1.Carefully read the information about the Harlem Renaissance in your textbook and focus on Jacob Lawrence’s Migration series (1940-41; figure 36.2). While your textbook only shows one of the 60 images in the series, you can see all 60 images including the official titles and explanations at: http://www.moma.org/interactives/exhibitions/2015/onewayticket/. Look through all 60 images online and explain the series IN YOUR OWN WORDS. What did Lawrence achieve with this series? How does the artist help his audience to understand the exodus of African-Americans who left their homes in the South to re-settle in the North of the US around the time of WWI? How does the artist portray the rural South? How does he portray the urban North? What meaning does the series hold for today’s viewer? Write a minimum of 100 words including a short explanation of the “Harlem Renaissance.”
2. Look at Judy Chicago’s The Dinner Party (1974-1979; multimedia; figure 36.12). Read the information in your textbook as well as texts on REPUTABLE internet sites, such as https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/exhibitions/dinner_party (click on the “Teacher Packet” for detailed imagery). There are also several Youtube films about The Dinner Party including one with the artist.
To complete this assignment, describe the art work including the history of the work’s creation as well as its position as one of the foremost feminist art works. Comment on the work’s effectiveness, i.e. does it still have meaning for today’s viewers? Explain why or why not. Write a minimum of 100 words.
3. The artists Christo (b. 1935) and Jeanne-Claude (1935-2009) created environmental projects on a grand scale. The costs for all the projects were carried by the artists and their budgets did not aim at major profits. After the projects had been taken down, all materials were donated to be re-used. Read your textbook (p. 496) and the links to the artists’ website (listed below).
Focus on The Gates in New York City (2005). Expand your knowledge by reading the Khan Academy webpage on The Gates (https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/art-1010/minimalism-earthworks/a/christo-and-jeanne-claude-the-gates), and some New York Times articles (http://www.nytimes.com/ref/arts/design/GATES-REF.html).
Describe this NYC project and explain the effect on the visitors in at least 75 words. In your opinion and based on your reading, what made The Gates so successful and fascinating?
Christo and Jeanne-Claude: http://www.christojeanneclaude.net/ and http://christojeanneclaude.net/artworks/realized-projects
