My top 10 pieces of art: 1

Guernica - Pablo Picasso (1937)

I thought long and hard about this, but I think this was a worthy piece of artwork for my top spot.
I'm not normally into Pablo Picasso; I do enjoy his Cubism work and his "Blue Period", but otherwise I find him to be slightly over-rated in my opinion. Not that I'm calling him a bad artist by any means, I just have different taste to the masses I guess!

However, there is one Picasso painting that I consider to be my all-time favourite; Guernica was painted during the Spanish civil war in the late 1930's, and it captures the emotional trauma the war brings.
Closer inspection of the figures shows ghostly figures of humans with gruesome features and frightened frozen faces, but because these humans are killed along with animals, Picasso proves that it's not only humans who suffer, but all form of life do - such is the brutality of war that the innocent often gets punished. There is plenty of symbolism in this artwork - something I often look to find in art - the monochrome colour suggests a bleak outlook and a stark reminded of what impact war really has on life. Another point on the importance of animals in the piece is that they are shown to be deformed and showing the same emotions as humans suffer, and the whole painting just shows chaos and pain at its worst.

I think the scale of the piece should also be taken into consideration - it's massive, and that shows the scale of the devastation, and it's quite impossible for the viewer to detach themselves from the piece. I'd like to see it for myself one of these days.

My top 10 pieces of art: 2

London Calling - Pennie Smith (1979)

We've all seen this photograph. Even if you're not that into music, detest Punk, or have lived under a rock for the last 30-odd years - this is the image that defines Rock and Roll at its most violent and powerful moment.

The photograph nearly wasn't shot at all; Pennie Smith wasn't feeling up to another front row gig with the Punk rockers, but she changed her mind and the world of music was glad that she did. This particular gig, The Palladium in New York City on 21 September 1979 during the "Clash Take the Fifth" US tour, bassist Paul Simonon unleashed his frustration and anger on his bass when the gig was far from a success. One shot was all it took to capture Rock's appeal, and it is one of the reasons why it's included in my top 10. It's a simple photograph, luck had a part to play in the precise timing it required to capture the second before the bass got shattered, the smoky background plays a part in its "red mist" appeal, and the spotlight is focused on Simonon, so you can't help but focus on his bass-smashing antic!

A powerfull photograph - one that'll always be remembered. That's at least one great thing that came out of the Punk movement!

My top 10 pieces of art: 3

Kid A/mnesiac - Stanley Donwood (2000/2001)

I'm cheating a bit here as there's two artwork, but I firmly believe that both of these artworks should be presented together as part of one big outlook of Radiohead's Warp Records phase.

Simply put; this was a drastic change of musical direction from the band's masterpiece OK Computer back in 1997. They were applauded as the saviours of rock 'Post-Britpop' when the likes of Oasis, Pulp, Suede and Elastica etc had ran out of ideas. And so a world tour followed, coupled by the pressures of touring, primary singer-songwriter and lead vocalsist/third guitarist Thom Yorke addmitted to having a breakdown, and so 3 years down the line, with the world of music holding its breath, they returned in 2000 with an album completely devoid of guitars and full of electronic blips, keyboards, and vocals that sound like they were sung in the bath. Commercial suicide? It actually cracked America!

Enough about the music - Kid A's album artwork is that of a cold, seemingly dead world surrounded by iced caps and strange ghostly shapes. For me it represents Kid A's music - an ambient atmosphere compared to pre-Kid A material. Look into the background however, and you can see an errupting volcano, or perhaps just fire looming. Couple this with Amnesiac's artwork, and the connection becomes clear.

Amnesiac was released in 2001 and is often called "Kid A's B-side album". Far from being B-side material, Amnesiac features more promising use of guitars and harsher electronic avant-garde equipments compared to its older brother, so how does the artwork resemble the music?

If Kid A was the "calm before the storm", Amnesiac's artwork is us "within the storm", or in this case, fire. The cover is a harsh red colour of danger (the fire) surrounding the pathetic figure of the bear that weeps in the middle (Stanley Donwood created the Kid A bears in companion to the album's release) Another case of looking into the artwork carefully to examine all the little details that really bring out the hidden meanings.

My top 10 pieces of art: 4

The Persistance of Memory - Salvador Dali (1931)

Salvador Dali is my favourite artist, simply because his art is so bizarre that it's refreshing for an artist to image the world through his imagination, rather than be restricted by sight. Here we see a dream-like landscape, as the shapes are irregular and the colour vivid and almost "wax-like". There are many symbolizing moments in this painting, which I'll go thorugh...

The most obvious imagery is the melting clocks of course. For me, it signifies the slowing of time, or how it seems to dissolve around us. There's two above seemingly dead objects, such as the dead bark and the strange object on the ground. This is what happens when time eventually catches up with us - a bit of a harrowing conclusion maybe, but it's one that everyone must face.

The cliffs in the background are those that surrounds Dali in real life near his home in Spain, so there is some degree of reality in this bizarre painting. Maybe it's just me, but I find this artwork to be one of his "tamer" work in comparison to some of his wilder counterparts; like the Lobster Telephone for example, or even the Lip Couch, but when I think of Dali I think of this wonderfully weird masterpiece.

My top 10 Pieces of art: 5

"I'm not mad. Just leave me alone". Well, that's a nice image to open this post isn't it? This is actually Radiohead's "Just" music video - a video famous for its mysterious character laying down on the road who refuses to move, citing that if everyone knew what he knew, they would want to lay on the ground too - or so the director would have you believe...

This isn't my favourite music video, but it's the one I keep coming back to. It's simple yet effective, and leaves you feeling amused and perhaps slightly frustrated afterwards!
It begins simply with the mystery man in question just lying on the road, when a passer-by trips over him...


Asked why he's lying there, the man simply replies the usual "Leave me alone" and "go away" etc - a clear sign that he wants to be left alone. But as the gathering crowd circle and even a showing of curiosity from Radiohead themselves playing in a room above the scene, the man finally lets loose about what's troubling him, but as he confesses, the subtitles are gone, thus making it impossible for us to know what he's saying. Even to this day, the band refuse to give the answer away, saying it would deaden the impact!
And the following scene...


...everyone is lying!
This video brings out our curious side that has rarely been used in music videos. For once, the music video is just as good (if not better) than the song itself!
It's not exactly groundbreaking in any way, but it's an enjoyable video to watch, as long as you can endure Thom Yorke's dodgy carrot-mop. Radiohead have plenty of great videos; from the majestic Street Spirit, which uses slow motion techniques, to the recent House of Cards video, which only uses no cameras whatsoever - only lasers to pin point solid objects.
For me though, Just comes out on top not just because of its simplicity, but because it's so effective aswell. I don't think I want to know the answer to be honest!

My top 10 pieces of art: 6

The Great Wave off Kanagawa (神奈川沖浪裏) Hokusai (1829-1832)

The Great Wave is a colour woodcut carved by the Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai and is one of the most famous Japanese artwork in history. The image is of a large "okinami lit" wave that batters the coast of Kanagawa, threatening the boats off the coast. I've often had a fascination with the Japanese culture - I find their artwork to represent beauty and purity - but one of the main attractions to this particular piece was how Hokusai managed to represent Japan in one piece; the symbolic peak of Mount Fuji - which is thought to mean "immortal" or "never-ending", the treacherous weather conditions that's similar to the Tsunami wave, the fishing boats, and the almost animated appearance of the whole piece.

One of the main attractions of this for me was how Hokusai managed to make the wave peaks look like menacing hands and fingers that are waiting to strike the boats, and the immense detail that goes into the design. We can see that these waves are very overpowering and menacing in nature, but because of its animated nature it resembles more of a historical document than a real-time artwork. This isn't a criticism, and it is part of the charm on why I'm attracted to the artwork.

Also, the design itself looks like a cartoon than an actual woodcarving. It looks like it was designed ahead of its time; it wouldn't look out of place in a present animated film!

My top 10 pieces of art: 7

Banksy is a controvertial figure in modern British art; it's impossible to ignore him, given that he draws on nearly every bit of public surface that he wishes to. I'm personally a fan of Banksy's work, because he makes up his own political (or non-political like this picture here is) art with a witty twist attatched.

See this flower design here;
It is a simple design; take yellow paint and continue the road markings up a wall so that it plays around with road markings. It's simple, but so effective because he plays ar0und with society's starndard rules of road markings.
Banksy's fame is also derived from the fact that he's virtually unknown - we know nothing about him (or her) and that is what appeals to me - he could be the guy sitting next to you on the bus on your way to work, or a fitness freak at the gym. Whoever they are, it gives the chance for us "regular folk" to say out loud in art form about what we really think of the world around us. Not everyone agrees with what he draws, and not everyone agrees that drawing on public property is such a good idea! We live in a world that is dominated by the celebrity culture, so it is refreshing to see an artist wanting to remain in the shadows, while it's his work that gets all the attention.

Another attractive element to Banksy's work is that they work with the elements around them, and in some cases those artwork are then a part of the landscape -

I doubt we'll see this wall in its regular state again! Even if we do get rid of Banksy's work, the message imprinted will never be forgotten.

My top 10 pieces of art: 8

The Velvet Underground & Nico - Andy Warhol (1967)

'The Velvet Underground & Nico' is one of my favourite albums, but a part of that appeal is in the artwork. The original cover had an interactive banana that invited people to "Peel off and see" what was under, which resulted in a flesh-coloured banana underneath. Such covers were unique and expensive in the 60's, but MGM considered it to be cheap in the long run given Warhol's huge popularity.

Warhol also collaborated with the band's live shows - creating a psychedelic stage show with lights and effects to make the music really come to life. The album was largely ignored on release, but its lasting influence is massive. Their early live shows paved the way for modern stage shows, and a large part was thanks to Warhol.

Back to the album cover, and even though it's very simple, it is that simplicity that I'm drawn to - a banana is a funny image and totally unrelated to the music, but it was an unique cover that showed the industry you didn't need to be overly serious with music.

Warhol also influenced a range of artists - one of whom was David Bowie, a huge hero of mine. Because of his connections with the 60's/70's music scene, he had a certain "cool" factor about his work that no other artist has yet to capture.

My top 10 pieces of art: 9

Fighting Forms - Franz Marc (1914)
Oil on canvas, 91 x 131 cm

For my GCSE project I studied the artwork for the Expressionist movement, but I wanted the body of work to be vibrant and busy that also had a unique characteristic to it, as our theme was "Happiness". I found the perfect genre of art and I was influenced by the German movement; Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider). The movement lasted from 1911 to 1914, fronted by Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee, Albert Bloch and Franz Marc amongst others. I was more drawn to Marc's work because of his portrays of horses and creatures in the wild.

Bringing nature to life is why I love this movement; the colours reminiscent the Fauvism movement - another movement in which I admired. I like the idea of manipulating the colours we see in reality and making them even more extreme, and there was a sudden burst of energy that I was able to feel coming out of Marc's work. It was like looking into a fantasy land that had no rules on how the laws of physics affected everything.



Take this image here; The Flight of The Animals. It is hard to decipher immediately what's going on.

I think it's a very powerful imagine taking the fact that it's mostly coloured in basic primary colours that normally associates with youth and childhood, but Marc takes these basic colours and creates something quite explosive and dramatic. The figure of the painting is bold and direct, but that element is a complete contrast to my 9th favourite piece - Fighting Forms.

Fighting Forms feels much more organic and fluid; with much more emphasis on energy. However, it is possible to make out that the red side of the "form" is an eagle, but heavily abstracted, which joined with the fact that Marc based his work firmly in the Abstract genre by this time. It was also a reaction at the possibility of War in the near future - which marks a dramatic departure from his normally nature-heavy artwork.