Man Ray American Visual Artist (1890 - 1976)
The Life of Man Ray - Born August 27,1890 in Pennsylvania - The artist was known in the United States and Europe - He spent his time between Paris, Hollywood and New York - His main influencers were cubism, futurism, dada and surrealism - His career lasted more than 60 years, and he created work until he passed in November of 1976, in Paris.
Man Ray the Artist - Man Ray was primarily a painter but worked in sculpture, film, prints and poetry as well. - He created a version of photograms called Rayographs. - Man Ray was known for these Rayographs and his fashion photography. - He experimented with solarization and cameraless images. He stayed true to his avant-garde way of working - “Rayograms gave Man Ray an opportunity to be in direct contact with his work and react to his creations immediately by adding one layer upon the next layer. He used inanimate objects as well as his own body to create his earlier pictures, and the pictures sometimes have an autobiographical quality, with many of his photographs portraying his lovers.”
Artistic Movements (Surrealism) - He is recognized as having a significant contribution to the Dada and Surrealist art movements (Man Ray Biography). - Most of his work has Surrealist movement undertones , which focused on accessing the untapped creativity of the unconscious mind. - His work also helped popularize Surrealism in the 1920s. EO
Marquise Casati, 1922 - Man Ray was commissioned early in his career to photograph Italian born aristocrat Casati and capture her personal style of messy hair and striking eye s. - This double-exposed image is believed to represent our unconscious desire with reality (Lountzis). EO
Artistic Movements (Dada) - Intent of Dada is to provoke a shock or outrageous emotion. - Man Ray’s contribution to Dada and Surrealism was heavily influenced by his friendship with American-French painter Marcel Duchamp . EO
Les Larmes, (Glass Tears), 1932 Man Ray - In this photo, Ray really exaggerates the typical effect of tears on this woman’s face by using glass beads - It’s thought that because of her upward glance and really accentuated eyelashes , Ray wants to invoke a sense of wonder about her distressful gaze (Larmes). - Inspiration for the piece and the tears are thought to be representational of his recent break up with Lee Miller. EO
1922 Rayographs - He made his “rayographs” without a camera by placing objects such a wire and tacks on photo/light sensitive paper and exposing the composition to light. - This new technique rode a line between abstract and representational as the resulting silhouettes tended to simplify objects. - The process was likened to the avant-garde painters of the time and their unorthodox approach to art, culture, and society (Man Ray). EO
A camera alone does not make a picture. To make a picture you need a camera, a photographer and above all a subject. It is the subject that determines the interest of the photograph." What interests This photo is shot on a me about this backdrop with a single photo is it could light source placed directly be seen today in to the left of the model. a magazine. You can see the corner of the backdrop is worn and there are a few scattered He did work for items on the ground that Vanity Fair and add dimension. It is a Vogue that made long lasting impressions on the fashion industry.
"To create is divine, to reproduce is human." The dimension of this photo draws the attention of the viewer. The texture of the photo is a gradient of smooth lines to a textile material. The assembly of the gears draws your eye around the photogram.
“I would photograph an idea rather than an object, a dream rather than an idea." This solarized print is uniquely captured. He framed the women’s arm to run parallel with the edge of the frame
Women Influence - Interview: "Looking back at your life, what would you say had satisfied you most?" Man Ray: "I think… women." - He was influenced by his many lovers - Ingre’s Violin was his lover for 6 years, an abusive relationship yet when she grew interest in painting he encouraged her - Many of his work of women are cropped and used as “props” such as the Ingre’s Violin which tells us how controlling he was with his lovers
Rayograph (The Kiss) Date: 1922 Location: Museum of Modern Art, NYC, NY The process of this photograph: using photosensitive paper, objects were laid on top and exposed to light. The two heads are pictures silhouettes of his lover at the time and his past lover.
Ingre's Violin Original Title: Le Violon d'Ingres Date: 1924 This piece became popular among many young people at the time. Musicians and fashion designers got tattoos of the music note. Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres's La Grande Baigneuse was an artist that inspired Man Ray with this piece. Ingre’s Violin means hobby and at that time he was portraying his muse, Kiki, as a hobby. Model: KiKi de Montparnasse (his lover for 6 years)
Noire et Blanche (Black and White) This piece was meant to reference the black and white nature of photos. It was taken at a time when African fashions and styles were popular. He uses the contrast between the similar expressions and light and dark color to symbolize the conflict of society. Ray also strategically places one “oval” laying on its side, while the other is straight up.
L’Heure de L’Observatoire: Les Amoureux (Observatory Time: The Lovers) One of Ray’s most memorable works. This piece is frequently parodied in pop culture, such as the logo for The Rocky Horror Picture Show . The piece suggests that the woman is either having a nightmare or a vivid errotic dream. The chessboard is in there because Ray loved playing chess, and he considered the board as a form of order and basis for all art.
Egg and Shell Solarization Solarization was a common technique Ray liked to use. Solarization tends to flatten the tonal range, while simultaneously giving the image a luminosity and the figures a dark black outline.
Untitled Ray also really enjoyed the effects that solarization had. He used it often, sometimes to emulate the effect that it was drawn rather than a photo. Solarization is done when briefly exposing a developing photograph to light.
“To create is divine, to reproduce is human.” -Man Ray EO
Bibliography "Larmes (Tears) (Getty Museum)." The J. Paul Getty in Los Angeles. Accessed January 27, 2018. http://www.getty.edu/art/collection/objects/37756/man-ray-larmes-tears-american-1930-to-1932/. Lountzis, Gerasimos. "The Art of Seeing." Inframe. November 25, 2016. Accessed January 28, 2018. https://www.inframe.gr/single-post/2016/11/25/The-Art-of-Seeing-07. "Man Ray Biography, Art, and Analysis of Works." The Art Story. Accessed January 25, 2018. http://www.theartstory.org/artist-ray-man.htm. Man Ray (American, 1890 - 1976). Femme (Mary Gill). 1930. Harvard Art Museums<br/>Department of Photographs, Fogg Museum, Robert M. Sedgwick II Fund. http://library.artstor.org/asset/AWSS35953_35953_29355855. Web. 25 Jan Man Ray, American, 1890 - 1976. 1925. Clock Wheels. Works on Paper. Place: Yale University Art Gallery, Prints, Drawings, and Photographs, http://artgallery.yale.edu/, Gift of Collection Société Anonyme. http://library.artstor.org/asset/AYALEARTIG_1 Man Ray, American, 1890 - 1976. 1925. Clock Wheels. Works on Paper. Place: Yale University Art Gallery, Prints, Drawings, and Photographs, http://artgallery.yale.edu/, Gift of Collection Société Anonyme. http://library.artstor.org/asset/AYALEARTIG_10312577322. Ray, Man. "Ingre's Violin, 1924 - Man Ray." Www.wikiart.org. January 01, 1970. Accessed January 28, 2018. https://www.wikiart.org/en/man-ray/ingre-s-violin-1924. Ray, Man. "Rayograph (The Kiss), 1922 - Man Ray." Www.wikiart.org. January 01, 1970. Accessed January 28, 2018. https://www.wikiart.org/en/man-ray/rayograph-the-kiss-1922. "Women dominate the frame in Man Ray exhibition." HeraldScotland. Accessed January 28, 2018. http://www.heraldscotland.com/arts_ents/13108588.Women_dominate_the_frame_in_Man_Ray_exhibition/.
Bibliography cont’d "Man Ray | Rayograph | The Met." The Metropolitan Museum of Art, i.e. The Met Museum. Accessed January 28, 2018. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/265487. Man Ray Biography, Art, and Analysis of Works http://www.theartstory.org/artist-ray-man-artworks.htm Finarte: Photographs https://www.artsy.net/artwork/man-ray-egg-and-shell-solarization Exposing the dark side of human nature https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2002/05/29/arts/exposing-the-dark-side-of-human-nature/#.Wm1WPKinHZs "Solarization and Sabattier Class." Print Room. Accessed January 27, 2018. http://theprintroomkl.com/solarization-and-sabatier-effect-class/
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