Outcome3Research,Task1.

ComparingArtStyles

ItcanbeseenthatboththepaintingsanddrawingsmadebyContemporaryartists(producedin
thepresentperiodoftime)varyinstylebecauseoftheirindividualideas,useofelementsand
principles,materialsandtechniques.Thiswillbedisplayedthroughthecomparisonoftheworks
oftwocontemporaryartists.TheseartistsareGordonBennettandYoshikoNakahara.
GordonBennettisofAboriginaldescentandwasborninQueensland,Australia,1955.He
enrolledasamatureagestudentattheQueenslandCollegeofArtin1986,graduatingwitha
BachelorofArtsin1988.Since1989hisworkinAustralianContemporaryarthasbecomevery
popularduetoitsengagementwithmodernideasandrelevancetocontemporaryculture.
YoshikoNakaharawasborninKanagawa,Japan,andhasaBachelorofFineArtsattheTama
ArtUniversityinTokyo,Japan.YoshikoNakaharaoftencreatesartworkswithherhusband,
ShintaroNakahara,theirdistinctlydifferentstylescreatingastrikingcontrastofbeauty,depthand
dimension.

GordonBennettusesavastrangeofmaterialsandformstoexplorehisartisticideas.These
includephotography,printmaking,videoandpainting.Bennettfocusesmostofhisartworkson
modernethicalissuesaswellashistoricalandculturalevents.Bennettsaysthathismainfocus
seemstobetoexpressinanartformwhathewantstobeexpressedandthathedoesntthinkof
theaudiencewhencreatinganartwork.Thethemesandconceptsheusescanbequite
provocativeandmayangersomepeople.GordonBennettlikestousetraditionalsignsand
symbolsinordertoconveyhisartworksmessage.
YoshikoNakaharamainlyusesinktocomposeherdrawings.Herdrawingstyleisveryfineand
preciseinordertocontrastwithherhusbandsmorestridentacryliccolourformations.Thetwo
workindependently,butonthesamecanvas,inordertocreatedanunimaginedyetintriguing
artwork.Theaimofthisistophysicallydisplaytheirmentalcollaboration.Thetwostylesare
combinedtocreatesomeratherstrikinglycolourfulartworksofnaturalscenery.Patternsare
usedgreatlyinYoshikosartworks,withtherepetitionofasimilarshapethroughoutthe
landscape.

GordonBennettsworkhassomesignificantkeycharacteristicsthatseparateitfromother
artistswork.HisartislargelymadeinthetraditionalAboriginalstyle,makinggreatuseofdotting
andlinetechniques.ThismeansthatearthycoloursareusedasthisiswhatAboriginals
traditionallyusedtocreatetheirartworks.Bennettsworkisalsocharacterisedwiththeuseof
symbolstoconveymeanings.BennettsawmanyimagesofAboriginalsinflictingharmonothers
andbeingviolent,hewantedtochangethewaytheworldsawthemandexpressedtheseissue
throughhisart.ThissubjectmatterisalsoakeycharacteristicofGordonBennettswork.
Yoshikosworkishardertorecognise.Herdrawingtechniqueinvolvestheverypreciseand
smoothuseofinkdrawnlinestocreateshapesfoundinnature.Mostofherartworksdisplay
patternsinnature.Thesearecreatedsocarefullythatherlinesappearalmostdigitallycreated.

TheartworkcreatedbyGordonBennettthatIwillanalyseisaseriesnamedNotestoBasqiat.
Theseartworkswerecomposedin1998.Theyweremadewithsyntheticpolymerpainton
paper,withdimensionsof120by80cm.Theseartworksweretogetherwithanactualnotethat
BennettwrotetotheartistJeanMichelBasquiat.BasquiatisanAmericanartistwhoseartworks
hadasimilarmeaningtothoseofGordonBennett,onlyspeakingfromadifferentculture.
BennettrecognisedthisandcreatedanoteforBasquiatofhowtheycanrelatetoeachothers
experiencedandhowhefoundtheirartworkstobeofsimilarnature.Theartworkshowsaman
ontherightside,withmultiplelayers.Theseseemtobeginattheinnermostintheformofa
skeletonandworktheirwayoutwardsthroughmuscletotheskin.Theleftsideoftheartwork
displaysnumeroushistoricalandculturalimagesalongwithnumeroussynonymsoftheword
modern.Whatisgoingonintheleftsideoftheimageisdifficulttointerpret,butseemstobe
tryingtoshowwhatthemodernworldisnow,moresoinAmerica,itseemsaswecanseethe
StatueofLibertyshandwiththetorch.Theartworkappearstohavebeenpaintedinlayerswith
syntheticpolymerpaint.Moredrylookingcolourswereused,suchasearthybrownsandeven
bluesthatappeareddryandunfresh.Insomepartsofthepaintingtheuseoflineisveryprecise,
suchasthatonthehandandtorch,butinotherplacesalotlessprecise.Examplesofthiswould
betherathershakylinesusedtocreatethepersonandbuildings.Thepersonwiththeirlayers
peeledback(rightsideofthepainting)seemstobeastatementthatnomatterwhatculturewe
arepartof(leftsideofthepainting)weareallthesameunderneath.Ibelievethesubjectmatter
ofthispaintingisaverygoodidea,butitisextremelydifficulttogatheritfromthepainting.The
artworkisaestheticallypleasing,butdifficulttounderstand,makingitsemisuccessfulinmy
opinion.Ibelievethemeaningoftheartworkisaveryimportantonethateveryoneshouldbe
exposedto.

TheartworkcreatedbyYoshikoNakaharaIwillanalyseisnamedCliffTop.Itwascomposedin
2013.Materialsusedareinkandacrylicpaintoncanvas.Itsdimensionsare61cmby51cm.In
thisartworkYoshikoNakaharaworkedwiththeinklinesandShintaroNakaharaworkedwiththe
Acrylicpaintappliedbothoverandbeneathit.Theartworkseemstodepicttheviewofsomeone
standingamidsttreeslookingtowardstheocean(presumablybeyondtheedgeofacliff),there
arealsobirdsinthebackground.Ifbothartistscontributiontotheworkweretobeseparatedon
twodifferentpiecesofpaperthescenedepictedwouldstillberecognisable.Yoshikos
contributionisalinebaseddetaileddepictionoftheclifftop,butwithoutcolour.Shintarosisjust
manydifferentcoloursthatfitintoYoshikoslines,butstillshowthescenequitewellevenwithout
detail.Coloursusedareverybrightinordertocreateaverylushandnaturallook.Itisdifficultto
findthemeaningoftheartwork,but,thatbeingsaid,notallartworksneedtohaveone.Itseems
thatthisartworkisjustabeautifuldepictionofsomeonesviewfromatopacliff.Ibelievethis
artworkisveryaestheticallypleasingduetotherichnessofthecoloursandcomplexityof
YoshikoNakaharaslinework.

Itisdifficulttofindanysimilaritybetweenthesetwoartworkastheydiffercompletelyinmost
aspects.GordonBennettsworkseemstobedrivenmainlybyitssymbolicmeaningand
intention,whereasNakaharasworkdoesnotseemtohaveanyandseemstomoreofaviewof
thenaturalworld.Ontheotherhand,NakaharasworkismorebrightlycolouredthanBennets
mainlyduetothematerialsused.OnceagainthematerialsusedbyBennettaregreatly
influencedbyhissubjectmatterandmostaspectsofhisworkareformedaroundthis.Ibelieve
Nakaharasworkispresentedinawaythatisuniqueandbeautifulinordertodepictthescene.
YoshikoNakaharasuseoflineisfarmoreprecisethanBennetts.Itisunfairtocomparethese
artworksastheyhavesuchdifferentintentandthereforesharenoobvioussimilarities.

OverallIbelievethatthetwoartworkscannotbecomparedwellastheircontrastistoogreat.
GordonBennettsartworkwascreatedbasedonamessagehewantedtoconvey,whereas
YoshikoNakaharasartworkisadepictionofascenefoundinnature.Thetwoideasare
completelydifferentandtheartistsalsoexpressedtheirideasincompletelydifferentways.
However,Idobelievebothareequallyasaestheticallypleasing.

Thisconcludesmyessay.

ArtworksAnalalysed:CliffTop(left),NotestoBasqiat(right)