Fine Art Review
This review was also done as part of my elementary level methods course, likewise to my fine art review. My artist review and gallery review was done in the next level course in middle level methods.
John Sabraw
I have recently had the pleasure of visiting the art museum held here at Northern Illinois University. They had two curated exhibitions going on there. One of which was titled Embarrassment of Riches. This exhibition was focused on the planetary impact which we humans have, and the accumulation of trash, toxins, and various waste that are otherwise not natural to the environment. Some of the artists’ focuses were garbage bags, plastic, or junk mail, all of which should be expected in an exhibit which highlights this particular social issue.
However, I found one artist who was a little more “out of the box” on his concentration. In his artist statement he gave a brief narrative about himself. The artist, John Sabraw, stated that he had moved to Ohio, and when he got there he noticed something interesting about it’s local river water: it was orange. Sabraw began an investigation about this strange occurrence. The artist learned that the orange coloration was coming from near by mills that was contaminating the waterways with iron oxide. From here he got the idea to create pigments from these toxins and began collaborating with another man who had already begun making these types of paints.
When I first noticed Sabraw’s work I thought that they were quite beautiful. Side-by-side were two large-scale paintings, roughly 8 feet tall and 5 feet wide, of leaves. They were quite photorealistic images. Upon inspection, one could see the veins of the leaves, the stems, the folds, creases, and edges. The coloration was quite bright; as if they were from the autumn time. One was a very stunning red, pink, and orange color. The other was green, orange, and yellow. They both appeared very whimsical, both in color and in composition.
Without knowing the history of the medium used, I originally thought that both of these paintings, titled Arco and the other Iris, were just beautiful, enormous paintings of fall leaves. Then, after learning that the pigments were made from toxic waste, it gave a whole new layer to his work and what the art meant. Instead of just a beautiful painting, the artist has created a statement. It is not coincidental that Sabraw has chosen to create an image from nature out of something which poisons it. Also, he is taking the that toxic waste out of the environment, and giving it new life by being able to reuse that material.
As the viewer, I first noticed the imagery. I mean, it was huge! How could I not? I first saw a part of nature, and admired it’s beauty and respected it. Then, I realised that what that beauty is made from is exactly what destroys it- how we as human destroy this beautiful thing that we have right in front of us; yet we tend to ignore or not care about it. I also believe that this is why the artist chose the colors he did. The leaves are ones that resemble the leaves which we see during the fall time. They are losing their green color and they have begun to die. The leaves are very beautiful, but they are dying. This is what is happening to nature around us at this very moment, all a cause of our toxins that we are putting into the earth and the environment.
Overall, I really enjoyed John Sabraw’s art. Though there were a few more pieces in the exhibition, I enjoyed this series in particular. The imagery itself was enormous in scale, and also very beautiful. He chose a medium which is unique to his work, and used it in a way that really brings an important social issue to life with his concept. If anyone has the chance to visit the art museum or any other exhibit holding his work, I would recommend going to view it.
However, I found one artist who was a little more “out of the box” on his concentration. In his artist statement he gave a brief narrative about himself. The artist, John Sabraw, stated that he had moved to Ohio, and when he got there he noticed something interesting about it’s local river water: it was orange. Sabraw began an investigation about this strange occurrence. The artist learned that the orange coloration was coming from near by mills that was contaminating the waterways with iron oxide. From here he got the idea to create pigments from these toxins and began collaborating with another man who had already begun making these types of paints.
When I first noticed Sabraw’s work I thought that they were quite beautiful. Side-by-side were two large-scale paintings, roughly 8 feet tall and 5 feet wide, of leaves. They were quite photorealistic images. Upon inspection, one could see the veins of the leaves, the stems, the folds, creases, and edges. The coloration was quite bright; as if they were from the autumn time. One was a very stunning red, pink, and orange color. The other was green, orange, and yellow. They both appeared very whimsical, both in color and in composition.
Without knowing the history of the medium used, I originally thought that both of these paintings, titled Arco and the other Iris, were just beautiful, enormous paintings of fall leaves. Then, after learning that the pigments were made from toxic waste, it gave a whole new layer to his work and what the art meant. Instead of just a beautiful painting, the artist has created a statement. It is not coincidental that Sabraw has chosen to create an image from nature out of something which poisons it. Also, he is taking the that toxic waste out of the environment, and giving it new life by being able to reuse that material.
As the viewer, I first noticed the imagery. I mean, it was huge! How could I not? I first saw a part of nature, and admired it’s beauty and respected it. Then, I realised that what that beauty is made from is exactly what destroys it- how we as human destroy this beautiful thing that we have right in front of us; yet we tend to ignore or not care about it. I also believe that this is why the artist chose the colors he did. The leaves are ones that resemble the leaves which we see during the fall time. They are losing their green color and they have begun to die. The leaves are very beautiful, but they are dying. This is what is happening to nature around us at this very moment, all a cause of our toxins that we are putting into the earth and the environment.
Overall, I really enjoyed John Sabraw’s art. Though there were a few more pieces in the exhibition, I enjoyed this series in particular. The imagery itself was enormous in scale, and also very beautiful. He chose a medium which is unique to his work, and used it in a way that really brings an important social issue to life with his concept. If anyone has the chance to visit the art museum or any other exhibit holding his work, I would recommend going to view it.
Additional work by John Sabraw:
I have included a video which explores the artist John Sabraw, his art-making process, and meaning behind his artwork.
As an art educator it is important to know how to examine and interpret art for ourselves, in order to teach this skill to our students. So, one of our assignments was to go to an exhibition and review one piece of art that intrigued us the most. I talked about an artist that I had actually discovered right here at NIU in our art museum. He is an environmental artist who goes by the name of John Sabraw. I have attached my paper to this post for anyone who is interested in reading it.