Art Analysis Mark Ryden Saint Barbie

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For this assignment I chose Mark Rydens painting Saint Barbie. I chose this artist for his surreal "cutesy" style and this painting for the feminine symbolism and motifs.



About the Artist

Mark Ryden is an American born painter and his artistic style can be categorized in the "pop surrealist" or "lowbrow surrealist" movement. This art movement contains depictions of impish characters with a sense of humor for the subject matter.


Color and Tone

This paintings hues are reds,purple,orange,pink and whites with a little bit of brown. The focus of pink, red and purple with varying intensity and saturation would represent the colors that are often found in children's products, specifically girls toys such as the Barbie line and would make sense in this world the paintings created where a little girls worship idol would be a Barbie doll. 


Line and Shape

The shapes and lines in the painting are structured in a way to have your eye look at the Barbie idol at a first glance. The eye in the flower, the young girl and even the Ken butterfly in the top left are all pointing towards the Barbie Idol. Along with the Barbie Idol being the biggest image of the piece with her halo effect and pink cloud the viewer sees Barbie as important as the little girl. I also think its interesting with further examination you can see that Barbie's silhouette matches the dress the little girl is wearing symbolizing the body standards that are implemented into young girls. 


Pattern and Texture

The painting has natural patterns of the trees, clouds and and flower with a feminine touch such as the stone path having heart and star stones and the ken butterfly having a polka dotted pattern. The texture that appears in the painting is soft and blurred in the background to give the illusion that the Barbie idol and little girl appear further in front of the painting 


Works Cited 

  Elements of Art/Design and Principles of Design/Organization, flyeschool.com/content/elements-artdesign-and-principles-designorganization.

Mark Ryden, Saint Barbie www.markryden.com/paintings/two/index.html.

“Mark Ryden.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 11 Jan. 2021, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Ryden.


Comments

  1. Robert StewartFebruary 4, 2021 at 6:56 PM

    This particular piece really caught my attention. I think it was mostly from the colors and hues chosen for this. It is very bright, and I would agree that it represents the colors usually found in girls products. This is, in my opinion, a nod to the push of toys to children and specifically the Barbie toy or other fashion toys for young girls.

    Your description of the shapes is how I also viewed the painting. First the Barbie, then I started noticing the other points of interest in the piece.

    I also enjoy how you gave a little background on the artist. I like to think that knowing a little bit about them can explain a piece of art even better.

    ReplyDelete
  2. elisaFebruary 7, 2021 at 7:57 PM

    Awe, this is a beautiful and adoring painting. I would certainly get a copy of this painting. I agree with you, this is a cute feminist painting with an accurate representation of the colors within the piece.

    The girly colors is a true meaning to the toys that mean a lot and is widely adored the girls around the world. Though not every girl adores, or are not interested in Barbie dolls, the painting its self would certainly be for even a feminists' home. A perfect world painted on its surrounding background for those to imagine such a place.

    The Barbie is the focal point by shining as bright as a girl idolizes the doll as, in real life.

    ReplyDelete

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