Norbert Attard (1951) whose an artist and an architect is a Maltese candidate.
He graduated in architecture from the University of Malta in 1977, and
is entirely into his devoted talent in art. He experienced the living in West Germany in the late 1970's (1978-1979)
and connected with a numerous European Art galleries, which he found
very useful in his return to Malta. Then he founded Gallerija Feniċi at the Mediterranean Conference Centre in Valletta and joined in with other interested partners.
Attard is also interested in printing which himself has designed book
covers, posters, and postage stamps, this awarded him by Christies
Contemporary Art in London. he has had over sixty individual exhibitions
and has practiced in many shows in several countries. Lately Attard has dedicated himself to abstract painting, and his busy architectural practice.
Norbert Attard describes his art as a voyage of discovery. In the figure of speech means that it's something to discover into their own souls. He anticipates to the interest in his exploring and creates his own particular formal organisation of it. He uses the lithograph German technique in books which derives from an old method of printing. In his late graphic work he got inspired by the Mandala series, and also his Mihrabs and Kimonos which both link to a mystic quality. This also counts to his abstract work. Early on, Attard showed particular interest in social issues with the connections of avant garde -Henri Dogg theatre company and his experience of the theatre in general. This might have effected on his work, of space and composition. However now he seems like he moved away from graphic drawing and print making of his earlier years. Every artist has a similar vision towards the abstract but each and one them account for it in a different way.
The early work of Attard many paintings were being like Picasso's work in tone and expression. His work in the years 1970-1977 included experimentation which were influenced by other artists. These are Mondrian's early semi-abstract work, Giacometti, Seurat's pointillism, Jackson Pollock, and he was also influenced by the Maltese artist Frank Portelli who is his uncle.
Henry Moore, Gustav Klimt and Hundertwasser were his later interest.
In 1972, he produced his first series of prints, using linoleum, a number of ink drawings which helped him to develop in 1977, he turned to print-making, which he explored and to graphic work this continued until 1988, when he began exploring his abstract work using acrylics on canvas.
There's a progressive simplification of form, and the style composition, which clearly indicates the disposition towards the abstraction. He used an explosion with the use of colours, lines and walls and a sense of light with transformation. Organisation of space was studied and denseness, darkness of colours in a more tranquil, secure, open and optimistic. This represents the freedom of unrestricted landscapes and open spaces.
One of his earlier prints was dedicated to Heraclitus, who said that "You never step into the same river twice", this saying captures perfectly Norbert Attard's work -''like the river's journey, is constantly in flux, so that not even his spirit is ever static''.
Filippo Tommaso Emilio Marinetti -Italian (1876-1944) which is also known as the author 'Futurist Manifesto' that was a book he wrote in 1908, was the founder of Futurist Movement. About this news he was also on the French front page newspaper called 'Le Figaro' in 1909.
Futurism has created dynamic abstract forms, graphic design and an embrace with technology.
This is the typography of Missouri, 1909.
Everything is ordered under each other and aligned. This is the typography of Marinetti 'Parole in Liberta', 1914
Here we see the difference of movement that Marinetti has created, he interpreted music with the movement of the typography. What he wanted is to forget of the past and focus on the new technology with machines.
Futurism inspired the makers of modernity -the industrial cities, machines, speed and flight. Futurism began by experimenting with words, particularly with respect to art, culture and politics. Futurists quickly embraced the visual and performing arts, politics and adverts. They experimented with fragmentation of form, the collapsing of time and space, the depiction of dynamic motion and dizzying perspectives.
In the 1920's the styles commercial version was best manifested through Fortunato Depero whose covers for Vanity Fair magazine and Campari as well as his own book 'Depero Futurista'.
The Vanity Fair magazine in 1930 by F.Depero
Bitter Campari, 1928 by F.Depero
Depero Futurista book by D. Futurista Today's printing differed from that of previous times less in form than in quantity. The''form'' began to change: speed with the modern consumer of printing absorbs the meaning that the form of print adapts itself to the meaning and modern life.
As rule we no longer read quietly line by line, but glance quickly over the whole. Before in the old typography both in feeling and form was needed to read, which was more leisurely manner.
Form is something external, a product of the ''artistic imagination''.
Another typographer that I looked up while researching was Jan Tschichold (1902-1974). Apart the skill of a typographer he was a book designer, a writer and a teacher also.
Communication in the modern age should be Functional, Short, Simple, Compelling and Objective. Photography has been the precised picture and is considered a basic constant of the new typography, as First it was the painters. This day, the art historians argue about the problem which photography has thrown up.
Serif /Sans Serif
Standardized Paper Sizes
This is a format of the photographer Max Burchartz whose German, which created this jacket of a folder for leaflets, with silver background and white lettering on red. This was a called Photomontage: reproductions of typical products of the Bochum Association. Format DIN A4.
In the Russian Revoultion (1923) Jan Tschichold went to visit the Bauhaus exhibition , which from there he adopted his modern style.
This is the modern style with Sans Serif typeface and asymmetrical alignments by Jan Tschichold, 1923-1935.
Bauhaus was founded in 1919 by the German architecture Walter Gropius (1883-1969)
The Bauhaus combined two different elements in education, that are the Fine arts and Design. In Bauhaus, students were gaining skills working in diversity workshops like metal working, cabinet making, weaving, pottery, typography and wall painting. As he was aiming to Arts through Crafts. In 1923 he repositioned his aim and started stressing on the importance of designing for mass production, this concluded to ''Art into Industry''.
Then Bauhaus rethought of Minimalism with a design created with Simplicity and Geometric purity.
This is an example of what Bauhaus meant, furniture construction, using pure materials, plain colours, straight lines and unassuming surfaces.
Leonardo Chair by Enzo Berti for Bross
More examples to see:
Modern Staircases
Staircase with geometrical shapes and lines including more function at the back of the stairs, having a unique book storage.
Modern Style Houses: This is a house design inspired by geometry. What you mostly notice first is the building shape all with diagonal and straight lines, then you notice the use of colours that are very simple and natural, the space also makes the area wider and make it look modern.
Art: This is a painting called ''Swinging'', (1925) by Wassily Kadinsky. The medium of this painting is oil paint on board. Kadinsky has used the geometric shapes in his art, this is one of them it shows a sense of dynamic movement and shows rhythms of modernity with abstract in painting. He felt that colours in particular was essential for liberating art from naturalistic appearances.
As one can see in every category of Art and Design the artist/architecture etc. gets inspired from a style and creates something creative that can be functional or ornamental, in space, on walls, wherever, this can be created from the most minimal things and Bauhaus was about ideas, reforms, exploration and vitality just like what we're doing today.
Constructivism Constructivism is the Radical Russian art movement that started before the Bolshevik Revolution 1917-1935. All paintings and designs came to a revolution.
The art/artists should contribute towards the 'construction' of the new communist state. They rejected the idea of 'art for art's sake', that art should serve a social and political purpose.
The Constructivism was led by vladimir Tatlin whose an artist and stage designer. He was mostly famous with the design 'The Monument to the third international'. As the Tatlin's Tower (of how people called it) was never built.
Model of the Tower 1919 -V.Tatlin
Wassily Kandinsky is a Russian artist, he was one of the first creators of pure abstraction in modern painting. After the successful of avant-garde exhibitions, he founded the influential group called The Blue Rider (1911-14) in Germany which there were a number of emigrated Russians and native German artists, from there he began the completely abstract painting. His progress formed fluids, and organic to geometric that led to pictographic.
This is called ''Tempered Elan'', (1944) by Wassily Kandinsky
It's an abstract art made with oil on cardboard, there's an extreme use of geometrical and abstraction with an unparalleled finish.
'Who Does Not Work Does Not Eat' (1921) by Mikhail Adamovich This is a white gloss glazed porcelain plate with hand- painted decoration of newspaper clippings andportrait of Lenin who was the Russian communist revolutionary. Reference:
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