Sunday, May 18, 2014

Egyptian Research

The Discovery of Tutankhamen's Tomb Influenced
Art Deco

The tomb of this young pharaoh who was barely eighteen years old was discovered on the 4th of November 1922 by Howard Carter. A part from the tomb of Tutankhamen Carter finds an amount of treasures, that were not stolen by the grave robbers. 

- Treasures That Were Found In Tutankhamen's Tomb...

Head Piece
Statue of Anubis
Egyptian Pot
God statue
During the discovery of Tutankhamen's Tomb, Art Deco was taking its form. This art period stared in France 1920, artists of that time when they heard about the discovery, they started to produce and manipulate things that are influenced and inspired by Egyptian styles, such as; in their form and even in the use of color, that were Black and Gold. During my research about the influence of Egyptian Art on Art Deco, I found several furniture that could have the influence from the Egyptian Era.

Art Deco Furniture Influenced By Egyptian Era...

Inspiration from the Chair of Nefertiti Queen of
Egypt
   

Using the Mirror Effect That Was Used In Egyptian Building
Influenced From The Egyptian Flowers


 Reference....
 Abbas Chalaby 1981, Egypt, Casa Editrice Bonechi

-Egypt Classic French Art Deco Style S Console [video online] Available at:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mZgPETJVfc: [uploaded on: Uploaded on Jan 17, 2012]

Egyptian Reaserch

The inspiration of John Jones

John Jones, Egyptian Akhnaton Coat 1970 , Inspired
By The Tutankhamen Exhibition In London, 1970 





In the year 1970 the Egyptian Tutankhamen Exhibition was held at the British Museum in London. A Fashion designer, John Jones visited this interesting exhibition and saw objects that were used in Ancient Egypt during the Pharaoh Tutankhamen period such as; Sculptors of bears, Vases, Body adornment, and much more things.

In 1976 John Jones produced an Egyptian Akhnaton Coat costume, that probably as an inspiration he was influenced by the exhibition that he visited in 1970.









- Pattern that were used in John Jones Coat

In this that John Jones designed in 1976 one can notice that he used designs that were used as ornament such as; Tutankhamen Golden Bust Egyptian Flowers, symbols, and Egyptian figures like the wall murals in the temples.

Egyptian Flowers

Tutankhamen Golden Bust


Reference.....
-  Abbas Chalaby 1981, Egypt, Casa Editrice Bonechi

Saturday, May 17, 2014

Egyptian Research

Egyptian Fashion, Gods, and Patterns Influenced The Fashion World

Looking at the ancient fashion of Egyptian Times, one can notice that the type of materials that they used are being used nowadays. Their clothing was created by lines such as coarse and fine textures. Egyptian men also wore short skirts with the same name that was very typical in the old kingdom. Noble woman wore beaded dresses with colored beads that creates an artistic pattern.

Egyptian Fashion
These are clearly shown on the murals that one finds is several temples that show the type of clothing they used. even symbols were painted and human figures representing Egyptian Gods

Egyptian Gods
Egyptian Symbols
Nowadays in our generation fashion designers are getting the inspiration from the Egyptian Gods, Symbols and even the Egyptian Fashion

Egyptian Inspiration
Inspiration from this bust of the queen of
Egypt, Nefertiti 



Reference...

 Ian Crofton 1990, The Guinness Encyclopedia, Gunness Publishing Ltd,1990, The Visual Arts, The Art of the Ancient Near East and Egypt

Egyptian Reaserch

The World of Media Influenced by Egyptian Culture

Media consists different aspects such as; Films, Games, Music Videos and much more. Even media is being inspired and influenced by the Egyptian Culture.

- Films....

Films that are inspired from Egyptian Culture are; The Ten Commandments by Cecil B. DeMill's that was produced in 1952, The Prince of Egypt an animation cartoons produced by Dreamworks, the collection of The Mummy that is combined with The Scorpion King. The two films that are inspired by the same era of Egypt are; The Ten Commandments and Prince of Egypt. these two films shows us a story from the bible, the story of Moses. 





















Another collection of films is called The Mummy that the story continues with an other film called The Scorpion King. The influence of this collection of films is inspired and influenced from the Egyptian gods, Egyptian Believes, and even names of people who lived in the Egyptian era; such as Imhotep.

  



















- Games...
A childhood game I used to play that is produced by NaughtyDog is called Crach Bendicoot that is as adventure game. During the game-play one can notice the decorative walls that are painted in Egyptian styles and even the big monuments like the Sphinx (monuments of pharaohs). these things are manly found in  Egyptian temples and around Egypt.

An example of the Sphinx (monument of Pharaohs)
that represents Neocortex (Character of the Game) 

Example of the wall decoration of Egyptian temples.

Sketch of Game Character with Egyptian
Costume 




Digital Sketch of Game Setting with Egyptian Style
















-Music Video...

A Music Video that Katy Perry did with Juicy J for the song - 'Dark Horse' is as well inspired and influenced from Egyptian Culture. During this Video one can see costumes and gods masks such as; Anubis and Ra, that were used in the Egyptian Era. Even symbols and how the makeup is done under the eye of Katy Perry is influenced from the Eye of Horus (The Udjat).

Katy Perry with the Symbol of The Udjat
under her eye,  Done with Makeup
Costumes and Masks Inspired from
Egyptian Culture












Thursday, May 15, 2014

Egyptian Research

Ancient Wall Murals and Modern Murals

- Egyptian Murals...

Egyptian artists were painting murals on temple walls to show the connection that they had with Religious Rituals. these were done to represent the things they wanted to enjoy doing after life. the Egyptian artists were good in the decorations of the tombs, such as those are found in the Valley of The Kings at Thebes. A technique was used to paint on the surface of the rock or brick, that will be prepared with a smooth layer of plaster. this technique is used in Frescoes.


An interesting Fact that, when artists wanted to draw a human body, they wanted to show each part of the body from it's clear angle. This is a video clip from the documentary of How Art Made The World, that shows us clearly how Egyptian Artists painted the human body in it's clear angles.



- Modern Murals Inspired from Egyptians....

In today's Generation we don't see that type of murals with the technique they used any more. Artists of this generation that design and create murals on street walls are called Graffiti Artists. as one can see these artists are being inspired from Egyptian culture. 



In these two murals one can observe well that the artist who made these was influenced from the Egyptian interior of a Egyptian Temple, and even landscape of an Egyptian pyramids.


This is a Graffiti Artist work, that was inspired from Egyptian times. This is a piece of art that is showing a Pharaoh with an angry expression that is painted in a creative and abstractive look.



Reference...

 Ian Crofton 1990, The Guinness Encyclopedia, Gunness Publishing Ltd,1990, The Visual Arts, The Art of the Ancient Near East and Egypt

- The Body In Ancient Egypt[video online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJbkxns8kvg



    

Egyptian Research


Ancient Egypt

Four and a half thousand years ago, in the south on the north,east tip of Africa an new civilization was taking place, in Egypt. A Greek writer, Herodotus in the 5th Century BC visited this place, and wrote about the three pyramids that are found in the banks of the River Nile and the wanderers that are not found in any other world. During this period Egyptians brought great knowledge to the human race as they discovered many things that are being studied till today.



- Egyptian Symbols....

Many symbols are found in many murals that are found in Egypt. these are very interesting symbols that have a meaning behind them. the most popular two symbols are; The Ankh, and The Udjat (Eye of Horus).

The Ankh.....



The looped cross design is a recognized Egyptian symbol, that means eternal life. Each Egyptian God carry this cross to show that they can give and take life. it was often used on walls and tombs to show and give the sense of the after life and the eternal life of the soul.


The Udjat ( Eye of Horus)


This is also known as the eye of Ra 'Wedjat' that symbolize protection and the royal power, that was used to wear as jewellery. It's powers was linked with the heat of the sun. in this symbol the Egyptians used each shape and form to represent the six senses.



Modern Tattoos....

Nowadays people of this generation are using these symbols as tattoos that are being changed in an abstract look.

Original Design of the Eye of Horus, Tattoo

   
Abstract Design of The Eye of Horus, Tattoo

Reference....
-  Ian Crofton 1990, The Guinness Encyclopedia, Gunness Publishing Ltd,1990, A History of The World, Ancient Egypt

 Ancient Egyptian Documentary - Complete History - 8000 BC to 30 BC - Part 1[video online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KuUMe-43A3E  [Published on Sep 16 2013]
 

Saturday, April 26, 2014

Luciano Micallef

Luciano Micallef is the sixth child of Guzeppi and Kika Micallef, born on the 1st November 1954 in Birkirkara. As he said, he was always gazed and fascinated by the yellow of the delis, the blue of the stroke, the golden yellow of the marigold and the red of the carnations of color.

Luciano first started painting when he was nine years old and boasted of a wonderful collection at his parent’s home which he had made. In his work, Luciano shows a variety of paintings, that as a man shows many expressions of what is going inside him, and through his life, to show and create an argument between the viewer and the painting itself. Taking a brief look at the portfolio of this Maltese artist, one can tell that he expresses himself from different styles of painting by showing portraits of different people, human figures (mostly nudes) and abstract art by using unusual materials, such as waste materials which he collected from the garbage. Apart from painting on canvas, the artist shows his interest in a collection of fourteen sets of Malta postage stamps that he had designed between 1984 and 1996, Murals, and even Structures combining different materials. The influence of Micallef began in 1986 by committing himself to the abstract language. Luciano’s 
work has been inspired from the first half of the 20th Century, which were; Cubism and Abstraction that was organised by two artist of that time, Pablo Picasso and George Braque. By looking at the work of these two artists, one can tell that Luciano Micallef had been influenced by their work. 

The influence that Luciano took from this period of the 20th Century lead him to create and make interesting works by using and combing different types of materials and techniques, with different type of metal such as copper and stainless steel that are corroding by putting acids on them so as to create an artistic effect. These types of techniques are shown in many reliefs that he produced such as; And Life is About Death Too, Slow Down To Save The World, and Tolerance is the answer

Slow Down To Save The World, stainless steel / Plastic on
wood, 80x80 cm, Luciano Micallef,2001

And Life Is About Death Too. Stainless steel / plastic
on wood, 80x80 cm, Luciano Micallef, 2001

Tolerance Is The Answer, copper / stainless
steel on wood, 60x80 cm,
Luciano Micallef, 2001

These three art pieces which I have, chosen are made with the same technique, that of; using copper, stainless steel sheets and wood. Starting from painting the wood, for it to be used as a base then by using the stainless steel, Micallef creates a movement and to do so he used an acid or a liquid to create these types of coloured patches on the metal and finally adding a copper rod to decor it. When looking at this type of art piece, one can observe that the artist is using formal elements, such as Line to give a direction in the way that the metal folds and the copper rod are placed, moreover, a combination of Colour and Textures had been used to show contrast between the background and the stainless steel. Luciano has an extension of abstraction that can also be seen through some sculptural pieces that he worked on but as he says, he considers himself as a painter not as a sculptor.



Reference....

- Emmanuel Fiorention 2006, Luciano Micallef, Midsea Books Ltd, Bank of Valletta plc,