Three dimensional art forms and practices

Art

Woman Addressing the Public

Joan Mir, a Spanish artist who lived from 1893-1983, painted this work. He sculpted this work, "Woman Addressing the Public: Project for a Monument" in 1980-81, only two years before his death, in the late 1620s, in a very modernistic, surrealistic style. It is sculpted in bronze, sized 12 ft. 2-1/2 in. x 8 ft. (372.1 x 243.8 cm). The Kimbell Art Museum acquired the piece in 1996, and it stands at the entrance to the museum.

This arresting three-dimensional sculpture is a modernistic figure of a woman with her arms outstretched, supposedly addressing a crowd of onlookers. It also looks as if she were going to embrace them. Her massive "feet" and legs dominate the piece, and it is larger than life, and a good way to greet people arriving at the museum. The line and motion of the piece is all curves and rounded lines, while the overall shape is tall, but rounded, too.

It would not seem that a sculpture would have motion, but this piece does have it in the very design of the piece. The way the arms are outstretched it seems as if the woman is reaching out at that very moment, and this feeling of motion carries the piece and makes it more interesting. What is also interesting is that the motion gives the piece a feeling of lightness, while the actual foundation of the piece is extremely heavy and even awkward. Taken together, the mass of the piece is less noticeable and more appealing somehow.

The lighting of this work of course depends on the natural light surrounding it, and yet it has a light of its own. The shiny black reflects the light, while the bronze piece in front reflects the light even more and draws your eyes to the center of the piece. Even on a cloudy day, this piece has its own form of lighting, which is very interesting to see. The light value of the piece is not bright and shiny, but rich and detailed, and that makes it somehow easier on the eyes somehow.

The texture and pattern of this work at first appears totally smooth, but as you look more deeply at it, there is texture and pattern in the black areas, as though the artist smoothed some areas and textured others to create patterns and more visual appeal. The bronze piece on the front is textured or hammered, too, adding another depth of pattern and texture to the work. There is not a lot of intricate detail on the piece, but for some reason it seems detailed, anyway, perhaps because of the size of the piece.

Because this is a three-dimensional work, there is a feeling of space and depth to the piece, too. In fact, the figure seems to be frozen in a moment in time, and commands the space around it. The bronze "shield" on the front in concave, and so gives additional depth and a three-dimensional quality to the piece, and so does the hole in one of the legs. This is not a massive sculpture, but it seems larger than it is because of the use of space and depth to create a fuller, more complete piece of art.

The artist definitely wanted to convey a childlike quality in this piece. It seems Picasso may have been an influence on this artist, and he himself once said, "Form for me is never something abstract,' Mir once said. 'It is always a token of something....'" (Danto). This particular form is a token for women, for the public, and for greeting, and so, the artist conveyed his feelings and emotions quite well in this piece. It has its own form of emotion, which makes it even more arresting to the viewer.