Genius, the figure of the artist (Art History) (comparative textual Essay

Genius, the figure of the artist (Art History) (comparative textual analysis, 1st yr undergraduate) - Essay Example This paper will discuss the differences of two artists: their works and their words for their works. It will decipher the reality of their art as well as the messages conveyed whether or not the word reflect the art or just a pigment of their imagination. It will be focused on Latin Americans Federico Uribe and Doris Salcedo, both 20th century sculptures. describe and discuss the differences regarding the figure of the artist in each case; Doris Salcedo An artist is usually defined and remembered for their impact as well as their influences that usually will be associated with them even when they deny it. Doris Salcedo, however, emphasized â€Å"the autonomy of the art work† (Merewether, 1180). She defined the art work further as an imposition by a reality such as the Colombian civil war, and that even the artist claimed to have been un-able to choose the themes that inform (1181). Salcedo added that â€Å"The oft-celebrated freedom of the artist is a myth,† (Merewether , 1181). For Salcedo, the artists is like an instrument, and in her case, referred to Lithuanian philosopher Emmanuel Levinas who had to respond to the â€Å"urgency of its assignment† and even the artists cannot make up for being tardy. Salcedo added, â€Å"I am not the one who chooses; my themes are given to me, reality is given to me, the presence of each victim imposes itself,† (quoted by Merewether, 1181). In Unland featuring tables, the familiar becomes strange as another part of a table overlaps the other, like a fallen bridge, that needs to be fixed in order to get to the other end. Salcedo explained that Unland is about tragic heroes or victims of violence who had to endure and that in enduring, they will need to shut themselves up, be mute and silent as in Franz Rosenzweig’s The Star Redemption (Merewether, 1181). In the image or art work, a message is conveyed but only through silence where the viewer can contemplate what is being communicated,  "the experience of the victim as something present – a reality that resounds within the silence of each human being that gazes upon it,† (Merewether, 1181). Here, Salcedo concluded that â€Å"the work of art preserves life† and that it allows another connection and interaction between two people who have different realities (Merewether, 1882). Federico Uribe Federico Uribe’s works provides an interesting mix of color, texture, common disposable objects and curiosity. His is identifiable and unique in a way that he will be remembered once his art was known. One does not need to extract any explanation or description of his work to classify his work as art. An artist, as described by Pressley, transcends time, and â€Å"[is] not to copy servilely, reproducing common nature as in a Dutch still life in all its mechanical facility, but was to strive for nature perfected, le belle nature, which distilled an ideal beauty based on general principles. This high-mi nded art had the ethical purpose of inculcating virtue and the artist increasingly needed to guard against the pitfalls of a commercialized culture that would have pictures cater to private passions (15). Uribe described his initiation as an artist to be a â€Å"very painful process of self-knowledge† as it was clear what he did not want and that his evolution as an artist was sort of a reaction to this denial. Interestingly, Uribe described his works as interplay of words, yet the process of working was slow, tedious and