Vija Clemins

In class we watched a video about the artist Vija Clemins and learned about the two Russian artists Komar and Melamid. Vija and the Russian artists use are contemporary artists that use different processes to establish their work. In the early 1990s, Komar and Melamid collaborated and worked on a project together.  They surveyed people within different cultures around the world to see what artwork was preferred in different cultures.  Their surveys asked various questions about what colors, scenes and type of media people would prefer in a painting.  Their results expressed democratic cultural society, the difference in preferences pertaining to art and came up with statistics about the most popular and least liked paintings.  Their project was called, " Most wanted Paintings On The Web."  Vija Clemins art and process were very different from theirs.  She was a artist who works alone and her process and are all about building a painting. She has different steps, which she takes while creating her work.  She sands a canvas and paint it white and then repeat.  She procreates images from magazines, photos and newspapers, as well as her own personal imagery.  Her pursuit of artwork is different in that, she focuses on what the connection her paintings bring on a personal level.  Vija is very exclusive while choosing her objects to paint.  She is very meticulous, and will paint her works over and over again, layering one on top of the other, just to get it right.    She also relies on her own expertise.  I believe Vija and Komar and Melamid both have unique process, in the way they create and connect with art.


Mia Powers