I usually have an eye for the strangest art on the street.
If you were to line up ten pieces of art, I will always pick the one I think is
the most obscure because that is the most appealing to me. When I locked eyes
with the first piece of the artist, it was like I was hypnotized in a trance
and floated into the art gallery. I wanted to know more information about the
artist almost immediately. His name is Cameron White but goes by the name of Shakor. He was born and raised in New
York; he gained his education and moved to New Orleans in 1990 and began his
career as an artists. He has been extremely successful and has landed himself a
spot in a national gallery exhibit of art. His motto was painted on the inside
of his gallery above the door and it read, “There is a time and a place for
everything done under the sun”. This motto was so appropriate for his art based
on the subjects of his pieces. There were images of bands like ONE DIRECTION
(and I was totally fan-girling), The Police, and The Beatles. There were also
images of different landscapes, besides New Orleans locations. One in
particular was an image of a cornfield; it reminded me so much of my own
culture. I wanted to know his where his inspiration came from for this piece,
but he was not in the gallery that day (sad face). All of the pieces of art in the gallery caught my eye! They were
all painted with what can be described as, “really thick paint”. It looked as
though the artist added flour to a gallon of paint, poured it on a canvas, and
pushed it around the canvas with a broom. It was amazing to me that the artist
was able to manipulate the paint in a way to create such mesmerizing way. Beyond the texture of the paint were the
intensely bright colors he chose for his paintings. I could not believe that
what I was looking at was painted onto a canvas! I got caught touching the
painting and was almost asked to leave the gallery (oops!). I tried to explain
to the lady working within the gallery that I have never seen colors as vibrant
as the ones displayed in the painting and I just wanted to know how in the heck
it was happening! I’m serious! The painting about the corn was amazing! I am
born and raised from Illinois so you can bet that I know exactly what corn is
supposed to look like. But Shakor displayed
corn in a way that made it almost unfamiliar for me to recognize because it was
so beautiful! Each kernel of corn looked like it was hand shaped by an
extremely thin brush. The detail of this artists work was just amazing to me; I
had never seen anything like it. I would have loved to have taken some of his
artwork home with me, but I would have needed to sell four pints of plasma and
gotten another part time job in order to pay for the work. The worker was also
watching me very closely after I was caught red handed touching the painting so
I was unable to snap any pictures of my own of his amazing work. I did take a
business card with information about the artist and his website! Maybe if I have
a couple extra dollars laying around every now and then I will be able to save
enough money in thirty years to buy one of his pieces of art!
I have zero artistic ability. None what so ever. I never
have been able to draw a straight line and can barley write my own name. That
being said, it was strange and difficult for me to be able to pick an artist of
New Orleans who I appreciate and admire. I was desperately hunting all week for
art that would stick out to me and searching for an artist that I could relate
to in some way. FINALLY I FOUND HIM! His art caught my eye in the small corner
of the Washington Artillery Park next to the staircase. One particular painting
that caught my eye was an image of a painting of an African American man
entwined in an intimate pose with a woman who appears to be mixed with
different cultures. This image is absolutely stunning. This artist was able to
capture the intimate connection between these two people. Whether or not this
was a sketch taken by drawing models or the image appears to the artist in his
own head, the image is breathtaking. He was able to capture the love and
passion of these two souls and pour it into the canvas. I took one look at the
canvas and knew that the two models in the painting shared a deep connection.
The image made me think of my own love life. I recently separated myself from
my fiancé and have started my life on my own. This image immediately reminded
me of memories of when I was in love and completely open and exposed with
someone. To have another human being who accepts you and encompasses your world
within theirs, that feeling is irreplaceable. This artist had the ability to
take me back in time with just one look of a powerful image he created. Not
only did the connection between the models in the painting inspire a deep
emotion rapidly within me, but the color in the painting was inspiring as well.
The woman was wearing a brightly colored headdress and necklace around her
naked body. To me, the bright colors represent her personality through the
image as they drape her naked body. The colors completely contrasted the colors
of the skin on the models. I interpreted this as meaning that despite the giant
contrast that could be occurring in certain characteristics within the
personalities of the models, they still share a strong and deep connection
despite the qualities within them that may differ. I may be taking the meaning
of this painting too far, but this painting made me feel good. It was such an
intimate image of two people that made me feel as though they had a strong
connection. This image instantly brought me back to old memories that I have
created in my own life and developed goals and hopes for future relationships.
I was unable to talk to the artist about his art or learn anything about this
specific piece, but I fell in love with the painting based on the descriptions
and imagery I had created in my own mind with just one glance at this painting.
Because the image is has a copyright, I was unable to obtain a clear image of the painting but borrowed this one from the website!
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