Word & Image Part 2: Art and Words

Twombly's "Wilder Shores of Love" source: http://www.artchive.com/artchive/T/twombly/twombly_wilder.jpg.html

While in Design lecture, we have looked at many artists and contemplated the difference between art and design.  A perfect example of an artist that uses design in his work is Twombly.  In Twombly’s painting called “Wilder Shores of Love,” he uses words to add meaning to his brush strokes.  For Twombly, the formation of letters into meaningful words is just as important as the images he creates.  He is utilizing the idea of “Signare,” which is Latin for “to mark.”  He is a painter doing mark making which crosses the boundaries between art and design.  He pushes the limit and makes word and image juxtaposed.  We must keep in mind that Twombly is not creating a narrative story like McCloud does, but instead using known English language words to describe his abstract paintings.  Another work of Twombly’s is “Autumn” from “The Four Seasons” collection.  The dripping, scribbled letters of autumn flow along the canvas in what seems like a young child’s hand writing; however, the words on top of his art are 100% harmonious.  Twombly is just one example of signare and juxtaposed word and image, but I think the true reason that I choose to write a post about him is because I find his paintings beautiful and inspiring.  I have painted a lot over the years, but usual in a very realistic style with very straight lines.  I want to try out some abstract works where I am not afraid to let the paint drip.