Week 8 — Artist — Joseph DeLappe & Micol Hebron
Micol Hebron is an American interdisciplinary artist, curator, and associate professor at Chapman University. Hebron implements ideas of feminist activism in her art. Micol studied theater and visual arts from 1991 to 1992 at UCSD and then from 1993 to 1994 at Accademia di Belle Art di Venezia, Venice, Italy. In 1995 Micol graduated with the highest praise from UCLA with a Bachelor of Arts in fine art and then in 2000 graduated from UCLA again with a Masters of Fine Arts in new genres and contemporary art history. Joseph DeLappe is a UK-based American artist known for his new media installations and interactive gaming performances that explore ideas of issues in politics. Joseph is originally from San Francisco and got his Associate in Arts from the City College of San Fransisco. Then a Bachelor’s in Graphic Design and Master Computers in Art & Design from SJSU and a Master of Fine Arts in Pictorial Arts from CADRE Laboratory for New Media program at SJSU.
Since Micol is an interdisciplinary artist she creates all types of media work. In her “Objet Petit A” exhibition most of her painting pieces use neutral nude tones with a pop of blue with a mix of clean brushstrokes and textured strokes. Her print media is very vibrant and colorful with geometric lines and shapes. Then her statue artwork is very textured and jagged with no color but white but the media used is some type of crystal so it reflects off the light making it shiny. Joseph also uses a multitude of media but each of his ideas is all different. For some of his paintings, they are mostly neutral tones, and some that are vibrant. He uses jagged lines for his contemporary paintings and smooth and clean strokes for his more realistic paintings. His installation pieces each vary in shapes, sizes, colors, and displays. Some are more elaborate than others but most of them are also neutral colors, nothing really vibrant and brightly colored.
Micol focuses on the idea of feminist activism in her artwork. For example, she creates artwork of vaginas and nipples to show and represent female empowerment. She also has art work of edited photographs conveying messages issues surrounding feminism. Joseph focuses on the idea of issues in politics. For some of his installation art pieces, sculptures, as well as painting, convey issues such as terrorism, social issues, freedom in the United States, and other various issues of politics. For example “Thoughts and Prayers” is a work that simply recreates a massive 20’ cardboard sculpture of an AR15 assault rifle that represents the issue of gun violence.
Both of these artists really resonate with me because the times we live in now are more progressive and political than ever and it's important to be educated on these certain topics. I believe and I’m all for the idea and movement of female empowerment and having an artist like Micol be a voice for such a movement is really incredible. Joseph on the other hand deals with all types of political issues which is very important. Being aware of social and political issues is one of the most important things to be educated on especially during the times we live in right now and Joseph’s art spreads awareness toward these issues. As a person who is open-minded about the world, I find these two artists very important as their art contributes to the change in the world and our future.
