Info Block:
Artist: Helen Werner Cox
Exhibition: Silent Screams
Media: oil,pastel, mono prints, drawing, wood carving, mix dedia
Gallery: CSULB School of Art, Max L. Gatov Gallery West
Website: http://www.HelenWernerCox.com
Instagram: No Instagram
About the Artist:
Helen Werner Cox is a graduate student in the CSULB School of Art MFA Drawing and Painting Figurative Program. Cox is in her last semester of graduate school and said that she felt glad because, “when you’re in graduate school your whole life is placed on hold”. Cox grew up in a small farming city in New York state, she even mentioned that some of her classmates would milk cows before going to class in the morning. Cox has been a teacher for forty years and a librarian for fourteen years. She stated that her favorite group to teach has been middle schoolers. Cox does not watch any television, but in her free time she enjoys doing gardening, reading fiction and mystery novels, and she has recently taking up playing “dots” on her phone.
Formal Analysis:
The artwork that I decided to do my analysis on was one of Helen Werner Cox’s pieces. The piece is oil and pastel on a 90”x90’ piece of paper. The artwork portrays the ceiling of an antique carousel with four horses that appear to be running towards the audience. The ceiling is very intricate and beautiful. The horses are also very colorful and their facial expressions are also very well done and realistic. Cox really captured the beauty of the antique carousel. By simply looking at the piece on feels that they are there in the artwork.
Content Analysis:
Helen Werner Cox’s artwork explores how humans continue making mistakes over and over again. She explained this by comparing this to the carrousel because just like the carousel keeps spinning in circles, humans keep making the same mistakes when opportunities come around. Society is stuck in that circle and and they can not get out of it. Unlike for Joseph Campbell, Cox believes that human lives do not go in a spiral upward but rather just in circles.
Synthesis/ My Experience:
This week’s gallery by Helen Werner Cox served me as a re-enforcement to why I like art and why I have a passion for it. Cox captured the beauty and realism of the horses and carousel. From the moment I stepped into the gallery I was captivated, Cox had carousel music playing which made her artwork come to life. I really enjoyed her style and art and I can not wait to see her work in a museum in the future and have the pleasure to say that I meet the artist.
jhonatan2016 