Ryan Grant Long

MA Qualifier Essay
Solien
Since there are multiple concerns I deal with in my work it is difficult to draw a simple linear
progression from past artists to myself. I could do the o!ious and e"amine homoerotic imagery
through the ages# or I could e"plore the stylistic inno!ations leading up to the flat $illustrati!e% style I
am employing in my current pro&ect. Alternati!ely# I egan my graduate career y writing aout
popular mythologist 'oseph (ampell in my admissions statement# e"plaining that I ha!e always een
fascinated with mythology and that in many ways it is the fundamental aspect eneath all my work.
)his is still true today# and like (ampell I understand the su&ect to apply inclusi!ely to oth the more
familiar structured narrati!es passed down y our ancestors *the con!entional definition of myths as
stories aout heroes and gods+# ut also to the stories we tell oursel!es e!ery day# the myths we all li!e
y# and the locks of cultural knowledge that are passed on from person to person *Richard ,awkins
calls them $memes%+. In my !iew mythology can e as specific as a particular person-s perception of
their local culture-s gender norms# a $script% that e"ists in their mind as a result of sociali.ation# that
they feel compelled to conform to. /r it can encompass the 0ile and the works of 1omer. /n some
le!el it is all the same to me# ut no matter what I am looking at I am always more naturally drawn to
!isionary# and in some ways# characteristically $religious% or mythological art. My current pro&ect
hinges on storytelling# and translating historical truths and facts aout my own life and identity to
others. It is also meant to deconstruct some of the harmful myths per!asi!e in American culture right
now# and replace them with more reasoned and positi!e ones. In general I am interested in reorgani.ing
and refining e"isting mythology# and in&ecting contemporary reason and ethics into them# rather than
dismissing them altogether which seemed to e the goal of Modernism.
MI(1ELA2GEL/
I ha!e a strong interest in non34estern cultures# ut as much as I would like to say I was
influenced as an artist y them# the fact is that I grew up in the 4est with a fairly con!entional
European3American art historical education. In recent years I ha!e egun e"ploring 2ati!e American#
(hinese and 'apanese art and e"ploring the $other% throughout history# in oth art and literature *i.e.
1oward 5inn-s A 6eople-s 1istory of the 7nited States# or the American counterculture+# and in the
contemporary era I ha!e found as much inspiration in popular culture as in $fine art%8 ut the fact
remains that when I think of the 9:
th
century I cannot help ut locate myself among the great masters#
Leonardo and Michelangelo. I will not claim to possess their incredile skill# ut I do idoli.e those two
men as artists# and also for their reputations as polymaths. Ao!e all else I strongly elie!e an artist
should not compartmentali.e him3 or herself and function only among other artists in some enclosed
$art world%8 ut rather e engaged with all aspects of the natural world; science# sociology# ethics#
politics and the human condition8 the mythic archetype of the $renaissance man%.
/ut of those 9:
th
century artists# Michelangelo in particular has always een my fa!orite.
Michelangelo-s fascination with the male figure and the homoeroticism present in his work are o!ious
parallels with my own homose"ual orientation and my desire to e"plore it !isually. <or me# it is
important to seek out and identify gay people throughout history# ut it is also important to
acknowledge homoeroticism and same3se" affection in art on its own merits regardless of the
orientation of the artist who creates it. In other words# Michelangelo may or may not ha!e een gay# ut
either way his work has empowered me as a gay man# and a gay artist. 1e is something of a hero to me.
I elie!e the &ury is still out on whether or not Michelangelo was a gay or ise"ual man8 his
relationship with fundamentalist (hristianity later in his life complicates the issue further.
)here are some key features of Michelangelo-s art that strike a chord with me. <irst# the one that
I am not so certain is entirely positi!e8 the fact that he seemed to treat all human figures as inherently
male. )o e lunt# his female figures resemle males with reasts. I ha!e heard a few different
e"planations posited for this# one eing that he may ha!e een homose"ual# or alternati!ely that his
models really did look like that as a result of some sort of physical affliction. I also think studying
human musculature is simply easier with men ecause it tends to e more !isually o!ious through the
skin. In any case# despite eing a feminist# I do instincti!ely approach figuration first through the male
ody# and tend to construct female odies as !ariations on males. I am happy with this aspect of my
work since it is meant to e personal# and I am neither female nor interested in females. I would
howe!er like to e"plore this aspect of my work while finding ways of introducing a feminist point of
!iew. 1ow does one !isually represent masculinity without playing into myths of male superiority=
)his is an issue I intend to e"plore in the future.
It wasn-t until college that I learned aout the rilliant colors redisco!ered when the Sistine
(hapel ceiling was restored in 9>?@. I ha!e always een attracted to !i!id# almost unrealistic colors in
otherwise naturalistic images# and I usually accredited this to eing raised in contemporary America#
my childhood ha!ing een saturated with Saturday morning cartoons# !ideo games# and plastic toys8
ut studying art history has taught me that artists may ha!e een using colors in this way throughout
the ages. )he issues of whether or not the restoration was worth the damage it caused notwithstanding#
I feel a familiarity with the way Michelangelo rendered highlights and shadows y shifting up and
down the color spectrum8 a yellow roe suddenly ecomes green as it falls into shadow# for instance. I
see this effect used freAuently in !ideo games and animation# and other places where the numer of
colors used in a gi!en image ha!e een restricted *either intentionally y the artist or as demanded y
the limitations of the medium+. I think using !i!id colors this way gi!es any gi!en image a larger3than3
life Auality that is appropriate for any sort of mythic ideali.ation# which is always present in my work#
e!en when it deals with historical or other factual topics.
0ER2I2I
Another master I encountered at a !ery early age is Gianloren.o 0ernini. My father is almost
e"clusi!ely a wildlife painter and has always een somewhat antagonistic toward modern art# ut in
retrospect he ne!er eha!ed as if he was an outsider to art# and seemed to draw his artistic lineage ack
to the pre3modern representational masters. 1is ookshel!es were full of art historical ooks# and when
I was !ery young I picked up a ook focusing on the sculptures of 0ernini. I was e"tremely impressed
the moment I saw them.
)he image that immediately springs to mind is 0ernini-s Apollo and Daphne. I was particularly
struck y the ama.ing detail employed to depict ,aphne changing into a tree# her fingers ending in
delicate lea!es. I had also always had an interest in Greek mythology so I already knew the story the
sculpture was ased on8 ut I had initially come to it y way of children-s ooks# nai!ely and
simplistically illustrated *which also tended to con!eniently lea!e out the mature aspects of the stories+.
0ernini-s adaptation was incredily realistic and ga!e these stories a tangiility and aility to speak to
the human condition that they lack when they are regarded as mere fairy tales or folklore.
In a way it seems curious to me that 0aroAue art was meant to reify the authority of the (atholic
church# ecause there are features of 0ernini-s work that strike me as actually undermining
(atholicism. )he fact that he portrayed oth (hristian and Greco3Roman myths with eAual detail and
eauty# for instance. It places them all on the same playing field# and suggests to me that these myths
must ha!e een understood y at least some people as not eing literally true8 perhaps e!en eAually
!aluale as each other as insights into human psychology. 1ere we are again in 'oseph (ampell
territory.
I also think a connection can e made etween the dynamic poses 0ernini put his figures into#
and the physicality of contemporary action mo!ies# comic ook superheroes# and athletes. I
encountered 0ernini-s David as a child around the same time I was learning to draw the human ody y
copying images out of comic ooks and sports maga.ines# and the two otherwise differing styles ha!e
always een connected for me. David's facial e"pression is especially artfully rendered# and eing ale
to achie!e that kind of specific and detailed human emotion is the holy grail for animators and
illustrators wishing to capture the immediate and emotional $essence% of a human su&ect. My current
pro&ect does not in!ol!e action scenes# ut it is still my goal to e ale to construct facial e"pressions
that in!oke strong emotional reactions in the !iewer# despite how simplistic the o!erall aesthetic looks.
I want to e !ery intentional with the figures- poses and emotional resonances so that they connect with
the !iewer# e!en perhaps those who ha!e an a!ersion to my su&ect matter.
Another of 0ernini-s sculptures# The Ecstasy of St. Teresa# wouldn-t impress me fully until later
in my life# after ha!ing e"perienced similar $transcendent% moments# altered states# intense emotions#
etc. 4hile initially I was tempted to attach religious meaning to some of the more profound
e"periences I ha!e had in my life so far# I ha!e since come to reali.e that su&ecti!e $spiritual%
e"periences ha!e perfectly natural scientific e"planations. Bet the e"periences are no less real# and I am
still &ust as interested in con!eying these and other aspects of eing human# !isually. I am howe!er
interested in finding a common ground etween sensual e"perience and intellect. I think
Michelangelo-s work is more successful in this# while 0ernini-s is naturally less cereral# proaly
ecause it was meant to e more populist and relate to the masses. I do ha!e a desire to reach people on
an immediate le!el# which can e characteri.ed as $populist% in some way# ut I do not want to lose the
academic and philosophical issues in my work either. I think contemporary# literate people are capale
of thinking and feeling at the same time.
0LACE
,espite the 9?
th
century eing the height of the secular Enlightenment# and me eing an
outspoken atheist and critic of religion# I must once again admit that I am more drawn to !isual art
intended to con!ey spiritual or transcendent meanings# including that which can e called religious art.
6hilosophically I look on this era with great pride in 4estern culture# since it marked a departure from
faith and the estalishment of our free secular repulic# ut of the artists acti!e during this time#
4illiam 0lake is the most interesting to me *I wrote aout him once efore# ut I see no reason why I
should not do it again8 and I reali.e he li!ed on the cusp etween the 9?
th
and 9>
th
centuries ut I ha!e
always understood his art to e a reaction to 9?
th
century secularism+.
I ha!e to emphasi.e that I disagree with his ideology# ut I find his !isionary aesthetic style !ery
compelling. )here is a two3dimensionality that makes it feel somehow mystical. )he images are
symolic and diagrammatic. )he figures are laid out systematically as if to mimic the order in the
cosmos 0lake no dout percei!ed there to e. 0ut they aren-t dogmatic8 I appreciate his creati!ity and
willingness to filter mythology through his own lens of personal interpretation. 0lake is also !ery
interesting to me ecause of the contradictions 3 as much as his work is supposedly a counter3argument
against the Enlightenment# it also utili.es principles I naturally associate with the Enlightenment8
notaly the incorporation of (lassical mythology. And the fact that he doesn-t &ust reiterate religious
ideas ut puts his own spin on them# e!en su&ects them to criticism D that seems like someone who is
only one step away from eing a skeptic. If only he would take that e"tra logical step. I elie!e the
!isionary style 0lake employs is not ine"tricaly tied to his spiritualism# and that it could e directed
toward making materialistic claims aout the natural world. 4hat would $prophetic% or $!isionary% art
look like if it was made to ser!ice materialistic scientific truths=
I think the first piece I saw of his was Newton# and it has always struck me as a !ery o!erstated
political cartoon. I can easily imagine a contemporary cartoonist creating the !ery same pose and
making the same philosophical statement# ut with a simplistic lack3and3white line drawing# and ha!e
it printed in a maga.ine. I am uncertain aout how much of the painting-s message relies on the
technical skill employed in its creation8 ut for me the attention to detail is a positi!e. It contrasts some
contemporary conceptual art in which the message or concept makes the !isual Aualities of a piece
almost irrele!ant.
0lake seems to e accepted as oth an illustrator and a painter worthy of eing included in art
historical canon. I must admit I ha!e not read much of 0lake-s writings# ut I am aware they played an
essential role in his !isual art and that together they comprise an entire realm of his own in!ention
which orrows from (hristian *with a Gnostic spin+ and (lassical mythologies. )he aility to create a
single image is a fine skill8 ut the aility to ring to life an entire world in one-s mind is all the more
impressi!e. )olkein achie!ed this# as did George Lucas for the most part. )his is something I would
!ery much like to e"plore in the future# and I ha!e already egun writing its of an ongoing narrati!e
that I would illustrate myself# a personal mythology of my own creation.
M/REA7
In keeping with the theme of illustrating mythology# for a 9>
th
century artist who has influenced
me I would ha!e to go with a Symolist# someone like Moreau or Climt. Bet another e"ample of my
own internal contradiction perhaps# me eing an atheist enamored with science and progress# yet
naturally drawn to mysticism and emotionalism in art. And Moreau is another artist whose ideas I don-t
necessarily feel totally in sync with# since his work tended to focus mythological characters and
narrati!es through a lens of almost <reudian heterose"ual an"iety aout male !s. female. 4hat interests
me isn-t the particular statements aout se" and gender he is making# ut &ust the fact that he is making
them# and using a comination of popular mythology and deeply personal e"pression to work them out.
Like 0lake his aesthetic style comes off as diagrammatic to me# and intended to con!ey the artist-s
inner psychology as much as it illustrates the estalished stories.
)he piece I lo!e the most is his Oedipus. 6urely in formal terms# I like the design Auality# the
fact that the figures are shown in profile. And he has dramatically altered the myth from how it was
usually portrayed as a more simplistic hero !s. monster confrontation symoli.ing the power of reason
to sudue nature. 2ow it seems to e more aout the se"ual tension etween /edipus and the Sphin"#
who are posed intimately together as simultaneously star3crossed lo!ers and deadly ad!ersaries. I am
inclined to assume that in general# an e!er3more sophisticated understanding of human se"uality and
gender politics in the 4estern world might ha!e informed this new take on an old legend. )his is after
all the century that ga!e rise to <reudian psychology.
)his work calls into Auestion the myths themsel!es# and egs the Auestion of whether or not the
artist has in&ected anachronistic meanings into them# or if those issues were always implicitly there and
the artist has merely drawn them out toward the surface. I-!e read Auite a few contemporary analyses of
religion and folklore that su&ect the stories to psychoanalysis and I think it is a worthy academic
e"ercise.
)ACAS1I M7RACAMI
I wanted to end this with Murakami ecause his work emodies some of the tensions I am
dealing with# especially the percei!ed di!ision etween $high% and $low% art. Some descriptions of
Murakami claim he is lurring the $line% etween them# ecause he operates in oth the fine art and
commercial worlds# ut from what I understand of 'apanese culture# this line may not e"ist for him in
the first place. Murakami himself has descried the con!entional 4estern di!ision of high !s. low art as
$rigid and pretentious.%
Murakami creates art in his $superflat% style# which orrows hea!ily from commercial graphics
and anime8 and he appropriates motifs from otaku culture and some of the hyperse"uali.ed imagery
that characteri.es anime aimed at adults# ut he doesn-t do so in an aloof# Andy 4arhol way. 1e is at
once orrowing and commenting on popular culture# and li!ing within it. I am not all that directly
influenced y stereotypical 'apanese anime# ut I am intrigued y the notion that popular culture can e
regarded as authentic human culture# not dismissed or cynically appropriated and stripped of its
conte"t# as I think it might ha!e een in the 6op Art mo!ement. )his is where the roadness of my
understanding of mythology comes out# ecause on some le!el I don-t see a dramatic difference
etween the way Murakami orrows and rearranges the popular culture and mythology he li!es with
today# and the ways in which the other artists I-!e written aout had done the same thing with the myths
surrounding them.
)he two more outrageous pieces that immediately spring to mind in!ol!e statues of anime
characters that are downright pornographic8 one is a girl whose reasts are emitting a stream of milk#
which she is &ump3roping8 the other is a taught adolescent oy standing defiantly and e&aculating a far3
reaching arc of sperm. )hese are fairly graphic pieces# ut I-m not so sure they should e regarded
simply as amusing pro!ocations# which they no dout are y some people# especially in the 4est.
'apanese anime has an estalished history as eing a medium through which issues and an"ieties
surrounding psychology and se"uality are e"plored and worked through. More than &ust intended to e
shocking# I think these pieces might e on to something a it deeper# an e"ploration of the human
psyche perhaps= At the !ery least they point to anime as a genuine cultural phenomenon. And
Murakami himself has stated that he sees otaku and anime as eing the !ery real uilding locks of a
new 'apanese culture *perhaps a new international culture depending on how widely these interests are
taken up y admirers outside 'apan+.
/taku# if you don-t know# is a word that descries an enthusiast of stereotypical contemporary
'apanese popular culture D anime# manga and !ideo games. Murakami-s appreciation for otaku culture
mirrors my own interest in sociology and anthropology# as well as my goal of depicting the struggle of
the so3called $other%. 4hile it may sound ridiculous or far3fetched to some people# I do elie!e that
youth sucultures like otaku share a lot of similarities with those formed around more innate
differences# such as the LG0) populations# and I think they should e e"amined with the same degree
of o&ecti!ity and open3mindedness as any human social phenomenon. )he correlation isn-t perfect of
course8 otaku is not iologically determined# nor is it the asis for real legal discrimination that I am
aware of. 0ut I ha!e heard that otaku and similar sucultures are actually su&ected to igotry# and they
ha!e een met with a certain amount of $moral panic% from social conser!ati!es who !iew them as a
dangerous or su!ersi!e element in society *perhaps a closer analogy could e drawn etween it and
the countercultures in America# the hippie mo!ement for e"ample+. )o e lunt# some people think
sucultures like otaku are ridiculous# ut I don-t see how they are any more ridiculous than the antics of
the (atholic church. )hey may seem !ery different ut I think the same human social instincts are
operating to gi!e rise to them as cultural phenomena *I regard religion as essentially an e"tension of the
same mechanisms that gi!e rise to sucultures# only it has grown o!er time to a massi!e scale+.
(/2(L7SI/2
I elie!e I can make a connection etween all these artists# ut I ha!e troule approaching it
from a purely formal perspecti!e. I am not con!inced that particular aesthetic styles necessarily uild
on each other progressi!ely# ecause !isual eauty is generally su&ecti!e8 rather# styles appear to me to
e e!ol!ing as organisms or memes do; they arise out of their historical and cultural conte"ts# ut
change without purpose or delierate guidance# and can go e"tinct &ust as easily as they can come into
eing. I think aesthetic styles are est thought of as trends# which can come and go. In contrast I do
think science and philosophy make real progress howe!er# ecause they can uild on pre!iously
disco!ered e!idence and logic# respecti!ely# which are concrete concepts not open to personal
interpretation.
Stylistically I draw from a !ariety of sources and artists8 Michelangelo captures ,a!id-s
psychology# ut 0ernini captures his physicality. I can-t say I prefer one approach o!er the other and I
think I should keep oth in mind when I attempt to depict human figures whose ody language and
facial e"pressions are meant to con!ey some deeper# underlying emotions# or imply some sort of
relationship or narrati!e. At times I may want to render my su&ects naturalistically# ut depending on
the image and intent of a gi!en pro&ect I may wish to flatten and styli.e them. 0lake was afraid of
scientific materialism placing restrictions on his su&ecti!e e"periences8 I would say I am afraid of
formal $rules% dictating the style in which I make my art. I do not howe!er mean to imply that I ha!e
no style of my own. I do ha!e a natural illustrati!e style that fa!ors line# solid and right colors# figures
that are naturalistic for the most part ut slightly ideali.ed and styli.ed# with o!ious !isual references
to mythology and art history as well as popular culture. Generally I am attracted to more3or3less
naturalistic# figurati!e styles# ut which incorporate mystical or mythical elements so that the image is
oth informati!e intellectually# and e!ocati!e in emotion or sensuality8 and which also make references
to mythology and popular culture andEor sucultures. I elie!e all these artists ha!e that in common.
A hallmark of much religious art was that it was made to e comprehended# or at least en&oyed#
y the masses. Somehow o!er time# $art for the people% ecame regarded as a negati!e to some in the
4estern art world. 6ersonally I ha!e no prolem whatsoe!er with speaking to the masses8 and in fact
social &ustice acti!ism necessitates it. 4e all e"ist simultaneously as pri!ate eings and actors on a
social stage# and I think it is fundamental to our e"istence that we work our issues out !isually using
oth pre3e"isting or popular stories# and personal e"pression.
My work is oth personal and political *some say those are one and the same+ and is !ery much
aout communicating my own humanity to other people in the hopes that they will reali.e that I# and
other gay people *and y e"tension all oppressed minorities+ are human eings. I want to do so in a way
that portrays difference in a positi!e light# ut not in a way that in!ol!es me apologetically pleading to
e treated $&ust like e!eryone else%. It seems to me that understanding the !ernacular of estalished
mythology *including our perception of historical e!ents and figures+# and their !arious interpretations 3
and eing ale to re imagine and reinterpret it to e"press myself and my own con!ictions 3 is the key to
achie!ing my goals as an artist who is interested in many su&ects# ut first and foremost the human
condition. And on the other hand# the formal Aualities of my work are not unimportant or suser!ient to
the messages ehind it8 I elie!e they are integral in con!eying those messages effecti!ely and
creati!ely.