FUTURISM The Futurist School of art.

Who were the Futurists? Futurism was a movement that started in Italy in the early part of the 20th century. The Futurists admired speed, technology, youth and violence, the car, the airplane and the industrial city, all that represented the technological triumph of humanity over nature, and they were passionate nationalists. They wanted their artwork to look as modern and “high tech” as possible. High tech from a 1900’s point of view.

"We want no part of it, the past, we the young and strong Futurists!" Filippo Marinetti was the founder of Futurism. He launched the movement in his Futurist Manifesto, in 1909. In it Marinetti expressed a passionate loathing of everything old, especially political and artistic tradition. "We want no part of it, the past, we the young and strong Futurists!"

There are several types of movement and artist can use. The first is the illusion of Actual Movement. This is where the subject matter looks like it is moving. Techniques like motion blur and speed lines are used.

Giacomo Balla Dynamism of a Dog on a Leash

Futurist Photodynamism Using the power and technology of the camera (a technological device) to capture movement speed and energy.

Technique was adopted and adapted by painters (and sculptors) to create the same illusion of movement and/or action on the canvas.

Actual Movement Perhaps the best known piece of Futurist art to capture the illusion of actual movement is by Marcel Duchapm. Nude Descending Staircase.

Does this look familiar?

Does this look familiar?

Does this look familiar?

Francis Bacon… One of the earliest figurative abstract painters in the abstract movement.

Implied Movement Implied movement is creating the illusion of movement where none actually exists. This includes the idea of repetition or multiple frames.

Implied Action Action is different than movement, and meant to express the concept of energy, action and excitement generated by a crowd or industrial machinery. Early photo of the Beatles (often considered a Futurist photo in style).

Eye movement/Direction This is where the artist sets up a composition that directs the viewers eye through the artwork along a desired path. This is similar to subliminal advertising and is also called Direction.

Light Since energy and industrialization were concepts used by the Futurists, light was also a subject of their studies.

As was sound…

Constructivism

Constructivism was an artistic and architectural movement that originated in Russia from 1919 onward which rejected the idea of "art for art's sake" in favor of art as a practice directed towards social purposes.

Black Velvet Painting

Garish images of Elvis, jungle fantasies and religious scenes are common themes in black velvet paintings, a kitsch tradition that gained popularity from the 1950s to the 1970s.

The concept behind drawing on black is the idea of highlights and contrast. The artist lets the black define the shape by creating the area behind the form and adding highlights.

Black velvet painting goes back to the 14th century, when Marco Polo found samples of velvet paintings in Kashmir.

The popularity of American black velvet painting can be traced to the work of one man known as the "American Gauguin" – Edgar Leeteg, a native of California, who lived and painted in Tahiti from 1933-to-1953.

However it has seen a resurgence in popularity since the mid 90’s (due to a rise in interest in “Art Brut”).

Contemporary Artists have created much more sophisticated use of the positive negative interaction. Artist Frank Miller (300 and Sin City) has created an entire career and persona based on the technique (and brought it to new heights).

Notice how the sweater (and hair) has been defined, not by drawing an outline, but by rendering a gray in the sky behind the man (the hair has been further defined by adding highlights).

High speed photography is the “PhotoDynamism” of the 21st century.