Unit 3Figure and Ground

Title : Figure/ground

Description : Various figure/ground relationships

A shape that is distinguished from the background is called a positive shape, or

figure. The surrounding is called the negative shape, or ground. Depending on its location relative to the ground, the figure can become

dynamic or static, heavy or buoyant.

Title : Just in Time

Description : Elizabeth Murray (1940- )

1981. Oil on canvas in two sections, 160" x 97"

Philadelphia Museum of Art

When a shaped format is used, we become more aware of the artwork’s physicality. The painted shapes connect directly to the shaped edge, emphasizing the crack running down the center of the composition.

Title : Rocks Near the Caves Above the Chateau Noir

Description : Paul Cézanne (1839-1906), 1904.

Oil on canvas, 21 1/3" x 25 2/3".

Musee d'Orsay

An ambiguous relationship between figure and ground can add surprising energy and power to a design. In Paul Cezanne’s Rocks Near the Caves above the Chateau Noir, the trees and cliffs begin to break apart, creating a shifting pattern of planes and spaces.

Title : Metamorphosis II; Metamorphosis 2

Description : M.C. Escher, 1939-1940. Woodcut in black, green, and brown

Figure/ground reversal pushes this effect even further. Figure/ground reversal occurs when first the positive then the negative shapes command our attention. As shown in a fragment from Metamorphosis II, M. C. Escher was a master of figure/ground reversal. The organic shapes on the left become an interlocking mass of black and white lizards. The lizards then evolve into a network of hexagons. Combined with the figure/ground reversal, this type of metamorphosis animates the entire 13-foot-long composition.

Title : Flash Point

Description : Sam Francis (1923-1994)

Figure/ground reversal requires a carefully balanced dialogue between opposing forces. Escher generally achieved this balance by using light and dark shapes of similar size. Sam Francis achieved a similar balance between a very small white square and a much larger red rectangle. The crisp boundary and central location strengthen the square. Despite its small size, it holds its own against the larger mass of swirling red paint.

Title : 'Master Harold'... and the boys

Description : David McNutt, 1985. Poster.

The Department of Theater Arts,

California State University, Los Angeles.

Graphic designers often use figure/ground reversal to create multiple interpretations from minimal shapes. David McNutt used the head of a master and a servant within the outline of Africa. Used to advertise a South African play, the poster immediately communicates a dramatic human relationship within a specific cultural context.Images and text from Launching the Imagination 4th edition, by Mary Stewart. Pages 12-14

Franz KlineMahoning, 1956

Franz KlineWhite Forms, 1955

Protest/PersuasionWe all choose which traditions to follow and which to challenge.

When people are not satisfied with things the way they are, they sometimes protest or try to persuade others to change their ideas. They work to change things by criticizing or protesting the old ways and replacing them with new ways. Some protests lead to revolutions. There are various kinds of revolutions. In political revolutions the old powers are overthrown and new people take over the government. In social revolutions the relationships between social classes change, or the population experiences the rise of new social classes or the expansion of existing classes. In economic revolutions wealth changes hands. There are also scientific, industrial, agricultural, artistic, and religious revolutions when old ideas are replaced by new ideas.

In many cultures, artists use their artworks to protest or to bring attention to their ideas. Sometimes a painting, sculpture, or building can persuade just as well or better, than words can.

Art can protest, propose, and provoke ideas.

Protest/PersuasionStudent Work

Adelaide West,Freshman

Genevieve Alagna,Freshman

Liliana Cervantes,Junior

Ewa Sroka,Freshman

Melissa D’Orazio,Freshman

Lauren Kelly,Freshman