Ad Reinhardt

Ad Reinhardt was an American abstract painter. He was active from the 1930s through the 1960s and is most famous for his "Black Paintings". He was a part of the abstract expressionist movement during WWII along with famous artists like Jackson Pollock. 

What I find most interesting about Reinhardt's works in "The Black Paintings" is that, while at first they seem to be simple square canvases painted black, there is so much more to se up close. He created these pieces with intention and many people might think it is not art. However, the purpose and reasoning behind these pieces are the art in and of itself.

While these paintings both appear black, at another place you can see that they actually contain shapes and other colors. Reinhardt's intention is essentially to create nothing by using something. He chose his canvas size in order to create the illusion of having so size. They are 5 ft high and 5 ft wide, the height of a person and the width of a person's outstretched arms. They use different shades of black, vertical and horizontal lines, and painting techniques to create a size-less, lightless, colorless, and composition-less piece of artwork, which I find fascinating.

http://www.moma.org/collection/works/78976

This resource shows the art pieces and gallery labels of "The Black Paintings" by Reinhardt.

http://www.theartstory.org/artist-reinhardt-ad.htm

This article goes into more detail about Reinhardt's life, art, and inspiration as well as some insight into his works.

http://americanart.si.edu/collections/search/artist/?id=3993

This is a biography on Ad Reinhardt, which includes explanation of some of his other great art works.

Chase Rice

After attending the country concert, Watershed, in George Washington the summer of 2014 I began to love Chase Rice and his work. I watched him perform at one of the smaller stages and the connection he made with the audience was so impressive. I was in the front row and he made sure to make eye contact with several audience members, even grabbing our hands. He was able to perform not only his own work but other artists' work as well. Some of the songs he performed weren't even the country genre which kept his performance fun and kept everyone engaged. I now follow him on some social media sites and he seems to truly love his career as a country artist.



http://www.cmt.com/artists/chase-rice/
This site shows all of Chase Rice's music. I like how it gives music videos and videos of him doing interviews.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chase_Rice
This site tells a well detailed background of Chase Rice (his birthday, where he is from, what he is famous for, etc).

http://www.chaserice.com/biography

This site tells a lot about who Chase Rice is as a person and in his performances.

Ben Mann

The artist I have chosen is a local Bellingham painter named Ben Mann. Growing up in Bellingham I have been surrounded by Mann’s paintings in cafés, bookstores, gift shops and murals that find themselves around the community. As a novice artist myself Mann’s surreal style and use of bright colors has always attracted my eye. Unique to his paintings Mann uses a black backdrop on many of his paintings which he allows to show through the bright colors giving his paintings a timeless look. Another favorite part of his work is the use of different media he uses to paint on including dishes, mailboxes, old bread boards and more. As I have gotten older and have more expendable income I have actually invested in some of his work and proudly display it in my own home.

http://www.ben-mann.com/home.htm

This website is Ben Mann’s personal webpage describing himself, his inspiration and gives some brief example of his work. The site also includes information about his murals and how to get in contact with the artist.

http://mann-alive.com/

This website gives access to a long history of his painting from 2006 to the present in the archives section. It also gives information regarding current galleries and projects.

https://www.facebook.com/BenMannStudios

This websites provides a multitude of Mann’s current works, enables you to ask questions and sometimes he does open galleries at his own studio, this website will let you know when those galleries are.

 

Julie Andrews

A beloved actress and singer to all

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000267/ 

The link above is Julie Andrew's IMDB.  IMDB (International Movie Database) is the website that holds information about all movies, actors, producers, and directors etc. Julie Andrews, born in 1935, appeared in her first film called "The Singing Princess" at just age 14.  However, her first big film, and one that many of us know her from today, was made in 1964 about a nanny who not only provides care for the children but reintroduces happiness to the whole household.  This website has a full bio for Andrews as well as every film she's ever been in.  One thing to watch out for on this website though is that her filmography will not state all of the stage work she did.  If you read her biography on the website they'll talk about her success on broadway in "The Boy Friend" and "Cinderella", which were very important in the beginning her career.  


http://www.julieandrewsonline.com/  

This is the Julie Andrews shrine on the internet.  This site really emphasizes Andrews' amazing skill in film, theatre, and song. This site, "created by fans for fans', also has links about what Andrews has been doing recently.  This is super helpful because you can find out all about her past and her productions and also what she is currently working on or appearing in.  The last thing she was seen doing was on directing the Australian production of "My fair lady".  I then also can see that Andrews starred in the same play in her 20s.  


http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/and0bio-1

Most sites tend to focus on the appraisal of Julie Andrews in her prime days as a performer rather than the tragic incident that changed her voice forever.  However, this site give a full bio from the start of her career, to right now, and explains the what happened during her throat surgery in her 60s and why she isn't that performer she used to be anymore. This site has great information from her older years.  She's become a bestselling children's author and is in great shape.  I'm personally excited for the current buzz going on about making another Disney film where she plays a fantastic queen and grandmother.  

Julie Andrews will forever hold a special place in my heart.  I feel that she is a grandmother figure to me just like she is to Mia in "The Princess Diaries".  Although I've been watching her since a very young age as I grow older I only appreciate her talents more and more.  Her legendary four octave voice is absolutely incredible.  She has such a grace to her that many other talented singers and actresses do not possess.  I'm so inspired by all the work she's done and her drive to continue working.  She will turn 81 this year and is just as busy as ever.  

Andrea Gibson

Andrea Gibson's poetry centers around social activism, gender, sexuality, war, feminism, love, and so much more. Andrea went to their first open mic in 1999, at the age of 24, in Denver when they moved to Colorado with their girlfriend which was their inspiration to become a spoken-word artist and 2008 became the first poet to win the Women of the World Poetry Slam. Andrea describes their first works as essentially 'rally cries.' Andrea said in an interview with Autostraddle that they were with a group called Vox Feminista whose motto was "to comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable" during a peace march near a military base in Colorado Springs. The military base began throwing tear gas and standing next to Andrea was a 5-year old girl about which they said "I will never forget the look on her face. That face is in almost every poem I've written." Today, Andrea performs around the country as one of the most admired poets and activists of our time.

http://www.andreagibson.org/

If you want more information about Andrea Gibson, this is the website to go to. At angreagibson.org you can buy their products (books, albums, even t-shirts), read their bio, and watch videos of their performance. 

http://andrewgibby.tumblr.com/

This is Andrea's tumblr blog, they post pictures and quotes from their latest work and performances.

http://www.autostraddle.com/andrea-gibson-the-autostraddle-interview-170378/

This is where you can find an interview with Andrea Gibson for Autostraddle. The interview gives a lot of insight about what/who inspires them, their life, their activism, and what gives them hope.

Banksy

Banksy is a graffiti artist, who generally has very politically compelling pieces of artwork, but nobody knows who he really is. Some even consider him to be one of the most compelling and mysterious artist of our time. Most of his pieces of work are displayed on publicly visible streets and walls of some of the largest cities in the world. In 2010, Bansky made it in the list of the world’s top 100 most influential people, based on his artwork. One of his most recent pieces of work, better out than in, was actually quite disturbing, but got the public to think about a cause important to him. It is a piece of sculpture art where he filled a meat delivery truck stuffed animals that popped there heads out of the truck, as the truck drove around major cities (check posted link for more details). What was the political message he was trying to convey? He was clearly trying to comment on the food industry and the cruelty involved in it for the animals. Although this piece of art is very extreme, he often has more subtle pieces that are still sending a message. For example, his piece included in this blog is a compelling one done in 2010 in Boston shows a lower middle class worker, or painter, who has “canceled” his path to follow his dreams. 

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/the-story-behind-banksy-4310304/?no-ist

This is a good website outlining who Bansky is, and how he had become so well-known as a graffiti artist. It also exemplifies much of what he is trying to convey with his work.

http://www.mymodernmet.com/profiles/blogs/banksy-stuffed-animals-truck

This is a link of one of Banksy’s exhibits where he filled a truck with stuffed animals and had it drive through major cities. It includes many photos and a video at the end that is very interesting to watch for peoples’ reactions to his art.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/mystery-solved-scientists-reveal-banksys-identity_us_56ddb078e4b0000de4053837

Trying to figure out the identity of Bansky has been hard, however some people believe they know who he is. This article shows that London may have tracked down his identity using a technique used to track criminals. There have been many attempts to identify the famous graffiti artist, so is this one believable?

Marilyn Monroe (Norma Jeane Mortenson)

Most people are familiar with Marilyn Monroe, an American actress as well as a well-known model. Monroe was born on June 1st, 1926 in Los Angeles, California living a short life. On August 5th, 1962, Marilyn, age 36, passed away from a barbiturate overdose. What several people do not know about the talented actress and model is that growing up, Monroe was placed in numerous amounts of fosters homes as well as an orphanage. When she was only sixteen years old, Marilyn married her first husband, James Dougherty but sadly was divorced just 4 years later. It was in 1944 while working in a factory as part of the war effort when Monroe met a photographer and began her successful modeling career. This led to two short-live film contracts with Columbia Pictures as well as Twentieth Century-Fox where Marilyn was able to sign a contract in 1951 with fox as an actress. Some of her popular role were in As Young as You Feel, Monkey Business and Clash by Night. By 1953, Marilyn Monroe was known as one of the most "Bankable Hollywood Stars"where she was the lead actress in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and also How to Marry a Millionaire. This is where Monroe got her reputation as a "dumb blonde". Marilyn's struggles behind the scene were pretty serious, including her addiction to drugs, depression and also anxiety which is what many people believe led her to here death. 

I chose Marilyn Monroe because I have always looked up to her and her outlook on life. Although she took her own life and didn't think it was worth living anymore, she was able to still share why life is so great and gave such great advice to women all around the world who were struggling. Not only is her beauty well known but also her character. I wish I would have been able to be alive when she was.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgBEI_VPjuw

This video above is an audio of Marilyn Monroe being interviewed about her happiness and how she feels about life. Listening to this short, 3 minute interview makes you really think about life in general but also feel like you can somewhat get a better understanding of who she was as not only a popular actress and model but as a unique individual. 

http://mariylnmonroenhd.weebly.com/social-affect.html

Marilyn's impact on society wasn't only impacted on women but also men. It goes to talk about how she may not have been skin and bone but she was still attractive because of who she was which makes it so that men all around the world can see that beauty isn't always in size, it goes way beyond that. 

http://immortalmarilyn.com/how-did-marilyn-monroe-change-the-world/

As we grow and our world grows, we notice that things become more complex and "unacceptable" such as showing off too much skin if you aren't a size zero or talking about sexual topics or sexuality. Marilyn Monroe made it so that less people were to jump to judge. I have a lot of respect for Monroe and the impact she has had on the women and men around the world.