Self Identity 1: Affandi

Please print out each of these artworks and make flashcards with the important facts on the other side. Study your cards regularly, adding on as we add new artists and artworks.

Affandi, Self-Portrait, 1975, oil on canvas

What you need to know about Affandi:

Very famous Indonesian Artist.

Life story (in a nutshell): Born to a blue collar worker. Dropped out of school to persue painting. Worked some odd jobs. Painted whenever possible. Joined the Lima Bandung community, an artist community made up of 5 Indonesian painters. He was the leader. Worked with Hundra Gunawan in this community. Made his house into a gallery. Died in 1990.

Inspired by Van Gogh, even though his artwork was created 100 years AFTER Van Gogh

Artwork is done in the Post-Impressionist Style.

Applied paint very thickly DIRECTLY from the tube to the canvas: used his fingers to paint.

His use of COLOR is important. Note the use of WARM colors in the face with MINIMAL COOL colors in the background.

Affandi's work is heavy on color symbolism. Think about what warm colors translate to (anger, happiness). This will help you with your interpretations. While he led a relatively typical life, artists tend to paint with expressive lines to show their emotions.

His use of LINE is important. Lines are curvilinear, wavy, and their direction helps to give definition to Affandi's face. The thickness and direction of the line varies.

Please complete the following for this artwork. Submit via your blog by next week Friday (16th July):

1. Describe this painting. Answer these questions as a guide for ALL painting describing questions (some questions do not apply to every painting):

• What is the artwork an image OF? (What are the identifiable things IN the artwork?)
• Where are these things located IN the artwork?
• Where does the subject of the artwork take place? (in a room, at a festival, etc)
  
• What COLORS are used & what do they look like? (bright, dull, earth tones, etc)
• What type of PERSPECTIVE is used in the artwork?
• How is the paint applied/what texture does it give?
  
• What style or in what way does the artist paint?

1. How does the artist create movement in this artwork?
2. What is your interpretation of this artwork and why? (use the artwork and the artist's history as supporting evidence).