Who Arted: Weekly Art History for All Ages

A few years prior to the immersive experiences, filmmakers brought Vincent van Gogh's paintings to life in a completely new and different way. In 2017, Loving Vincent was a film made of oil paintings.Today Vincent van Gogh is sort of the model we hold in our minds for a tortured artist. He saw little to no commercial success in his lifetime. He struggled with addiction and mental health. He lived on the fringes of society inspired by other artists and impoverishing himself in his drive to create. He was known to go without food at times because he was spending all of his money on paint. And now we can see his dramatic tale unfold through paint. A team of 125 artists from around the world produced 65,000 paintings to animate the film. Film and animation basically work off the principle that if you have a bunch of pictures played back really quickly it overwhelms the eye. The human eye can not process more than ten pictures or frames per second so it stops looking like a series of pictures and instead looks like one picture that is moving. For Loving Vincent, the artists created an oil painting on canvas for each of the 65,000 frames. They recreated some of his masterpieces telling the dramatic tale through his best known works, in his style and his preferred medium of oils. So how did they do all of this? Well, the storyboard for the movie included a number of Vincent van Gogh’s paintings. They recruited a team of 125 well-trained oil painters rather than traditional animators. A bit of the movie was made by rotoscoping which is a technique of basically drawing on top of a frame of film. Actors were filmed in front of a green screen. Editors made a composite shot replacing the green to put Vincent van Gogh’s paintings into the background. Now here is the tricky part. After the green screen and all that editing, they put every single frame of the film onto a canvas. It took six years, but they painted 65,000 frames on canvas. Today only about 1000 of the paintings remain because after a frame was painted and photographed for the film, they would typically re-use the canvas. Oil paints take a long time to dry so they would be able to make slight alterations to a wet painting for the next frame. It was a remarkable feat blending old and new media.You can see the trailer for Loving Vincent on YouTubeWho ARTed is an Airwave Media Podcast.Connect with me:Website | Twitter | Instagram | TiktokSupport the show:Merch from TeePublic | Make a DonationIf you have a fun fact you would like to share, please email it to whoartedpodcast@gmail.comAs always you can find images of the work being discussed at www.WhoARTedPodcast.com and of course, please leave a rating or review on your favorite podcast app. You might hear it read out on the show. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 1979, after some modest success a Japanese video game company opened an office in America. They started off in New York but eventually moved to Seattle. They wanted to break into the new North American market, but the game sales were lackluster. The head of the American division tried to keep them afloat and asked for more talent to be sent over from Japan. Most people at the top were involved in other projects, but they were able to find a young artist who was willing to develop a new game. His name was Shigeru Miyamoto and while he had not yet created a videogame, he would go on to create the flagship game became the symbol of the company and really home gaming. In the early days the character was a carpenter named jumpman. Then one day the landlord for the American offices came in to yell about how the rent was late and the staff thought he looked like their character so they started referring to Jumpman by a new name. They called him Mario.My guest this week is Matthew Bliss, host of The Dead Drop, a podcast sharing the latest video game news. It publishes twice a week and you can find him at www.deaddroppod.comWho ARTed is an Airwave Media Podcast.Connect with me:Website | Twitter | Instagram | TiktokSupport the show:Merch from TeePublic | Make a DonationAs always you can find images of the work being discussed at www.WhoARTedPodcast.com and of course, please leave a rating or review on your favorite podcast app. You might hear it read out on the show. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the 1400s, influencers couldn’t simply scout a location, arrange the perfect lighting and pull out their camera phone to snap dozens of pics testing different angles to find the perfect shot demonstrating how much better their curated life is than the lived experience of the rest of us plebeians. No back then, if someone wanted a picture to go along with their smug sense of superiority, they needed to hire a painter and in 1434, Jan van Eyck painted one of the greatest testaments to the enduring power of carefully constructing a casually posed portrait.There is a lot of debate about the meaning and symbolism in the work, but a common interpretation is that this is a sort of wedding scene. The man is taking the hand of his wife. She is in the interior of the space near the bed reinforcing the gender roles of the time with the woman’s place being taking care of the home while he stands by the open window symbolizing his role in the outside world. The mirror in the background is said to represent the eye of God witnessing their union and the frame of the circular mirror has a dozen small scenes from the passion of Christ. The small dog could be seen as a symbol of fidelity, or some say simply it is another signifier of wealth as many wealthy women were given lap dogs as companions. The green of the dress symbolizes hope. Many speculate the hope of becoming a mother and while many viewers today believe the woman in the portrait appears to be pregnant, as we all know, one should never assume a woman is pregnant. Scholars say this was actually a fashionable look for the day. Clothing was very expensive. Their clothing was particularly expensive with fur lining etc. The idea back then was the more clothing, the more wealthy one must be, so no matter how ridiculous the silhouette may appear to contemporary audiences, in the 15th century, those strange bulges of fabric showed that this was a person who could afford to dress themselves. It was conspicuous consumption proving yet again that for as long as we have had a means to record what people looked like, those people have worked to dress themselves up and surround themselves with markers of their high status. While some see modern mass media as producing a more vain and shallow culture, I would argue van Eyck shows us people have always been feeding their egos and flaunting their privilege with material goods. At least now most people know better than to use animal fur to do it.Who ARTed is an Airwave Media Podcast.Connect with me:Website | Twitter | Instagram | TiktokSupport the show:Merch from TeePublic | Make a DonationAs always you can find images of the work being discussed at www.WhoARTedPodcast.com and of course, please leave a rating or review on your favorite podcast app. You might hear it read out on the show. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

One of the things that really strikes me is that he is creating scenes of people being joyful. Adams says that part of the appeal of being an artist is getting to create the environments you would like to see and experience. I also think that there is something really nice about normalizing and even elevating fun and celebration. My guest this week was Goldie Robinson, an art teacher out of Atlanta. She was my guest on a previous episode about Alexander McQueen, and when I talked with her about coming back on the podcast, she suggested Derrick Adams. I am so glad she did because his work delivers some nice summer fun, but as with all great art, there is a ton more under the surface.Who ARTed is an Airwave Media Podcast.Connect with me:Website | Twitter | Instagram | TiktokSupport the show:Merch from TeePublic | Make a DonationAs always you can find images of the work being discussed at www.WhoARTedPodcast.com and of course, please leave a rating or review on your favorite podcast app. You might hear it read out on the show. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I live in the United States where this weekend, people will be celebrating father’s day. I thought this would be great time to dedicate a mini episode to an artist who created a beautiful work for his father. I love MC Escher’s portrait of GA Escher not only because it shows us the Escher men had a strange proclivity for referring to humans by letters rather than names, but we see some similarities between the father and son as both wrote diligently in their journals throughout the process of its creation. This mini episode is about the portrait MC Escher lovingly created of his 92 year old father. He made 15 copies of the lithograph to be shared among the family.Who ARTed is an Airwave Media Podcast.Connect with me:Website | Twitter | Instagram | TiktokSupport the show:Merch from TeePublic | Buy me a coffeeAs always you can find images of the work being discussed at www.WhoARTedPodcast.com and of course, please leave a rating or review on your favorite podcast app. You might hear it read out on the show. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 1964, Life Magazine ran with Lichtenstein on the cover and the text read “Is He the Worst Artist in the U.S.?” Lichtenstein responded to criticism of his work saying “I think my paintings are critically transformed, but it would be difficult to prove it by any rational line of argument." Seems like kind of a weak defense. Basically, ‘I think my work is good, but there’s really no rational argument in favor of it.’ I mean its a bold move. I’ll give him that.He painted Look Mickey after his son taunted him saying he couldn’t paint something that good. There is something I really love about the idea that basically his entire career was the ultimate “so there” to a child. I mean doing your work out of spite is one thing, but doing it to spite your child, that’s some next level pettiness.My guest this week was The Real Michael Lee, a musician, graphic designer and comic artist based out of Iowa. You can find him at www.therealmichaellee.com and or go to his links page to check out all the different spaces he occupies online.In this episode, we dropped a lot of names. Take a minute to look through my back catalog to learn more about Jack Kirby, Pablo Picasso's Guernica, Diego Rivera, Ernie Barnes and Andy Warhol.As I said in the show, feel free to leave a comment on the message boards at Goodpods, the platform with the good sense to feature Who ARTed on their recommendations list and where I am frequently ranked number 1 for visual arts.Who ARTed is an Airwave Media Podcast.Connect with me:Website | Twitter | Instagram | TiktokSupport the show:Merch from TeePublic | Buy me a coffeeAs always you can find images of the work being discussed at www.WhoARTedPodcast.com and of course, please leave a rating or review on your favorite podcast app. You might hear it read out on the show. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I have talked a bit about Daguerre and his photographic methods in a previous episode about the world’s first photobomb. Listeners may recall that the first photograph to feature a human happened by accident as Daguerre was taking a photograph of the view out his window. Those early photographs needed a long exposure. I’m talking around 15 minutes and few subjects could sit still for that long. This is why the first subjects of photos tended to be landscapes or still lives, you know, things that will be still for a long time. The plaster casts were a practical subject. They were also intended to send a message that photography was a new medium but it could handle the traditional subject matter. In this collection, we see an arrangement of casts of Venus, cupid, the wings, and heads of two cherubs. Above the cherub or putti heads which would have been associated with Phaethon son of Helios, we see the rams head, and the golden Ram in Greek mythology was a descendant of Helios, the sun god. Central to the composition, we see these references to Greek mythology making a connection between the new medium and classic subjects but more specifically, we are seeing references to the sun. When we break down photography, photo means light. Graphy is writing, The photographic process is making a picture with light. The sunlight triggers a chemical reaction causing silver compounds to darken.If you want to learn more about Daguerre and early photography, listen to my previous mini-episode about The World's First Photobomb.This week's Friday Follow recommendation is Art Ed Radio from The Art of Education University. This segment is not paid promotion. I simply want to share some of the things that I love. If you have a recommendation for something good I should check out, email me or reach out on social media.Who ARTed is an Airwave Media Podcast.Connect with me:Website | Twitter | Instagram | TiktokSupport the show:Merch from TeePublic | Buy me a coffeeAs always you can find images of the work being discussed at www.WhoARTedPodcast.com and of course, please leave a rating or review on your favorite podcast app. You might hear it read out on the show. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest this week is Janet Taylor, an artist and art teacher at the high school and college levels. Find her work and more about her at www.jatayolorart.comIn 1936, Meret Oppenheim was having lunch with friends when they began to joke about wrapping things in fur. She went back to her studio later and wrapped a cup, saucer, and spoon in fur thus creating what many consider to be the quintessential Surrealist sculpture, Object.Meret Oppenheim was a highly talented artist. She moved to Paris at age 18, and she was almost immediately recognized for her brilliance. Artists like Hans Arp and Alberto Giacometti invited her to participate in group shows, Object was inspired by her lunch conversation with Pablo Picasso, and Object was purchased by MoMA. Unfortunately, Oppenheim also struggled with depression and stepped out of the limelight for some period. For over a decade, focused on art conservation work to pay the bills, but ironically destroyed much of the art that she was creating in her own studio. When she did return to exhibiting her work with renewed confidence, her brilliance was again recognized. Although she is largely associated with the Surrealist movement, she also tackled issues of gender in a lot of her work. As she accepted an award from the city of Basel, she said, “I think it is the duty of a woman to lead a life that expresses her disbelief in the validity of the taboos that have been imposed upon her kind for thousands of years. Nobody will give you freedom; you have to take it.”Who ARTed is an Airwave Media Podcast.Connect with me:Website | Twitter | Instagram | TiktokSupport the show:Merch from TeePublic | Buy me a coffeeAs always you can find images of the work being discussed at www.WhoARTedPodcast.com and of course, please leave a rating or review on your favorite podcast app. You might hear it read out on the show. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In November of 1957, a small committee was formed. February 17, 1958, they held the first public meeting of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. That same year, the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament asked the artist Gerald Holtom to create a symbol for the movement. The CND has been at the forefront of the peace movement in the UK and claims to be Europe’s biggest single-issue peace campaign. Holtom’s design though has become one of the most widely recognized symbols on the planet. I am talking of course of the peace sign. More than one peace sign exists. There is a hand gesture comprised of a thumb holding down the ring finger and pinky as the index and middle fingers are splayed to form a “v” In some bit of irony, that hand gesture started on the battlefields of World War II. Allied soldiers held up the gesture signaling “v for victory” and sometime later, anti-war protesters adopted the gesture as a peace sign. The universal symbol developed by Gerald Holtom though, is the other peace sign, the one consisting of a circle with a vertical line down the center and two diagonal lines forming an inverted v shape going from the center of the vertical line down to the bottom portion of the circle. Gerald Holtom made line drawings representing the flag semaphores of N and D for nuclear disarmament then put it into a circle to represent the globe and because let’s face it, the roundness looks nice.This week my FridayFollow Podcast Recomendation is Your Brain on Facts. Check it out at www.yourbrainonfacts.com or on your favorite podcast app.Who ARTed is an Airwave Media Podcast.Connect with me:Website | Twitter | Instagram | TiktokSupport the show:Merch from TeePublic | Buy me a coffeeAs always you can find images of the work being discussed at www.WhoARTedPodcast.com and of course, please leave a rating or review on your favorite podcast app. You might hear it read out on the show. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My guest this week is The Real Michael Lee, a musician, graphic designer, illustrator and comic enthusiast (find him and all his social media at bit.ly/heartrml) . We had a great talk about Jack Kirby, the legendary comic book artist who made contributions to both Marvel and DC among others. Kirby was responsible for the development of several notable characters including The Fantastic Four, Thor, Captain America, Black Panther, and for this episode, we focused on his illustration of The Avengers.At age 14, Jack Kirby enrolled in Pratt. He later said he wasn’t the kind of student Pratt was interested in. They wanted people to work on their projects forever. He didn’t want to work on anything forever - he wanted to get things done. Throughout his career, Kirby was noted to be very fast in his work. He would put out about 5 pages a day.Kirby basically was all over the scene in the golden age of comics. Companies were springing up and going under or morphing into other companies and it seems like he basically worked with, for, or helped create all of them. Jack Kirby experimented with things like romance comics for a more mature audience and I think that wasn’t really breaking any rules because the rules hadn’t even been established yet. His work showed generations of artists how to create compelling visualizations of epic yet relatable heroes.Who ARTed is an Airwave Media Podcast.Connect with me:Website | Twitter | Instagram | TiktokSupport the show:Merch from TeePublic | Buy me a coffeeAs always you can find images of the work being discussed at www.WhoARTedPodcast.com and of course, please leave a rating or review on your favorite podcast app. You might hear it read out on the show. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices