Saturday, November 18, 2017

your turn no. 10

Starowieyski's Czerwona Magia, 1970s

Anything to say about the polish poster? Pick your favorite, go ahead,

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

I like how there is a sense of familiarity with this painting. At a first glance, my eyes are automatically drawn to the back of the painted skull because of its human-like shape and resemblance. As my eyes traveled a little down to the left, things suddenly take a turn as the almost human appearance is suddenly distorted into more of a bird-like creature. The use of shadowing on the bottom of the bill adds definition and even more life like. I'm not too sure what this poster/ propaganda means or what it's goal was so in that department, to the best of my knowledge I couldn't understand the artist's message in the painting.

-Ethan Punal

Anonymous said...

My favourite Polish posters that we looked at were by Henryk Tomaszweski. I really liked his use of photomontage and how he constructed letters in his work, not using traditional typeface, as it showed a truly unique conception. I thought it was really interesting how all of the posters we looked at seemed kind of scattered and fragmentary, in a surrealist way, referencing the mixed media art it was trying to portray. The fact that many of the posters were for films can be seen in the jagged formation of the posters, especially those of Tomaszweski's, whose one where the lettering spells 'moore' is created from newspaper cuttings. This poster by Starowieyski also contains surrealist elements of the bizarre, the floating human like bird skull is almost dream like in its placement at the centre of the picture plane.

-Charlotte Leseberg Smith

Anonymous said...

Polish poster is not simply bold, but also intellectual. Looking at Walkuski, his use of dark imagery and mystery capture the viewer's attention - almost immediately. Once captivated, the viewer has a tendency to delve deeper into the surrealistic nature of his design. His composition of the unconscious engages the desire of each viewer to understand the complexity and discover a thread - driving home the message of each piece. Continuing on the intellectual play, Starowieyski integrates a touch of playfulness (even with his dark theme). By blending distinct components, his work yields a certain stylistic flow - creating an almost theatrical arrangement. Similar to scenes in theater, his work gives the impression that we’re looking at a snapshot of time. His message is not only conveyed in our current timeframe, but also those we perceive to be preceding and upcoming. I find this hidden layer of messaging to be one of the most interesting pieces of Polish poster design. Walkuski and Starowieyski intelligently weave their message into each piece, leading the viewer to discover the thread.

-Ryan Berkun

Anonymous said...

My favorite polish poster was the Polish movie poster for “Tarpany” by Waldemar Swierzy. The poster immediately reminded me of two things, 1) The “I Dream of Jeannie” title sequences, and 2) 1950s and 1960s Barbie dolls. The almond shaped eyes in conjunction with a sort of fantastical theme reminded me of the “I Dream of Jeannie” title sequence which tells the story of an astronaut in Florida who finds a genie in a bottle and they fall in love, etc. The short hair and almond shaped eyes reminded me of 1950s & 60s Barbie dolls that look strikingly similar. All of these similar depictions of women were produced during the 1960s, so I suppose that the similarities just reflect a common knowledge by all of the artists involved (Swierzy-poster, Matel-Barbies, Freleng- I Dream of Jeannie) of the way that women were typically portrayed during that era, even cross-culturally. Undoubtedly, Swierzy's poster is more fantastical than the barbies or television example, but I found it interesting that a Polish artist would construct an image very similar to American depictions of women at the same time.

-Abbie Auster

Anonymous said...

When I first took a glance at the poster Starowieyski’s Czerwona Magia, I thought it was a sort of bird creature, but when you look closely you can see a totally different aspect. This Polish poster has a human like resemblance with a surrealism effect that makes your eyes go back and forth to the bird and human appearance. If you cover one side of the face, you can see a human head with an ear and glasses, and on the other side a beak of a bird with wave like figures. Starowieyski is a fan of achieving grotesque and metaphorical meanings. His works, like this one in particular, often use ornamental lettering and German like calligraphy. He also likes to use animal bodies with human bodies and deformations with a surprising anatomical accuracy. For Starowieyski the most important aspect of his work was to evoke moods. In this particular poster it gives me a feeling of disturbance and confusion.

-Sara Valbuena

Anonymous said...

What I really enjoyed about last class, is that I learned something I have never heard of before. Even having grown up in Germany -which is basically Polands neighbour- I unfortunately had never learned about the Polish movie posters. But after having seen the Posters, which had been created by several different artists, I really changed my mind.
Something that I found particularly striking was how creative the opening credits, of movies were designed. Previously only with bland writing, thee Polish artists created a visually appealing and artistic expression out of something that was previously not even considered.

One of my favourites, among many, is Victor Gorka’s poster (I love how visually striking his posters, cut as that for the film “Cabaret” is). Moreover, Wieslaw Walkuski’s move posters, for example for “Caligula” are so haunting and shocking, that it leads me to question the purpose of today’s movie posters. Would we ever use such haunting images? Of course, Horror movies facilitate shocking imagery to draw in viewers, but Walkuskis poster for “Danton” is arguably just as shocking and depicts a movie about the french revolution. Has movie, as a form of art, changed from what is was to what it is today? To what extent can you say that today’s movie industry has abandoned the fact that is a “form of art” and is solely focused on commercialism?

-Victoria vFC

Anonymous said...

Why aren’t film posters still this cool? Lenica’s piece that reads, “Alban Berg Wozzeck” is one of my favorites from last class because Lenica had both a surrealist and Dadaist essence. Although Lenica is a master of “slime and gore” I found his posters free and artistic and not scary. His “Teatr Kopernikowi” has fluid and flowing shapes that seem windy. The center of the poster is filled with the more formal shape of a circle that contrasts the the whimsical shapes. Just like the, “Alban Berg Wozzeck” piece Lenica sticks to one color palette. One critique I have of his work is that based on the artwork I would not know what the film is about. Nowadays a movie poster would usually feature the main characters and sometimes the location or a couple props from the movie that clue the viewer into what it is going to be about before seeing a trailer.

- Gracie Tenney

Anonymous said...

After looking through the images that were discussed in class during the last lecture, the one that most captured my attention was Flisak's painting that depicts a gruesome, blubbery face and the skull underneath. It said that his style is referred to as “neglectful” but I think it should be considered more as grotesque but in a good way. The different aspects of it include ugliness, non-aesthetic, casual and fat brushes, and clumsiness that gives off humor. I think what I liked most about this is that the image seems to have a message that demonstrates real life and the ugliness and “casualness” that really is life and visuals.

-camila chediak