Signifier

@signifier.bsky.social

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quality writing on : art : design : media also The Signifier : six : shot : gallery 🌐 https://medium.com/signifier Editor & Curator: @remydean.bsky.social‬

illustration of wood mushrooms by Beatrix Potter
photograph from ‘Subway’ (1994) cosplay performance by Mariko Mori in which she is dressed in a futuristic silver suit on board a train
‘(32) Campbell’s Soup Cans’ (1962) by Andy Warhol - a series of paintings arranged in a 4x8 grid
photograph (ambrotype) by Ukai Gyokusen of two women in traditional Japanese clothing - the surface of the image is crazed with many cracks and blemishes
‘Still Life’ (1955) by Giorgio Morandi is an arrangement of reductionist forms painted in a pale chalky palette
‘Linde von der NĂŒrnberger Burgbastei bei der Walburgis Kapeller / Linden Tree from the Nuremberg Castle Bastion Near the Walpurgis Chapel’ (c.1494) a watercolour study by Albrecht DĂŒrer - further description and analysis in article via link in post
French poster and still image of a hand covered in ants from the film ‘Un Chien Andalou’ (1929)
three still-lifes by Joe Plaskett depicting arrangements of flowers, fruits, vases, etc. The colours and treatment of light lend an airy brightness to the compositions - paintings photographed by Rodrigo Sarrat-Cave
‘Ghost’ (1990) by Rachel Whiteread, negative space ‘fossilised’ - the interior room of a house cast in concrete and standing in a gallery space
'Landscape, Nice France' (1956) a colourful semi-abstract painting of a seaside scene by Helen Frankenthaler
three images: 'At the Moulin Rouge’ (c.1893) detail of a painting by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec featuring one of Michael Thonet’s bentwood chairs; an original three-legged ‘Ant’ designed by Arne Jacobsen displayed in the Copenhagen Design Museum; Christina Keeler photographed by Lewis Morley in 1963 with the iconic №7 ensuring modesty is maintained.
‘Poussiùre de soleil / Sun Dust’ (1954) by Jean-Paul Riopelle - an abstract expressionist style painting
This precise, 'wavy zebra striped' piece was used as the catalogue cover for The Responsive Eye, a highly influential and well-publicised exhibition at New York's Museum of Modern Art in 1965, where works by Bridget Riley hung alongside others by Josef Albers and Victor Vasarely, fellow pioneers of the style.
three examples from a series of humorous postcards on the theme of the Land of Cockaigne by Oskar Herrfurth (1862–1934) for Uvachrom (series 354, nos. 5086 to 5091), published in the 1920
a smiling man in brown suit jacket sits while using the Picturephone booth to call his daughter who can be seen on a screen
an overly abundant ‘Still Life with Fruit and Flowers’ (1714) - a photo-realist painting by Rachel Ruysch
a colourful landscape painting by Gabriele MĂŒnter, ‘The Blue Mountain’ (1908) uses expressive colour and form while remaining grounded in realism - further analysis in article via link in post
sequence of 12 black and white photographs showing ‘The Horse in Motion’ (1878) by Eadweard Muybridge
Ennis House interior photograph ©Andrew Pielage
David Hockney wearing a splendid cheque tweed jacket, red tie, and flat cap, standing in front of one of his large vibrant landscape paintings
Joseph Beuys, ‘Evolution’, 1974. Reproduction of a chalk board drawing. Courtesy of Volker Harlan
two images: panel from ‘Electorium Parvum seu Breviculum de Raimundus Lullus’ (c.1321) showing two figures in conversation - their words fill the 'air'between them in streams of text; cover of the first issue of ‘Action Comics’ (1938) sowing Superman lifting a car.
photograph of a huge building-sized screen artwork on a night street scene - the patterns of lights echo speech overheard from passers bye in the busy main street below
two miniatures attributed to Levina Teerlinc (both c.1550–60s): unknown, but thought to be Elizabeth I before coronation and either a portrait of Elizabeth I or Lady Katherine Grey.
'The Fifty-three Stations of the Tƍkaidƍ: View of Kanagawa from the Heights' (c.1834) woodblock print by Hiroshige of a harbour town and several boats on the sea
this version of Wim Delvoye’s ‘Cloaca’ is on permanent display at the Museum of Old and New Art in Hobart, Tasmania, it is a large apparatus in a studio like setting with a series of large glass vessels connected by pumps and piping
‘Wilder Shores of Desire’ by Marc Quinn [photographed at Yorkshire Sculpture Park in 2018 by Remy Dean] is a large white sculpture of an orchid flower
detail from one of the interiors of the Peter Zumthor and Louise Bourgeois installation in the landscape: 'Memorial to the Victims of the Finnmark Witchcraft Trials' (2011) - a flames burns on a chair, beneath a circle of circular mirrors
a black square painted onto a white square canvas
‘Bibemus Quarry’ (1895) painted by Paul CĂ©zanne with strong diagonals & cuboid forms, contrasting with more organic tree forms in a distinctive colour palette of reddish browns and sage greens... more analysis in article via link in post
detail of the painting ‘The Archdukes Albert and Isabella Visiting the Collection of Pierre Roose’ (1621–23) by Hieronymus Francken II and Jan Brueghel the Elder. Collection of the Walters Art Museum - "you can see in the detail image, a dog’s face is slightly distorted. If you look closely, you can see that it appears to have two faces: one looking forward and to our left, and the other looking up to the right..." there is also a monkey and a potted plant in the foreground
Harry Beck’s original map concept for the London Underground, drawn in 1931
Double portrait of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera. Original black and white photograph (1934) by Martin Munkacsi.
a photograph by Clementina, Lady Hawarden of one of her daughters side-sitting on the floor near a large window, resting her arms and head upon a chair and seemingly deep in thought
a near monochromatic orange canvas that has been pierced repeatedly in horizontal rows - art by Lucio Fontana - further analysis and description in article via link in post
1991 BMW 525i painted by Esther Mahlangu
detail of the painting by Frida Kahlo of whole and sliced watermelons with text carved into the foremost wedge - further description and analysis in article via link in post
three promotional images: for the films ‘The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex’ (1939) and ‘The Virgin Queen’ (1955), both starring Bette Davis, and ‘Elizabeth R’ (1971) starring Glenda Jackson
‘Primavera’ (c.1482) famous painting by Sandro Botticelli showing a group of allegorical figures in an orange grove - fuller analysis and detailed description in article via link in post
works by Giuseppe Penone at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park in 2018, photographed by Remy Dean: a disembodied ark grips a tree trunk that has grown around the hand's grip and a leafless tree supports a sphere, looking rather like a large football lodged in its branches... further descriptions and analysis in article via link in post
detail of the Mona Lisa - only the famous enigmatic smile
painting from 1765 by Francesco Guardi depicting a gondola in the foreground of a large area of lagoon with a distant set of walled islands in on the horizon and a pale, egg-shell blue sky filling the top third of the composition - further detailed description and analysis in article via link in post
a colourful, 'childlike' drawing of a bird, added over a collaged fragment, that also has within its form a simple fish and face.
detail of a motif depicting a coiled and winged dragon from lithographs printed in 1831 based on drawings by Augustus-Charles Pugin
detail of the painting showing a group of men from different walks of life reacting to their inevitable death - the most prominent figure wears a white shirt and raises his arms - the firing squad is cut-off in this detail - morre description and analysis in article via link in post
the same black and white photo by Daidƍ Moriyama printed in mirror image, facing left and facing right "The dog is old, its fur is matted, it is fending for itself, but it is still a fine animal with dignity and a real presence" - further description and analysis in article via link in post
image of the painting divided into quadrants by dotted blue lines to indicate symbolic sections - part of an infographic by Samuel Belleville-Douelle
‘Spring in Town’ (1941) an idealised painting by Grant Wood of a shirtless man digging a plot of land with a woman hanging sheets on a washing line and a child playing in the background the image is distorted as if through a wide angle lens and the buildings, including a house and more distant church, are simplified and toy-like
illustrations in the manga / anime style of five famous Vocaloids: Kagamine Rin, Kagamine Len, GUMI, Hatsune Miku & Megurine Luka [a graphic constructed using promotional images]
‘Lady Lillith’ (1868) detail of a painting by Dante Gabriel Rossetti of a woman combing her abundant red hair surrounded by floral symbolism - more description and analysis in article via link in post
‘Painting (The White Glove)’ (1925) and ‘Painting on Masonite’ (1936) - two markedly different moods of abstraction from Joan Miró - further analysis and descriptions in article via link in post
two promotional lobby cards showing gladiatorial combat in the famous scene from ‘Spartacus’ (1960) starring Woody Strode and Kirk Douglas
'Nativity' and 'Last Supper' panels by Giotto for 'Capella degli Scrovegni' (c.1305) - further description and analysis in article via link in post
Artist-endorsed replica of ‘3 Standard Stoppages’ made in 1964, now in the Tate Collection - three wooden shapes, a wooden box they they would fit in, three long dark blue canvases with lengths of string mounted on them with slight curves that fit the shapes cut into the lengths of wood...
scientific illustrations showing the metamorphosis of the Garden Tiger moth, its plant host, and parasitic wasps, and life cycle of the Dark Tussock moth on its host plant, the dandelion (both published 1679)
‘Ploughing on the Nevernais’ (1849) by Rosa Bonheur - a photo-real painting of two teams of six oxen pulling ploughs, tended by the ploughmen, in an idyllic countryside.
description taken from article via link in post: "Alma Pihl’s Winter Egg was carved from rock crystal and decorated with platinum snowflake motifs and lines of tiny rose diamonds (4,500 in all), which glittered like trails of ice in sunlight. It was presented on a base of rock crystal carved to depict a block of melting ice. Inside the hinged egg was a small trellis basket made of platinum, containing wood anemones fashioned from quartz, gold, and garnet, with leaves of nephrite, nestled on a gold moss base..." more analysis and information in article via link in post
detail of the painting ‘Self Portrait With Cropped Hair’ (1940) by Frida Kahlo shows the subject seated and wearing a men's grey suit - details description and analysis in article via link in post
detail of the painting ‘La Pittura, Self-Portrait as the Allegory of Painting’ (c.1638) by Artemisia Gentileschi shows a woman in a green dress with her right arm raised holing a delicate brush in hand - her dark hair is tied up and back, casually.
two grey earplugs made from felted grey dust by artist Cornelia Parker