the ow

l is related to the night, which also sym

bolises mystery, m

agic and darkness. Finally, in India, the ow

l holds a prominent sym

bol of stupidity. Such contrasting sym

bols for the owl, in m

y mind, clearly form

s the different stages of life we all

go through. Birth, knowledge, stupidity, w

isdom, death (“O

wl Anim

al Symbolism

”).

I began working on geom

etric designs to represent the owl. M

y initial attempts involved

using dry pastels (figure 1A) to achieve the texture that Kandinsky originally used in his Com

position VIII. However, although I liked the effect the pastels created, they w

ere hard to control, m

essy and overall made a design that I w

asn’t too happy with. W

hilst experim

enting with designs, I w

as also considering a three-dimensional m

edium. I found

caps of various diameters, laid them

on top of each other and tried to make different

aspects of the owl using these m

aterials (Figure 2A, 3A). This attempt failed how

ever, painting the objects, or covering them

with canvas proved to be very diffi

cult. I therefore, continued to w

ork with the original designs, adding and subtract shapes, playing w

ith the layout and the colours. I arrived at one final design from

the four I originally started with.

The new design (figure 12) used one m

ain circle to hold the rest of the shapes, which

came together to form

the different visual characteristics of the owl including the eyes,

eyebrows and the beak. The circle could represent a sim

ple clock or even the “cycle of life” and show

how w

e come back to w

ere we begin.

17

Fig

ure

1A

Fig

ure

2A

Fig

ure

3A

Influence on Personal WorkThe Final Outcome

Use

of sim

ilar

an

d so

lid co

lou

rs

Ab

stract

Sym

bo

lism

Ge

om

etric d

esig

n —

u

se o

f simila

r sh

ap

es

Use

of n

eg

ative

sp

ace

Se

em

ing

ly ran

do

m

layo

ut

Ce

ntric La

you

t

Use

of b

old

bla

ck lin

es

Use

of th

in b

lack

line

s

Ele

me

nts a

re sp

rea

d o

ut

all o

ver th

e ca

nva

s

Ele

me

nts a

re fo

cusse

d a

t th

e ce

ntre

of th

e ca

nva

s

Glo

w/B

lur e

ffe

ctN

o G

low

/Blu

r eff

ect

Op

en

/Inco

mp

lete

S

ha

pe

sC

lose

d/C

om

ple

te

Sh

ap

es

This final piece was intentionally and purposefully inspired by the w

orks of Wassily Kandinsky’s Com

position VIII. Much like

Kandinsky’s choice of geometric elem

ents, this piece maintains a strict sym

metrical and geom

etrical design (in terms of the

main circle). In addition to this design, I chose to use a flat colour schem

e with a sm

ooth and plain texture, much like that of

Mondrian’s w

ork. The colours chosen for this piece, like Kandinsky and Mondrian, are harm

onious and subtle, that create a m

ood of peacefulness and calmness. How

ever, The front sided design’s main focus point is the jarring concentric eyes that

look the audience in the eye, conveying both anger and distress. This is clearly juxtaposed with the calm

and peaceful colour tones. The background elem

ents of the piece, are directly inspired by Kandinsky’s work, and are present not only to m

ake the piece m

ore visually interesting, but also to clearly show the inspiration that this piece is derived from

. Culturally, although, both Kandinsky and M

ondrian derived their inspiration from m

usic and their surroundings, this piece derives its inspiration from

my personal interpretation of tim

e.

18

Bib

liog

raph

y:

19

Bowlt, John E. The Life of Vasilii Kandinsky in Russian Art: A Study

of "On the Spiritual in Art" New

tonville, Mass.: O

riental Research Partners, 1980. Print.

Bax, Marty. Com

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Kandinsky, Wassily. Com

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assily Kandinsky. N.p., 1923. W

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ww

w.wassilykandinsky.net/w

ork-50.php >

Mondrian, Piet. Broadw

ay Boogie Woogie. Digital im

age. MO

MA.

MO

MA, n.d. W

eb. Sept.-Oct. 2015.< http://w

ww.m

oma.org/

collection/works/78682 >

Chryssa. Cents Sign Travelling from Broadw

ay to Africa via G

uadeloupe. Digital image. Brooklyn M

useum. Brooklyn M

useum,

n.d. Web. Sept.-O

ct. 2015. <https://ww

w.brooklynmuseum

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age. W

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ww.w

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[Figure 4] Mondrian, Piet. Lozenge Com

position With Four Yellow

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MA. M

OM

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OM

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OM

A. MO

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[Figure 10] Dali, Salvador. The Persistence of Mem

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Ucn1ra4livo1_500.jpg>.

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, New

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raph

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20

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