This is The Great Wave Of Kanagawa by: Hokusai
This artwork show in the whites of the waves that it is fierce and rough, and the way the artist put the boats on the water. So you can just compare the size of the waves to those little boats, it emphasizes how dangerous waters are. How the land is in the back mocking the men on the boat and how the colors of the sky set the wary mood. The water is smooth up to the end of the whites, showing how as soon as it touches you, you will not be safe. The waves could swallow all the boat so easily. The artwork looked at from afar, in my opinion looks like the page was evenly divided between the waters space in the art and the sky's, so to me I feel as if it is telling us we will always be stuck between two things bigger and greater than us. We small humans, stuck in the midst of things that could easily over power us. The water, and the sky, both can look peacefully and yet easily turn to something deadly, and in such moments, there usually isn't much we can do.
This piece I've seen many times, I'm not a huge fan of traditional oriental art, but it has text which has always been a controversial thing in art. I think this is a good piece for a debate over text in art, if it adds or takes away from art itself.
ReplyDeleteJordan, I enjoyed your blog. I love how you captured the meaning so beautifully, ".. we will always be stuck between two things bigger and greater than us." Very nice :) I also see what you mean by rough and fierce appearance of the white hue on water and I see that the rigid lines of the water also confirm that.
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