Art Movements that inspire me

While now widely accepted and appreciated, the Impressionist Movement that began in the later years of the 19th Century began as a radical underground revolt from the era of Realism when painters were depicting contemporary society in a realistic style. 

Impressionists like Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and Mary Cassatt broke away from Realism using broad brush strokes and vivid colors to capture light and the emotional impact of scenery and the movement of people in a celebration of life.

Post-Impressionism coincided with the naturalism of Impressionism, but added abstract and symbolic elements to exercise more personal interpretations of the world around them. 

Artists like Vincent Van Gogh, Georges-Pierre Seurat, Paul Cézanne, and Paul Gauguin rejected the limitations and proportional interpretations of the Impressionists, thus, forging the way towards the 20th Century Movements.   

Expressionism is an emotional communication coming from within the artist instead of depictions of the visual world.  Without the boundaries of the visual, the artists often use distortion, exaggeration, and abstract concepts to evoke moods or emotion "in the eyes of the beholder."

El Greco's "View of Toledo" progressed the movement to include geometric lines and circle works by Wassily Kandinsky like "Composition VIII" and Edvard Munch's "The Scream."  

Cubism began in the early 20th Century with an emphasis or style in which a single viewpoint was made of geometric shapes, interlocking planes, and collage. 

The movement and style ranged from the abstract visual interpretations of the visual like Pablo Piccaso's  Les Demoiselles d'Avignon or Albert Gleizes, "L'Homme au Balcon."  A good example of Abstract Cubism can be found in Robert Delaunay's "Simultaneous Windows on the City."

Abstract Expressionism began as a reaction to the disturbing realities of WWII. It utilizes  techniques of color and shapes devoid of nature that reflect a seemingly random application of spontaneity evoking emotional responses purely subjective to the observer.  

Anyone who looks at my artwork, such as Jackson Pollock's  "Convergence" shown above can see his influence on me. 

Mark Rothko's soft rectangular color pallets, such  of "Orange and Yellow," and the soft color blends of Helen Frankenthaler paintings; for example, "Sure Violet" have played and will continue to play a significant role in my "evolution."  

Experimental Film is a cinematic non-narrative art form utilizing color frames and images projected as art that can't be hung on walls. The films reflect the personal vision of the filmmaker utilizing projected technology in the abstract to communicate and emotion or reaction. 

In opposition to the goal of commercial film, the priority is not commercial success. Often made with a tiny crew or even a singular artists, film are usually made on a shoe string budget or grants.

The finest example of "Structuralist and/or flicker film" is my father, Paul Sharits; by far the biggest influence in my art and life, for that matter.

In addition to being a brilliant filmmaker, my dad was also a Professor of Media Studies and my lifelong art teacher.

Other filmmakers that played very important roles for me are Stan Brakhage, Hollis Framtom, James Blue, Tony Conrad, Tony Bannon, and, of course, Woody and Steina Valsulka.