The culture of selfies has certainly reinforced the fact that portraiture is the new black! Documenting the human figure through art has been a recurring motif throughout the work submitted for the 'what u say 'bout what? show.
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| Image from: http://www.realclear.com/entertainment/2013/11/20/worst_celebrity_selfies_word_of_the_year_4175.html |
The first thing that strikes me about the 'selfie' culture is the numerous people I have caught posing in the oddest places - like in front of the shiny finish of Musgrave Shopping centre’s lift or in the middle of a car park. You see the selfie trend is about more than capturing a person's image! In fact a selfie aims to improve one’s status by using camera cropping to create an image that captures a sense of class. For example the selfie of a girl in pink accessories sexily propped up by a gleaming red car could be arriving at the Oyster Box...but what fascinates me is that the real location is a block of flats in suburban Musgrave surrounded by very ordinary looking neighbours shuffling around in their gardening clothes.
Thus the first step to creating a successful portrait is capturing the essence of the scene by locating the figure within in a background and cropping the image to capture the mood.
Thus the images surrounding Muhlali and Wolmerans’ work express the mood created by these political figures.
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Artist: Christine Wolmerans
Medium: Graphite on paper
Grosvenor Girls High School
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Mabuto
Artist: Azuri Muhlali
Medium: Pencil crayon on paper
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However, as discussed previously, art is both part of and separate to popular culture. Thus whilst selfies may be the current trend in social media style, fine art portraiture has been around for centuries. Historically kings, nobles and religious figures were the only people who could afford to have their images immortalized in art. The Renaissance altered portraiture history by using objects, such as globes, to capture the status and personality of the sitter (Fabulousnoble.com, 2014).
Thus over time the identity of portrait figures has slowly changed from important figures to ordinary people and the invention of the camera means that immortalising one’s image is affordable for the general public. Thus the current challenge in portraiture is to create a portrait that stands out amongst the multitude of selfies.
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Funny Self Portrait
Artist: Mlungisi Myeni
Medium: Charcoal on paper
Ekupheleni High School
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Frida Kahlo self-portrait, entitled The Broken Column
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Selfie photographers are confined to the here and now...sure you can alter when you post the picture to social media: for example there is guy who is currently sitting in Westville Prison but his Facebook feed says he was at Vida e. Clearly the social media sharing system is open to deception! But the point is: A machine cannot create an image of the future, whereas an artist can! Artists can create an image that exists outside of time. In fact artist’s images can rewrite how we perceive time. For example Roanne Moodley’s work comments on how the police violence in Marikana is similar to the way that the Apartheid government opened fire on school children in the 1976 uprising in Soweto.
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Where to? Where from?
Artist: Rozanne Moodley
Medium: Pencil crayon on board
Durban Girls High School
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Another example of creating visions of the future is Anna Ballatine’s stunning portrait of herself as a Hollywood star. This drawing was created while Anna was still a matric student at Durban Girls High School.
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Artist: Anna Ballentine
Medium: Graphite on paper
Durban Girls High School
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Artists also have the ability to combine different mediums to create different messages. For example Mbali Shibane has used wax and lino prints to illustrate the fragility of the female figure.
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Artist: Mbali Shibane
Medium: Linocut print on canvas/candle wax
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Creating a portrait on an interesting surface can add to the meaning of the work for example Cherise Maharaj’s has used a page of the Daily News to illustrate the job market’s effect on our perception of others.
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Fighting for Position
Artist: Cheriese Maharaj
Medium: Acrylic on canvas
Durban North College
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An effective title can change the meaning of an image, for example Brenda Freese changed our perception of her painting of a child with a baby on her back by titling it “The Little Homemaker”.
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The Little Homemaker
Artist: Brenda Freese
Medium: Oil on canvas
Centre for Fine Art and Animation Design
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Hanekom’s work illustrates how combining multiple angles in a single work can create an interesting representation of a person.
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Artist: Tamaryn Hanekom
Medium: Watercolour on paper
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u Sipho Nembowula
Artist: Mthobisi Maphumulo
Medium: Oil, pastel on paper, 2013
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The mark-making in Mchunu’s portraits is absolutely exquisite and the artist definitely justifies choosing a hand-generated medium over photography .
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Artist: Kanyelihle Mchunu
Medium: Mixed media on paper
Velobala
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Artist: Kanyelihle Mchunu
Medium: Mixed media on paper
Velobala
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| Painting by Kanyelihle Mchunu, from Velobala |
Thus art is a representation of reality and the authenticity of the artwork's statement is established through the process of creating and sharing the image with the world.
So the next time you set out to capture someone’s likeness think about how you will use the language of art to add to your figure’s sense of importance.
Fabulousnoble.com, (2014). A Brief History Of Portraiture. [online] Available at: http://www.fabulousnoble.com/a-brief-history-of-portraiture [Accessed 10 Jun. 2014].
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