Saturday, August 4, 2012

The Infinite Art Tournament, Round 1: De Chirico v. Christo

Giorgio De Chirico
1888 - 1978
Italian




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Javacheff Christo
born 1935
Bulgarian; works in the United States



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Vote for the artist of your choice!  Votes go in the comments.  Commentary and links to additional work are welcome.  Polls open for at least one month past posting.

14 comments:

Elizabeth said...

Chirico. And the ending of the Japanese horror (?) movie "Hausu."

Leonardo Piccioni said...

I vote in De Chirico (a.k.a. the only painter that understood Nietzsche)

Morgan said...

I like Chirico! I think that second one was used in a Monty Python animation.

chuckdaddy said...

Wow, I find this to be a tough decision. I really really like Christo's expansive awesomeness. But Chirico... He's like Dali without the melting. I never knew of his existance until now, but he's up there for me. Chirico it is, although I hope Christo can weather the left-hand bracket for awhile.

mrs.5000 said...

I've long been a fan of de Chirico. And, since he's pitted against Christo, I'll argue that de Chirico too is a transformer of landscapes. Occasionally I have found myself in odd urban spaces--maybe there are arcades, maybe weirdly looming chimneys--probably it is dusk and nearly deserted--and suddenly I feel myself in a de Chirico painting. So I'd like to credit him with a way of seeing things that creeps beyond individual paintings...

margaret said...

I vote for Christo. One of a kind.

DrSchnell said...

De Chirico - I love the weird, off-kilter feel. Plus, he's mentioned in a Robyn Hitchcock song. I do like Christo too (and don't forget Jeanne-Claude), and the pure chutzpah that it takes to do things like wrapping the Reichstag in plastic wrap. I also like that his art is temporary, and so you don't have people with way too much money spending tens of millions of dollars on them after he's dead.

pfly said...

Oh my. I like both very much. It looks like de Chirico will win. I'll vote for Christo!

lamanyana said...

Another split vote from the airport - de Chirico for me and Christo for Nichim.

Mm Mud said...

De chirico since I don't fully understand Christo and I'm willing to admit my ignorance about such elaborate installations

Michael5000 said...

It is odd and whimsical and, let's face it, ~fun~ to, to, well, to WRAP things on a grand scale. It's madcap! But, the results are always visually interesting. They create new textures and simplify forms. I like Christo a lot, and he gets my vote easily.

I don't fully understand De Chirico and I'm willing to admit my ignorance about such bleak and disturbing lanscapes. : )

Michael5000 said...

A postcard vote for Christo!

Candida said...

Christo! The bananas exploding from the twisted torso by De Chirico make me feel uncomfortable, and I'm confused by the background--the train seems to be running along a brick dock. I'm willing to concede that I like De Chirico better than a lot of 20th-century painters, though, and might be able to vote for him in a future round, even if I hope it's a left bracket. (Also, I'm probably totally off base on this, but was De Chirico's second painting used as a book cover? I could swear I've seen it on a book cover, but just saying it makes me think I'm nuts.)

Michael5000 said...

Christo's comeback run falls short, and he falls to De Chirico 6-8. Voting is closed in this matchup.