Andy Warhol

I really like the style of Andy Warhol.  The picture in the textbook of Marilyn Monroe is what I always picture when I heare the name Andy Warhol.  This same style of painting has been used to paint portraits of many other famouse people like Michael Jackson, Mick Jagger, Bridgette Bardot and John Lennon.  Yeah, it's just a portrait, but Warhol creates unique and unheard of by incorporating color.  I really love these crazy colored prints.  It makes the picture so much more interesting.  I don't think Andy Warhol would have become as famous and he is now if he had just painted a portrait.  By switching up the color scheme he created art.

Betye Saar

     I really like Betye Saar’s The Liberation of Aunt Jemima.  The sculptures over exaggerated features that could only belong to an African-American woman make her look almost ridiculous.  I think she was trying to get the point across that these stereotypes are unreasonable.  The “mammy” stereotyped that implies black women are only good for housework and rearing children is portrayed through the broom, crying baby, and apron.  However, this image also shows that she can be tough and stand up for herself.  This is shown through the guns and the fist symbolizing black power.  I really enjoyed this piece of art.  I think Betye Saar does a good job of getting her point across.       

Robert Colescott

Robert Colescott’s Les Demoiselles d’Alabama is hilarious.  I really like this parody of Pablo Picasso’s Les Demoiselles d’Avignon.  I like Colescott’s painting a lot better than Picasso’s; it’s a modern twist on Picasso’s prostitutes.  The whole parody thing takes away the seriousness.  Maybe Picasso didn’t have a hidden message when he painted his picture.  This really lets you just see it for what it is.  Perhaps if Picasso was here today he would have painted something close to what Colescott did. 

On a more serious note, I think Colescott did a good job of incorporating all of the important elements of Picasso’s painting into his parody.  He positioned the women the same awkward way, used the fruit, and the blue background.  Overall, I like Colescott’s interpretation of Les Demoiselles d’Avignon.        

The Beatles

     The Beatles have become one of the most influential rock bands of all time.  Their growing popularity in the United States became known as “Beatlemania.”  I, personally, am not a fan of The Beatles.  I don’t think they have very good singing voices and none of their songs interest me.  In the song,” Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” I think it is awkward the way the incorporate psychedelic instrumentals with the monotone vocals at the beginning.  The chorus gets a little better but I still think it’s terrible.  They do the same thing with the song “Strawberry Fields Forever.”  The Beatles’ hit “Here Comes the Sun” is probably the only song of theirs I can stand to listen to.  It actually has a beat and rhythm you can follow along too.  I honestly don’t know what people were thinking when The Beatles first came on the scene.  I guess back in the day they were doing something innovative, but I think if they came out with that know they would get laughed off the stage.