Art!

The city of New Orleans is filled with countless paintings and many different types of art work. There have been three pieces that have captured my attention while we have been exploring. The first piece of art is the blue dog painting. This painting was mentioned by our tour guide and can be found through-out the city. The artist’s name is George Rodrigue and he was born in 1944 and he passed away in 2013 so even though I was unable to speak to this artist, his legacy is still living in the city. George painted the dog in different colors and that was depending on his mood. However, the color blue became the most popular and the most memorable. The color blue was symbolizing patriotism and it became his most popular series. George also painted three American presidents and they were Ronald Regan, George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton. Those pictures were also in the gallery that we viewed. My favorite dog painting that was in there was a spinning piece that rotated the dog and it contained three different pictures and one was blue, one was red and the third one was yellow. At the French Art Market, there was a stand with many different homeless signs and that drew my attention because I would have never considered them art. The lady’s name was Kate Gaar and she took photographs of the signs and then she would pay the homeless person for their work. If you buy one of her pieces, the money goes to helping the homeless population so that is super nice of her to do that. Her book was also available for sale and she had one of her friends selling them one night but she rents out the space there to sell her work. The last artist was one that I talked to on Jackson square and his name was Dayana. He does abstract art and he told me that he rarely uses paint brushes. Instead he uses kitchen materials such as spoons, knives, circular objects etc and he does his paintings that way. He also has a wide variety of painting styles. He said that his three main passions in life are cooking, making music, and creating art so he is in the perfect spot to live! Each of his paintings tell a different story and they are usually about his life or something that he has witnessed. He also said that he hopes when people look at his paintings that they not only see the art but that they hear the music playing as well. Dayana has lived in ten different states and he has also worked at Disney World and joined the infantry in the Marine Corps. Even after visiting 46/50 states and living in the places that he has, he said that New Orleans is still his favorite place in the country and I think that really says something about this city and everything that it stands for.

        When analyzing the blue dog painting, I think that it tells a story of our country’s history on the subject of politics. I also liked the fact that when people see the painting of the blue dog, they know that it stands for patriotism and that the painting also represents being proud to be an American. The art gallery had a quote that stated “Undeniably, all of Rodriduges paintings whether blue dog, Cajun, or otherwise, relate to a mythology rooted in Southwestern Louisiana” This quote stuck out to me because the people here are proud of his paintings and they love his work. I saw many people glancing at his work in the gallery and they would all say “the dog is so cute”, “I love the yellow eyes”, “Look at the tie he is wearing” and I have seen people purchase his art work so even four years after his passing, he is still being remembered and I think that is really amazing. For Kate’s artwork, I love how she is using other people’s art work to make a difference in the world around her. Down here in New Orleans, I have noticed a lot of homeless people and I do feel vey bad for them because no one deserves to not have a home. Something does need done about the homeless population so I really like that she pays them because it helps them out and she is bringing awareness. Some of the signs were very vulgar that were involving substances like weed or other drugs and some were heartbreaking posts about how hungry or cold they were. I think I might google her book and order it online if possible because I think that would be a good read. For Dayana’s work, I love how his work is original. He told me on the square that he wants to set himself apart from all the other artists here and that he tries to keep everything original. While being here in the city, I have not met nor seen any other artist that used cooking materials to form and shape their artwork so he is keeping his dream true. Morgan purchased a tuba painting from him and I really loved it. She said she played the tuba so they can both relate in that sense. I felt that he showed so much passion in what he does. He wasn’t advertising his art work to try to get it off his hands. When he was advertising it, he was telling the story behind it and why he painted a particular painting the way he did. His artwork is also very personal and he seems to be very open about his life and what he is doing and I love artwork with good stories behind them. To me, it makes it original and it makes it a very special painting that could one day be passed along throughout family and friends. Overall, while staying here in New Orleans, I have learned a lot about art and how it impacts the culture here and I have really enjoyed that .