Art Criticism!!

"Spirit 200" Jane Ash Poitras

In my last post, I didn't post anything except a mixed media painting. The painting is called "Spirit 2000" by Jane Ash Poitras, Although I don't know when this painting was created, I do know more. This painting is a 36x24 mixed media on canvas. In the painting there are many colours that range from blues, to reds, and yellows. Many of the colours used contrast against each other. Some objects in this painting are, a lady in the middle, she is kneeling and holding what looks like a crutch in her left hand, and the right hand is holding the top of the crutch. In this painting there is also the name of the painting written in cursive near the top of the canvas, and some writing in the bottom right corner that I cant decipher. The lines in this artwork are both strong, and rough, and most of them look, and give the feel that they are fuzzy. The colours of the lines are Blue, Red, Orange, and White.

The focal point in this artwork is the picture of the lady in the middle. This artwork is asymmetrical because the designs on the painting are not the same on ether side. I feel like the light is coming from the bottom right corner, because the corner is white, then light blue, then it fades into dark colours. The darkest area in the art is the top left corner. I think this because the corner is the darkest shade of blue in the entire painting and the colours fade darker, the closer they are to the top left corner. This painting shows shallow space, meaning that you can't see very deep into the painting, and there isn't much depth. Some repetitive parts  in this artwork are, rectangles, and a figure that spans across the bottom of the painting, that resembles a child.


In all honesty I have no idea what is going on in this painting, or what the artist is trying to say in the painting , but what I do know is that the artist was NOT concerned with making anything in the painting lifelike (accept for the lady of course). The mood in this painting is very sad and depressing, I think this because the colours are dark and faded almost, and also the fact that the photo is old and in black and white. Because the painting is very "all over the place" with how the lines and designs are very asymmetrical, I think the artist did this on purpose to give the feel of insecurity, and unbalance. I feel that the title of the artwork does tell you what the painting is about. "spirit 200" I assume is directed toward the lady in the photograph.


Some words i think go with this painting are

• Sadness
• depression
• calming
• strength
• loneliness
• exhaustion

 Things that best describe this painting are; Emotionalism and formalism. I think this because the painting has very strong ways of conveying sadness and loneliness in ways that are very subtle. I also think that the artist makes you very aware of the shapes and lines by making them contrast form the background colours, by choosing brighter and bolder colours. Personally I really love this painting because its a kind of style i haven't really seen before and it stood out from all the other art we looked at.