Claes Oldenburg

There was a time in my life where I could hardly name any artists, I could describe dozens of works but couldn't put a name to them, for a long time I’ve had a block with names in general. Over time and dubious amounts of study I can now name far more artists however at times I still have blocks with certain names. I went to a retrospective of Claes Oldenburg's work at the MoMA gallery in New York, I was captivated by his work yet forgot his name almost immediately. Two years later Oldenburg's work has been on my mind due to its use of junk object to create art, a principle I want to use in my final piece. Claes Oldenburg, is an American sculpture, the best kind of American. With a name like Claes Oldenburg you can tell he is like most New Yorkers an immigrant, he was born in Stockholm. what interests me about his work is that he uses everyday cheap objects as inspiration, he uses collage and assemblage of waste or ephemeral items to create works which explore scale, the body and erotic analogies. Oldenburg uses materials he finds on the street to create some of his works, his best known work is public art pieces which take the form of large everyday objects. I first discovered Oldenburg at a retrospective of his work in the MoMA gallery in New York, this is just one exhibition in a career stretching many years. Retrospectives look back at a persons career and their work so you have to have really arrived if you have one in a prominent gallery. What intrigued me about Oldenburg was his use of medium, he used mediums which aren't normally associated with high art like, paper mache and assemblage of junk objects. The exhibition, looks at two of bodies of work ‘The Street’ (1960) and ‘The Store’ (1961-64) the early sixties were a time of great creative output of Oldenburg. Alot of Oldenburg’s work is made from resources he find in the street. Oldenburg may not seem like the obvious link to my final design but there are several ways in which his techniques are a good fit. He looks at everyday objects and repurposes found objects into new pieces of work which are to aspects I hope to include in my work, also his work is visually intriguing, my final piece is going to be meaningful and it’s hopefully going to be functioning and kinetic however I also want it to have a grungy, steampunk work which plays with scale and looks visually impressive.