UK Art Museum Teacher's Guide

UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY

COLLEGES OF FINE ARTS & AGRICULTURE, FOOD, AND ENVIRONMENT present

UK ART MUSEUM DIGITAL LEARNING GALLERY PHASE I: IMAGES 1 - 20 TEACHER’S GUIDE

UK Digital Learning Gallery: Phase I Featured Art and Artist

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Cow - Unknown American Artist Invisible Man, Harlem, NY - Gordon Parks Weed #294 - Tony Mattelli Hot Shot, Eastbound at the Laeger Drive-In - O. Winston Link Untitled, (Child in Corner and Boy in Window) - Ralph Eugene Meatyard The Cat - Ay-O Mayflowers - Carrie Mae Weems Night Rain - Judith Page Untitled - Ed Clark Ford Fairlane - Marilyn Hamann PB & J - Jennifer Coates Shoonufu Female Figure - Willie Cole A Knight of Santiago and His Lady - Unknown Spanish Artist Royalty at Home - Rosa Bonheur Quietude - Mary Cassatt Road Snake - Bob Haozous In the Pasture (The Milk Maid) - Julien Dupre Untitled - Keith Haring Natural Crossdressing - Nina Katchadourian We Will No Longer Be Seen and Not Heard - Barbara Kruger

Funding for UK Art Museum - Digital Learning Gallery Phase I: Images 1-20 has been underwritten by

UK Art Museum Staff & Contributors Stuart Horodner Director Curatorial Studies Dan Solberg Educational Coordinator Alan Rideout Preparator Maggie Bond UK Art Museum Registrar & Content Emily Baldridge Project Graphic Designer Stephanie Richards Project Coordinator UK Fine Arts Extension Specialist Mark Shanda Dean College of Fine Arts

UK Art Museum In the Singletary Center for the Arts 405 Rose Street Lexington, KY 40506-0241 (859) 257-5716 artmuseum@uky.edu finearts.uky.edu/art-museum/education

The University of Kentucky Art Museum:

Promotes the understanding and appreciation of art from diverse cultures and historical periods, providing meaningful encounters for audiences of all ages.

Through our temporary exhibitions, educational programs, and permanent collection of approximately 5000 objects, we are a resource for the campus community and a cultural destination for citizens of the Commonwealth and beyond.

Our Free Admission policy removes any financial obstacle that might stand in the way of opportunities for contemplation and connection.

We are proud to be accredited by the American Alliance of Museums, meeting standards for excellence and professional practices.

TO THE TEACHERS This introduction to the UK Digital Learning Gallery: Phase I is geared toward students of all ages with no previous knowledge of the visual arts.

The segments are assembled as: 1.) Image 2.) Background 3.) Prompt 4.) Bonus Activities

1.) IMAGE The image of the art is introduced 2.) BACKGROUND The background and known information of the art and the artist is introduced 3.) PROMPT Hands-on activities to help students learn and spark appreciation and creativity 4.) BONUS ACTIVITY Some images have an additional activity to advance student knowledge and understanding

Image: Unknown American Artist, Cow

UK Art Museum - Digital Learning Gallery__________________________

UK Art Museum - Digital Learning Gallery______ Background: Unknown American Artist, Cow

Artist: Unknown American Artist Title: Cow, unknown date Medium: Polychrome wood Purchase: Bequest of George and Susan Proskauer Catalog: 1992.17.156

This curious little wooden cow was donated to the Museum’s permanent collection in 1992, but there is little known about it beyond that it was created in America. The cow is reminiscent of nineteenth century German immigrant folk artist Wilhelm Schimmel’s style of toys and figures, but it could just as well be from someone with similar influences. It undoubtedly is in the tradition of German peasant art which arose in Pennsylvania in the 1900s. As a possible object of American Folk Art, one cannot ignore the whimsy and humor that is inherent in this small cow. American Folk artists have created works that are intentionally lighthearted and nonutilitarian, intended simply for the owner’s enjoyment. This cow may have been used as a child’s toy or a household decorative object. Carved animals were the most popular theme for children’s toys in the early twentieth century, typical of simple yet creative design. This small cow is a peek back into early American craftsmanship.

UK Art Museum - Digital Learning Gallery______ Prompt: Unknown American Artist, Cow

Topics: unknown artist, farm animals, carving, toys, “art” definition, scale First Impressions: 1. Without looking at the dimensions for this artwork, what size do you think this cow sculpture is? +STEP1 2. We think this cow may have been a children’s toy, but we don’t know for sure. What do you believe this object was used for? What about the sculpture makes you say that?

3. Do you think this object belongs in an art museum? Why or why not?

A Closer Look: 4. The simple design of Cow is a big part of its appeal. On a piece of paper, draw an animal of your choice using only simple shapes (circle, square, triangle, etc.). For example, drawing a circle with a triangle next to it with a point of the triangle touching the outside of the circle will make a basic fish. For your animal, try and use as few shapes as possible for the base form, and then add more shapes for details. +STEP2

5. This wooden cow was likely originally created as a children’s toy, not necessarily to be looked at as a sculpture in an art museum. But not only is a museum helpful for preserving this object for future generations, looking at the cow as an artwork can create a deeper appreciation for the skill and craft that went into its creation. If you were to pick out one of your toys that you wanted people to look at as an artwork, which would you choose and why? +STEP3

Deep Dive: 6. We don’t know who made this cow, but it is similar in style to the wooden toys created by German folk artist Wilhelm Schimmel. Conduct research to learn more about Schimmel and the objects he crafted. Find images of other toys Schimmel made. Do you think Schimmel created this wooden cow? Write out your argument for why or why not.

7. This cow is considered an “American Folk Art” object. Do some research and describe what this art movement was about, where and when it originated, and how this object fits into that category.

Step-Up Challenge: +STEP1: Draw a scene around the image of the cow sculpture that illustrates how large you think the cow is or how big or small you imagine it could be. +STEP2: Try drawing an animal using only one type of shape. For example, a tiger made of rectangles or an eagle made of squares. +STEP3: Take a photo or make a drawing of your selected toy. Then create a wall label to give viewers additional information about your toy including its title, who made it, when it was made, when you came to own it, what makes it special, and any other details you think are important to know about it.

Digital Learning Gallery Unknown Artist - Cow +STEP 1: Draw a scene around the image of the cow sculpture that illustrates how large you think the cow is or how big or small you imagine it could be.

Unknown Artist, Cow, date unknown, polychrome wood.

Collection of the UK Art Museum, bequest of George and Susan Proskauer, 1992.17.156.

UK Art Museum - Digital Learning Gallery______ Image: Gordon Parks, Invisible Man, Harlem, NY

UK Art Museum - Digital Learning Gallery______ Background: Gordon Parks, Invisible Man, Harlem, NY

Artist: Gordon Parks, American, born 1912 Title: Invisible Man, Harlem, NY, 1952 (printed 2016) Medium: Gelatin silver print Purchase: The Robert C. May Photography Fund Catalog: 2016.9.1

During his lifetime, Gordon Parks had a strong commitment to social justice. Born into poverty and segregation in Fort Scott, Kansas in 1912, Parks was drawn to photography as a young man, influenced by images of migrant workers found in magazines of the time. The body of work he produced over the course of his lifetime documents American life and culture from the early 1940s into the 2000s, focusing on race relations, poverty, civil rights, and urban life. Parks bought his first camera at a pawnshop and proceeded to teach himself how to use it. Despite the lack of professional training, he won the Julius Rosenwald Fellowship in 1942, which led to his employment as a photographer for the Farm Security Administration (FSA) in Washington, D.C., and later the Office of War Information (OWI). At the time, these agencies were chronicling America’s social conditions, and while working for them, Parks quickly developed a personal style that would make him one of the most celebrated photographers of the era.

Through his pictures, Parks broke through the racial color barrier in professional photography by creating captivating and purposeful images that revealed the social and economic impact of poverty, racism, and other forms of discrimination.

In 1944, Parks left the OWI and began working as a freelance photographer for Glamour and Ebony magazines. It was during this time that he received national recognition with his 1948 photo essay on the life of a Harlem gang leader, leading to a position as the first African American staff photographer and writer for Life. He remained at the magazine for twenty years, covering subjects related to racism and poverty, as well as fashion and entertainment, taking historical pictures of public figures such as Muhammad Ali, Stokely Carmichael, Malcolm X, and Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. His iconic images captured the essence of his activism and humanitarianism and helped garner support for the rapidly growing civil rights movement.

Invisible Man, Harlem, New York was part of a series Parks worked on in collaboration with novelist Ralph Ellison. His 1952 book, Invisible Man, addressed the social and intellectual issues faced by African Americans. Parks worked with Ellison to visually document the conceptual elements of the novel, which ranged from candid street scenes to staged scenes in Harlem. The image shown in this collection depicts the novel’s unnamed narrator emerging from a manhole, where below he had found sanctuary and escape from the brutality of racism. Ellison’s story ends with the narrator preparing to reenter the world, and here we can see Parks’s interpretation of the wariness he would have felt upon reentry.

UK Art Museum - Digital Learning Gallery______ Prompt: Gordon Parks, Invisible Man, Harlem, NY

Topics: narrative, above/below, race in the US, perspective

First Impressions: 1. In Gordon Parks’ Invisible Man, Harlem, New York we see a man inside of a utility hole on a street, holding the lid to it over his head. It appears as if the man is looking out upon the city street. What do you think the man in the utility hole is watching for? How would you describe his facial expression and body language? What reason might he be in the hole to begin with?

2. Invisible Man, Harlem, New York was part of a series photographer Gordon Parks worked on with novelist Ralph Ellison, based on his book Invisible Man. In the singular photograph featured in this gallery we’re only getting a small fraction of the overall story, but still, the single photograph tells a story of a moment that implies a much larger narrative. What aspects of this image that make you curious to know more? What questions does it raise for you? +STEP1

A Closer Look: 3. One of the primary tools a photographer has available to them is choosing the angle they want to shoot from. Finding an atypical angle for a scene is a great way to make a photograph feel unique, especially if it’s an angle you’re not used to seeing with your own eyes. In Invisible Man, Harlem, New York, Parks is shooting from street level; notice how you can barely see the hole the subject is emerging from. What effect does this camera angle have on the subject

matter of the photograph? How would this photograph feel different if it was shot from the same position but at human eye-level, looking sightly downward?

4. In addition to framing and camera angles, photographers also have control of a range of focus in their images called “depth of field.” In Invisible Man, Harlem, New York, Gordon Parks uses a shallow depth of field. It’s called “shallow” because the area of the image that is in focus only covers a short distance from foreground to background. Notice how the street in front of the figure is blurry and so are the buildings and lights behind him, but the man emerging from the utility hole is perfectly in focus? Photographers adjust an iris (like in your eyes) in their cameras that allows light to pass through the lens. When it’s open wide, the depth of field will be shallow. What effect does this shallow depth of field have in Invisible Man, Harlem, New York? If everything was focused in foreground and background how would the impact of the work shift?

Deep Dive: 5. Both Gordon Parks and Ralph Ellison shared a drive to speak truth to power about the marginalized experience of being Black men in America. During the decade after the end of World War II, Parks and Ellison collaborated twice on projects that were intended to reveal underlying truths about New York City and the United States regarding racial discrimination and related social issues. Looking at Invisible Man, Harlem, New York, do you think this photo is still relevant today? How could Parks’s image contribute to activism regarding racial equality ongoing decades after the original photo was shot in 1952? +STEP2

Step-Up Challenge: +STEP1: Inspired by Gordon Parks’s narrative photography, shoot your own photo series of 610 images that tell a story of everyday life. What challenges are faced and what outcomes result? It may be helpful to have a central character to follow, so see if a friend will volunteer to allow you to photograph them. For this series, the time between each photo should be about equal. So, if your second image shows what happened five seconds after the first image, then your third image should be five seconds after that, and so on. Or you could have six images that you shoot at the same time every day for six days. This will give your story an even pace. You don’t have to shoot your photos in chronological order, but sometimes it can be helpful to do so. Once you have taken your photos, arrange them in order on a digital screen or on printed pages.

+STEP2: Select another image or artwork that makes an effective, powerful social or political commentary. Compare and contrast this piece with Invisible Man, Harlem, New York. How do the strategies differ and how are they alike?

Image: Tony Matelli, Weed #294

UK Art Museum - Digital Learning Gallery__________________________

UK Art Museum - Digital Learning Gallery______ Background: Tony Matelli, Weed #294

Artist: Tony Matelli, American, born 1971 Title: Weed #294, 2014 Medium: Painted bronze Purchase: The Collectors Fund Catalog: 2015.11

In this work, Tony Matelli reminds us of the nature of weeds—determinately growing in an unwelcoming environment, in places where they are least likely to be wanted. Chemicals and power tools are designed to eradicate them, yet these undesired plants continue to thrive despite best human efforts. Additionally, the term “weeding out” comes to mind. We apply this term when feeling the need to remove unskilled or under-productive members of a group or team. Here, the artist conjures ideas of perseverance in the face of adversity, with the weed being a symbol of resolution and resolve. In his words, they are a “celebration of unwantedness.” This small bronze sculpture, creeping up unassumingly in a corner of the gallery, does not necessarily heroize the weed, but rather gives this leafy green organism the opportunity to manifest in a world where it would normally be uprooted or trampled underfoot.

Tony Matelli is known for his illusionary and hyper-realistic sculptural works that are often both discomfiting and humorous, and incorporate figurative, botanical, and abstract forms. It has been said that his sculptures focus on loneliness and defenselessness, simultaneously with resiliency and resistance. Matelli was born in Chicago, Illinois, in 1971, and lives and works in New York City.

UK Art Museum - Digital Learning Gallery______ Prompt: Tony Matelli, Weed #294

Topics: materiality, wanted/unwanted, perseverance, nature, installation, real/fake, locally sourced

First Impressions: 1. Without looking at what Tony Matelli’s Weed #294 is made of, does it look like a real or fake plant? What visual clues make it look so real? Are there any details that give away that it is fake? If you saw this sculpture in a location where weeds normally grow, would you even notice it?

2. It’s probably not surprising to hear weeds are typically not welcome to grow in art museums.

Tony Matelli’s sculpture Weed #294 is life-sized, painted realistically, and installed to make it look like it’s growing out of the floor where it meets the wall. As a result, museum goers get to experience something that is not normally allowed to happen. What would your reaction be to seeing this sculpture unexpectedly? If you were visiting the museum with a friend, what would you tell them before showing them the sculpture?

A Closer Look: 3. Pulling weeds is a tedious yet common experience for gardeners and landscapers, but have you ever thought that a weed was pretty or wanted to leave it be? How have you interacted with weeds in your own life? Does thinking about a weed as a sculpture, like Tony Matelli’s Weed #294, change your outlook on weeds at all? +STEP1 4. Weeds are viewed as unwanted—something people try to hide or remove. Though, despite human efforts, weeds continue to exist, pushing up wherever they will. Tony Matelli decided to

sculpt Weed #294 out of bronze, granting it a sense of permanence far beyond a typical weed’s lifespan. How does being a metal sculpture inform the meaning of Weed #294 for you? +STEP2

Deep Dive: 5. Tony Matelli is known for making art of objects humans would normally view as unsightly. In the past he’s even made sculptures of trash. Look up images and descriptions of some of Tony Matelli’s other sculptures. Describe several of these artworks and elaborate on how their intense realism relates to them being often unseemly subjects.

6. Weeds are plants that are often dismissed for aesthetic reasons, but many weeds have uses far beyond their looks. The plant that Weed #294 is based on belongs to the genus Plantago, commonly called plantains or fleaworts, which have been used for herbal remedies since prehistoric times. Research some of the plants that belong to the genus Plantago and pick three to describe uses humans have had for them. Do you recognize any of these plants from places you’ve been? Does knowing how these plants have been or continue to be used change your thinking about these weeds? How so? +STEP3

Step-Up Challenge +STEP1: Tony Matelli has found inspiration in often discarded objects, such as cigarette butts, apple cores, and of course, weeds, and turned them into art. Find a “discarded” object in or around where you live and set it up as the subject for a photograph. Stage a scene for it with care. Decide how much you want it to look like it is in a space that is natural for it versus an unexpected location. Once you have the scene set, take a photograph of it, give it a title, and write a brief paragraph about it explaining your intentions. +STEP2: Reverse Tony Matelli’s thinking about Weed #294 and construct an object that looks valuable out of disregarded materials. For example: a diamond ring from gum wrappers.

Consider how the nature of the material changes a viewer’s understanding of the “valuable” object. +STEP3: Venture out into a yard or park and find a weed that looks interesting to you. With pencil and paper, draw a sketch of the plant. Are you able to identify the species of weed (there are phone apps that can help with this)? If so, you can use the species name as the title for your drawing.

Image: O. Winston Link, Hot Shot, Eastbound at the Laeger Drive-In

UK Art Museum - Digital Learning Gallery__________________________

UK Art Museum - Digital Learning Gallery______ Background: O. Winston Link, Hot Shot, Eastbound at the Laeger Drive-In

Artist: O. Winston Link, American, born 1914 Title: Hot Shot, Eastbound at the Laeger Drive-In, West Virginia, 1956 (printed 1997) Medium: Gelatin silver print Purchase: Gift of Tom Parrish Catalog: 2013.8.1

Born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1914, O. Winston Link’s father, a teacher, instilled an interest in tools and photography in his son. Link had a lifelong fascination with railroads, and his photographs of steam locomotives act as a love letter to the outdated machines. From 1955 to 1960, Link documented the last days of steam-powered locomotion in America, becoming a pioneer of night photography in the process. With the blessing of the Norfolk and Western Railway, Link captured 2,400 images of the coal and passenger trains in four different states. His love and fascination for steam locomotives is evident not only from the images themselves but in his painstaking efforts of preparation at each shoot and manipulation in the darkroom.

Link’s Hot Shot Eastbound at the Laeger Drive-in, West Virginia is one of his most famous photographs. The scene is hyper realistic, shot at night with an array of flashbulbs to develop a precision capture of the dynamics between competing transportation technologies during this time period. Photographing during the day proved difficult for Link, as the natural sunlight was not ideal for illuminating the engines. This led him to create his own flash system in order to successfully photograph at night, complete with reflectors and flashbulbs connected to batteries and condensers. For Hot Shot, Link used a total of forty-two flashbulbs within the scene and one to highlight the car, his own 1952 Buick convertible. Although Link’s timing and staging of the scene were perfect, the sheer magnitude of light from the flash washed out the image on the movie screen. In his darkroom, he added the U.S. Air Force Sabre airplane to the screen from a separate negative he made of the film that had been showing that evening. The finished product presents the rapid cultural transitions that were underway during 1950s America.

UK Art Museum - Digital Learning Gallery______ Prompt: O. Winston Link, Hot Shot, Eastbound at the Laeger Drive-In

Topics: transportation, technology, day/night, juxtaposition, obsolescence, documentation

First Impressions: 1. O. Winston Link documented the last days of steam-powered locomotion in America, becoming a pioneer of night photography in the process. We know this photograph was taken at night, but what are at least three aspects of the image that communicate the image was taken at night? Are there any parts of the photo that look like they weren’t taken at night? +STEP1 2. Drive-in movie theaters are less common than they used to be, but the basic idea is that viewers watch the movie from the seats of the cars they arrived in. Looking at this drive-in scene photographed by O. Winston Link, what makes this setting for watching a movie different than going to a movie theater or watching at home? Which movie watching location would you prefer of the three?

A Closer Look: 3. Adobe Photoshop was developed in the late 1980s, far after O. Winston Link shot his photograph Hot Shot, Eastbound at the Laeger Drive-In, West Virginia. Yet, Link used a Photoshop-like technique to add in the image of the airplane (a still from the 1955 film Battle Taxi) onto the drive-in screen—he just did so using physical darkroom equipment instead of computer software. Why do you think Link thought it was so important that this image be visible on the screen that he had to insert it later? What is the significance of the airplane in relation to the rest of the scene?

4. Does O. Winston Link’s Hot Shot, Eastbound at the Laeger Drive-In, West Virginia look like it was posed and staged or that it was just a moment captured naturally as the scene looked?

Point out specific details that feel staged or natural to you. What impact does knowing whether this scene was staged or not have on your response to this photograph?

Deep Dive: 5. Hot Shot, Eastbound at the Laeger Drive-In, West Virginia features three notable transportation technologies: cars, a train, and a plane. This photograph was taken in 1956 and acts as documentation of that specific time regarding the technology that was being used for transportation. Do some research into what was going on with these different modes of transportation around the 1950s. Was plane travel becoming more popular? What about car ownership? While we still use trains today, the steam locomotive is no longer in active use for commercial purposes. After learning more about the era this photograph was taken, what do you think O. Winston Link is communicating about these different, sometimes competing, transportation technologies? How does he use the language of photography to make his point?

Step-Up Challenge: +STEP1: Using the camera (phone camera is OK), stage a landscape photograph outside at nighttime. Try taking 2 pictures, one with a flash from your camera and one without. Which do you like better? What changes could you make to improve your images? Some suggestions: find a different location with more artificial light to make the scene brighter, wait until a different day when the sky is clearer and the moon fuller, alter some of the settings on your camera such as lengthening the shutter speed to allow more light into the lens (some phones will do this automatically at night). If you are using a phone camera, try downloading the Adobe Lightroom app (free) and using the app’s camera function, which has a full range of camera controls.

UK Art Museum - Digital Learning Gallery______ Image: Ralph Meatyard, Untitled (Child in Corner and Boy in Window)

UK Art Museum - Digital Learning Gallery______ Background: Ralph Meatyard, Untitled (Child in Corner...)

Artist: Ralph Eugene Meatyard, American, born 1925 Title: Untitled (Child in Corner and Boy in Window) Medium: Gelatin silver print on Agfa Brown paper Purchase: Funds provided by the NEA, Patrons of the John Jacob Niles Benefit Concert and Friends of the Art Museum Catalog: 1980.27

Ralph Eugene Meatyard moved to Lexington in 1950 and developed a passion for photography alongside his career as an optician. Over the next two decades, he crafted enigmatic images that would assure him a place in the history of the medium. Meatyard traveled throughout the Kentucky countryside, searching for abandoned houses and farm buildings to use as sets, directing friends and family in scenes that are suggestive of both ritual and theater. He used masks, dolls, and found objects as unsettling props, used architectural detail as abstract compositional elements, and set the mood with evocative natural lighting.

Ralph Eugene Meatyard was born in Normal, Illinois, and attended college to pursue a career as an optician. By 1950 he had married and relocated to Lexington, Kentucky, to work at TinderKrauss-Tinder Opticians, which also sold cameras and equipment. It was here that Meatyard bought his first camera to document the birth of his first child, leading to a distinguished career as a photographer. Four years later, he joined the Lexington Camera Club where he formed close friendships with Robert C. May and Van Deren Coke, who was a mentor figure. He continued to gain access to other well-known photographers. In 1956, Meatyard stepped into Coke’s leadership role at the Camera Club and began teaching the other members.

Although Meatyard earned a living working in a scientific field, his love of art, literature, and philosophy was fostered by multiple associations with artists, poets, and writers over his lifetime. However, it was his introduction in the mid-1950s to the eastern philosophy of Zen that had the greatest impact. Once familiar with Zen philosophy, “Meatyard dedicated his

photography to conveying the spiritual essence of existence, which he felt lay beyond the visible world.”

The goal of depicting this “essence” that is not in the visible world coincided with Meatyard’s inclination to deny the traditional notion of photography as a recorder or mirror of reality.

Instead, he created staged, often theatrical, scenes that included various props and experimented with multiple exposures, blurred movements, and a “no-focus” technique. Some of Meatyard’s best known images are of his three children and other family members posed in dilapidated structures in rural Kentucky and the surrounding countryside.

Meatyard’s subject matter and techniques resulted in images that appeared abstract, surreal, mystical, and enigmatic. The notion of the surreal was another interest that permeated throughout Meatyard’s work. Thus, Ralph Eugene Meatyard utilized the tactics mentioned above (staging, blurring, repeated exposures) combined with a Zen and Surrealist leaning to push his photographs into a spiritual dimension.

UK Art Museum - Digital Learning Gallery______ Prompt: Ralph Meatyard, Untitled (Child in Corner...)

Topics: Light, perception, mystery, narrative

First Impressions: 1. In Ralph Eugene Meatyard’s photograph Untitled (Child in Corner and Boy in Window), we see two children: one resting on a windowsill and the other in a corner covering their face.

Meatyard frequently used masks and other means of obscuring a subject's face, as the child in the corner in this photo does with his hands. What does hiding a face do to an image that wouldn’t be the case otherwise? How do you feel while looking at the image? Is it part of a game, or something else? +STEP1 2. What's the first thing that catches your eye when you look at this picture? The boy in the window’s facial expression? The light cast onto the floor? Something else? Our eyes are instinctively drawn to points of contrast such as when something very bright is next to something very dark. List at least three parts of this photograph that you think are “high contrast.”

3. Ralph Eugene Meatyard is known for creating photographs that are difficult to pin to an exact time or place. If you were to place this photograph in a decade of history, which time period would that be and why? What about time of day? Location?

A Closer Look: 4. In Untitled (Child in Corner and Boy in Window), the bright light coming from an out-of-view window or doorframe creates a bold line that directs our attention from the window to the boy in the corner. What other lines can you find in this photograph? Make a list of at least five lines and note next to each where the lines direct your eyes around the photo.

5. Why do you think Ralph Eugene Meatyard took photos in black-and-white? How would the mood of the photo change if it was in color?

6. Ralph Eugene Meatyard’s subject matter and techniques result in images that appear surreal, mystical, and enigmatic. Something that is “surreal” has a sense of reality to it but is also warped in a dreamlike fashion that makes it somewhat nonsensical. What are the elements that make Untitled (Child in Corner and Boy in Window) have a surreal feel?

Deep Dive: 7. A visual narrative is something Ralph Eugene Meatyard created in almost all his work.

Viewers can imagine their own stories playing out within the characters and settings that Meatyard provides. Write a short story about Untitled (Child in Corner and Boy in Window).

What happened before and after the moment seen in the photograph? What would these characters say to one another? +STEP2

8. Ralph Eugene Meatyard was excellent at transforming mundane surroundings into mysterious fantasy scenes by simply using lighting and unique perspectives in his photos. Select a space that you are familiar with and take photos (phone camera is OK) in a way that makes the space seem less recognizable. Use unique angles (place the camera high, low, or on its side), dynamic lighting (try starting with only one light source), or even added props. Show your photos to someone else and see if they can recognize the space. If they can, what steps could you take to make the space seem even less familiar?

Step-Up Challenge: +STEP1: Grab a camera (phone is OK) and ask a couple friends or if they would be willing to be in some photos for you. You can shoot the pictures at home or wherever works best for all

involved. Ask your volunteers to obscure their faces (using hands, masks, other props, etc.) or pose in a contemplative way, as if deep in thought. Set your images to black-and-white, if you can, to help make them appear more mysterious. What do you think of the results? Share the images with your volunteers and see what they think, too. +STEP2: Do a search to find more photography by Ralph Eugene Meatyard. Select two more images of his to pair with Untitled (Child in Corner and Boy in Window) and form a cohesive narrative. Write a new short story where you use these three photos to illustrate it. Don’t forget to make a title, too.

Image: Ay-O, The Cat

14 3/4 x 20 7/8 in

UK Art Museum - Digital Learning Gallery__________________________

UK Art Museum - Digital Learning Gallery______ Background: Ay-O, The Cat

Artist: Ay-O, Japanese, born 1931 Title: The Cat, by an Unknown Artist, about 1840 No. 6 of the Nashville Skyline series, edition 80/95 1971, 14 3/4 in. x 20 7/8 in.

Medium: Silkscreen on cream woven paper Purchase: Art Museum Funds Catalog: 1972.10.6 The Cat is one of a ten-print series featuring a rainbow adaptation of American Naïve paintings.

The series, titled Nashville Skyline and dedicated to musical artist Bob Dylan who released an album by the same name two years earlier in 1969, rejected the idea of creating works within strict boundaries and instead explored motifs from a wide variety of media. Ay-O’s signature style of utilizing a spectrum of intensely saturated color earned the artist international fame as the “Rainbow Man.” Feeling an affinity towards the often-forgotten artists of America’s folk art tradition, Ay-O applied his rainbow technique to revitalize familiar images that had become clichéd over time. The Nashville Skyline series may have been inspired by Ay-O's stint as a visiting professor at the University of Kentucky in 1968-69.

Born in Ibaragi Prefecture, Japan by the name Takao Iijima, Ay-O declared his independence from tradition by adopting a new name. While attending Tokyo University of Education, the artist began exhibiting work and was part of the postwar art movement that rejected many aspects of Japanese culture. After moving to New York in 1958, Ay-O became an active member of the international avant-garde anti-art Fluxus movement. Fluxus, meaning “to flow,” was founded by artists who had become disenchanted with the elitism of the art world at the time.

The movement focused on the use of everyday objects and the element of chance within art, allowing art and life to meld into one. It was during this time that Ay-O developed his “rainbow philosophy,” and in 1966 he wrote his Rainbow Manifesto. A multidisciplinary artist, Ay-O is known today for his installation and performance art, as well as painting, sculpture, and prints.

His work can be found in museum collections around the world.

UK Art Museum - Digital Learning Gallery______ Prompt: Ay-O, The Cat

Topics: color spectrum, remix, animals, unknown artists, Fluxus First Impressions: 1. How does Ay-O’s use of color in The Cat make you feel when you look at it? Does it make you feel calm, happy, energized, or some other reaction? In which part of the image does the color stand out to you the most?

2. What part of The Cat draws your eyes to it first? What is it about that part of the image that grabs your attention? +STEP1 A Closer Look: 3. Bands of color in The Cat are clearly distinguished as if there are invisible lines separating them. The Cat is a rainbow artwork, but if you could only choose three colors to be used in the print, what would they be and how would that change the work? +STEP2 4. Ay-O sometimes used paintings made by artists who did not have formal art school training as the basis for his own artworks, including the pieces in the Nashville Skyline series, of which The Cat is a part. If Ay-O had made a rainbow version of something you created (such as a painting, drawing, sculpture, photograph, etc.) what would your reaction be and why? +STEP3 Deep Dive: 5. In many of his artworks, artist Ay-O uses all the colors of the rainbow to meditate on an object. Choose an object that you feel personally connected to. Using a pencil or other drawing tool, make a rough outline sketch of the object you selected and then draw a series of lines from side to side inside of the outline shape, like Ay-O did for The Cat. Choose a color palette

that brings you joy and color in the stripes you made with your lines. Continue this process for the entire image to create your own Ay-O inspired artwork.

6. Ay-O was a part of the Fluxus movement which started in 1960. Fluxus broadened the definition of what “art” could be, seeking to go against the art establishment of the time. The word “fluxus” is Latin for “flowing.” Many Fluxus artists were also greatly influenced by the beliefs and practices of Zen Buddhism. Research the Fluxus art movement and write a brief essay on how you see Ay-O’s rainbow works, including The Cat, as fitting in (or not) with the Fluxus philosophy.

Step-Up Challenge: +STEP1: Look at The Cat for thirty seconds straight. What’s something you noticed about the artwork that you did not notice right away? Is there anything about it that makes it less noticeable? +STEP2: Using the printout coloring page, chose only three colors to use to fill in the work. How does this limited color palette influence how you view the work? +STEP3: In art history, the term “naïve art” is used to label works by artists who have not received formal art training and are often self-taught. However, the word “naïve” itself carries what could be seen as negative connotations, emphasizing an artist’s lack of certain knowledge.

Research “naïve art” and write a brief response to your findings. Is the term useful, in need of a change, unnecessary, or something else?

Digital Learning Gallery Ay-O - The Cat +STEP2: Using the printout coloring page, chose only three colors to use to fill in the work. How does this limited color palette influence how you view the work?

Ay-O, The Cat by an Unknown Artist, about 1840, 1971, No. 6 of the Nashville Skyline series, silkscreen on cream wove paper, edition 80/95. Collection of the UK Art Museum, purchase: Art Museum Funds, 1972.10.6.

UK Art Museum - Digital Learning Gallery______ Image: Carrie Mae Weems, Mayflowers

31 x 31 in.

UK Art Museum - Digital Learning Gallery______ Background: Carrie Mae Weems, Mayflowers

Artist: Carrie Mae Weems, American, born 1953 Title: Mayflowers, from the May Days Long Forgotten series, 2002, 31 x 31 in.

Medium: Chromogenic print Purchase: The Robert C. May Photography Fund Catalog: 2005.5.1

In her work, imbued with African American history, Carrie Mae Weems investigates family relationships, cultural identity, sexism, racism, class, political systems, and the consequences of power. For over thirty years, Weems has developed a complex oeuvre including photographs, text, fabric, audio, digital images, installation, and video. Regardless of the medium, Weems states that activism is the central concern in her artistic practice. She looks at history to better understand the present. In Mayflowers, the summer frocks and the flowers in the girls’ hair seem to suggest a quality of innocence. Yet, these girls meet our eyes unflinchingly, seemingly possessing a knowingness about the world. May Day has its origins in ancient rites rooted in the natural world, celebrating the passage from winter to summer, darkness to light, barrenness to flowering. Since the end of the nineteenth century, it also became known as a holiday commemorating the often violent and deadly struggles of workers to achieve fair labor practices. Weems’s work teases out nuances of May Day’s many associations.

Carrie Mae Weems began studying dance and theater at an early age, but eventually transitioned into the visual arts after attending the California Institute of the Arts, Valencia for her B.A., and later the University of California, San Diego for her M.F.A. In her early twenties, she was active in the labor movement as a union organizer, and her early photographs were used for political purposes during this time rather than artistic ones. She was eventually inspired to pursue photography after being introduced to The Black Photography Annual, a collection of images by African American photographers. This new path led her to New York City, where she met other artists and photographers, forming a community in 1976.

UK Art Museum - Digital Learning Gallery______ Prompt: Carrie Mae Weems, Mayflowers

Topics: sisters, circular frame, eye contact, portraiture First Impressions: 1. Mayflowers features three figures, each looking in different directions and bearing different facial expressions. How would you characterize the mood or expression of each of these three figures?

2. Without looking at the date listed next to the image, does Mayflowers look like it was made recently or is it an older image? What do you see in the image that leads you to that guess?

A Closer Look: 3. Most photography is presented in square or rectangular shapes, but Mayflowers is presented as a circle. How does the circular frame affect the imagery within? Imagine this photograph was shown as a square or rectangle shape; how would that change the impression the artwork has on you? +STEP1 4. Would your impression of Mayflowers change if it was in color rather than black and white?

Why do you think the artist may have chosen to make this a black and white image? +STEP2 Deep Dive: 5. This photograph is titled Mayflowers and is part of a larger series by artist Carrie Mae Weems titled May Days Long Forgotten. Research the possible meanings of these terms and phrases.

Write a brief essay explaining what you found and how you think these titles apply to Weems’s photograph.

6. Carrie Mae Weems’s artwork has drawn comparisons to the nineteenth-century British photographer Julia Margaret Cameron, who was known for her illustrative images and use of “close-up” framing. Look up artworks by Julia Margaret Cameron and write a brief essay comparing and contrasting her images with Mayflowers.

7. Curator notes on Mayflowers comment that it draws parallels to Impressionist painters such as Edouard Manet. Look at works by Manet and the other Impressionists (including Mary Cassatt, also featured in the UK Art Museum Digital Library) and write a brief essay comparing and contrasting Mayflowers with these works.

Step-Up Challenge: +STEP1: Find some printed materials such as magazines, newspapers, or other printouts that are no longer needed and cut circles out of images to create new compositions. You can use a drawing compass or a circular object such as a cup or bowl to help draw circles for cutting along. How big will you make the circles compared to the originals? What did you include in the circle and what did you choose to exclude? +STEP2: Using a camera (phone or tablet camera will work best), shoot a photo portrait of a friend, family member, or still-life object. View the photo on your device and use the filter settings to switch it from color to black and white (note: some devices may use different terms for these settings). Do you have a preference between the two options? Write out your answer and explain how the different image filters make you feel. If possible, share both versions of the photo you took.

UK Art Museum - Digital Learning Gallery______ Image: Judith Page, Night Rain

6 x 6 ft.

UK Art Museum - Digital Learning Gallery______ Background: Judith Page, Night Rain

Artist: Judith Page, American, born 1946 Title: Night Rain, 1981, 6 x 6 ft.

Medium: Twigs, acrylic, celluclay, Elmer’s wood glue, and black paint on plywood Purchase: Gaines Challenge Fund Catalog: 1983.5

Judith Page’s mixed media artwork is intended to explore the “precarious balance between order and chaos that continues to define our existence.” Night Rain reveals the artist’s skillful touch with materials and her sensitivity for perceived impressions. Twigs, when removed from their everyday environment, lose their familiar identity, and are reinvented as an evocative suggestion of evening showers. Brimming with texture, the materials used in the work are recognizable up close, but read like an abstract painting at a distance, with each stick its own brushstroke. The twigs used in Night Rain, primarily oak, were collected by Page from her home in Florida following an intense rainstorm. This work is one of a series the artist was working on in the 1980s that used the force of a linear gesture to express extremities of emotion—in this case, using severe weather as a metaphor for emotional catastrophe.

Judith Page, a Lexington native, studied art at the University of Kentucky and Transylvania University. She was influenced early on by her father, an amateur historian and photographer, and later by the renowned Kentucky-based photographer, Ralph Eugene Meatyard. After several years serving as curator and director of the Valencia Community College Art Galleries in Florida, she moved to New York City in 1993 to pursue art full-time. Her work has been exhibited internationally, is in the collections of institutions across the country, and has been featured in multiple arts publications.

UK Art Museum - Digital Learning Gallery______ Prompt: Judith Page, Night Rain

Topics: 2D vs. 3D, found materials, implied sound, up-close/distance viewing, recordkeeping, brokenness/reassembly

First Impressions: 1. Night Rain is a silent artwork, but if it did make some kind of noise, what would it sound like?

What do you see in the artwork that makes you say that?

2. Look at Night Rain both in full view and in the close-up details. It’s made of sculptural materials but hangs on the wall like a painting. When you look at Night Rain, do you see it as more painting or sculpture? Or is it somewhere in between? What about the artwork makes you say that?

A Closer Look: 3. Stepping back to see all of Night Rain at once, it looks very different than it does up close.

From far away the work looks like a wall of wooden texture, but up close you can see individual sticks. Select an object normally observed from a distance and look at it up close. Which object did you pick and what do you notice about it that you could not see from a distance? +STEP1

4. The process of collecting twigs for Night Rain in the aftermath of a storm acts as a record of the destructive event. We can’t literally experience the storm anymore, but Night Rain recalls that event in a more abstract way. What are some other ways in which we can document events? +STEP2

Deep Dive: 5. Night Rain features a large number of sticks that fell to the ground during a powerful storm.

Artist Judith Page collected the sticks and reassembled them into a square shape to form the artwork, Night Rain. What’s another type of object that would normally be thrown away that you could turn into artwork? What would it look like? Create your own artwork out of “recycled” materials. +STEP3 6. Assemblage art is defined as a type of artwork where found objects are affixed to a planar surface and often combined with other artmaking materials. Night Rain could be described as an assemblage, as it largely consists of twigs that have been affixed to plywood with celluclay and glue. What’s the history of assemblage art and how does Night Rain compare and contrast with some of the artform’s earliest pieces? Research and write a short essay on what you find.

Step-Up Challenge: +STEP1: Take two photos of the object you selected, one from up close and one from far away.

Can others tell what the object is from just one picture or the other? +STEP2: Of the methods of documentation that you listed, select one. What is this method of documentation particularly good at conveying? What would someone miss out on if they hadn’t participated in the event and only experienced it though the method of documentation you chose? +STEP3: Make your “recycled” artwork a commentary on the materials used to make it. For example, perhaps a baseball cap made of bottle caps.

Image: Ed Clark, Untitled

UK Art Museum - Digital Learning Gallery__________________________

UK Art Museum - Digital Learning Gallery______ Background: Ed Clark, Untitled

Artist: Ed Clark, American, born 1926 Title: Untitled, 1991 Medium: Acrylic on canvas Purchase: Art Museum Funds Catalog: 1995.2

Ed Clark’s large-scale painting, Untitled, reflects the technique he is most known for: abstract works made using a push broom rather than a conventional paintbrush. Clark created his paintings on the floor, dripping paint onto the canvas and spreading it with a broom, building upon the legacy of Jackson Pollock’s “action painting” technique. Originally interested in using the brushstroke itself as the subject matter for his work, Clark’s use of the broom amplifies that idea to epic proportions. Abandoning representational imagery, he instead used the push broom and bold colors to allude to the natural world. In the end, there is somewhat of an ironic twist to Clark’s paintings in that a tool for cleaning is instead implemented for mark-making. His paintings also call to mind janitorial labor and forge a connection between the work and movements that go into maintaining art-viewing spaces for the pieces on display.

Clark was one of the few African American pioneers of abstract painting in the postwar period.

Born in New Orleans, he studied at the Art Institute of Chicago before moving to Paris during the 1950s and 60s. In 1969, he moved his primary studio to New York, though he continued to spend a part of each year in Paris. In addition to an affinity for jazz, he was inspired early on by gestural abstraction and, since 1966, developed and used his push broom techniques. The broad sweep and visceral energy of the broom imparts an epic quality to Clark’s paintings, as if the markings were the result of a superhuman force of nature. Armed with a steadfast belief in the power of abstraction and an adept sense of color, Clark aimed to convey a sense of pure motion and light that supplants illusionistic or scenic concerns.

UK Art Museum - Digital Learning Gallery______ Prompt: Ed Clark, Untitled

Topics: action painting, clean vs. messy, brushstrokes, abstraction, labor

First Impressions: 1. Ed Clark’s work is abstract, meaning it does not depict an object or scene in a photorealistic manner, but does it remind you of anything from real life? What parts of this painting look like something you recognize?

2. This painting by Ed Clark is listed as Untitled, but if you were to give it a title, what would you choose and why? Would you title it something descriptive, or perhaps something poetic?

A Closer Look: 3. Ed Clark’s large-scale painting, Untitled, fits into the style he is most known for: abstract works made using a push broom instead of a conventional paintbrush. What is an object or tool that you think would make for an interesting and unconventional “paintbrush?” What kinds of gestures or imagery would you make with it? +STEP1 4. Ed Clark’s Untitled uses brushstrokes that communicate a sense of speed. Clark’s process fits within a wider style of painting called “action painting,” typified by quick or full-body movements to create marks. Ed Clark’s “actions” involve placing his canvases on the floor and pushing paint-soaked brooms across them. If you wanted to make a “slow” action painting, how would you do that and what would it look like? +STEP2

Deep Dive: 5. Abstract Expressionist artworks, like Ed Clark’s Untitled, are known for their spontaneity and emotional resonance. But what makes an artwork “Abstract Expressionist” instead of just “abstract?” Do some research on Abstract Expressionism including other artists who are affiliated with the style such as Jackson Pollock and Willem and Elaine de Kooning. Do you think there’s a difference between “abstract” art and “Abstract Expressionist” art? What is the reason for or value in having such a genre label? Write a brief paper detailing your findings and opinions.

Step-Up Challenge: +STEP1: Put your imagination into action! Grab some paper and paints (follow specified directions and safety precautions for the paint itself), then select an object to use as your unusual paintbrush and create an abstract painting like Ed Clark’s. Your “paintbrush” could be a sponge, a rag, a leaf, or any number of other things—just ensure it is something you are comfortable and have permission to cover with paint and are able to clean it off or throw it away afterwards. Focus on making simple shapes that show off the unique brushstrokes of your chosen “brush.” +STEP2: Make your own abstract expressionist work using various techniques such as drips, broad and narrow strokes, scraping with cardboard, splattering, painting with the handle end of the paint brush, or use quick strokes on a canvas. Choose colors that relate to how you are feeling in the moment. Remember to place newsprint or a drop cloth of some kind under and around your painting surface as action painting can get a little messy.

Image: Marilyn Hamann, Ford Fairlane

UK Art Museum - Digital Learning Gallery__________________________

52 x 68 in.

UK Art Museum - Digital Learning Gallery______ Background: Marilyn Hamann, Ford Fairlane

Artist: Marilyn Hamann, American, born 1945 Title: Ford Fairlane, 1980, 52 x 68 in.

Medium: Acrylic on canvas Purchase: National Endowment for the Arts, Patrons of the John Jacob Niles Benefit Concert, and Friends of the Art Museum Catalog: 1980.9 Key components of Hamann’s works were color, photo-realism, tension in the compositional field, and an interest in reviving familiar art historical themes into contemporary art. The unexpected visual delights of the everyday world are the subject of Ford Fairlane, a study done from life of a funeral for a beloved automobile.

Born in Los Angeles, Marilyn Hamann studied painting at the University of California at Berkeley. In 1973 she began teaching at the University of Kentucky. By the early 1980s, Hamann was producing realistic paintings; she once stated that the important issue was “the isolation of retinal images as raw phenomena, without the traditional accompaniment of literary, social and emotional content...” Pop Art has been a strong influence on her work, evident in her preference for common subjects, bright colors, and a stylized, almost cartoony, approach to rendering.

UK Art Museum - Digital Learning Gallery______ Prompt: Marilyn Hamann, Ford Fairlane

Topics: landscape, cars, death, ceremony, local artist, Pop Art

First Impressions: 1. Marilyn Hamann’s Ford Fairlane depicts a funeral for the titular automobile. If you were present for this strange scene, what would you wear for the occasion? What do you imagine will be done with the car once the ceremony has concluded?

2. Is there a treasured object of your own that you would wish to memorialize in a similar way to the car in Marilyn Hamann’s painting? Which object would you choose and how would you choose to celebrate it? +STEP1

A Closer Look: 3. Marilyn Hamann’s Ford Fairlane painting shows a memorial scene for a presumably “dead” car. Funerals are often sad affairs, associated in many corners of American culture with wearing all black. How would you describe the tone of this funeral? What details in the image give you this impression? What do the objects on and around the car communicate about the ceremony? Who do you imagine would attend such a ceremony?

4. Pop Art was an art movement originally based out of the US and UK in the 1950s and 60s that brought more everyday commercial culture imagery into the otherwise exclusive and elite art world. One of the most famous works of Pop Art was a series of prints by the artist Andy Warhol that were merely images of Campbell’s soup cans. A soup can was a common object

that anyone could encounter in a grocery store and was not particularly expensive either. Pop Art had a strong influence on Marilyn Hamann, and there is evidence of this in Ford Fairlane through her use of bright colors and focus on a commercial product: the car. Still, many prominent pieces of Pop Art are characterized by their use of irony regarding their subject matter, using common objects to challenge the art establishment rather than necessarily honor those objects. Considering this, how sincere do you think Marilyn Hamann’s depiction of the funeral in Ford Fairlane is? Is there a sense of irony about attending a funeral for a car? What do you see in this painting that supports your answer?

Deep Dive: 5. There is a rich history in art of depicting death, funeral rites, or some means of direct memorialization. Ford Fairlane is uncommon in that its subject is an automobile, but it still belongs as part of this continuum. Find 2-3 other examples of artworks that grapple with death in some way. Describe these artworks and how they depict death. What do they have in common with Ford Fairlane and what do they do differently? Write a couple paragraphs detailing what you find and placing those findings in relationship to Marilyn Hamann’s piece.

6. The automotive industry is tied into the fabric of American history, and cars frequently show up in artworks in various forms. Research the Ford Fairlane model history. Was this car model particularly culturally significant? Did it make any notable appearances in movies, television, or in the news? What were the distinct aesthetic characteristics of the Fairlane model and how did its design change from its original incarnation to the final production model? Who came up with the original design and why was the line ultimately discontinued? How does knowing this additional context change your thinking about Marylin Hamann’s Ford Fairlane?

Step-Up Challenge: +STEP1: Create a drawing of the memorial or shrine for the object you have chosen. What items would be placed alongside it? Who would you invite to attend? What would you say about the object when given a chance to speak in front of everyone?

Image: Jennifer Coates, PB & J

48 x 48 in.

UK Art Museum - Digital Learning Gallery__________________________

UK Art Museum - Digital Learning Gallery______ Background: Jennifer Coates, PB & J

Artist: Jennifer Coates, American, born 1973 Title: PB & J, 2014, 48 x 48 in.

Medium: Acrylic on canvas Purchase: The Collector’s Fund Catalog: 2014.11

PB & J is one in a series of abstract paintings begun by Coates in 2013 exploring the accessibility and temptation of unhealthy food and, subsequently, the topic of class and inequality. Her paintings intend to encourage the viewer to consider the power of food over us, and to raise public awareness of the health consequences of consuming highly processed food. Coates incorporates vivid textures and colors in her images of everyday food items. Applying paint in a way that creates a dynamic and thickly-textured surface, she is creating an image that can read as an abstract landscape or simply a slice of bread smeared with peanut butter and jelly, as the title suggests. In this fashion, Coates is painting somewhere between abstraction and figuration in an effort to explore how paint can be representative of other materials. For instance, the faint streaks of green seen throughout the painting suggest the presence of mold. This element of the grotesque is often seen in Coates’s work.

Coates received her BFA from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in 1995 and her MFA from Hunter College in 2001. She lives and works in New York and Pennsylvania, and her work has been exhibited internationally and featured in multiple arts publications. She is also a curator, writer, and musician.

UK Art Museum - Digital Learning Gallery______ Prompt: Jennifer Coates, PB & J

Topics: food, food preparation, intentional vs. unintentional, permanence, taste

First Impressions: 1. Jennifer Coates’s PB & J offers a top-down view of a large, open-face peanut butter and jelly sandwich. The outline of the crust of the bread and the ingredients smeared onto the surface are apparent when looking at the image as a whole. Does this artwork look appetizing to you?

Why or why not? What do you think it would taste like? +STEP1 2. How do you think Jennifer Coates’s PB & J was made? Using big or small paint brushes?

Splattering paint onto the canvas? Perhaps using a knife to spread paint the same way you would make a real sandwich? Point out at least three different parts of the painting and explain what technique you think was used to make them and why you think that. +STEP1

A Closer Look: 3. Cooking and preparing food can be viewed as an artform itself, though there is something far less permanent about the finished product than a gallery-ready painting. Food is designed to be consumed, or if left on its own, will grow mold or deteriorate. A painting created using archival materials and preserved in a museum environment could last for centuries. Jennifer Coates’s paintings of food, including PB & J, take meals that are not meant to last and adapt them into a form that will be around for a long time. If you were to pick a food that you would want to preserve as an artwork of some kind, which food would you select, and which artistic medium

would it be in? Perhaps a hamburger as a realistic sculpture cast in bronze or a watercolor painting of a sliced tomato? Explain your choices. +STEP2

Deep Dive: 4. PB & J is part of a series of paintings by Jennifer Coates that explores the accessibility and temptation of unhealthy foods, opening the topic to subjects of class and inequality. Look at some of the other works from this same series (an internet search for “Jennifer Coates art food” will give you some examples). What do you think artworks like PB & J are saying about the foods they depict? Are they designed to honor the food, make it look undesirable, or something in between? Answer these questions for yourself in a few paragraphs of writing, and make sure to describe in detail what the artworks look like that you talk about.

5. What is in our food exactly? Look at a package of food that you like to eat and find the nutrition facts and list of ingredients. Do you recognize all the ingredients? Write down the name of the packaged food item you chose and list each of the ingredients. Next to each ingredient, draw a small picture with colored pencils or crayons of what the ingredient looks like. You may even need to research what some ingredients look like. Once you’re done drawing all the pictures, write a brief response to your illustrated list. Do you feel differently about the packaged food you selected after learning more about what it is made of?

Step-Up Challenge: +STEP1: It’s time to make some sandwich art! Grab at least one slice of bread and some peanut butter and/or jelly. You can use other bread toppings if you prefer but use only edible materials so it could be eaten at the end, should you choose. You’ll also need some utensils to spread your ingredients around such as a butter knife, fork, spoon, etc. What you choose to “paint” is up to you, but you could go for something pictorial or abstract. Try out different utensils for different types of mark making, for example: a knife for a wide flat surface, a fork to draw a set of lines. You can leave some areas blank for the bread to show through if you’d like. +STEP2: While you probably don’t have access to materials for every art medium, if you can gather a multicolored pack of construction paper or cardstock, you can make a collage of your chosen food. Tear or cut with scissors various shapes that will form the parts of the food, then glue them into place on a blank piece of paper. Use pencils, crayons, or markers to add small details and textures that would be too small to cut out and glue. Remember to put the bottom shapes down first to make building your collage a little easier. For example, if making a sandwich, cut out and glue down the bottom slice of bread first, then each of the ingredients on top of the bread in turn, and finally the top layer of bread.

Image: Willie Cole, Shoonufu Female Figure

UK Art Museum - Digital Learning Gallery__________________________

UK Art Museum - Digital Learning Gallery______ Background: Willie Cole, Shoonufu Female Figure

Artist: Willie Cole, American, born 1955 Title: Shoonufu Female Figure, 2012 Medium: Bronze Purchase: The Collector’s Fund Catalog: 2014.7

A self-described “perceptual engineer, ecological mechanic, and transformer,” Cole is known for transforming domestic items and electronic gadgets into sculptures that refer to African art and mythology. The artist rescues discarded objects textured by time from the industrial section of New Jersey where he works and gives them life as assemblage pieces that evoke themes of domestic labor, religious ritual, or the history of Western appropriation of African forms. His spiritually imbued art is known for embodying an interest and knowledge in African art, world religions, and his African ancestry. Mining his own heritage, Cole creates work that celebrates African art and culture and confronts viewers with the painful history of slavery in America.

Cole is known for his mixed media sculptures that focus on the cultures of West Africa and cultural appropriation. His upbringing by both his mother and grandmother in the 1960s has had a lasting impact on his work, signifying the domestic role of African women during this time. The artist alters perceptions of household objects such as steam irons, ironing boards, hairdryers, and high-heeled shoes by decontextualizing and restructuring them into powerful sculptures, installations, and works on paper. Further, Cole was very familiar with shoe forms, finding them highly evocative, eliciting emotions of submission, pain, and pleasure. They also included basic shapes such as points and curves that Cole could manipulate and utilize. He had studied fashion design in high school and even considered going to design school before pursuing sculpture. He was heavily inspired by the historical Dada and Surrealist art movements. Cole’s work can be found in several public collections, including the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago, the National Gallery of Art, and the Whitney Museum of American Art.

UK Art Museum - Digital Learning Gallery______ Prompt: Willie Cole, Shoonufu Female Figure

Topics: femininity/gender, African sculpture, figurative abstraction, fashion, found objects

First Impressions: 1. Willie Cole’s Shoonufu Female Figure features a kneeling human form built out of high heel shoes cast into bronze. What do shoes like the ones used in his sculpture represent to you?

What is this sculpture communicating about high heels by putting them in this arrangement?

2. Shoonufu Female Figure, like many artworks, is rich in symbolism. Symbols are icons, objects, or other signifiers that carry meaning beyond simply being the thing that they are. This can be seen in signage, like understanding a red light to mean “stop” or green to mean “go.” Or the University of Kentucky’s mascot, the wildcat, which represents ferocity in the face of competition. What symbols do you see in this sculpture and what do you think they mean?

A Closer Look: 3. Willie Cole uses what could be called “found objects” as the basis for many of his sculptures, seeking out common household objects that exhibit certain qualities that he finds interesting. A “found object” refers to something that the artist themselves did not make but is used in some way by an artist in the creation of an artwork. Does it matter to your understanding of Shoonufu Female Figure whether Willie Cole used “found” shoes to make the sculpture versus creating the shoe forms from scratch? How does the distinction alter your opinion or interpretation of the piece? +STEP1

4. At first glance, Shoonufu Female Figure looks like a female figure kneeling, but upon closer inspection, you can see that the figure is made from shoes. Or perhaps you notice the shoes first and the figure second. Either way, it’s a sculpture that asks viewers to look closely to understand everything it is doing. Take thirty seconds to look at the images of Shoonufu Female Figure and write down as many descriptive words as you can (adjectives like “pointy,” not nouns like “shoes”). Write down all the descriptive words that come into your mind. Then, read through the words you wrote and look at the sculpture again, but this time you want to select three words that you think are the best description of the artwork’s most distinct characteristics or underlying meaning. You can use words you listed in the first thirty seconds or add new ones. How do your three descriptive words compare to ones that others come up with?

Deep Dive: 5. Consumerism is the idea that a society encourages people to buy or otherwise acquire commercial products in ever-increasing quantities and expenses. This is often a word that is used to describe American culture at large. If you were to interpret Shoonufu Female Figure as a sculpture that remarks on consumerism, what does it communicate about the subject? Base your answer on characteristics of the sculpture itself and the symbolism that it bears.

6. The continent of Africa is home to a vast multitude of peoples and cultures, each with their own histories and traditions. Willie Cole’s Shoonufu Female Figure draws specific reference to sculpted divination figures created by the Senufo people, primarily living in a region of West Africa that reaches into Cote d’Ivoire, Mali, and Burkina Faso. Research the divination figures of the Senufo people. Who makes the figures and for what purpose? How are they used and by whom? Armed with this knowledge, consider how Willie Cole has chosen to reference these divination features with his sculpture. What connections does Cole make between Senufo and American cultures? Write a brief essay explaining what you found and how you use that information to help interpret and understand Cole’s sculpture.

Step-Up Challenge: +STEP1: Construct your own figurative sculpture out of found objects. You can make your sculpture out of any “found” objects you have access to, and they don’t need to be all the same type of object, but the final sculpture should be a human form. When you’re done, explain to others why you chose the found objects that you did.

Image: Unknown Spanish Artist, A Knight of Santiago and His Lady

42 x 56 in.

UK Art Museum - Digital Learning Gallery__________________________

UK Art Museum - Digital Learning Gallery______

Background: Unknown Spanish Artist, A Knight of Santiago and His Lady

Artist: Unknown Spanish Artist Title: A Knight of Santiago and His Lady, ca. 1610, 42 x 56 in.

Medium: Oil on linen canvas Purchase: Gaines Challenge Fund Catalog: 1984.18

Although the painting A Knight of Santiago and His Lady is unsigned, details of the costumes and style confirm that this double portrait was created in Spain during the early seventeenth century. The two figures, a married couple posing stiffly within a shallow space, are rendered in the tight brushwork and subdued colors that were typical of the period. This double portrait serves as historical documentation as well as a religious work filled with symbolism.

The portrait not only records the physical appearances of the two sitters and their place in the world, but also suggests that they are commemorating a significant moment in their lives. The dog, a well-known symbol of fidelity, is included to emphasize the couple’s loyalty to one another as well as their religious devotion. The small painting of biblical figures, Joseph and a pregnant Mary, suggest the sitters wished to be identified with this holy family and perhaps that the portrait was intended to announce the woman’s pregnancy. The piety of the sitters may furthermore be assumed from the man’s tunic bearing the “cross-and-sword" of the order of Santiago (St. James), which indicates he was a soldier in service to his country and the Church. This inclusion is a reminder that in seventeenth-century Spain, personal, political, and religious life were all intertwined.

A Knight of Santiago and His Lady has characteristics of the Baroque style, which features ornate detail throughout and was popular in Spain at the time. Scholars have proposed various artists as the possible creator of this painting, among them Francisco Ribalta, a Catalan who lived in Madrid and Valencia, and to whom the painting was originally attributed. Luis Tristán of Toledo and Pedro Orrente of Murcia have also been suggested.

UK Art Museum - Digital Learning Gallery______ Prompt: Unknown Spanish Artist, A Knight of Santiago and His Lady

Topics: unknown artist, historical time period, picture in picture, symbolism, portraiture

First Impressions: 1. Do you think the painting A Knight of Santiago and His Lady was created to commemorate a specific occasion or for some other purpose? What clues can you find to help you draw conclusions? For starters, what do you think the relationship is between the two figures? Look for evidence in the painting to support your answers, even if they’re guesses. +STEP1 2. Imagine the conversation and internal thoughts going on in this scene. What does the man holding the painting say as he presents it? What is the seated woman thinking about as she looks at his painting? What’s the dog think about all this? Feel free to be silly with this answer!

A Closer Look: 3. Portraiture is a popular and common genre of art throughout history. Portraits could be paintings like A Knight of Santiago and His Lady, but they could also be photos, drawings, or even sculptures. Why do people make or commission portraits of themselves or their families?

What purpose do they serve? Most people have been the subject of a portrait themselves, even if only for a school photo. How do you feel about appearing in portraiture? +STEP2, +STEP3

Deep Dive: 4. Paintings can often be loaded with symbols that can feel like they need to be decoded to truly understand what the intention behind the artwork was. For example, there is a dog in the corner of A Knight of Santiago and His Lady. What qualities do dogs have that the artist may have wanted viewers to think about in relation to the human subjects of the painting? Loyalty and obedience come to mind. But who was loyal or obedient to whom? Interpreting more symbols in the painting may be required to make a more informed guess. What other possible symbols do you see? And what do you think those symbols stand for? You may need to conduct some outside research about symbols in paintings in 1600s Europe to help with this question.

5. The biggest mystery surrounding the painting is: who painted it? Three names that have been suggested are Francisco Ribalta of Catalan, Luis Tristán of Toledo, and Pedro Orrente of Murcia. Research these three painters, describe the work they were most known for, and ultimately state your case as to who you think is most likely to have painted A Knight of Santiago and His Lady. You can also posit that none of those three were the artist.

Step-Up Challenge: +STEP1: Create a short story based upon the couple seen in A Knight of Santiago and His Lady.

What are the names of the characters? What were their personalities like? Perhaps it’s a story about acquiring the painting being held. Or, tell the whole story from the dog’s perspective! +STEP2: Create a portrait of someone using an artistic medium of your choosing (a drawing or photograph perhaps). Include specific objects around your subject to symbolize aspects of their lives (ask them what they would want in their portrait!). Remember clothes and setting are a big part of portraits, too. If you’re making your portrait as a painting, drawing, or sculpture, you might want to take a picture of your subject so you can take your time working from the photo. +STEP3: Find an example of contemporary portraiture, such as the works of Kehinde Wiley, and compare and contrast it with A Knight of Santiago and His Lady. What do the two paintings have in common? Have the portraits been painted for similar reasons, or does it seem like the artist’s intentions differ? Do you have a preference between the newer or the older style? What do you like more about one or the other?

Image: Rosa Bonheur, Royalty at Home

15.5 x 22 in.

UK Art Museum - Digital Learning Gallery__________________________

UK Art Museum - Digital Learning Gallery______ Background: Rosa Bonheur, Royalty at Home

Artist: Rosa Bonheur, French, born 1822 Title: Royalty at Home, 1893, 15.5 x 22 in.

Medium: Pen, ink and watercolor on cream paper Purchase: Gift from the Mr. and Mrs. James Wenneker Collection Catalog: 2010.015.1

Once one of the most successful and well-known female artists in nineteenth-century France, Bonheur’s work fell into relative obscurity following her death in 1899. With a recent resurgence of interest in her work, we have rediscovered that Bonheur was an adamant animal lover, believing they had souls like humans. Ignoring traditional female conventions of the time, Bonheur painted animals in lifelike and exacting detail with rigorous focus on the physiognomy of the creatures. Bonheur studied them up close in their natural habitats and even visiting slaughterhouses and the Institute of Veterinary Medicine to be as realistic as possible.

Recognized today as a trailblazer in her field, the artist kept many live animals at her home and studio near the town of Thomery, France, including lions—which this drawing was likely created from in preparation for a larger painting. However, even during her lifetime, the subject of animals never gained the same status as historical art and portraiture, and her work was soon overshadowed by the onset and popularity of Impressionism.

Bonheur, the daughter of an artist, was trained by her father at a young age. As a teenager, she began copying paintings at the Louvre, and quickly learned how to render animals in motion with incredible accuracy. At nineteen, she showed two small paintings at the prestigious Paris Salon, and soon after began receiving recognition from other notable painters of the day, leading to multiple commissions from the state and members of nobility. In her time, Bonheur was regarded as an esteemed yet eccentric artist. Her choice to never marry, wear men’s clothing, and champion for gender equality left her to be considered unusual, but her eccentricities were overlooked due to her artistic merit. In fact, Bonheur was the first woman to receive the medal of Chevalier of the Légion d’Honneur for achievement in the arts. Today, her work can be found in notable international institutions, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

UK Art Museum - Digital Learning Gallery______ Prompt: Rosa Bonheur, Royalty at Home

Topics: animals, scientific illustration, landscape, realism, the outdoors

First Impressions: 1. Royalty at Home is a portrait of two lions, and the title of the artwork could suggest either that the lions are a part of artist Rosa Bonheur’s home or that they are comfortable in their habitat. If you could pick two animals to study at home or in another comfortable space, what would they be and why?

2. The lions in Bonheur’s watercolor appear to be very relaxed and at peace. Is there an area of your home or some other location that makes you feel that way? What is it about that space that helps you relax?

A Closer Look: 3. Looking at all of Royalty at Home, it appears as if the lions are lying in a mountainous landscape. Imagine you were to go on a hike around the landscape in Bonheur’s painting. What other animals might you see? What different landscapes might you encounter as you move through them? Write a descriptive paragraph about your imagined experience within Rosa Bonheur’s landscape. +STEP1

4. It’s easy to imagine Rosa Bonheur walking leisurely throughout the grounds of her home, encountering plants, animals, and curious objects in search of inspiration for her artwork. Like the artist, go on a walk around your yard, neighborhood, or a park. Find an object or animal that grabs your attention and create a sketch of it. +STEP2

Deep Dive: 5. “Realist” painters, like Rosa Bonheur, attempted to represent their subjects as visually trueto-life as possible. Bonheur painted her lions in this realistic manner, making sure that symmetry, texture, and color were as close as possible to what the lions may have looked like lying in the field. In your own backyard or neighborhood, pick a subject and consider what methods you would use to depict it realistically. What colors would you use, what other landscape might you place the object in, and what kind of texture would it have? Make a drawing or painting based upon your thoughts.

6. Not all artists receive the same praise for their work when they are alive as they do after they have passed away. How did audiences and the art world establishment view Rosa Bonheur’s work during her time and how is her work understood in more recent times? If there is a distinct difference in the two eras, what do you think accounts for that difference? Write a few paragraphs detailing what you find in your research and your response to those findings.

Step-Up Challenge: +STEP1: Turn the initial paragraph into a short story. What happened on your hike? What were the animals like? What was the interaction like between the human and animal world? +STEP2: Write a paragraph about why you chose the object or animal that you selected for your sketch. What qualities did you want to make sure to get across in your drawing?

UK Art Museum - Digital Learning Gallery______ Image: Mary Cassatt, Quietude

13.75 x 8.5 in.

UK Art Museum - Digital Learning Gallery______ Background: Mary Cassatt, Quietude

Artist: Mary Cassatt, American, born 1844 Title: Quietude, ca. 1891, 13.75 x 8.5 in.

Medium: Drypoint on cream woven paper Purchase: The Collectors Fund, in honor of the Art Museum’s 25th anniversary Catalog: 2001.1

Mary Cassatt was a leading Impressionist painter and printmaker whose works on paper are a central part of her artistic legacy. Impressionism focused on capturing the essence of everyday life—the stillness, color and light found inside a moment. In drypoints, aquatints, and monotypes, she explored her favorite subject: the intimate moments of a woman’s life— sitting, dressing, bathing—and especially the quiet times shared between mothers and their children. Her images of domesticity pay tribute to the feminine experience. During the 1880s, she and fellow artist Edgar Degas worked side by side perfecting their printmaking techniques.

Cassatt’s mature drypoints from the years 1890–1910 reveal her strength as a consummate draftsperson; her works are admired for their concise and expressive use of line, the elimination of irrelevant detail, and an emphasis on facial expressions and gestures.

Although her family had objected to her becoming a professional artist, Cassatt began studying painting at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at the early age of fifteen, and continued her studies during the years of the American Civil War. Cassatt was born in Pennsylvania but lived most of her adult life in France, where she befriended and exhibited her work alongside many members of the Impressionist art movement.

UK Art Museum - Digital Learning Gallery______ Prompt: Mary Cassatt, Quietude

Topics: work around the house, childcare, Impressionism, captured moments

First Impressions: 1. Quietude is an artwork depicting a close moment between a woman and a baby. What emotions are being depicted in this artwork? What emotions do you feel while looking at it?

2. Why do you think Cassatt chose to forego the use of color in Quietude? If the work was in color, would it change your impression of the piece?

A Closer Look: 3. Look at Quietude and notice that the lines that make up the image are very light and precise.

How do you think that the use of minimal line and shading help capture this tender moment between woman and child? What message or feeling does the artist convey through this technique? +STEP1 4. Some of the most common qualities of Impressionist artworks are small, thin marks, emphasis on the depiction of light and passage of time, ordinary subject matter, and fascination with movement. Which, if any, of these characteristics do you see in Mary Cassatt’s Quietude?

Please explain the connections you find. +STEP2

Deep Dive: 5. Mary Cassatt drew people from contemporary life, often focusing on women in everyday situations like bathing, reading, or caring for children. Many of her artworks featured members of her own family or social circle. Like Cassatt, choose a family member, friend, or consenting new acquaintance and make a quick sketch of them doing something they do every day.

6. Create a short story based upon Quietude. Who are the people in the image? What do you imagine they could be thinking? What happened before the moment depicted in the artwork?

What will happen after?

Step-Up Challenge: +STEP1: Using the printout of Quietude, imagine what you would add to the image to change your impression of the work. You could add trees to make it look as though the woman and child are outside. Perhaps they are in front of or behind a window. +STEP2: Select another Impressionist artist (Claude Monet, Berthe Morisot, Edgar Degas, or another of your choosing), then compare and contrast their style and subject matter with Mary Cassatt’s. What similarities and differences do you see?

Digital Learning Gallery Mary Cassatt - Quietude +STEP1: Using the printout of Quietude, imagine what you would add to the image to change your impression of the work. You could add trees to make it look as though the woman and child are outside.

Perhaps they are in front of or behind a window.

Mary Cassatt, Quietude, ca. 1891, drypoint on cream wove Japan paper. Collection of the UK Art Museum, purchase: The Collectors Fund, in honor of the Art Museum’s 25th anniversary, 2001.1.

Image: Bob Haozous, Road Snake

UK Art Museum - Digital Learning Gallery__________________________

UK Art Museum - Digital Learning Gallery______ Background: Bob Haozous, Road Snake

Artist: Bob Haozous, American, born 1943 Title: Road Snake, 1986 Medium: Polychromed cordon steel Purchase: The Herman Lee and Nell Stuart Donovan Memorial Endowment and Art Museum funds Catalog: 1994.4 Bob Haozous lives and works in Sante Fe, New Mexico, and is the son of artist Allan Houser. He adopted his father’s Chiricahua Apache name of ‘Haozous’—pronounced “ha-oo-zohs” and meaning “the sound of pulling roots”—to show his respect for the earth and native tradition.

Haozous is known for his commentary on the American experience through monumental public works. Deliberately didactic and political, his work refers to his Apache heritage and invites the viewer to reflect on the relationship between nature and civilization while addressing Native identity, cultural appropriation, and the artist’s responsibility to address uncomfortable truths of everyday life. In his work, Haozous references western decorative motifs to illuminate misleading nationalistic symbols and cultural myths.

Using holes cut out of thick steel stock, Bob Haozous depicts cars and trucks inside the curving bends of his large-scale outdoor sculpture Road Snake. Animals play significant roles in many Native American cultures and traditions, acting as both spiritual and philosophical symbols.

Haozous’s work often employs dogs, reptiles, and birds as reminders that everyone is a part of nature. A snake can be a symbol of transformation, but not always a good omen; Haozous’s snake is a warning against America’s love of convenience and our frivolous use of natural resources that are doing irreparable damage to the environment. What may at first seem like a playful caricature, gives way to rich symbols for interpretation and consumerist critique.

UK Art Museum - Digital Learning Gallery______ Prompt: Bob Haozous, Road Snake

Topics: metal, nature, weathering, automobiles/roads, snake, consumerism

First Impressions: 1. Road Snake by Bob Haozous is a flat steel sculpture with a very distinct use of positive and negative spaces. Positive space, in this case, refers to the metal snake shape and the negative spaces are the holes in the metal that look like cars. What does this sculpture imply by putting the vehicles inside the snake? +STEP1 2. Why do you think Bob Haozous sculpted a snake for this artwork instead of another animal?

Have you ever seen a snake used as a symbol? If so, what did the snake represent? If not, what are some descriptive words you would typically associate with a snake? Why would the artist want to use an animal for this sculpture that is known for having these qualities?

A Closer Look: 3. What usually happens when a car meets a snake on the road? The snake loses. What happened to the cutouts of cars and trucks that met this snake sculpture? The snake ate them!

Considering this dynamic, what does Road Snake tell us about the relationship humans have with nature? Is it harmonious? Contentious? A bit of both? Please explain by pointing to evidence in the sculpture itself.

4. Why do you think the artist chose to place this sculpture outdoors as a public artwork instead of indoors in a gallery or museum? Are there any qualities of the artwork that are strengthened by this decision? +STEP2

Deep Dive: 5. Artist Bob Haozous cares deeply for the environment, and in a way, Road Snake warns viewers of the danger of rampant consumerism at the expense of nature. Do some research and find three other artworks by different artists that also advocate for conservation, actively defend the environment in some form, or implores you to think more deeply about and appreciate nature. Describe these pieces in detail and write out how they grapple with environmental issues and what your takeaways are from having spent time looking and thinking about them. Do you think art has the capacity to instigate change within this realm? Why or why not?

Step-Up Challenge: +STEP1: Make your own version of Road Snake by filling in the blank snake on the handout with things that you think threaten the environment. Remember, the cars in the real Road Snake are cutouts, so the objects you draw inside your snake should be drawn as negative space cutouts as well. +STEP2: Go out to your backyard or local park and collect rocks of different shapes and sizes.

Pick an area that will not be stepped on or tripped over and arrange the rocks into a sculpture of a snake, car, building, or tree. You can arrange them flat on the surface if the rocks you selected do not stack on top of each other very well. Once you’re done sculpting, you can take a picture of your artwork, but ultimately you should leave your sculpture for others to find. How does it feel to have made something and then left it behind for others to experience on their own? What do you hope people think about when they encounter your sculpture?

Bob Haozous, Road Snake, 1986, polychromed cordon steel. Collection of the UK Art Museum, purchase: The Herman Lee and Nell Stuart Donovan Memorial Endowment and Art Museum funds, 1994.4.

+STEP1: Make your own version of Road Snake by filling in the blank snake on the handout with things that you think threaten the environment. Remember, the cars in the real Road Snake are cutouts, so the objects you draw inside your snake should be drawn as negative space cutouts as well.

Bob Haozous - Road Snake

Digital Learning Gallery

Image: Julien Dupré, In the Pasture (The Milk Maid)

UK Art Museum - Digital Learning Gallery__________________________

24 x 36 in.

UK Art Museum - Digital Learning Gallery______ Background: Julien Dupré, In the Pasture (The Milk Maid)

Artist: Julien Dupré, French, born 1851 Title: In the Pasture (The Milk Maid), 1883, 24 x 36 in.

Medium: Oil on canvas Purchase: Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Henry H. Knight to the University of Kentucky Carnahan House Catalog: 2005.1.1 One of the most popular works in the UK Art Museum’s collection, this painting by French artist Julien Dupré has been the focus of much interest and scholarship over the years. Dupré specialized in paintings of field labor, a complex subject that allowed him to display his skill at interrelating figures and animals within a landscape. His large-scale paintings extolled the virtues of peasant life: gathering hay, milking cows, guarding the flock. He was known for his combination of impeccable draftsmanship and an impressionistic style of loose brushwork that gave a “modern” gloss to paintings that are, at heart, traditional. Like many artists of his time, Dupré favored a vision closer to real life over classical, historical landscapes. Aiming for truthfulness, the artist worked in direct contact with nature. The freely brushed grass in the foreground of In the Pasture suggests he studied the techniques of the Impressionists; the carefully modeled features and subtle use of light derive from his academic discipline. A popular and successful artist, Dupré provides a narrative moment perfectly pitched for his audiences, asking them to decide who is stronger: a recalcitrant cow trying to join a herd in the distant pasture or the farm woman holding the rope.

Born on March 18, 1851, Julien Dupré was expected to become a jeweler, but ended up apprenticing for a lacemaker’s shop in the late 1860s. However, his time as a lacemaker was short. The onset of the Franco-Prussian War in 1870 forced the shop to close, and Dupré became a soldier, completing his two-year tour of duty in 1873. In 1872, before his military service had ended, Dupré enrolled in a sketching class at the École des arts décoratifs, where he studied to prepare for his application to the École des Beaux-Arts.

During this time, there was a growing interest in the depiction of rural life among the emerging Naturalist painters. Naturalism began to develop a focused interest in the daily life of ordinary rural people. The work of Jean-François Millet (1814–75) and Gustave Courbet (1819–77) were key influences, as was the Impressionists’ fascination with light and open brushwork. What

linked these artists was their emphasis on rural workers, whether agricultural laborers, miners, or the small business people of country villages. What differentiated them from their more academic colleagues was their dedication to portraying the reality of country life unapologetically. In 1876, Dupré made his debut at the Salon with two paintings: La Moisson, en Picardie (Harvest in Picardy) and Le repos des moissonneurs (Harvesters Resting).

UK Art Museum - Digital Learning Gallery______ Prompt: Julien Dupré, In the Pasture (The Milk Maid)

Topics: motion/stillness, foreground/background, farm work, Romanticism/Realism

First Impressions: 1. Look closely at the body language and interaction between the woman and the cow in Julien Dupré’s In The Pasture. Do you think the woman is pulling the cow or is it the other way around? If it’s a tug-of-war, who is winning? What do you see in the picture that makes you say that? +STEP1 2. Before it was known as In the Pasture, Julien Dupré’s painting was called The Milkmaid. In fact, “The Milkmaid” is still inscribed into the frame of the painting. If you were given the task of retitling this painting yet again, what would you propose changing the title to and why?

A Closer Look: 3. One of the most striking qualities of In the Pasture is the profound sense of depth from immediate foreground to extreme background. In the foreground, you can see the details in individual wildflowers and blades of grass. What are three ways that artist Julien Dupré makes objects and elements in the background feel like they are far in the distance? +STEP2 4. Imagine you could step into the landscape of Julien Dupré’s In the Pasture. Describe what it’s like in there. What’s the temperature? What do you hear? Smell? Is there anything else you see in the scene that we can’t see in the painting? What’s the first thing you do once you arrive?

Deep Dive: 5. Julien Dupré’s In the Pasture was created in 1883, relatively late for the Realist period based in France, where Dupré lived and worked. Realism, as an art movement, is what it might sound like: grounded in reality, not afraid to show unidealized real life situations (often around manual labor), and with a fine technique that creates illusionistic images. Realism was also a reaction to Romanticism, which promoted heroic ideals and individuals and depicting grand emotions with dramatic emphasis. Still, the two movements do have some crossover between them. In fact, you could make the case that In the Pasture might correlate more with either artistic movement. Which do you think this painting has more in common with—Realism or Romanticism? Research other artworks from these art movements and then state your case for In the Pasture’s alignment in a short essay.

Step-Up Challenge: +STEP1: Create a short story based upon In the Pasture. Who might this woman be? What was her day leading up to the moment in the painting? What might she be thinking or feeling during this moment? Where does she go and what does she do afterwards? +STEP2: Using a blank piece of paper and a drawing utensil, create your own original landscape image. You can reference a place where you live, a location you have visited, or invent a new landscape on an alien planet if you so choose. Just make sure your landscape includes a foreground, middle ground, and background. Refer to Julien Dupré’s In the Pasture for reference if you need a reminder of what this could look like. In his painting, the mallet and stake, along with the milkmaid and the large cow are in the foreground, while the barns, stream, and the rest of the cows are in the middle ground, and finally the rolling hills, clouds, and small dots that are probably other animals are in the background.

Image: Keith Haring, Untitled

UK Art Museum - Digital Learning Gallery__________________________

UK Art Museum - Digital Learning Gallery______ Background: Keith Haring, Untitled

Artist: Keith Haring, American, born 1958 Title: Untitled, 1985 Medium: Color screenprint Purchase: Gift of Marion Fugate Catalog: 2004.10.2

One of the most influential young artists of the 1980s, Keith Haring was best known for his brightly colored and heavily outlined figures and cartoon-like motifs. Haring began his career in the subway stations of New York, utilizing the unused advertising panels to create white chalk drawings that delivered social commentary to the public. Through his simple line work and direct messages, Haring attracted wide audiences, incorporating themes of birth, death, love, sex, and war into his pieces. His work became universally recognized and catapulted him from street artist to art world icon. Making the work public and accessible to people from all walks of life was an important aspect in Haring’s career. He realized how many people could appreciate art if given the chance. Along with fellow artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, Haring helped paved the way for future street artists like Banksy and Shepard Fairey, bridging the gap between street art and the art of museums.

Born in Reading, Pennsylvania, in 1958, Haring learned basic cartoon drawing skills from his father and through observing pop culture. He enrolled in the Ivy School of Professional Art in Pittsburgh but dropped out after only two semesters. He remained in Pittsburgh, continuing to study and make work on his own, and in 1978 he was given his first solo exhibition. He later moved to New York City to attend the School of Visual Arts, where his signature style and unique concept blossomed, and it was there that he found his home in a thriving art community that existed outside of the traditional gallery and museum system. Haring died from complications related to AIDS at the age of thirty-one in February 1990. Haring was an openly gay artist, and much of his career was dedicated to raising awareness about the AIDS epidemic, drug abuse, and gay rights.

UK Art Museum - Digital Learning Gallery______ Prompt: Keith Haring, Untitled

Topics: characters, symbols, vibrancy, community, street art, advocacy

First impressions: 1. The figures in Keith Haring’s Untitled print exhibit a lot of movement and character through just a few details. Pick out three figures and describe in single words or phrases what each is doing or what emotion is being conveyed. +STEP1 2. Notice how Keith Haring uses color in this artwork to make certain characters distinct from one another and have something in common with others. Two green figures sit on the elbows of the big red one. Two pink figures peek in from the sides of the frame. Three blue figures are connected through the arms of the middle character. Considering these and other details, what ultimately do you think is going on in this image? Do all the characters get along or are some at odds with one another? Do some have certain roles?

3. Keith Haring created a lot of street art pieces, including graffiti, which placed his work in very public settings like billboards and subway stations. If you could enlarge or shrink Haring’s Untitled print seen here to whatever size you wanted, in what public space in your city or neighborhood would you choose to install it? Why did you pick this location?

A Closer Look:

4. Looking closely at Keith Haring’s Untitled piece, some of the figures have symbols painted on their chests such as X’s, circles, and crosses. What do you think these symbols could represent?

If you’ve seen these symbols in other aspects of your life, what have they meant in those situations? Do you think the way Keith Haring is using these symbols could be the same as how you’ve seen them used before or do you think they might mean something different? What clues in this picture lead you to think that way?

5. This print by Keith Haring is crafted using simple linework and basic shapes but has very evocative results. One distinct characteristic of a lot of Haring’s work is his use of short sets of lines that reverberate (think “shaking”) or radiate (think “shining”). In this Untitled piece by Haring, he’s filled up nearly all negative space with these lines. What effect does this have on the picture? Imagine if the image did not have those lines. How would it feel different? +STEP2

Deep Dive: 6. Although Keith Haring’s work can appear cartoonish or childlike, it often carried powerful messages about social issues that Haring felt strongly about. You could argue that Haring’s characters successfully invite viewers to engage with complex social issues that they might otherwise be put off by or afraid to get involved with. Pick a social cause that you’d like others to know more about such as climate change, civil rights, access to clean water or healthy foods, etc. Research what kinds of advocacy campaigns have been carried out in support of this cause.

Then, design your own poster using characters made from simple outlines, like in Haring’s artwork, and add a simple slogan to stick in viewers’ minds (it’s OK to repurpose an existing slogan). If you want to simplify the drawing a bit more, feel free to use stick figures. What do you hope your poster communicates to people who would see it?

Step-Up Challenge +STEP1: Go into more detail about the characters you chose and how you identified them. If you described one as dancing, what kind of dance is it and to what kind of music? For an emotion, what do you think is making the character feel that way? If one is celebrating, what is the occasion? Use details in how the characters are drawn and interact with one another as evidence for your responses. +STEP2: Go outside with a friend to a sidewalk near your home (make sure you are safe from moving vehicles). Using chalk, have your partner lay on the ground in a silly pose. Begin tracing the outline of their body with chalk. Continue making various lines around the figure to show motion and fill in the negative spaces with an assortment of colors. Get creative and add various shapes or other characters in and around your figure to emulate Keith Haring’s work.

UK Art Museum - Digital Learning Gallery______ Image: Nina Katchadourian, Natural Crossdressing

UK Art Museum - Digital Learning Gallery______ Background: Nina Katchadourian, Natural Crossdressing

Artist: Nina Katchadourian, American, born 1968 Title: Natural Crossdressing, 2002 Medium: Chromogenic print Purchase: The Robert C. May Photography Fund Catalog: 2015.1

A profound spirit of invention distinguishes Nina Katchadourian’s interdisciplinary art practice, spanning video, performance, sound, sculpture, photography, and public projects.

Katchadourian finds endless possibilities for making art in whatever environment surrounds her, photographing the results. In the natural world, she has repaired spider webs and enlisted furry caterpillars to stand in for a moustache. She often appears in her photographs, nimbly creating character and props from her surroundings. Based in Brookyln, New York, Katchadourian’s work has been internationally recognized in exhibitions from San Diego to Venice and Tokyo to Istanbul.

Nina Katchadourian’s photograph Natural Crossdressing was inspired by a moment one summer when the artist witnessed a group of caterpillars eating a birch tree. While watching, Katchadourian imagined a pair of them making the perfect mustache. Inspired by the occurrence, the artist made the vision into a reality. Using honey to keep the caterpillars in place for the photoshoot, Katchadourian addresses the topic of crossdressing using entirely “natural” components.

UK Art Museum - Digital Learning Gallery______ Prompt: Nina Katchadourian, Natural Crossdressing

Topics: Gender, natural vs. unnatural, self-portrait, invention, mundane to spectacle, mood

First Impressions: 1. Artist Nina Katchadourian finds endless possibilities for making art in whatever environment she finds herself in. She has repaired spider webs using red sewing thread and turned airplane bathroom paper products into costumes. She often appears in her own photographs, nimbly creating characters and props using her immediate surroundings. Though difficult to keep still, in her Natural Crossdressing piece, Katchadourian used live caterpillars to create the illusion of a mustache on her face. Would you ever put live bugs on your face to create an eye-catching photo? Why or why not? +STEP1 2. In this unique self-portrait, Nina Katchadourian is staring directly at the viewer. How would you describe the expression of this portrait? If this person came up to you to introduce themself, what greeting would they use and what would they want to talk to you about?

A Closer Look: 3. In her art practice, Nina Katchadourian works across various media to provoke us to re-see every day natural and cultural occurrences. What about Natural Crossdressing helps us re-see something that otherwise may not seem notable? +STEP2

4. Why do you think Katchadourian chooses to portray characters, such as the one in Natural Crossdressing, herself? Does this still count as self-portraiture if the person in it is playing a character? Would the work be different if these were photos of someone else in a costume instead of the artist?

5. “Crossdressing” is a term that refers to the practice of wearing a style of clothes traditionally associated with a different gender than the one a person is. Do you associate caterpillars with more masculine or feminine characteristics? Or perhaps neither? What about butterflies? It’s worth noting that even though one might have these associations, there are male and female caterpillars and butterflies. What connections do you see being drawn between caterpillars and gender roles in Nina Katchadourian’s photo Natural Crossdressing?

Deep Dive: 6. In addition to Nina Katchadourian, another well-known feminist photographer is Cindy Sherman. Research Sherman’s self-portraits and write a short essay comparing and contrasting her work to Katchadourian’s. How does each artist approach the idea of playing characters in their self-portraits? Does either artist’s work feel like “selfies” to you? If not, what makes their photographs feel different than what we commonly think of as a selfie?

Step-Up Challenge: +STEP1: On the handout, use your imagination to come up with a different small creature or item besides caterpillars that would make for an interesting mustache or face covering. Once you settle on an idea, draw it onto the face on the page and color it in. What color will you make the background to complement your additions to the face? +STEP2: Nina Katchadourian uses everyday objects she encounters in her life to construct characters or fantasy versions of herself for her photographs. Find a non-dangerous object or several items in or outside where you live and use them as props, makeup, or costumes to turn yourself into a character. Remember, you want these items to be wearable, if possible. Take a selfie and give your character a name.

Digital Learning Gallery Nina Katchadourian - Natural Crossdressing +STEP1: On the handout, use your imagination to come up with a different small creature or item besides caterpillars that would make for an interesting mustache or face covering. Once you settle on an idea, draw it onto the face on the page and color it in. What color will you make the background to complement your additions to the face?

Image: Barbara Kruger, We Will No Longer Be Seen and Not Heard

UK Art Museum - Digital Learning Gallery__________________________

UK Art Museum - Digital Learning Gallery______ Background: Barbara Kruger, We Will No Longer Be Seen and Not Heard

Artist: Barbara Kruger, American, born 1985 Title: We Will No Longer Be Seen and Not Heard, 1985 Medium: Photo-offset lithograph and serigraph on Arches 88 paper Purchase: Art Museum Funds Catalog: 1987.7.1. – 1987.7.9

Barbara Kruger is a conceptual artist known for her combination of type and photographic imagery that conveys a direct cultural critique on various subjects, often through a feminist lens. Her work investigates stereotypes, consumerism, and desire with text layered over images from mass-media. The viewer is presented with short and direct phrases or words, inspired by her early career as a graphic designer. Her work has also appeared in very public spaces like billboards, parks, and train platforms, making it easily accessible.

In the series We Will No Longer Be Seen And Not Heard, the works discuss the power of the media on our daily lives through the juxtaposition of found photographs and blunt, often singleword, text. The images use sign language, gesture, and text to create and contradict meaning and to examine cultural stereotypes, presumably referring specifically to women with the word “we” but could also include all marginalized groups more broadly.

Born in Newark, New Jersey, in 1945, Kruger attended Syracuse University and Parsons School of Design. She currently works between New York and Los Angeles, and her work is held in the collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and the National Gallery in Washington, D.C., among many others.

UK Art Museum - Digital Learning Gallery______ Prompt: Barbara Kruger, We Will No Longer Be Seen and Not Heard

Topics: sign language, text in art, advertising, art in series, postmodernism

First Impressions: 1. Do you feel included in the “we” of Barbara Kruger’s series We Will No Longer Be Seen and Not Heard? Why or why not?

2. Barbara Kruger’s work is informed by the written and visual languages of advertising, often in ways that invite viewers to be critical of advertising. Despite this, her work has also become so popular that some advertisers have recently begun using her art as an influence for their own work. Does the imagery or text from her We Will No Longer Be Seen and Not Heard series remind you of any ads or other imagery you’ve seen before? Describe the similarities. +STEP1

A Closer Look: 3. In this work Kruger invokes the aphorism “Children should be seen and not heard.” The people depicted here range from school-age children to young adults, whose gestures hint at, but are not the American Sign Language signs for, the words printed within the same frames.

Some of the gestures read as rude or playfully defiant, lending a combative tone to the imagery. How do you interpret the statement “we will no longer be seen and not heard” when it has been paired with images featuring physically silent hand signs and gestures?

4. Instead of looking at Barbara Kruger's We Will No Longer Be Seen and Not Heard series as a whole, try looking at each image from the series on its own. The text no longer becomes part of a sentence, but its own one-word statement: “be” or “no” or “will.” Which piece do you think works the best on its own outside of the series? What is it about that individual piece that makes it successful by itself?

Deep Dive: 5. Barbara Kruger’s dramatic juxtaposition of found photographs and provocative text examines the representation of power in mass-media images. Using sign language, gesture, and words to create and contradict meaning, she employs language to question the status quo. What ideas do you think Kruger wants us to consider when looking at this series? Who is the “we” referring to in the titular statement? And who is the target audience for the artwork? Conduct some research into Barbara Kruger’s other artworks and use the details from We Will No Longer Be Seen and Not Heard as evidence to support your answers.

Step-Up Challenge: +STEP1: Make your own visual sentence like Barbara Kruger did. Find some magazines, newspapers, or printouts that you don’t mind cutting up. Pick a statement that you want to make; something you want to tell the world (9 words max). Then, in the printed materials you have gathered, find one or more image you want to pair with your statement. Make sure the image(s) will correspond well and support the message you are looking to get across. Cut out the images with scissors and paste them onto a blank sheet of paper. Once you have your imagery in place, search through the printed materials again for the words or individual letters to spell out your statement, then cut them out and paste them on top of or around the imagery. Fill in any blank areas as you like or cut them out so only the area where your collage is remains.