Compare and Contrast: Shape
/Understanding the Elements of Art using works from the Polk Museum of Art Collection
Miriam Schapiro, Paper Doll Series: Against All Odds, 2004, Screen Print with Mixed Media, Museum Purchase through the Docent Acquisition and Patron Members Acquisition Fund
Tony Robbin, 39453, 2001. Acrylic on canvas, Museum Purchase through the Kent Harrison Memorial Acquisition Fund and General Acquisition Fund
SHAPE
connected lines that enclose space
Big Idea
Different kinds of shapes can have different roles in works of art (e.g. creating a focal point, pattern, etc.).
Discussion 1
Organic (derived from nature) versus Geometric (mathematical) shapes: How are they different? Where do you see them used in each work?
Discussion 2
Why would an artist create an artwork that contains only shapes (as in the Robbin painting, in contrast with the Schapiro)?
Fast Facts
Miriam Schapiro (1923-2015) was a feminist artist working most prominently in the 1960s and 1970s
The woman portrayed in Schapiro’s work is the famous female artist Frida Khalo
Tony Robbin (b. 1943) often combines two-dimensional and three-dimensional art together to suggest four dimensions (three-dimensional objects moving through themselves) within art
Robbin created a computer program that lets you visualize four-dimensional geometry