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James C. Christensen
The Rhinoceros
The Artist - James Calvin Christensen
James Christensen is an artist who captures our imagination with a delightful combination of innocence, humor, and curiosity. "My aim," says Christensen, "always begins with a desire to connect with another imagination." He adds, "My work is an invitation to let your imagination run wild, explore, and make interpretations spontaneously."
James Christensen, son of Sibyl and Harry Christensen, was born September 26, 1942, in Culver City, California. He grew up two blocks from the MGM studio; he and his friends often played in the back lot of the studio in Tarzan's pond or on sets for movies such as Gone With the Wind. James loved to tell stories and use his imagination in play and drawing.
Christensen attended Santa Monica City College, UCLA, and BYU, where he received his MA. In the middle of his studies, he served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) in Uruguay and became a member of the Mormon Mods, a performing group that toured Chile, Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay. The local art captured Christensen's imagination and its influence can be seen in many of his works.
In 1972, Christensen moved to American Fork, Utah, and became an associate art director for the New Era, a teen magazine published by the LDS Church. He was also a freelance illustrator but continually worked on his own painting. Christensen created fantasy images for his own amusement, but he only displayed what he thought other people would like. However, he soon discovered that others liked his imaginative, magical worlds as much as he did.
Christensen was a faculty member of BYU's art department from 1976 to 1997. He traveled with students in Mexico, Europe, and in Madrid, Spain. He returns to Europe frequently, and his art often reflects his travels.
Weaving dreams, hopes, fears, and humor into the fabric of everyday life, Christensen has created many enchanting works of art. "My paintings are meant to excite the imagination and invite the viewer to become a participant in the creative process," says Christensen. His artwork delights adults and children alike.
The Art
James Calvin Christensen (1942-) Orem, Utah
The Rhinoceros, 1981
acrylic on board, 14-3/4" x 11-3/4" (37.5 x 29.8 cm)
Gift of the Artist, 1985.011
James Christensen draws his images from experience, travel, and nature which he combines with his own active imagination. While he does not always strive to communicate a serious meaning or moral lesson, his paintings often reflect situations which he has personally experienced and with which the viewer can also easily relate.
In this painting, The Rhinoceros, Christensen has reinterpreted a sixteenth-century drawing of an armored rhinoceros created by the German artist Albrecht Dürer. Abundant detail, scientific perspective, logical space, light, color, and implied texture are characteristic of Christensen's fantasy environments.
The rhino is in a predicament; he is unable to go forward, but can't go back. The plastered room, painted to imitate the outdoors, offers the rhino no room to maneuver. The checkerboard floor is painted to give an illusion of depth in a room that has none, and the rhino is so cramped he cannot play with the tantalizingly close orange ball. The tick-bird remains loyal to his symbiotic friend because he also is trapped.
Concepts
Visual Art Core Curriculum - Utah State Office of Education
Under the Standard of Making, this print can help the student:
* show how to draw or paint objects from new or unusual points of view or perspectives.
* observe and render the details of real objects with a high degree of accuracy.
* distinguish between the following art concepts:
Print: an artwork with multiple copies, usually handmade by an artist and part of a numbered or limited edition.
Photographic print: a photographic reproduction of an original artwork that is machine generated. Note: the prints in this collection are photographic prints of original artworks.
Photograph: an image that is considered to be an artwork, not a reproduction of an already existing artwork. Can have multiple copies.
Original art: the original work of art, not a reproduction or a photographic print.
Under the Standard of Perceiving, this print can help the student:
* show how to repeat elements to create movement.
* show how to portray a consistent light side closest to the light source and dark side opposite the source of light.
Under the Standard of Expressing, this print can help the student:
* critique this artwork by one or more of the following criteria:
The artist was trying to make the objects look real or life-like.
The artist was trying to express a strong feeling or emotion.
The artist was mainly concerned with the elements of line, color, and/or shape and conveyed that emphasis within the work.
* Personal preference would include:
I like this artwork.
I do not like this artwork.
Note: encourage the students to distinguish between the two types of judgments (e.g., the first three categories are based on specific criteria while the last two statements are based on personal preference only. Also, judgments can be given in degrees, such as, the artwork mainly looks, real but there are some emotional aspects expressed). interpret how the artist used symbols to express moods, feelings, and ideas.
* learn how to use symbols to express moods, feelings, and ideas in the students' artwork.
* determine and explore a variety of sources of inspiration for this painting.
* predict why some people enjoy significant works of art that don't convey a clear story.
* explore the use of fantasy as a subject matter for art.
Under the Standard of Contextualizing, this print can help the student:
* explain how scientific information can be communicated by the visual arts.
* look at the concept of art for self-expression as it relates to various cultures and within an individual student's life (For example, in most Western civilizations art is commonly used as a means of self-expression. Many students find art a way to express feelings that are often hard to express orally).
* observe how famous or important works of art from history can be incorporated into a present-day artist's work of art or can be incorporated into their own work of art (for example, Albrecht Dürer's Rhinoceros).
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