ANDREW NORRIS

I REALLY ENJOYED LISTENING TO THE ARTIST TALK BY GREAT ARTIST ANDREW NORRIS. HE CREATES THIS ARTWORK BY TAKING ADVANTAGE OF OIL PAINT’S LUMINOSITY TO CONSTRUCT ALTERNATIVE REALITIES IN SPACE AND USE SATURATED COLORS AND THIN GLAZES TO CREATE SEMI-REALISTIC FIGURES THAT EVOKE A SENSE OF HYPER-MASCULINITY AND SEXUALITY. ADVERTISEMENTS, ESPECIALLY ONES UTILIZING TRENDY CELEBRITIES, HAVE BEEN THE MAIN INFLUENCE IN HIS RECENT WORK THAT COMBINES THE EXPLORATION OF COMIC BOOK ICONOGRAPHY. ALSO, HE IS INTERESTED IN IMAGES OF DESIRE IN A WAY THAT MIMICS THE FORMAT OF HIGH FASHION PHOTOGRAPHY WHILE AMPLIFYING THE MASCULINE IDEAL. AS HE GOT SOME DEFECT IN HIS BODY, HE CLAIMED THAT “THROUGH THOSE PAINTINGS, I HOPE TO UNDERSTAND AND ARTICULATE MY OWN DESIRE TOWARD THE MASCULINE IDEAL BODY.” THERE IS A RELATIONSHIP OF DICHOTOMY IN IDEAS ABOUT MALE BEAUTY, BOTH OF EXISTING IN THE WORLD OF IT AND OUTSIDE OF IT. HIS PAINTINGS HAVE THEIR OWN LOGIC AND RULES, MAINTAINING THEIR OWN BELIEVABLY IN THE SPACE WHILE ALSO REFERENCING IMPOSSIBLE PHYSICS MADE BY DIGITAL COLLAGE. DURING HIS TALK, I FOUND SOME CONNECTIONS BETWEEN NORRIS AND ROY LICHTENSTEIN. BOTH THESE TWO ARTISTS GET SOME INSPIRATION FROM THE COMIC BOOK. ROY’S ARTWORK IS CREATED THOUGHT THE BEN-DAY DOT TO CASTING SOME FIGURES IN THE COMIC BOOKS, AND NORRIS ARTWORK IS CREATED THROUGH USING THE HUMAN FIGURE IN COMIC BOOK AS A PERFECT MODEL.