Thursday, May 21, 2020
Tuesday, May 19, 2020
Talking Heads Tour, Part Three
We visited this work of art for our final stop of the Talking Heads tour.
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| Roy Lichtenstein, Head with Blue Shadow, 1965 |
Look at the expression on her face. How do you think she might be feeling? What makes you think so?
The artist Roy Lichtenstein is known for his paintings that are inspired by comic books. Comic books were printed with tiny colored dots called Benday dots.
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Roy Lichtenstein, American (1923-1997). Oh, Jeff...I Love You, Too...But…, 1964. © Estate of Roy Lichtenstein. Collection Simonyi. |
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| Detail of Prince Valiant comic from 1938 |
In the Nasher's sculpture, Lichtenstein takes his painting style and makes it three-dimensional. Head with Blue Shadows, like many of his paintings, is almost entirely primary colors: red, yellow, and blue.
We used our imagination to think about the woman in this portrait. What kind of person is she? Where does she live? What are her favorite hobbies? Then we drew one of the following: her home, vehicle, pet, or outfit/shoes and added primary colors and stickers.
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Friday, May 15, 2020
Talking Heads Tour, Part Two
We visited this sculpture at our next stop of the Talking Heads tour. How is it different from the first two we saw? How is it similar?
First, we copied the sculpture's pose.
The third graders also sketched the sculpture.
The artist Naum Gabo used flat pieces of stainless steel to make this sculpture. Gabo was interested in exploring new materials, especially materials that had recently been invented. At the time that he made this, stainless steel was not considered an art material. Which sculpture from our last stop was also made of stainless steel?
Gabo often made many versions of the same subject. There are three smaller versions of Constructed Head No. 2 made of cardboard, galvanized iron, and plastic (one is in the Dallas Museum of Art's collection). He also enlarged his idea – in other words, he took the small version and made a larger one. In fact, he made four large versions. The Nasher's sculpture is the only one made of stainless steel.
The third graders imagined posing for a sculpture again, this time showcasing more of their spirited personalities!
Before moving on to our next stop, the fifth graders passed around a raised drawing of a different sculpture. They took turns running their fingertips over the drawing without looking at the picture. Then, they looked across the gallery and pointed to the sculpture they would visit next, based on what they felt in the drawing.
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| Naum Gabo, Constructed Head No. 2, 1916 (enlargement 1975) |
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| 3rd grade |
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| 5th grade |
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| 3rd grade |
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| 3rd grade |
The artist Naum Gabo used flat pieces of stainless steel to make this sculpture. Gabo was interested in exploring new materials, especially materials that had recently been invented. At the time that he made this, stainless steel was not considered an art material. Which sculpture from our last stop was also made of stainless steel?
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| 5th grade |
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| 5th grade |
Gabo often made many versions of the same subject. There are three smaller versions of Constructed Head No. 2 made of cardboard, galvanized iron, and plastic (one is in the Dallas Museum of Art's collection). He also enlarged his idea – in other words, he took the small version and made a larger one. In fact, he made four large versions. The Nasher's sculpture is the only one made of stainless steel.
The third graders imagined posing for a sculpture again, this time showcasing more of their spirited personalities!
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| 3rd grade |
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| 3rd grade |
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| 3rd grade |
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| 3rd grade |
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| 3rd grade |
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| 5th grade |
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| 5th grade |
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| 5th grade |
Wednesday, May 13, 2020
Talking Heads Tour, Part One
So...I accidentally skipped writing about the 3rd and 5th graders' second tour, Talking Heads. Oops! 😆 Let's travel back in time to last fall.
Vocabulary:
We put on our (imaginary) debate caps at our first stop. After dividing into partners, one partner wrote down all the ways that the sculptures below are similar. The other partner wrote down all the ways that the sculptures are different. Then, we used our observations to debate whether the two artworks had more in common or more differences. What do you think?
Who do you think the people represented in these sculptures could be? What are some clues that tell us who they are?
On the left is a portrait of a person named Hiawatha, who lived almost 500 years ago (works of art based on real people are called portraits). Hiawatha is known for helping to unite five different groups of indigenous peoples to create the Iroquois Confederacy. Hiawatha and a woman named Jigonhsasee helped spread the message of a man known as the Great Peacemaker. Together, they encouraged the different fighting groups to make peace and work together.
To make this sculpture, the artist Jess combined different things that he found or collected, also called found objects. A found object is a natural or man-made object, or fragment of an object, that is found or sometimes bought by an artist. You might think of this sculpture as a 3-dimensional collage. Another word you might use is assemblage.
On the right is a portrait of King Louis XIV of France. Louis lived 300 years ago and was king for 72 years, the longest of any king in Europe! He believed he was the best and only choice for king of France.
Louis had many paintings and sculptures made of him. He wanted his portraits to look strong, young, brave. Some clues that this sculpture is of Louis XIV are his fine clothing and signature hairstyle. The artist Jeff Koons cast this sculpture from stainless steel.
Before we moved to our next stop, we imagined how we might pose if an artist made a portrait of us, showing that we were strong leaders. How would you pose?
Vocabulary:
portrait / retrato
found object / objeto encontrado
assemblage / el montaje
pose / la pose
primary colors / colores primarios
We put on our (imaginary) debate caps at our first stop. After dividing into partners, one partner wrote down all the ways that the sculptures below are similar. The other partner wrote down all the ways that the sculptures are different. Then, we used our observations to debate whether the two artworks had more in common or more differences. What do you think?
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| 3rd grade |
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| 3rd grade |
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| 3rd grade |
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| 3rd grade |
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| 3rd grade |
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| 5th grade |
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| 5th grade |
On the left is a portrait of a person named Hiawatha, who lived almost 500 years ago (works of art based on real people are called portraits). Hiawatha is known for helping to unite five different groups of indigenous peoples to create the Iroquois Confederacy. Hiawatha and a woman named Jigonhsasee helped spread the message of a man known as the Great Peacemaker. Together, they encouraged the different fighting groups to make peace and work together.
To make this sculpture, the artist Jess combined different things that he found or collected, also called found objects. A found object is a natural or man-made object, or fragment of an object, that is found or sometimes bought by an artist. You might think of this sculpture as a 3-dimensional collage. Another word you might use is assemblage.
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| Left: Jess, Hiawatha,1962 Right: Jeff Koons, Louis XIV, 1986 |
Louis had many paintings and sculptures made of him. He wanted his portraits to look strong, young, brave. Some clues that this sculpture is of Louis XIV are his fine clothing and signature hairstyle. The artist Jeff Koons cast this sculpture from stainless steel.
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| 3rd grade |
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| 5th grade |
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| 3rd grade |
Wednesday, May 6, 2020
Monday, May 4, 2020
Hugs from the Nasher!
Hi GROW friends! I hope everyone is happy, healthy, and safe at home. I can't believe three whole months have passed since I last saw your smiling faces. Actually, I can believe it, because I really miss seeing you all!
I still have lots of pictures to share from our GROW tours and will start sharing them this week. Check back often for pictures, videos, and other fun stuff.
And please add comments or questions on any of the blog posts. I'd love to hear from you!
Sending you virtual hugs ~
Ms. Melissa
P.S. I thought you might like to see the newest addition to our family. Please say hi to our new dog Jojo!
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