Art Analysis: Red Hot By Marsha Clements

The painting Red Hot, created by Marsha Clements, is a realist painting of two roses. These two roses are purposed to represent the changes that occur when two people becoming more intimate with one another. As our relations with others grows stronger we reveal things that we don’t readily exhibit to the rest of the world. Clements does this through the use of contrasting colors and lines from her brush strokes that directs the viewers’ attention to the contrast. Red Hot is, in its most basic form, a floral painting of roses that measures 24” by 36” by 1.5”. Getting more specific, Red Hot is an oil painting that depicts two roses side by side. While these two roses compose most of the painting, there is some green foliage in the background of the painting. Clements devotes roughly seventy percent of the composition to a single rose. The rose has bright red petals that form two layers surrounding the nearly black purple of the pistil and stamen belonging to the rose. This rose is painted along the left and center of the painting. On the other hand the second rose is nowhere near as vast as the first rose dominating the painting. This smaller rose is planted at the upper right hand portion of the painting. Unlike the larger rose, this rose has its stamen and pistil surrounded by only a single layer of petals. Although the two roses have many differences, their petals have a few similarities. The petals of both of the roses have ridges that surround the petals. In addition, the petals have lines from the brush strokes that lead to the dark centers of both roses. The green foliage takes up the unused space left over by the roses. The strokes that are used to create the background foliage are irregular and have no clear pattern. The painting as a whole has a changing shade. As the painting progresses from left to right the painting as a whole has lighter shades of color.
The content of this painting deals with the nature of humans and growing intimacy. No matter how much we strive to give the representation of a perfect person, we all struggle. Ranging from problems in their personal lives to problems with themselves, no human being can say that they have not had a point where life to them was a struggle. This content can be derived from the contrast of the colors of the petals from the colors of the pistils and stamens. Clements devotes a large portion of the painting to the vibrant red petals. Due to the size and color of the petals, if can be inferenced that the petals were the first thing that a viewer will be drawn to. The brush strokes of the petals then draw the viewers’ attention towards the center of the flowers where the dark toned purple stamen and pistil are located. This experience of moving attention mimics the beginning of intimate relationships of people. At the beginning, all one can see is the perspective that the other wants the world to see, and this can be equated to the viewers’ attention being first drawn to the vibrant red petals. As the relationship becomes more intimate and less formal people start to notice the other behaviors that weren’t clear from the outward appearance that was created. This transitional phase is related to how the viewer is expected to notice the brush strokes and visually follow the direction of the brush strokes. When one has a long standing relationship with another person, one will know not only the highly controlled outward perspective, but they will also know the more about the person, both the good and the bad. The knowledge of the positive and negative aspects of a person is connected to the viewers’ gaze finally directed to the darker core of the flower. The reason for the stamen and pistil are a dark purple is due to the knowledge that humans have positive aspects along with their negative. This would explain the purpose of a single rose, but the painting has two roses. The second rose is meant to represent the second person involved in forming a relationship. As one learns about the other, the other learns about the one including all of the negative and positive aspects.
The largest thing that would be missed if the art isn’t view in person is the small changes in the depth of the paint.
The small streaks that are only visible if seen in person allow the viewer’s attention to be easily directed to the content. Without the visualization of Clements’ brush stokes the viewer would not have an as clear next point to focus on which may lead to a different content. The work is surrounded by similar floral paintings done by Clements. Because the artwork is purposed to be sold in a gallery, the situation the artwork is in has its own positive and negative aspects depending on perspective. The gallery shows many artworks which can be viewed free of charge, but the main purpose of the art is to be eventually be sold for profit one again having a pleasant exterior and a darker center.
In summation in Red Hot, Clements does an amazing job of communicating the content to the views, if it is viewed in person. The artwork is seeming simple which can allow for multiple contents to be derived from the art, but that is one of the great things about this seemingly simple painting. It will mean something different to every viewer, but it will still mean something to anyone who takes the time to analyze
it.