Light and Emphasis and Subordination

          I choose to the read the sections on light and emphasis and subordination for this assignment. I traveled to Sydney, Australia this past May while the Vivid light festival was happening in downtown Sydney. Every night people would crowd the street to watch a magnificent light show. During that time, The Museum of Contemporary Art was having a special light exhibition that my sister and I thought would be interesting to see. So we strolled into the museum, paid for our tickets, and made our way up three flights of stairs to the exhibition. It was such a breathtaking and amazing sight to see. All of the pieces on display were glowing, mind altering and beautiful. Thus, I thought reading the section on light in the book entitled, Living with Art by Mark Getlein would be interesting and useful to me.

One of the pieces from the exhibition is entitled Burden by a Chilean artist named Iván Navarro. It was created by using one way mirrors and represents architectural footprints from around the word. I think the light used in this piece is a little eerie, but may also represent “the light at the end of the tunnel.” This was one of the first pieces that I saw walking into the exhibit, it was so fascinating and caught my attention immediately.

Iván Navarro. Burden. 2011. Light

 I decided to read the section called emphasis and subordination because I didn’t know anything about those subjects in terms of art. I found it very interesting how artists can create a focal point by purposely making things darker or lighter or bigger or smaller. I loved the first piece the book used as an example called The Banjo Lesson by Henry Ossawa Tanner. In his painting, Tanner used size and light to emphasize the grandfather and the boy playing the banjo together. There are many contrasting colors so that the viewer’s attention is placed on the boy and the banjo.

Henry Ossawa Tanner. The Banjo Lesson. 1893. Oil on Canvas

         In Paul Cézanne’s painting, Still Life with Compotier, Pitcher, and Fruit, he uses bright colors and textures with the white napkin to draw your attention towards the fruit. I love looking at art, but I never actually thought of emphasis and subordination until now. After reading this, I will be more aware of emphasizing different parts of a painting to understand where the artist wants my attention to be.

Paul Cézanne. Still Life with Compotier, Pitcher and Fruit. Oil on Canvas.