Mark Rothko and Loui Jover

Mark Rothko, a Russian Jew, is an American Painter that is usually associated with the Abstract Expressionist movement. He attended the Parsons New School for Design and at the Art Students League in New York during his early years of his career. Under the instruction of other iconic artists, such as Arshile Gorky and Max Weber, Rothko was connected to the global movements of expressionism sweeping across the United Sates during the early twentieth century. Though his early works were more representational, he is an icon within the fine art community for his later work using the color fields. Evolving from his surrealistic style, these color fields seem to break fin art back into its key components for a given composition. In other words, my appeal to this works is derived from the philosophical connection I have to the work. By creating a piece that does not provide the observer with definitive answers, the observer is open to any direction of thought as well as emotions that the painting may evoke. During the mid-1950’s, Rothko used large canvases for his oil paintings which can further this idea of immersing oneself within the perception of the work. I’m drawn to No.61 (Rust and Blue) 1953, Four Darks in Red 1958, and Untitled (Brown and Gray) 1969 due to their darker shades of color. In a way, I have always appealed to this hidden beauty and elegance framed within darkness and these particular paintings cause me to question and develop my own definition of what is considered to be beautiful and how it is perceived within society. By bringing philosophical dialogue to the fine arts in this way, I believe it opens the door to more constructive conversation that will remain open-ended with plenty of potential as opposed to a political poster that has the sole purpose of pushing for a given opinion.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 






























Loui Jover is a presently working Australian artist that I had discovered through my interactions with the poetry/writer community on social media. This artist’s work is used for background imagery for poetic writing on Instagram routinely and I had finally found the source of the work. Jover claims to be the first original ink on book page artist, but this is simply what Jover is currently interested in working with. Jover takes pages from books and adheres them together to make the canvas for the ink works and paintings. The imagery is not representative of the text on the pages, but the text adds an interesting layer to the work either through the content of the text or just simply having it as an element within the composition. Jover’s pieces are usually on a large scale, which I had found in Rothko’s pieces as well, and the use of color to block out what forms hair or the iris of portraits reminded me of color fields. The works I am drawn to would be Indigo Feel, J’aime Mon Amour, and Transition (limited edition 3 of 5) which is a print (2018). The powerful gaze and bold contrast in color and black ink overwhelm the observer with immense amounts of emotion.  The lines of text interact with the lines of ink dripping down the page, creating movement throughout the piece that can bring the figures to life in a way. Despite this power within the figures and the use of the medium, the paper choice creates a dichotomy. Book pages, which make me connect to classic novels, are rather thin and fragile. This implication due to the paper choice plays into the idea of what it means to be human. To be bold and strong yet balanced with a fragile mortality, or humility.