John De Andrea

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John De Andrea (born November 24, 1941 in Denver ) is an American sculptor and draftsman of the New Realism and specializes in nudes in lifelike poses.

Artistic classification

De Andrea is a representative of hyperrealism and specialized in nudes, often couples in love, which he creates realistically from plaster casts made of plastic, polyester , fiberglass with hairpieces and painting . The people were all people from his immediate vicinity, friends and studio models. By molding their bodies and casting them in materials that accurately reproduce the shapes and surfaces, the artist pursued the intention of capturing the authenticity and uniqueness of the individuals. John de Andreas' work can be seen in relation to the sculptural works of Duane Hanson (1925–1996) and George Segal (1924–2000).

At documenta 5 in Kassel in 1972 he was represented with life-size pencil drawings of a young man and a young woman, as well as a sculpture made of polyester resin based on body casts, which represented a couple making love. Original works are in the Ludwig Museum in Aachen and Cologne .

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Realistic art

Information about the artist can only be found sporadically. Most of his works appear to be nudes by slim young women. Groups (e.g. an older woman and a younger girl, both lightly clothed), a couple (example: naked woman and clothed man in Aachen) or multiple artists and models at work, with the artist clothed and the model naked, are rare.

Realistic art is, of course, judged in terms of the degree of realism which, of course, can never match reality; to this extent, the direction already has its failure in the program, so to speak. With John de Andrea, some of the figures border on dolls in their appearance. Also, viewers do not automatically mistake realistic works for art, even if the craftsmanship is admired as such.

Lovers

The exhibition of a pair of lovers at the Documenta, which obviously had just passed its climax, caused a considerable sensation. The significance of this work, however, does not lie in the provocation per se or in the undisguised representation of sexuality, but in the at least just as obvious human problems of the couple, who are by no means filled with overflowing loving, blissful feelings after the act of love, rather a confusion and Alienation clearly, which is more reminiscent of misfortune.

In the work exhibited in Aachen, this alienation between the lovers and the incurable misfortune becomes even clearer. Not only is the man dressed and the woman naked, but she hugs him longingly while he only touches her to the extent that decency demands, without this directly resulting in rejection.

Sculptor and model

In contrast, the works on the subject of sculptors and models are characterized by a factual relationship between man and woman; the artist concentrates on his work or is shown in a situation in which he has withdrawn for a pause for reflection and reflects on himself in order to collect the strength and concentration for further work.

A closer look reveals that it is important for the artist to bring out the core of the person to be portrayed. This is particularly evident in the variant that was exhibited in the Museum Ludwig in Cologne in the 1980s; In contrast to all the other models, this model is black and also has an unusual body in that its breasts are quite large, in contrast to all other models that the artist prefers.

Comparison with Greek sculpture and contemporaries

While the Greek sculpture, with which his work is often compared, wanted to present ideal-typical figures, with him it is always very concrete people, although the presence of these people is very different. The less present the person, the more the impression of a doll, and insofar as it focuses mainly on generally pretty white young women, an unintentional proximity to sex dolls is also created.

Compared to other realistic sculptors, John de Andrea lacks socially critical moments. While Duane Hanson mainly depicted ugly, downright misshapen people and thus criticized American society, George Segal caused alienation through his technique and was able to address the isolation and isolation of people in their everyday life, Andrea's work remains the work of the sculptor as a convincing topic , interpersonal problems in lovers and, moreover, the elaboration of the essence of individuals, whereby these have succeeded very differently.

Emotional conflicts

An exception is the above-mentioned group of an older woman and a girl who have obviously suffered an enormous emotional shock; a story is being told here, so to speak, without the viewer being able to find out what it is about. The topic is therefore the emotional support of the older woman, who calms the child down through her closeness and holding on and gives him the opportunity to overcome the pain through the duration of the affection. Such works show the greatness of the sculptor.

literature

  • Robert Darmstädter: Reclam's artist lexicon . Philip Reclam jun., Stuttgart 1979, ISBN 3-15-010281-2
  • documenta 5th survey of reality - visual worlds today . Exhibition catalog (as a folder) Volume 1: (Material); Volume 2: (list of exhibits); Kassel 1972
  • Museum Ludwig (Ed.): Handbook Museum Ludwig. 20th century art . Cologne 1979; P. 49 f.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Biography, publications, exhibitions, bibliography ( Memento of the original from July 14, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed August 13, 2010  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.meiselgallery.com
  2. ↑ Ursula Peters: John de Andrea . In: Handbook Museum Ludwig. 20th century art . Cologne 1979; P. 50
  3. ^ John de Andrea ( memento of November 30, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) in the Ludwig Forum for international art , Aachen, accessed August 13, 2010
  4. ^ John De Andrea Allegory: after Courbet 1988. Art Gallery of Western Australia (sculptor and model), accessed August 13, 2010
  5. ^ Bernhard Kerber: Art space and living space. In: Cloud Cuckoo Land. Volume 1, No. 1, 1996, ISSN  1430-8363 , Figure 10, accessed May 14, 2019
  6. ↑ See picture index , John de Andrea , 1977, 3 pictures, accessed August 13, 2010

See also

Web links

personal data
SURNAME De Andrea, John
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American artist
DATE OF BIRTH November 24, 1941
PLACE OF BIRTH Denver