Free Essay: Exhibition Visit and Written Response

My first reaction to the art was relaxation. I do not understand why my mind reacted in such a way to the painting, but it was mesmerizing. The visual aspects enabled me to get past my inner censor and connect deeply with myself.

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The artist is Harold Gregor, it is an untitled piece and was painted in 1988. The materials used in its construction are acrylic and silkscreen. The painting is a part of the Collection of University Galleries in its College of Fine Arts.

The subject matter of this painting is the still life image of a relatively small grey house with a chimney jutting out from the roof. It has no doors or windows on the front side and the second side, which is visible to the viewer. Behind the house is a smaller house that looks like a silo or the servant's quarters. The viewer can see two only two sides of this house and now windows or door are on either side of the tiny gray house. The two houses are surrounded by a carpet of vegetation, which looks like grass, which is only interrupted by a path. A low, metallic fence is also part of the subject matter and it is the closest object from the viewer's position.

The style of painting is surrealism. Such a painting style unlocks the unconscious and the power of imagination. The painter utilizes dream imagery and fantasy to expose his or her inner mind through eccentric symbols to convey a certain message using visual means. The surreal imagery is a recognizable part of the work, yet it is elusive to categorize and define.

The media of the work is slow drying oil paint, consisting of particles of pigment. The painter modified the viscosity and thickness of the coat of paint using additional solvents such as varnish to thin the paint. The canvas stretched on a wooden from supports the luminous colors of the oil paint to give the painting a neat finish.

The elements of the composition arrange the visual components in a way that gives structure to the layout of the painting. It encourages the viewers' eyes to wander around the entire painting and analyze all its component, before coming back to the focal point, which is the large gray building with the chimney. The author utilized some principles of design such as unity, which makes all the parts of the painting to feel like they belong together. The second element is balance which the author achieved by the symmetrical arrangement of the painting to give viewers a dynamic feeling. The painter achieved the third element, movement, using lines such as the fence and the path, which direct the viewer's eyes around the painting. Another element is rhythm, which the painter achieved by repeating the gray color in all the buildings, creating a sense of a repeated beat. Form is used to describe the physical nature by giving shapes in three dimensions, volume, length, and width. Form is combined with color to bring out strong differences between dark and light shades to bring out differences in shapes and sizes of some elements within the painting.

My interpretation of the art loneliness pertains to loneliness, due to the dark tones chosen by the painter. Consequently, the painting seems dull to the viewer, which means that the painter intended to create a painting with a dull tone.