1/14/18
Art Analysis:
Alexa Meade "Reverse Trompe-L'Oeil"
Alexa Meade "Reverse Trompe-L'Oeil"
Alexa Meade is a well-known artist who is best recognized for her portraits painted directly on the human body having them appear two-deminsional. She calls her style of painting "Reverse Trompe-L'Oeil" because traditional Trompe-L'Oeil tricks the eye into thinking 2-D art is 3-D. Alexa paints over people and objects and makes it look 2-D. Alexa's work is a combination between installation and photography. "It's really this 3-D world that we're so accustomed to, but just with a little bit of tweaking on it, it appears like something completely foreign. It feels like the world of a two-dimensional painting and something we have such a hard time wrapping our heads around," says Alexa.
Alexa was born in Washington, D.C. but grew up in Chevy Chase, Maryland. Alexa didn't always want to be in artist, she was heading towards the political science path she graduated from Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York, with a bachelor degree in political science. While in college she took an elective art class, the professor asked them to create a sculpture that felt like a landscape but not a sculpture of a landscape. "I had no idea what that meant, and I kept asking for clarification, and he told me it was up to me to figure out.” Alexa began to think about capturing a landscape through its shadows rather than objects itself. “I came up with this idea of putting black paint on the ground where the shadows were,” she says. If not for that teacher her fascination wouldn't have sparked. "I decided to see what it would look like if I put black shadows on the human body. And then painting not only shadows but also a full mapping of light in grayscale, highlights, darks, everything coming together in a mask of paint. Just by creating a mask of light with paint, it completely transformed the space. After I discovered this, I think I just had to leave politics behind and make my job teaching myself how to paint, through the process of inventing this new style of painting.”
A lot of Alexa's pieces have a message to it. One of her pieces that kind of spoke to me is called "Color of Reality" featuring Lil Buck and Jon Boogz. This piece is a bit different from Alexa's other creations because its movement art. The video shows two black men sitting on the couch watching the news. The news is reporting about a police shootings and shootings targeting blacks. Music then gradually starts playing and once the beat drops the black men take turns dancing. "The way the paint dries, it feels like you’re going to crack it if you break character — like if you smile when you’re not supposed to. It’s like putting on a mask. It helped us get more into the world."says Lil Buck. The idea of the video is supposed to be a protest to gun violence in America and its supposed to show how it effects the community. At one point in the story, Lil Buck and Jon Boogz dance out the room. "The way the paint dries, it feels like you’re going to crack it if you break character — like if you smile when you’re not supposed to. It’s like putting on a mask. It helped us get more into the world." Jon Boogz said. The idea of when the walk outside, its suppose to symbolize leaving the "colored world" and walking into reality. When they walk into reality its like they are being ignored or getting negative interactions with people. Walking outside is also a symbolism of people not appreciating art. "The fact that we go out into this other world — we’re trying to keep art alive. We’re in people’s faces trying to get them to really see or to be inspired by us. But people walk right past us or they’re on their phones when we’re right there in their faces. They don’t appreciate us." says Lil Buck. To end the video, you hear gunshots and see that Lil Buck and Jon Boogz got shot. They chose to end it like that to make a powerful statement. They wanted to create a sense of reality, so that as much as you think these problems don't affect you they do.
A lot of Alexa's pieces have a message to it. One of her pieces that kind of spoke to me is called "Color of Reality" featuring Lil Buck and Jon Boogz. This piece is a bit different from Alexa's other creations because its movement art. The video shows two black men sitting on the couch watching the news. The news is reporting about a police shootings and shootings targeting blacks. Music then gradually starts playing and once the beat drops the black men take turns dancing. "The way the paint dries, it feels like you’re going to crack it if you break character — like if you smile when you’re not supposed to. It’s like putting on a mask. It helped us get more into the world."says Lil Buck. The idea of the video is supposed to be a protest to gun violence in America and its supposed to show how it effects the community. At one point in the story, Lil Buck and Jon Boogz dance out the room. "The way the paint dries, it feels like you’re going to crack it if you break character — like if you smile when you’re not supposed to. It’s like putting on a mask. It helped us get more into the world." Jon Boogz said. The idea of when the walk outside, its suppose to symbolize leaving the "colored world" and walking into reality. When they walk into reality its like they are being ignored or getting negative interactions with people. Walking outside is also a symbolism of people not appreciating art. "The fact that we go out into this other world — we’re trying to keep art alive. We’re in people’s faces trying to get them to really see or to be inspired by us. But people walk right past us or they’re on their phones when we’re right there in their faces. They don’t appreciate us." says Lil Buck. To end the video, you hear gunshots and see that Lil Buck and Jon Boogz got shot. They chose to end it like that to make a powerful statement. They wanted to create a sense of reality, so that as much as you think these problems don't affect you they do.
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