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.
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...
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