Who & What Influences Art?
All artist’s work is influenced by many different factors; from culture to politics, surroundings, family, upbringing, the list is endless. All of these and more have such an influence in most art works. Past and present artists naturally will also influence other artists, but not all are purely based on their artistic skills, Leonardi Da Vinci’s mathematical principles are of course known by all as a truly fascinating aspect of Da Vinci’s work.
Da Vinci’s play with perspective revolutionised visions and through images such as the ‘Vitruvian Man’ he presented the ‘ideal’ structure of the human body. Another artist with similar theories is M.C Escher, the graphic artist whose artworks were hugely influenced by mathematics and the geometric patterns that developed, from this, in particular, the topology of regular tilings of the plane. Escher was an artist largely ignored in his early career, his explorations of platonic solids, symmetry and geometry did not appeal to the art establishment and yet the combination of his insight combined with his love of nature and the beauty he saw all around him, meant that his art, woodcuts, lithographs and mezzotints are now hugely influential in the art world.
‘Floating on A Sea of Green’, is a homage to M. C. Escher based on a selection for his work “Stars” by contemporary artist Brian Parker. This and a series of other paintings in his geometrical and abstract collection highlights his love of working with complementary colours. When used together in such geometric pieces the colours make each other sing brighter and louder than usual. The scientific colour theories of complementary colours began the fascination with the Impressionists and of course, have had huge importance in so much of art history and have definitely manifested a significant role in so many paintings.
Parker’s recent painting ‘Empty’ plays with perspective, colour and line and displays an obvious link to Escher’s style based as it is on the architecture of the Escher Museum in The Hague. The interplay of the arches, stairs, railings, floors and ceilings contribute to the organised confusion of ‘Empty’- a space waiting for the return of the crowds when life returns to normal.
Written by Lisa Freeman BA (Hons) — Art PR for Artists
I am passionate about sharing art and new artists work, creating and developing new visions and ideas for artists whilst raising their profiles. This year has been difficult and as much as we have all embraced and maximised online virtual exhibitions and viewings, we of course, all long for the galleries and exhibitions to re-open! However social media has played such an important part and will continue to do so sharing artworks across the world — so keep reading, painting and exploring the art world media for all the new and exciting artists we are so lucky to be continually offered.
Image taken from sciencealert.com & wikipedia.org
