|
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
humor & contemporary
art
How do artists use irony, goofiness, satire, and sarcasm in their
work? Can an artwork be funny and critical at the same time? Do
contemporary artists always take themselves seriously? The Art:21
documentary “Humor” explores these questions
through the work of Charles Atlas, Eleanor
Antin, Raymond Pettibon, Elizabeth
Murray, and Walton Ford.
special features
See a slideshow of artworks showcased in the “Humor” episode, watch
a video preview of the show, or explore a slideshow of artists from
multiple seasons of Art:21 discussing the theme of humor in their
work.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
episode synopsis: “humor”
The four artists profiled
in “Humor” have been influenced by the
history of humor and comedy, including vaudeville, cartoons, and
comic books. The artists in this hour reveal how humor and
satire can stimulate laughter as well as serve as a vehicle to
explore
serious subjects, such as feminism, the natural environment, the
excesses of consumer culture, social injustice, and war. Filmed
on location in San Diego, California; Hermosa Beach, California; New York, New York; and Great Barrington, New York.
In the opening segment created by Charles
Atlas, comedian Margaret Cho takes on the task
of educating her audience about the subtleties of humor. Unfortunately for her
model pupil, Bruce, the
subject of her lecture is not comedy but antiquated medicine. Surrounded by anatomical
diagrams, Cho uses Aristotle’s “Theory of the Four Humors” as
her source material. Cho diagnoses Bruce with an excess of Blood, and covers
his head with gummy worm “leeches” while praising, stone-faced, the
virtues
of
bloodletting
as a remedy. |
| VIDEO: |
Opening segment by Charles Atlas with Margaret
Cho |
|
|
|
|
|
| Eleanor
Antin is at work on her photographic series "The
Last Days of Pompeii," a commentary on the affluent residents
of the paradise of La Jolla, California. There is a comparison
to be made, Antin explains, “between America, as this great
colonial power, and one of the early great colonial powers, Rome.” In
her highly-theatrical films, photographs, and performance art,
Antin draws
from the childhood play, an
infatuation with stand-up and slapstick comedy, and
the tragic humor that is part of her Jewish heritage. “I
always tend to see the funny side of things,” she says. “That’s
the richest experience, when it’s the laughter and it’s
the tears together.” |
|
|
|
|
| Raymond
Pettibon’s drawings and paintings pair text and image
in provocative and sometimes disconcerting ways, creating a powerful
comic art for adults. Pettibon explains, “even though my
work is usually just one drawing, it is more of a narrative than
it is a cartoon with a punch line and a resolution and a laugh
at the end.” The characters of Gumby and Vavoom are recurring
motifs in his work, but so are American presidents like Nixon
and Reagan. Pettibon finds subjects for satire and social commentary
in a broad range of images from popular culture. “I don’t feel
constrained by subject matter, “ he says, “I welcome
practically anything into the drawing.” |
|
|
|
|
| In her studio, Elizabeth
Murray is painting a shaped, colorful canvas with inflated,
bulbous forms. “I want there to be conflict and I want there
to be tension. And yet somehow I want to make these very conflicting
things live together, and not just butt up against each other.” Murray
has spent a lifetime developing her particular vision of zany
and vibrant images, beginning with her time as a student at the
Art Institute of Chicago where she was surrounded by great
works of art such as the Abstract Expressionist paintings by
DeKooning. “I
just realized this was going to be my life,” says Murray. |
|
|
|
|
| A voracious reader of
colonial letters and diaries, Walton
Ford is fascinated by the fear and wonder of
nature that he finds in historical texts. “The big thing I’m
always looking for in my work is a sort of attraction-repulsion,
where the stuff is beautiful to begin with until you notice that
some sort of horrible violence is about to happen or is in the
middle of happening.” Commenting on a large watercolor depicting
a frenzy of birds falling with a massive branch, he explains that
the birds are “satisfying all their lusts...as they are
going down.” Contrasting the romanticized tradition of Audubon
with the destructive qualities of existence, Ford merge a dreamlike
vision
with a frenetic
and comic reality. |
|
|
| VIDEO: |
On John James Audubon |
| VIDEO: |
"Falling Bough" Painting |
|
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
