Week #28 ('20) Art Appreciation
Welcome to my weekly Art Appreciation post, where I provide a list of some amazing album covers, single art, and random art that have come out within the past week. I’ll give you the artist/photographer/painter/magician’s name, as well as any social media or websites where you can go and check out more of their work. Click here to go back and see some other Art Appreciation posts.
——————————
I love art with an abstract edge to it. Some people think it muddles the message of the piece (and some even more ignorant people may come with the classic “my 3 year old could do that!”), but, as opposed to a more realistic and life-like piece of art, Abstraction allows you to convey things to a viewer that aren’t traditionally represented physically, working beyond the realms of symbolism and actually depicting the emotions and messages behind those symbols. You’ll see a few pieces today that are telling you a lot more in their oddity than a lot of images can tell you in their traditionalist approaches. You also get a great fully-constructed photo-shoot scene, a rarity these days and a pleasant sight to say the least. Enjoy.
Remember, use this post to follow and subscribe to these artists; they deserve as much recognition as the musicians they are attached to.
Artist(s): Clocked In(c) & jimmyregular (Producers), Aiden Cullen (Creative Director), Jeremy Kamal, Hannah Gaengler, & Actual Objects (VFX Artists), nicky v (VFX Producer)
Barnacles, by SahBabii
Back in the olden days, album covers were mostly well constructed photo scenes, more often than not funded by a label who wanted to be sure of an albums success. The flashier and more of statement the final product ended up being, the better. Think of album covers like Michael Jackson’s Thriller, Bone Thugs’ E 1999 Eternal, and literally every Wu-Tang record from the 90’s: the scene is being set physically for what you are about to hear sonically. There usually isn’t a “direction” from a team of people behind the one-off images artists are creating nowadays: someone can make a dope-ass piece and attach it to a album and call it a day. The album cover for this new SahBabii project is different, bringing together a production team to execute a specific vision of this album’s atmosphere. SahBabii has made his flow, beat selection, and lyrics watery as a motherfucker, and represents that through this ocean scene here. I’m not sure where the line is here between computer and practical effect in this image, but the impression is that of practical; we’re treated to a very naturalistic setting with the sea vegetation and the open clam being very much real and present. The lovely sea-nymphs are a bit of modern color flair thrown in for some different taste, but overall the image has this Baroque elegance to it that reminds me of some old German/Dutch painting. Amazing work from everyone involved to bring this image to fruition.
clocked In(c)’s Instagram/jimmyregular’s Instagram/Aidan Cullen’s Instagram/Jeremy Kamal’s Instagram/Hannah Gaengler’s Instagram/Actual Object’s Instagram/nicky v’s Instagram
——————————————————
Artist(s): ozy_worldy
Hate Me Now (FREESTYLE) , by Desiigner
A cool thing about Abstract art is that you can convey ideas other than those readily apparent on the surface as if they were as forward and prominent. This is especially true in Abstract portraiture: where a realistic image of Desiigner would have only told you a story of the surface, physically representing the oddities and personality traits is something that is quite unique to this style of art. What we see from this image is that of a duality within Desiigner, where his right side, normally the side one leads with, is much more rough and cut, thicker, and seemingly more vigilant with the symbolic super-imposed emphasis on his eye. But the left side tells a different story, one of weariness and exhaustion, reflecting how Desiigner feels as a artists these days. With all of the label issues and drastic change in status in the industry, I don’t blame Desiigner for feeling exhausted, for his true fans he’s showing strength and resolve to make the best music he can make. I think that resolve is best represented by his mouth, as vocal and bold as it has always been, that exists across both sides of his character. I’vea always been a fan of this style, especially with the harsh brush strokes and unkempt color patterns, and to see it applied here is riveting.
ozy’s Instagram
——————————————————
Artist(s): Kei Imazu
The Price of Tea in China (Deluxe), by Boldy James & The Alchemist
Straight out of an art gallery somewhere is this very official piece of surrealist scenery. More abstract than Dali, more grounded than Duchamp, Kei Imazu strikes a balance between abject surrealism and historical canvas. This is the cover for the Deluxe Edition of Al and Boldy’s most recent project The Price of Tea in China, and follows many of the same compositional beats as the original cover (also designed by Kei Imazu); there isn’t as much balance in the composition like there was diagonally in the original, but there is a much stronger sense of flow, with the wispy flowing white cats bouncing between three focal points. This and this and the original feel like there is a sort of artistic base or motif, with the base edition of the album revolving around the human form, specifically eyes, arms and legs, whereas this newer piece is Egyptian culture like it’s statuary and affinity for cats. What this means within the context of the album I’m not certain, but I will say the Deluxe cover is a much more exotic endeavor, maybe trying to relate more with the album’s title. I love both album covers equally, for different reasons, with the classic historical imagery of this one piquing my fancy in particular.
