Portrait of Another Species
On You Are Art website you can find portraits, most of which are made using classic techniques in the traditional media of painting. Traditional painting is done using a number of familiar techniques of oil paints, watercolors, pencils, ink and charcoal. This tradition was broken during the 19th century with the renunciation of the art world by avant-garde artists like Matisse, Duchamp and Picasso, who brought to the world paintings that are unrealistic, sometimes abstract, philosophical or conceptual and sometimes made in completely different media from painting, such as Picasso's collages which he created in various forms, as well as Duchenne and his conceptual sculptures. Such artists broke new ground for many generations of artists after them, born into a very great creative freedom, both in ideas and in the choice of media and materials.
YNET website recently published an article about a pair of artists who create a rather traditional theme: portraits, but use the avant-garde freedom in choosing the characters - political figures (not by their invitation) and choosing a clearly non-traditional material. The materials were chosen based on the figure in the portrait and the statement about it: Trump's portrait is made using a coin collage while Putin's portrait is made using a collage of bullet casings, to the delight of their critics.
The works made by the artists Daria Marchenko and Daniel Green are large and impressive. The portrait was a classic commemorative format of rulers and wealthy people, who commissioned a work that would commemorate them at the height of their fame, power and wealth and here there are portraits whose focus comes from an external and critical and not necessarily encouraging look. Also the choice of materials is avant-garde, the work is meticulous it is easy to identify the portraits' subjects. The intelligent choice of materials consists of creative, critical, topical thinking as well as a good design eye, since the impression obtained in the end is spectacular from the richness of the colors and the shiny metals. The seemingly material aspect is so trivial in the distance, made a blatant statement when approaching and identifying the details of the material and its meaning. The choice of materials in this case is very significant and strong, it creates an immediate and inevitable association and forces the viewer conscious connection.
You can also order different kinds portraits on You Are Art website, even a portrait made from alternative materials. I am always happy to meet challenges.