Cody and Friends- Weekly Write-up

Arturo Herrera is not so much a creator but an arranger. He takes found objects and creates new one with them, or uses them in installations. The viewer can focus on the object and its history, or chose to see it as part of a larger image and how it interacts with surrounding objects. He takes care to choose each piece intuitively and for the betterment of his concerns in the specific site. Herrera takes objects and manipulates them. He utilizes his experience in glass blowing to further his work and give it an extra element to be considered. The fact that he has a multicultural background influences his work greatly. He incorporates this into his black “drips” that he feels represent teardrops and caricatures that mimic what African Americans have been stereotyped as.

Fred Wilson has beautiful and intelligent work based on collaging. It is interesting that he claims his work developed this way due to lack of financial support for his artwork. He takes found material or makes his own and manipulates them through photography, paint or physically with scissors to create a new object that can be placed with others. This mirrors what Arturo Herrera does in his museum installations. Wilson is interesting to me for his use of line and color to create nonrepresentational two-dimensional forms.

This is also the case with Matthew Ritchie. I find his paintings and colorful installations almost hypnotic in their presence. Though the concept is very well thought-out and process very impressive in his large-scale metal work, I am drawn to his color scheme and delicacy of line in the other bodies of works. The story behind his work is quite interesting, but I feel it is something personal to him and important to his work in a private fashion.

Jessica Stockholder also uses found objects in her installations. She focuses on color and industrial material, such as plastic, and transforms the object to fit her needs. She said in one interview that she sometimes doesn’t want to use objects that are completely recognizable, but that have a vague recognition about them. She says in her interview that her work arrives in the world like an idea into one’s head. This thought is extremely abstract, much like her sculptures, but makes a lot of sense. It doesn’t necessarily hold a huge comment on things like socialism or whatnot, but it blooms into existence and is experiences by others.