by)dakota)padoven,)tony)maina,)connor)demott,)ben ......about)alexander)rodchenko russian designer,...
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Alexander Rodchenko-Constructivism
By Dakota Padoven, Tony Maina, Connor DeMott, Ben Jorgenson
About Alexander RodchenkoRussian Designer, Painter, Photographer, and Sculptor
- Born on December 5th, 1891 in Petersburg, Russia.
- Died on December 3rd, 1956 Moscow, Russia.
- Alexander started his work in 1915 up until his death.
- Alexander was an important avant-garde artist who put his art in service of political revolution.
- Early in his career he started to be a futurist artist. "In order to educate man to a new longing, everyday familiar objects must be shown to him with totally unexpected perspectives and in unexpected situations. New objects should be depicted from different sides in order to provide a complete impression of the object."
Alexander
About Alexander Rodchenko- Alexander stopped painting in the year 1921. He started to collaborate with the poet Vladimir Mayakovsky. He started working on series of advertising campaigns.
- This started a big trend in modern design in Russian advertising.
- Got involved in photography in the 1920s. He wanted to find a different way to serve the revolution.
- Known for being the person to produce the first ever monochromes
About Alexander Rodchenko-Alexander redefined three key visual genres of modernism.
- Painting
- Photography
- Graphic Design
His most important work
Pure Red Color, Pure Blue Color, Pure Yellow Color
Here Rodchenko reinterprets the iconic art form of the Western tradition - the triptych - which was traditionally reserved for the representation of religious scenes.
He stressed the physical, material properties of painting - in this case, color. Rodchenko regarded these pictures as his final statement on painting, famously writing, "I reduced painting
to its logical conclusion and exhibited three canvases: red, blue and yellow. I affirmed: it's all over. Basic Colors.
The staircase (1930)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGjLQejbacU
This is one of Rodchenko's finest photographs.
Often credited with devising the key principles of modern photography, Rodchenko is praised for his use of unusual angles and perspective. Here, he juxtaposes the motif of a woman with a child against the stern geometry of the man-made environment.
The position of the camera at a peculiar angle provides for an innovative, yet carefully balanced and flowing composition.
This poster arguably brought Rodchenko the most fame and appreciation from his patrons in the Soviet government.
The composition is typical of his use of photomontage in the period. And it also reflects the ways in which he updated Russian advertising, using geometric compositions and strident colors to trumpet modernity.
While his designs are directed at promoting individual companies or products, they also - often explicitly -endorse the goals of political revolution.
The Advertisement Poster for the Lengiz Publishing House
Maquette for the Advertisement of the Red October Bisquettes (1923)
Rodchenko abandoned painting in 1921, and began instead to put his talents in the service of the Russian industry and the nascent revolution.
This is an early example of his work for Russian industry, advertising Red October confectionary. Rigid geometry defines the composition through the position of horizontal and vertical lines.
Rodchenko's designs were an important influence on such key artistic laboratories such as the Bauhaus in the Weimar Republic.
Battleship Potemkin (RUSSIAN CONSTRUCTIVISM)
1913-1940s
The movement appeared at the time of revolution;; the color scheme is therefore very bright reds, white, blacks – of high contrast and screaming out.
Alexander Rodchenko - Dance. An Objectless Composition (1915)
Rodchenko attended a lecture by Russian Futurists in 1912, and was immediately converted. He abandoned the Art Nouveau styling of some of his earlier work and began to fragment his forms to create dynamic compositions.
Dance is perhaps his most Futurist painting, and it clearly resembles works by Italian Futurists such as Umberto Boccioni and Gino Severini.
Rodchenko soon grew disinterested in the style and, following this, he began to create even more abstract pictures, putting aside entirely the last suggestions of illusion that Dance creates.
Non-Objective Painting No 80 (Black on Black) (1918)
Rodchenko was powerfully influenced by Kazimir Malevich's Suprematism, which reduced the components of the painting to a single black square that echoed the shape of the canvas.
Rodchenko rejected the older man's spiritualism and strove instead to emphasize the material qualities of painting, in particular surface and texture
The exhibition was important in catapulting Rodchenko into the forefront of Russia's avant-garde.
Construction No. 127 (Two Circles) (1920)
This balanced and precise geometric composition underlinesRodchenko's preoccupation with engineering and design thathe maintained throughout his career.
Rodchenko progressively stripped away all that he consideredunnecessary in the field of painting; after reducing color toblack and emphasizing surface texture, he seized on line asthe most important and elemental component of the medium.
Spatial Construction No.12-Rodchenko used precise cuts on aluminum plywood in order to construct this piece.-It was built during a time of great turmoil in Russia, and was built in order to apply an aesthetic to everyday items, which was a key part of the constructivist movement. - This piece was part of a collection of pieces, in which the goal was to use repetitive forms such as the ellipse. -Each creation could be folded down into a flat pane.-This was the only piece of the collection that remains
Pioneer with Horn-This is another example of Rodchenko using varying types of angles in order to develop a photograph with a different perspective. -The radical angle of the photo not only represents the radical nature of the Bolshevik revolution in reference to the traditional tsarist regime but its focus on an ordinary pioneer highlights the importance of the individual in the success of the revolution.-The upward angle of the photo is supposed to have a positive undertone.
Winter, Teatralnaia Square-This photo by Rodchenko uses a bizarre, if not amatuer angle to depict a town square, by the name of the title.-It pushes photography boundaries, because it looks as though it was taken on accident, however the sharpness of the image can tell us otherwise.-Bolsheviks criticized Rodchenko for creating works such as this, which have multiple interpretations. However, Rodchenko continued taking these “ordinary” photos with the bizarre twist on angles.
The art of Alexander Rodchenko helped redefine three key visual genres of modernism: painting, photography, and graphic design. He furthered and expanded a vocabulary of abstract composition in his paintings. Because of their simplicity, His photographs inspired many photographers to follow in the minimalist era. Rodchenko’s involvement with the Bolshevik cause helped him earn a large amount of fame among leftist circles in the American Avant-garde
Works Citedhttps://www.artsy.net/artist/alexander-rodchenko
http://www.theartstory.org/artist-rodchenko-alexander.htm
https://grd401.wordpress.com/2012/06/08/russian-constructivism/
http://www.theartstory.org/artist-rodchenko-alexander-artworks.htm#pnt_4
https://adamnewsome.wordpress.com/tag/alexander-rodchenko/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGjLQejbacU
http://www.theartstory.org/artist-rodchenko-alexander-artworks.htm
https://grd401.wordpress.com/2012/06/08/russian-constructivism/
https://www.moma.org/collection/works/81043
http://russianartandpolitics.tumblr.com/post/84140151259/pioneer-with-the-horn-by-rodchenko-1930
http://www.artnet.com/artists/alexander-rodchenko/winter-teatralnaia-square-4OUOaoJOD3W6cevqXfDwNA2
http://www.theartstory.org/artist-rodchenko-alexander.htm