Monday, July 26, 2010

The Art of Reportage



Comics from the book Clumsy By Jeffry Brown.

My first homework assignment of the week was to come to class prepared to share about a reportage artist that I admire or a sample of my own work.
Definition of Reportage:
reportage |rəˈpôrtij; ˌrepôrˈtä zh |
noun
the reporting of news, for the press and the broadcast media : extensive reportage of elections.
• factual presentation in a book or other text, esp. when this adopts a journalistic style.


I can think of plenty of artists that I admire, but ones who specifically report on an event, or events? I realized that mainly the artists that interest me are the ones that report on their own lives. If they make things about themselves, their personal lives, and feelings it tends to make me interested in them and their stories. This goes for books as well.
As a starting point I made a list of artists who I admire that fit into the Reportage category (some may argue though that my definition of Reportage is a little loose...) Also, many of these artists have been listed in previous blog entries.
Artists/Graphic Novelists:
Marjane Satrapi-Persepolis and Persepolis 2. She also has two newer books that I need to read-Plumes of Feathers and Embroideries.
Don Nace-Drawn Out -Autobiographical sketches surrounding his life.
Jeffery Brown- His work is pictured above. I recently purchased his graphic novel titled Clumsy It is a collection of sketches done at the time of a relationship that he dedicated to anyone who has loved and lost. The actual drawing style doesn't interest me, but the story is full of embarrassing moments, heartfelt times between lovers, and true reflections of relationship blisses and disapointments. It is strikingly honest. Here is a proper review of it: http://beardedmonkey.wordpress.com/2007/02/
Sonja Ahlers-Another artist I had forgotten about. I have her book Fatal Distraction which is a combination of imagery, text, poetry and self-reflections. Read an article about her here: http://www.taddlecreekmag.com/bunny-heads-and-stranger-things
Ralph Steadman-has written and illustrated various books, but is known especially for his work with Hunter S. Thompson.
Photographers
Richard Avedon-Incredible black and white photos showing American people of the mid-west(among other photos, including one of Barack Obama before he became president.)
Diane Arbus- Do I really need to explain? Known for taking photos of freaks and sideshow acts, people who count as strange.
Edward Burtynsky-Large colour photos that deal with the masses of destruction that society inflicts on the earth-mines, oil-drilling, Chinese landfills, etc...
Edward Muybridge-Does his work count as reportage? He staged most of the images in his work; early film/photography studies in movement, and the human body.
Sculptors:
Ron Mueck-He may not have occurred to me at all, but I saw a postcard of his work at the British Museum today, but sadly his exhibit occurred two years ago, so I won't get to see it. Larger than life creations of the human form.

2 comments:

  1. This is such a cool thing you're doing. Art classes in London! If we ever doubted that you were the Claudia (BSC-style) of the group, now we know!

    I saw the Ron Mueck exhibit in Melbourne a few months ago. Pretty interesting stuff. Let me know if you want any photos or anything.

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  2. Ah! You saw Ron Mueck, that's great! I only discovered pictures of his work a couple of months ago, and they are crazy. I got all excited for a second when I realized that he is now based out of London(as far as I know), and that he showed an exhibition here, but I guess I'll have to wait until he tours Winnipeg (haha).
    And thanks, yes I like being defined as the Claudia of the group, certainly prefer it over Margo or Mary-Anne(perhaps once I could have been a Mary-Anne).

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