What is an iconic image? Is it an image that provokes? Forces us into a show of emotion? Inspires?
It’s an image that will last, an iconic image is intriguing, mysterious and makes you think. It’s beautiful, yet unappealing, as some would refer to as "beautiful, ugly". It’s an image that says something to people no matter what age or nationality, it talks to them, it gets some form of emotional response. The definition of an iconic image may not be simple. An iconic image must carry some connection to a larger contextual meaning, it refers to an image that resembles an object rather than symbolising it.
UNIT 1 IKONS
“I’m not a real person. I’m a legend” Jean Michel Basquiat
Jean Michel Basquiat a street smart graffiti artist from Brooklyn, New York, who in just eight years, became a 20th-century icon. We got an insight into Basquiat's life and how he branded himself and we will be working on creating a ‘persona’ for one of our fellow classmates in a similar fashion. (The Art Story. 2009)
What would your classmate look like on instagram if they were a legend?
Partnering up, we had to write down questions and answers about our partners persona getting an insight into their life to go on to expanding and exaggerating their personality.
Following this exercise we had to identify and gather images we deemed as iconic. One example given was Shepard Fairey’s Hope poster for Barak Obama.
I chose these images because they stood out to me as iconic:
This Esquire image designed by George Lois was an iconic image in the 20th century in New York. Using props to manipulate and portray a message he created a controversial response during the rise of feminism.
My second iconic image is of Charles Chaplin. Charles Chaplin built and exaggerated his persona creating his own iconic look that would be remembered for years to come. I chose this particular black and white minimalist photo to represent how noticeable the branding of Charles Chaplin is.
The third image i picked was the iconic Jimi Hendrix photo, much like the Obama hope, it uses a pop art style to create a timeless piece of imagery, using bold flat colours to portray an iconic eye catching, memorable image.
We stuck all of our images on to a wall creating a Hype wall and went on to discuss the images we gathered to inspire each other for the next part of the project.
References:
The Art Story. 2009. Jean-Michel Basquiat [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.theartstory.org/artist-basquiat-jean-michel-life-and-legacy.htm
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