Response to 'Frank Stella'

Frank Stella

For this project I had thought in depth about what specific path I could take, either creating sculpture to the similar style of Stella or produce minimalism and post-painterly abstraction paintings mimicking his style.

Researching Stella's style and his technique of producing such expressive paintings made me want to interpret his style and technique. Having looked at Stella's early career and his paintings from around the late 1950s and early 1960s it was clear that instead finding himself drawn towards the "flatter" surfaces of Barnett Newman's work and the "target" paintings of Jasper Johns. He began to produce works which emphasized the picture-as-object.

Below shows the pieces of work I created related to Stella. My aim was to create pieces similar to Stella but to also interpret my own style so its not just a copy.

 Acrylic on Cardboard. 2010

(Built up cardboard shape structures)

For the piece below, I continued using cardboard as I was taken in by how it could be  built up as if its a 3D piece. I then manipulated Stella's work into my own.

Acrylic on cardboard. 2010

The piece shown below was a personal favourite as I was taken in by the gesture of brushstroke marks and colour used. The contrast between the colours makes the artwork stand out and is also easy on the eye.

Acrylic on carboard. 2009

Sketches

 

Mixed media 2009

For the piece above I originally planned to create a similar piece to Stella, but rather than having the painting flat I decided upon having built up cardboard to create an 3D effect (building up layers). 

Mixed media 2009.

The piece above is unique as I have included a figure into my painting. Originally I had a project which was to do with the human form so I thought rather than producing a sculpture, painting etc of the human form I decided to create a Stella piece but include a human figure. Rather than creating a realistic painting of the human form onto the Stella artwork, I thought about using cardboard to build up the effect making it more 3D (coming off canvas) and painting over as if its just one whole blank canvas to paint on. 

Marker on paper. 2011

Using a permeant maker to create a drawing of Stella's inspiriting shapes and mark making. 

Having viewed Stella's artworks over and over again, I decided to produce a piece of work with all the shapes that inspire me, taken into account the specific marks Stella has used. As I was creating the marks in and out of the shapes it began to feel like I was creating a Jackson Pollock artwork due to the fact the marks seen on the work above looks similar to Pollocks own work. 

For the next two pieces I have incorporated Stella's style and used my knowledge to guide my own response. Researching shapes and geo-metric symbols, I have tailored my study by adding shapes and design of my own initiative .

 Drawing response 1

Drawing response 2

From 1960 Stella began to produce paintings in aluminum and copper paint which, in their presentation of regular lines of color separated by pinstripes, are similar to his black paintings. However they use a wider range of colors, and are his first works using shaped canvases (canvases in a shape other than the traditional rectangle or square), often being in L, N, U or T-shapes. These later developed into more elaborate designs.