Monday, February 25, 2013

Looking at Contemporary Artist - Eduardo Berliner

Eduardo Berliner (1978) is a Brazilian artist who has studied graphic design in Brazil and has obtained his Masters of Arts in Type design from the University of Reading (U.K.), in 2003. Now he works as an artist and a professor. In 2004 he developed a course in typography for the Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro. Later on he worked as a lecturer in the same university. He has created, with the artist Cadu, a graphic structure for a newspaper “museumuseu” a project conceived by Brazilian artist Mabe Bethonico, exhibited in the 27th biennial of San Paolo. He has also worked in the fashion industry by designing motifs for various fashion clothing brands in Brazil.


Look at the painting below and answer the following questions. **Remember: You must use complete sentences with correct punctuation! **

Eduardo Berliner, 'Enterro', oil on canvas, 2010

1. Could the artist be trying to comment on a social issue?  What do you think is the meaning

2. Are there clues as to the mood or meaning? Perhaps the title may give an idea as to what the work is about.

28 comments:

  1. The artist may not have been trying to show a social issue, although I think it could be interpreted like he was trying to. As to the point where I said it could be interpreted like a social issue, then I think it's about how parents are like wolves, one moment they are being nice and cheering you on the next moment they could be the worst and overreact to many things. As to the mod, well it looks weird so ill go with sad, crazy, sort of happy. The name of the painting is "EnterrĂ³" and in English it mean buried, so my guess, maybe, it mean the guy wearing the mask is burring his feeling in the ground and that's why he wont take notice to the kid.

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  2. My mined can’t honestly grasp what this might be. At first it looked like a generic case of bullying, but then I looked at it again. Now what I have come to see is, like a social turmoil event. Almost like to a couple barring a friend a dead friend, while a child in curiosity stops, and stares.

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  3. this reminds me of an infinite world of abstract pain, like a nightmare that never ends, it reminds me of something being in children's dreams where your being taped by someone in a mask ,forever it seams until you wake up in cold sweat, and get a glass of water and go back to bed. i be leave he was trying to portray that about conditions there.

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  4. 1.
    The painting looks like the picture with the wolf is bad,it kind of reminds of the big bad wolf and the three little pigs,I exactly don't know why,See I saw a hand at the mid right pulling the child away from the wolf headed man as if to protect the child from harm,The second child that's hugging the leg of him,is hugging it as if it doesn't see nothing bad on him,and grabs a hold of him tightly.


    2.
    The wolf seems to have a bad presence,he has a shovel with heads covered in hay,as if he's hiding something from those three people,it's look like as if he has done something unpredictably trueful

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  5. 1. I think the artist is trying to say that people who work out in the fields or farms are treated like complete animals.

    2.The mood of the painting looks really sad and bad. Because the kid is holding on to the wolfs leg. Perhaps it means that the parents that work out on farms that treated like animals never get to see their families.

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  6. 1.) It seems that the young boy is curious about the wolf but it also looks like there is someone trying to pull him back. Because they think or know that the wolf is bad and shouldn't be around the small children. But the other young child that looks like a girl is holding onto the wolf is trying to show that he is not bad that they can trust him and be safe around him aswell.

    2.) The mood in the painting is afraid,sad, and also has that bad feeling because as you see the wolf looks like he is digging something up and trying to hide it. But they find out and the small children are shocked and one grabs the wolfs leg as if she can't believe what he has done and holds him for comfort. But then some one else and pull the second child away from what's going on for the small child's safety.

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  7. ONE) I think this picture is so detailed. I like the way it looks and not only that but it looks as if it were to mean how the little boy is looking at the man working and the lady is pulling him. Well it can mean that sometimes parents should give their offspring some space!

    TWO) Another meaning can be like what brandon said that people look at the people who works o farms the treat them like animals and look at them like animals.

    THREE) It can mean too much work can change your personality. It can drift you from your family.

    and FOUR) It can be a painting ;P

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  8. Considering the economic and political instability of Brazil, I highly doubt that this wasn't a social commentary. I lack knowledge of major portions of Brazilian culture, so this idea is likely to be fragmented.
    I noticed that the man's helmet resembles a maned wolf, also known as a brazilian wolf. This might symbolize bravery or cunning. The white shirt could symbolize purity, or a pure cause, and the red shorts may represent passion. The fact that he's digging suggests that he is working for something. and the plants could be hope, considering the nation's reliance on agriculture. The child on his leg is full of sprouting treelettes, maybe a hope for the next generation? And finally, the spectator child seems vaguely american, and the parent [Europe] is pulling them [us] away from their [Brazil's] problems.
    On the last point, I am uncertain about the mood. It seems kind of mixed up and chaotic. The colours don't seem to have any harmony, save that the saturation is somewhat muted.

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  9. 1. The face is a fox and the body is a man. There kids looking at him like his crazy and one child hanging on the mans leg with a mask and she's crying. But it doesn't look like there is any social issue.
    2. In the photo it looks like there is a sad child and a man that looks like he would be saying sorry them. There a little person digging a hold in the ground it it looks like there baring something.

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  10. 1. I think what the social issue about this picture of the wolf man looking like a gaurdian who barries the dead, and gaurds them. The meaning of this picture looks kind of a sad, because of the little kid that is crying.
    2. I think what this is about is that there are dead people, because of two heads that look like skeletons, graves with shovels on top of them, and that the wolf man is trying to barry them in their proper graves.

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  11. 1 . If you can see the little boy looks at the wolf with a curious face & someone is pulling him away . then there's a little boy holding on to the Wolfe's leg . Honestly I can't come up with a social issue .

    2 . Well this painting is very mysterious so you can have many diffrent descriptions , but to me the wolf looks like a bad person with a shovel & heads in the ground .

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  12. 1. The boy seems to have no idea what's happening around him. He looks curious, and at the same time scared. I believe the painting is about social inequality. The "wolf" man could be representing the poor in Brazil, while the boy may represent the middle classed people who wonder to themselves, "How did he (they) get like this? Will I be next to end up like them?"

    2. The mood feels creepy, and it could be about death.
    Since the majority of the population is living in poverty, under pollution and in high crime areas, the painting may be trying to "say" that death can be leaning on anybody.
    It can be closer to someone as bad as a serial killer, or somebody as innocent as a child.

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  13. The main focus seems to be a fox-man, perhaps a symbol for government as a fox is a hunter and a carnivore, burying children which could represent the poverty stricken people of brazil. The young boy clinging to the fox-man's leg could represent those who still believe in the government.

    The painting gives a very macabre vibe with the anthropomorphic man and the dull colors.

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  14. 1) I honestly don't feel like the artist is trying to comment a social issue.it looks like the wolf in this picture is a bad guy, as you can see to the right someone is grabbing the kid by his shirt as meaning get away from that wolf. By someone as i look at it i would think thats probably the boys parent.

    2) I find the mood creepy or weird cant really explain it but as you look at the portrait there's a young boy grabbing on to the wolfs leg and the boy looks sad and frightened .

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  15. 1. I think hes commenting a social issue. I just think the wolf represent the bad things that happen in that neighborhood and that the hand that is grabbing the kid represent kids parents trying to pull the kid away from the bad things that happen. I think the wolf is burring a person and that probably means that there are a lot of deaths that happen in there neighborhood.
    2.I think there are moods because if you look at the wolfs face it looks like it represents anger and that it dont care about anyone or anything. The kids face looks like if hes looking up to the wolf but the wolf is doing bad so in the future the kid might end up that way.

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  16. Well, obviously the main focus or character of the painting - the figure with the wolf mask - is considered malevolent. The child is being lead away from them while they are burying things in hay. A social issue is definitely being addressed - in 2010, Brazil had many issues going about, such as smuggled drugs, social inequality, corrupt political leaders, and pollution. A negative image presented could be symbolic of one or more of these things. There are some clues to the meaning, like the title of the painting. "Enterro" is Portuguese - the language of Brazil - for "burial." Maybe the figure in the wolf mask represents the turmoil and deceitful intent, burying different things and/or even people, while a child is being pulled away from the scene. There is also a child hugging the figure's leg, with plants growing out of their head. The theme could also have to do with agriculture.

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  17. I think it was most likely a social commentary, but I don't know enough about Brazilian politics to know what it means. I read a lot of other comments that claim the masked figure is dangerous or even malevolent, but he doesn't strike me as evil. I see him as being misunderstood and socially ostracized. I think that often children have an amazing ability to see people's inner beauty, because of this, the child in the picture can see the innocence of the masked figure and is interested in his work. The hand on the child's shoulder, however, likely is supposed to be his mother pulling him away for fear he will get hurt by the masked figure.
    The second child, the one clinging to the figure's leg, however, seems to be ill, maybe even terminally. The figure seems not to notice, but somehow there is still an air of affection between him and the sick child. I personally think the second child is the masked man's successor. That might be way the man is wearing a mask; because he doesn't want to frighten people by his platy face.

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  18. 1. I think the artist is commenting on the social issue of separation between poor and rich. I think the painting is supposed to be the government trying to keep the tourists from seeing the poor people.

    2. There are many clues to the meaning of this painting. The title of this painting is "Enterro", which translates to "Burial". The government is burying the truth. The boy crouched next to the pile of dirt is supposed to represent the poor. The boy that's standing represents the tourists and you can see him being pulled away by the government. The man with the wolf head is the government.

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  19. I think the artist is stating a social issue because like in the video Rio looks like a good place but there is alot of stuff people do not know about it. To me the picture is saying that the wolf isn't all that it seems and thats why he is hidding stuff under all that hay and the little boy attached to his leg is trying to expose that to the bystanding boy.

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  20. The Artist is trying to make a statement about the government trying to cover up all the things they were ashamed of. Such as taking money from the poor or causing jobs to be lost.

    The clue that most leads me to think this is the man in the fox mask. The fox seems almost like a reaper. He's here to steal lives. Also, there's what appears to be a little girl growing plants from her body, just like she's starting to vanish to the earth. I mean even the name of the painting means "to bury".

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  21. 1. Yes and I think he is trying to comment on the wall and the "separation" of the fa-vela and the tourist attraction. I think that he is affected by this because he might have grew up and maybe still lives in the fa-vela.

    2. The separation and the difference from the tourist, high living people, the rich, the high middle class, and the fa-vela, poverty, poor, and the undeveloped. (him vs. them)

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  22. 1. He might be saying a comment about how many people live in fa-vela. It may probably be about the wall. I think that putting the wall there was not really such a good idea.

    2. The wolf in the picture looks like he has a mean look and wants to do something bad to the three kids.but we may not know.

    Aaryanna Shaner 4th period

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  23. 1.) I can see a social issue going on the picture. When I see it I see the little boy very scared, maybe he sees people like animals, who knows.

    2.) It look like the wolf guy wants to hurt the kids . It looks very mysterious. ? Hmmm

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  24. I think you make me commenting on how many murders are committed there because theres dead bodies buried in dirt with a shovel

    yes the kid is crying and the mother is pulling the kid away and a part of the walk is not painted the same way and the bodies are buried

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  25. This paintings meaning can give off a feel for animals wanting the world to be how it was and not how it is. With plants and dirt and trees, not streets, buildings, sidewalk. This wolf man can also be "man" who feel that it shouldn't be the way it is. Wanting wildlife to be free and have space to run and walk. The figures in the pile can be dead human bodies showing how we treat animals. The child getting pulled back can be interested in the wolf man because he does not understand what he is trying to do. He has a face of confusion. The boy around his leg can be represented as a plant hugging him for doing this as a thanks for trying to bring the world to to the way it is. The mood gives on a feeling of fear and confusion. The little boy looks confused and the wolf man looks looks mean as if he's trying to scare him off to not mess up what he is trying to do.

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  26. the man wearing the fox mask is schools working kids to death everyday and the hand on the side pulling the boy with the red shirt on is a parent realizing how tired the children are of working.

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  27. 1. Could the artist be trying to comment on a social issue? What do you think is the meaning?

    The artist could be trying to do social issues cause it looks like he's doing child labor.The man that grabs the little boy is trying to help them out cause probley he mite not think it is right.I wouldnt wanna put a child threw child labor cause like thats not nice. You gotta think about the child before you think about your slef caus eyou dont know how there feeling , like the little boy is holding his leg maybe hes begging him to stop whats he's doing and let him leave you never know . This is a social issue .

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  28. 1.Looks like death. The child holding on to his leg shows fear,love maybe. The child might love that person not wanting to let go!! The child in the brown is worried for the strange man in the weird mask. Social issue is death hiding a crime.

    2.Mood: looks scared,sad,hate maybe. Old friend or family member passed away.

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