Joyce Li - Chapman Etchings from Exquisite Corpse 2000

1) INTRODUCE THE DRAWING IN GENERAL TERMS

•What is the title of the drawing?
Exquisite Corpse

•What is the name of the artist?
Jake Chapman (British, born 1966) and Dinos Chapman (British, born 1962)

•What is the year the drawing was done?
2000

•What is the medium? (ie the materials used to produce the picture, for example charcoal on paper, pen and ink etc)
Etching

•What is the subject matter or general theme of the work? (eg is it a figure drawing, a map, a portrait, an autobiographical work, a picture about nature, a drawing of the city etc?)
The general theme of the work is a figure drawing, there is a large part of the composition shows a figure. however the figure is elongated and not is a perfect human figure proportion.

•Does the drawing have a particular purpose? eg Is it a diagram that explains how something works? Does it record accurately record the appearance of something? Does it express the artist's emotion or memory?
According to the title of the drawing Exquisite Corpse, the drawing is experimentive and playful.
Exquisite Corpse is a surrealist game about chance, they allow artist take turns in drawing. This drawing is done by Chaprman brother's, they responsible for different parts of the drawing and their drawing shows sense of humor.

2) DESCRIBE THE DRAWING IN DETAIL


•How is line used? What does it do/express?
There is a lot of lines used and lines are important in this drawing. Because the medium is etching, different lines are used to indicate the subject matter and represent the moderning and shading areas.
From the drawing, we can notice that the artist used thick lines and thin lines to indicate different part of the body of the figure, for example the main body is used a relatively thick lines than the face and the head. Whenever the line is more thin, it shows more detail of the body and darker in the drawing because more lines are used in a same area.

•How is tone used? What does it do/express?
According to the tone of the drawing, we can see there are different tone in different part of the drawing, the tone is affected by the lines and the details of the drawings. Shading is the technique of varying the tonal values on the paper to represent the shade of the material as well as the placement of the shadows. From the lower part of the drawing we can see the artist used more detailed lines with a lot of shadings it makes the drawings more dark in that part. In contrast, the upper part of the drawing doesnt have much details lines it is more line an outline of the body so the tone is more light in the upper part.

•What can you say about shape and/or form in this picture? What is the effect?
I realised there are a lot of sharp angular shape in the drawings, from the nails of the hands and the trunk of the flower, it has angular shape and this make a strong and expressive feelings to the drawing.
Also, this kind of sharp shape from nails and tones attracts me and the audience, it also increase the sense of humor in this drawing.

•Is texture a feature of the drawing?
No

•What can you say about the composition of the drawing? What is the effect of this type of composition on the overall drawing?
The composition of this drawing is dominated by one main figure. The main figure is the most outstanding features in the drawing and this shows the figure is the main idea of this drawing.

•Is rhythm important in this picture? If so, say more about it...
Yes it is, rhythm is important in this picture because there is a lot of elements in this picture shows rhythm. For example the curve lines of the hands in the figure suggest movement in the drawing that also shows rhythm. As for the tones, they are pointing different direction with sharp angles, they also suggest movement and they induce rhythm.

•Is the picture balanced? Explain...
Yes, the picture is balanced in the way that the composition is similar and balance.


•Is the picture harmonious? If so, in what way?
I would not say the picture is harmonious, because there is some scary and creepy human faces appear as the subject of the drawing.

•Are there any strong contrasts in the picture? Say more...
Yes there is a strong contract in the upper part and the lower part because the lines in the upper part is more simple and the lines in the lower part is more detailed and complicated, making the upper part the color more light and the lower pat more dark.

3) INTERPRETATION AND EVALUATION

•What is the mood of the drawing? Justify your answer using information from your responses above.
The mood of the drawing gives me a feeling of mystery and surrealist. From the subject the artist draw it has some influence from surrealism and the appear of skeleton and creepy faces. It also express a sense of horror and unsafe feeling because there is a lot of details in the drawing that the artist draw it so real like the skull, it express a scary feeling.

•What does the drawing express? Justify your answer using information from your responses above.
The drawing express the playfulness of the artist as the title suggest it is a drawing game from surrealism, the artists are experiencing chances and randomness, the communicate through collaboration in drawing, in this way they shows playfulness. On the other hand the figure in the drawing shows fantasy and satire, combining horror with humor in the figure, the drawing is expressing the artist fantasy and subconscious feelings.