Surrealism and Maggie Taylor

Surrealism began as a literary movement that spread to art. The visuals take subjects and juxtapose them in uncommon landscapes. In addition to that, the subjects are twisted and exaggerated into something they aren’t to make a point or evoke an emotion. With the rise of photoshop, many artists have been able to manipulate photos and create digital paintings in the surreal style. Surreal paintings tend to look a bit hallucinatory and dreamlike.
Maggie Taylor is an American artist who, after earning an MFA in photography from the University of Florida, was primarily a still-life photographer until 1996. The creative director of Adobe, Russell Brown, had approached her husband, Jerry Uelsmann about using the newly created image program, Photoshop. Uelsmann had turned down the offer since he loved doing his manipulations in the darkroom. Maggie, on the other hand, was intrigued. In an interview with the New York Times, she said: “ At first I wasn’t overly serious about it. . . I thought this would just be a fun thing but not for my artwork at all”. She scans 3D items as well as old photos to create her pieces. Many of her pieces contain more than 100 layers.

Down Down Down.

   I find her color choices interesting. How the slightly different values of blue and grey work with each other and draw your eye to each section of the piece is strong. The colors affect the mood of the piece too. The blues in the foreground and the purple/blueish books in the background compliment each other and create a dreamlike and whimsical feeling. The negative space is also used very well. I like how she spread out the subjects helped to create the feeling of suspension and falling within the painting.

Wonderful.

   I love the simplicity of this piece. The clothes line with paper instead of clothes really makes the piece surreal. The similar colors, other than the crown, help to make the crown pop. I love the ground because it looks like grass, water, and a field were layer on top of one another, but to the point were it's so difficult to tell for certain. the trees in the background help with not only the negative space, but with the context. They [the trees] make the subject look as though it's in an uninhabited place.


Sources

Estrin, James. "In Her Garden of Digital Delights." Lens In Her Garden of Digital Delights Comments. The New York Times Company, 13 Dec. 2011. Web. 18 Nov. 2013.

"Guggenheim." Collection Online. The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation (SRGF), n.d. Web. 19 Nov. 2013.

"Spotlight." Photoshop.com. Adobe Systems Incorporated, n.d. Web. 21 Nov. 2013.

Taylor, Maggie. "Maggie Taylor: Biography." :: Maggie Taylor ::. Maggie Taylor, n.d. Web. 19 Nov. 2013.

Voorhies, James. "Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History." Surrealism. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, n.d. Web. 19 Nov. 2013.