Skip to main content

Ida Applebroog

Ida Applebroog is an American artist that works out of New York. Her works uses lots of line and contour drawings. She is talented in many creative mediums including jewelry making, sculpture, film, painting, and artists' books. She was born in 1929. The era that she grew up in wasn't so open or friendly to women designers and artists, so she forged her own way. Perhaps from her experiences in the industry, she tends to explore themes about gender and sexual identity. She is a feminist and a social activist- even so, she moved around the country to support her husband's career and schooling. This led to many different opportunities to explore art in different ways. Her art is very distinct and has a very graphic design quality about it- which was her major in college. She has 4 children, which amazes me when I read how prolific she was with creating art during their formative years. I guess I'm in school right now and producing art, but the things she did seem so overwhelming to me to do while raising children. I would love to have that kind of drive and energy. She was hospitalized at one point for depression - which shows that maybe it wasn't as easy for her as it seemed as I read about her work output. She continues to put out work that is political and feminist, questioning social norms and gender identity, focusing on the woman.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Andrew Wyeth

When my teacher was introducing some of the artists that we could research, he mentioned Andrew Wyeth. For some reason, that name sounded super familiar and he was listed under the category of NARRATIVE figurative artists. When I looked up his work, I realized his name was familiar because I've seen many of his works. The painting of a dog on a bed, entitled Master Bedroom , is one I've seen many times because a print of it hangs over the headboard in my in-law's bedroom. Master Bedroom (1965) Andrew Wyeth Andrew Wyeth lived in the Northeast, and his family was very wealthy. His granddaughter, Victoria, reminisced in an article in VOGUE about how they would go to their families private island every summer ( article ). His father was a famous artist, N.C. Wyeth, he largely painted illustrations for books and magazines. Because of his father's fame, Andrew was able to come in contact with many famous creatives of the day like F. Scott Fitzgerald and Mary Pickford. ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Kathe Kollwitz

Kathe Kollwitz, although born in the 1800's was a very progressive German artist. She worked in many mediums including painting, printmaking, and sculpture. Her work is heartrending. She was creating work that was well before it's time. She began to study art at a young age because her father recognized her abilities. She wasn't able to go to the better art schools because girls weren't allowed in them at the time. She attended an art school for women in Berlin. She began working in the arts - more in the commercial aspects- when she was just 12 years old. She was engaged by the time she was 17. Her husband was a doctor and he helped care for the poor. I think because they lived so near his practice and saw so much of the deprivation and sickness, that that was a huge influence on her troubling and tragic artwork. She was a socialist and very much felt the disparate nature of the class system that was creating such extreme poverty. the violence and tragedy that surrou...
Post a Comment
Read more

Henry Darger

Henry Darger just may be the most interesting and disturbing story about an undiscovered artist. He lived from 1892-1973 mostly in Chicago, IL. His posthumously discovered artwork consisted of painting, drawing, and  collage. I can't imagine what this man had going on in his head, the children in his drawings come from such a sad and lonely place. They make me feel uncomfortable. The images are so alike in many ways, but still they each seem to be a real child. I wonder if he based them on real children that he met in life or if he based them on himself. I guess it could be both. His mom died of a fever when he was only a few years old and them his father died when he was 13. He was put in an institution when he was about 7 years old and he was labeled as a disturbed child  ("his heart isn't in the right place") because he hurt himself. He was punished harshly in the institution and he was bullied by the other students, it was a very sad and cruel place for him. He...
Post a Comment
Read more