Amalgamate Essays - Nudity, Art Genres, Mermaid, Nereids, Grotesque

Amalgamate Essays - Nudity, Art Genres, Mermaid, Nereids, Grotesque Amalgamate Misericordia University Amalgamate Introduction I have chosen to open an art exhibit titled Amalgamate. The definition of the word Amalgamate is to combine or united which is what all the pieces will accomplish in one fashion or another. The room would have grey walls and a muted color floor with each piece having its own beautifully angled light to highlight the piece by itself. Every piece in the exhibit will merge items in one way or another or in one form or another and become part of the grotesque by the definition that Connelly as given as Images gathered under the grotesque rubric include those that combine unlike things in order to challenge established realities, or construct new ones; those that deform or decompose things; and those that are metamorphic (Connelly, 2003) Mermaid Hunt The first piece to be viewed would be a piece named Mermaid Hunt by Tom Lockwood. Upon first glance the piece has majestic and beautiful colors until one examines the piece further to then notice that the mermaids are hunting humans just as humans used to hunt them. At the bottom right hand of the piece it shows skulls on a pedestal with a mermaid dropping another on the top of it. The color palette uses bright blues with hints of gold and green on the main mermaid at the center of the art. There are two mermaids in the background staggered on either side of the main mermaid. The colors on each of these women in the background are more muted than and not as bright as other aspects of the painting. Upon close inspection you notice the numerous different types of sharks circling the mermaids as if they are helping in the hunt of main because just like the mermaids they have been hunted and they are both attempting to enact revenge on the humans. The piece is grotesques because it not only merges reality into the mystical but it also merges the body of a human with t he tail of a fish. A mermaid is a merging of two souls to become one. It combines two unlikely things and forms them into one (Connelly 2003). The artist deforms two beings combining them into an unrealistic form that cause the mind to question the possibilities of such a creature. Another aspect that causes it to be grotesque is the protrusion of death into the piece. The skulls and even the title of the art imply and show the death of humans by having the skulls in the forefront of the piece and not in the background as in other pieces and by naming the piece the Mermaid Hunt. Melody of Demise Melody of Demise by Linda Bergkvist is the second painting which is in the exhibit. At first sight the picture appears dark and centered around death. There are multiple points that make this artwork fall into the grotesque. The dress of the lady is decomposing as it appears to have tears and worn areas at the bottom. The harp has strings that have broken and no longer function as part of the instrument. The main focus of the piece is the misty form of a previous man. The man and woman appear to have been lovers separated by death but are merging in soul through the music. They are in a destroyed and dilapidated graveyard that shows the hands of souls reaching for the sky. Most of these aspects of the painting push the boundaries of reality and cross over into the unproven mystical side of death. The overall color palette of the piece is dark with many blended and misty looking lines such as in her hair and the ghost himself appears totally misty lacking any lines that would be crisp . Overall I find this painting to have a soft effect with no harsh visual aspects. Centaur Warrior Stage 4 The digital art Centaur Warrior Stage 4 is produced by Michael Anthony Gonzales and is a modern form of art that came with the digital age. The piece is another form of the merging of souls. The combining of half human half beast ends in this fiercely grotesque image. It looks as if she is fighting to the end as she