Andy Berger Rebel Without A Cause

Through the use of bright “modern” neon colors, the character's physique and posture, and adaptation of modern “pop-art” style, the artist portrays the message of rebelling against the classical American society's norms and promotes the importance of trying new things. The painting oozes with bright colors and happiness, but behind all that sends one important message. The message of not being afraid to stand out. Berger, a world-known art critic, had this belief that pictures help us jump to conclusions before words can. We tend to believe what our eyes see, more than what our mind reads. “Seeing comes before words. The child looks and recognizes before it can speak” (Berger). Why would I trust anything more than what I have seen with my own
two eyes? The painting's colors help capture the attention of viewers from a distance, and the model's physique, posture, and facial expressions help us understand the confidence in the model, James Dean. While I walked through the museum, the painting immediately caught my attention. The use of different colors helped the painting stand out among its competitors. Without reading the title or name of the painter, the clothing and posture alone of the model showed me that the painter wanted to send a message towards the theme of “rebelling”. The model's posed in a laid-back posture and is wearing what seems like a heavy leather “biker” jacket. I found the Asian alphabet symbols on the left column very mysterious and out of place. Originally without reading the title and artist, if I had not seen the Asian symbols I wouldn't have even related the message to a broader scale. The more I stared at this painting, the more thoughts came into my mind. For example, the brick wall background the model's leaning up against supports my claim of this model representing the typical cool guy. The setting reminded me of something similar to a 90's pop movie. The typical cool kid that always has his posse posted up in front of the diner. The model's different, and someone every other kid usually wants to become. Like in the old pop style movies. I personally enjoy shows like Riverdale and Stranger Things, that include a typical “cool guy” such as the model in the picture. With this little knowledge, I easily associated the model to such a theme. The meaning behind the painting I had come to after just staring at the picture for half an hour actually started to seem correct.
Without doing any research and background checks on the artist and going off with my previous knowledge I know that the painter, Andy Warhol, gave birth to the pop-art style. I haven't ever seen this painting, Rebel Without a Cause, but I do know many other works from him from my previous art classes. His best-known painting includes a bunch of Campbell's soup cans, but with an Andy Warhol twist. The painting also oozes of bright colors like this one and repeats the same image in multiple places. The picture has a similar style because the model has his outline repeated twice side by side in the painting. Also, the title of the painting, Rebel Without a Cause, literally included the one word I've kept saying throughout this paper, rebellion. The title also explains what the Asian symbols are doing in a painting of James Dean. Rebellion can happen when things start going bad, unfair, or even good but can be better. Rebellion can happen whenever for whatever reason. In this painting, the model probably wants to dress different just because he enjoys his style more than what he values the thoughts of other people around
him. At the end of the day, art's all about the perspective of the viewer, because most artists enjoy watching the viewers struggle to come up with conclusions of the paintings meanings. For example, the greatest piece of work ever done, Mona Lisa, still doesn't have a clear explanation to who the model represented. Some believe Leonardo Da Vinci drew himself in a female figure, and some believe it consisted of a rich woman's portrait. Experts still can't explain why Da Vinci chose that setting out of all the choices. Perspective changes over time, a child, and an elder person can have two complete views. Berger, an expert critique, states that “today we see the art of the past as nobody saw it before.” In 1985 when the painting got created the style of pop-art did not exist. No one had ever see pop-art done at such a large scale. Today it one of the more common styles of paintings among the new generation. Simplicity and bright colors define our new generation. Although I correctly analyzed the painting, I completely missed out on the point on why the painting got created. Andy Warhol's gotten known for his great paintings, but he was an even better promoter. He created many promotional paintings and covers. He became huge in the commercial market. He created this painting for his commercial portfolio. The same portfolio that included the soup cans. I might have looked too deep into a painting that didn't have a deep message. Maybe the painting was just a cover for a James Dean movie.