artistic piece of mind

Today my spanish 1c talked about Picasso's 1937 Masterpiece "Guernica". We talked about the time period in which Picasso painted this artwork, we examined the things that popped out at us first, we reflected on how the painting made us feel, we pondered why it was created in black, white, and gray. While we talked about these different topics, I found myself thinking about how much I love and appreciate art.

I find it so powerful and moving to look at a piece of art or listening to a composition of music and just become so overwhelmed with emotion that you have to look away or stop listening in order to gain composure. Maybe I'm being a little too over dramatic but that is the feeling I got when I looked at Picasso's "Guernica". I looked at it and initially felt the chaos and commotion. I read about the painting's history and artist and examined it more. I could see every emotion and sense every feeling that Picasso aimed to illustrate. My teacher pointed out symbols and interpretations of the painting and I saw more, I felt more, I wanted to know more.

Class ended too abruptly for me today, I think because I was so intrigued by this piece of art and so focused on examining more of that, that my BIG and I discussed how much we both appreciated the wonders of art.

Guernica has had a really big impact on political activism over the years, especially with Afghanistan and other Middle Eastern countries. The image used most from the painting is of the mother [clearly in distress and suffering] holding her child [I'm not sure if the child is dead or alive]. Glancing at the picture one sees a wailing woman holding a baby. Looking closer, one can infer that the length of the mother's body and the someone distorted length of her arms holding her baby makes the shape of a CROSS. Another inference could be made that it may be the Virgin Mary holding the childlike "dead body" of Jesus Christ [aka the PIETA]. To me, regardless of religious inferences, the image represents the death or innocence. The mother grieves over her child who was too young and too innocent to start a life. Instead he lies in her arms. This part of the painting is powerful because women and children are always seen as the most innocent people within a war or conflict. The loss of these lives always ends in tragedy and I feel like Picasso illustrates that well.

I know I talked a lot about Guernica in this post, but I felt really strongly about it today, probably because it reminded me of how much I love art.

I think I'm going to take another trip up to the GETTY or visit the OCMA/LACMA and spend the day embracing the art.