MARY ELLEN MARK

Some of you may have heard about Mary Ellen Mark passing away on May 25th. Some of you may even know a little about her and her amazing work. But those of you who do not, here is a little snippet into her amazing career.

Mary Ellen Mark was an American photographer, she did all kinds of photography from photojournalism, portraiture to advertising photography. She's been in museums worldwide and has 17 published books of her photography, not to mention the many awards she received throughout her career. She was known for being the "a snake charmer of the soul" as she was able to capture people so intimately.

A little about her life: Her first camera was a Box Brownie which she received when she was 9 years old. But all throughout high school and college she focused on painting and art history. And in 1964 she received her Masters Degree in photojournalism. Right after college she received a Fulbright Scholarship to photography in Turkey, where she also traveled around to England, Germany, Greece, Italy and Spain to photograph. In the mid 1960s she moved to New York City to document the demonstrations in opposition to the Vietnam War, the Women's Liberation Movement, Transvestite culture following themes of homelessness, loneliness, drug addiction, and prostitution. Only a few years later, she was a unit photographer on movie sets for movies from Mike Nichols' Catch-22, and Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now and over 100 other movies.

Mary Ellen Mark, Laurie on Pike Street Seattle, 1983, Gelatin Silver Print

Mary Ellen Mark, 1983, Life Magazine: Streets of the Lost, Runaway kids eke out a mean life in Seattle, Gelatin Silver Print

Mary Ellen Mark, The cast of "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest", Oregon State Hospital, 1974, Gelatin Silver Print 20x24 inches

Mary Ellen Mark, Woody Allen on his balcony, Manhattan, NY, 1979, Gelatin Silver Print

WOMEN IN ART: ELAINE DE KOONING

Many of you have heard of Willem de Kooning, the widely known Abstract Expressionist Painter. But not many of you have heard of his wife, Elaine de Kooning, Figurative Expressionist Painter. Being very active in the Abstract Expressionist movement in the early 20th Century, Elaine de Kooning was a member of the Eighth Street Club in New York City, which rarely gave memberships to women. Especially during the Abstract Expressionist movement, women were not valued as much as their male counterparts. Which led Elaine de Kooning to sign her works with her initials, to prevent being labeled as feminine.

Elaine de Kooning, Fairfield Porter, 1954, oil on canvas

So a little about Elaine de Kooning's art career: As a figurative artist, de Kooning often painted portraits. Her subjects were mainly fellow artists from poets to choreographers, however she did paint John F. Kennedy as well. In fact, Elaine de Kooning kept painting JFK and made an entire series of portraits of him, one of which is in the National Portrait Gallery in Washington D.C. "Portraiture always fascinated me because I love the particular gesture of a particular expression or stance... Working on the figure, I wanted paint to sweep through as feelings sweep through..." You can tell in her work as well that there is a lot of color and heavy influence from other abstract expressionist artists at this time including her husband Willem.

Elaine de Kooning, Thomas B. Hess, 1956, oil on canvas

Elaine de Kooning in her Manhattan studio in 1964. She is with her John F. Kennedy series of paintings

Later in her life Elaine de Kooning was inspired by paleolithic cave paintings of Lascaux in France and Altamira in Spain. Which really shows her knowledge of color, movement, and line through abstract representative imagery.

Elaine de Kooning, Bull, 1958, oil on canvas, New York University Art Collection

Besides being a painter, Elaine de Kooning was also a writer and wrote from Art News magazine, writing many articles about famous artists. She also taught in many colleges later on in her life. Truly an intelligent and iconic female artist, Elaine de Kooning sadly gets overshadowed by her husband Willem de Kooning. But her work is very crucial to the Abstract Expressionist movement and Art History and should not be ignored.

WOMEN IN ART: ALICE NEEL

Throughout my education and while visiting various museums and shows I've had a chance to see many paintings by Alice Neel. Yet, up until now I haven't actually learned about her as an artist. To start, Alice Neel was an American Portrait Painter. But her life wasn't easy, she struggled and broke barriers as a female artist.
Born in 1900, Neel was taught that she wouldn't make an impact in the world because she was a woman. But she went on to pursue her art career and she took classes in art and eventually enrolled in Art School. While in school she met her husband Carlos Enriquez and she moved to Hanava with him learning more about Cuban avant-garde arts. When in this situation Alice Neel began to take her stance in political consciousness and equality for women.

Alice Neel in her studio in Harlem, 1944

A year later Alice and Carlos had a daughter, Santillana, who died a year later from diphtheria. The lose of her daughter was so strong that she portrayed themes of lose, motherhood, and anxiety in her paintings. Not long after the loss of Santillana, Neel had a second child, Isabella Lillian, in New York City. After her birth, Neel painted "Well Baby Clinic" which more resembles mothers and babies in an insane asylum than in a maternity ward. And a few year after that Carlos took Isabetta back to Cuba and in reaction to the lose of her husband and daughter, Neel broke down and was hospitalized and attempted suicide.

Alice Neel, Well Baby Clinic, 1928, oil on canvas, Private Collection

At about this time it was the Depression Era, Alice was lucky to work for the Works Progress Administration and was hired to make paintings. During this time she was seeing heroin addict and sailor, Kenneth Doolittle who set fire to 350 of her watercolors, paintings and drawings a few years later.

Alice Neel, Kenneth Dolittle, 1931, oil on canvas, Tate Modern, London

She then began to surround herself with artists, intellectuals, and political leaders for the Communist Party, who she also painted. This allowed her to become a well known and respected artist. She gave birth to another child, Richard, of her lover Jose Santiago moving to Spanish Harlem and painting her neighbors.

Alice Neel, The Spanish Family, 1943, oil on canvas, Private Collection

After Jose left she gave birth to another son, Hartley, of her lover community intellectual, Sam Brody. As for her art career, she was illustrating for Masses & Mainstream but her work for the Works Progress Administration stopped soon after leading to Alice Neel having to struggle to make ends meet. In the end of the 1960s, Neel's work gained interest because of the Women's Movement which led to Neel becoming an icon for many feminists. She became of celebrity status when she was awarded with a National Women's Caucus for Art award by President Jimmy Carter.

Alice Neel's painting of Kate Millett for the cover of TIME Magazine, August 31 1970

Alice Neel, Andy Warhol, 1970, oil on canvas, Whitney Museum, New York

Alice Neel's Website has tons of information about her life and her work: www.aliceneel.com

BLACK HISTORY MONTH: KEHINDE WILEY

Similar to Barkley L. Hendricks, Kehinde Wiley is a contemporary portrait painter. Wiley is a New York based artist whose work is in museums around the world. His work rivals great masters of portraiture from Titian and Ingres to Reynolds and Gainsborough. Wiley combines aspects of traditional portraits which we know well with contemporary twists. On his website is explains that he "engages the signs and visual rhetoric of the heroic, powerful, majestic and the sublime in his representation of urban, black and brown men found throughout the world."

Kehinde Wiley in his Beijing studio in 2012. http://nymag.com/arts/art/rules/kehinde-wiley-2012-4/

Kehinde Wiley's collections are separated into places around the world. He finds his models on the streets of New York. Because his models are always African American, Wiley will use his models to express whatever he has been influenced from travelling ie. when Wiley went to China and was researching historic propaganda posters from China's Cultural Revolution he will use what he has learned and combine it with African American Identity.

Kehinde Wiley, Two Heroic Sisters of the Grassland, 2007, oil and enamel on canvas, 96x72 inches.

A lot of the time he will copy images from history and reenact in his style what is going on. For instance with the painting above he is copying a Chinese propaganda poster printed in 1965.

http://www.maopost.com:8000/wcat=mao&wlan=en&wreq=posterpage&posterid=1239-001M&srcname=c_child&selected=161&total=216&srcreq=http:%2F%2Fwww.maopost.com:8000%2Fwcat=mao%26wlan=en%26wreq=postercat%26catref=c_child%26displistindex=9

His continuing combination of History and Style has made him a truly unique and magnificent artist who should be known and studied by all. Below is more of his work with the pieces they are inspired by.

Kehinde Wiley, The Three Graces, 2012, oil on canvas, 84x111 inches

Raphael, Les Trois Graces, 1504, oil on panel, 6.7x6.7 inches

Kehinde Wiley, Naomi and her Daughters, 2013, oil on canvas, 108x90 inches

George Dawe, Naomi and her Daughters, 1804, oil paint on canvas, Tate Museum

All Kehinde's work and information can be found at kehindewiley.com