Today is Monday and we don’t know about you guys but we’re having a mean case of the ‘Monday Blues’ — as we all often do after what seems like a much too short of a weekend (insert eye roll emoji). In this week’s installment of The Artwork Evoking Our Emotions, as we’re feeling moody, we’re examining work that plays with shadows — both figuratively and implied — as well as light manipulation. Artist manipulate light to evoke form, to add depth, to display figures abstractly and to convey emotion. Image makers and artist have used light — or the absence of light — as more than a resource to create depth and dimension but using light as a somewhat of a protagonist or secondary character. Artist like Baroque master Caravaggio, or photographer Fan Ho have long mastered the art of conveying emotion through shadows. From figurative paintings and photography, to light installation, this curated selection of works channels the dark, broody essence that we refers to as Mondays.
Below we’ve gathered up some works of art that play with shadow and light manipulation:
Gustavo Nazareno—gira
Ming Smith—Male Nude
Kerry James Marshall—A Portrait of the Artist as a Shadow of His Former Self
Kourken Pakchanian—Shadows
Justin Mikhail Solomon—Things We Carry
Lucja Grodzicka—Shadows, 2021
Hanna Ilczyszyn—hot
Edward Hopper—night shadows
Kumi Yamashita—CHAIR
Lynette Yiadom-Boakye—The Stygian Silk
shikeith—the smoke made the night blue/ I have walked in the rain
Albert Watson—Cindy Crawford in Shadows
Hiroshi Watanabe—TDTDC 67 (Shadow Sailor)
Kara Walker—Shadow puppet from Testimony: Narrative of a Negress Burdened by Good Intentions
Still feeling moody? Well it’s almost Tuesday, which means it’s almost the weekend. See you next week for another curated collection of works.
