Monday, January 25, 2010

On the subject of titles

I'm sort of a title fanatic when it comes to artwork, and often as the artwork itself develops, it reveals a title to the artist - unless that artist is a lazy bum with a propensity for "Nude #9" or a myriad of "untitled" as titles.

A perfect example of this is my drawing Woman on the Moon about to be swept off her feet by a Flying Bald Man.



"Woman on the Moon about to be swept off her feet by a Flying Bald Man"
Charcoal on Paper, c. 2005. 6 x 4.5 inches

When I started this drawing, it was just the female figure with her arms wide open. As I introduced the dark charcoal around her, a flying figure revealed itself amongs the layers of charcoal and I grabbed the kneaded eraser and worked the charcoal to reveal a figure of a flying bald man. Titling the drawing was then super-easy.

In Facebook, Jerry Salz posted:
What are good titles for works of art. Damien Hirst is a bad artist with good titles: The Shark is "The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living." The crappy skull is called, "For the Love of God." There's always, Courbet's "The Origin of the World;" Morton Schamberg's "Portrait of God;" and Picabia's "Portrait of Cezanne."
And do far he's received 154 responses.

Cool question uh? So let me copy Jerry's interesting question and ask: what are some good titles? Let me know in the comments.

1 comment:

Roger Cutler said...

"Roll over Copernicus and give Galileo the news - John's at the center of the Universe in his Blue Suede shoes"

...that's my favorite title from one of my paintings.

Thanks for making me think about it again.