Within the boundaries of the wonderful world of abstractism and the adjoining values, this Melania Trump’s statue remains a sculptural blunder borne out of mediocrity of creative skills. The composition is vague, and the image is too pale for Melania, a lady obsessed with fashion and style.
By Anthony Obi Ogbo
The photo – a resemblance of a worn-out overfed scarecrow is actually a wooden statue of First Lady, Melania Trump. It was created by Ales “Maxi” Zupevc, a local Slovenian artist who used a chainsaw to execute his motif. Funny enough, this statue was commissioned by Berlin-based American Artist Brad Downey. Already most people thought the statue was a disgrace but the sculptor literally believed that Melania’s signature Ralph Lauren blue suit he depicted in his artifice validated his creation.
Fine Art does not work that way – and that is why most impressionists or perhaps surrealists would be very careful about a contentious art-for-art-sake reputation. Artists may create anything. In fact, art may be created to please the artist’s imaginative soul, but the piece must convey substantial standards. The composition must not just be exceptional but also, most significantly, radiate some philosophical vigor.
Mona Lisa’s mystic smile was not an accidental strokes of brush. Leonardo da Vinci, who equally studied the anatomical structures of the lips knew where he was headed to with her model. Thus he rendered his imagination tactfully and captured the supernatural expressions in Monalisa’s smiles. Wrote Walter Isaacson on how Leonardo da Vinci achieved some Mona Lisa’s mysteries:
“There is other science involved in the smile. From his optics studies, Leonardo realized that light rays do not come to a single point in the eye but hit the whole area of the retina. The central area of the retina, known as the fovea, is best at seeing color and small details. The area surrounding the fovea is best at picking up shadows and shadings of black and white. When we look at an object straight on, it appears sharper. When we look at it peripherally, glimpsing it out of the corner of our eye, it is blurred, as if it were farther away.”
Abstract in fine art remains a constructive impression. Inspired by fantasy and nature, a British contemporary sculptor, Martin Debenham created stainless steel wire sculptures. He made constructivism very simple and stylish – using very flexible materials, complex twists, and bends of wires to mold home his masterpiece. His mermaid wire-piece is an abstract rendering of a mermaid siting on a rock by a lily pond in a calming posture. Without the doubt, this piece conjures some mythical narratives that could woo any observer.
Within the boundaries of the wonderful world of abstractism and the adjoining values, this Melania Trump’s statue remains a sculptural blunder borne out of mediocrity of creative skills. The composition is vague, and the image is too pale for Melania, a lady obsessed with fashion and style. Abstract is a good form of fine art. It shows a departure from reality, and an expedition to the unknown through some imaginative actions to invoke creativity. The concept breeds freedom of thoughts and inspires visual connections and interpretations. However, artists down with Imaginative skills could hold on to this philosophy to escape a lack of imagination.
♦ Anthony Ogbo, PhD, Adjunct Professor at the Texas Southern University is the author of the Influence of Leadership (2015) and the Maxims of Political Leadership (2019). Contact: anthony@guardiannews.us
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