Module 6: Artwork Analysis for "Flamenco Dancer"

 

This week’s artwork took me a little longer to find who the actual artist was. I originally found this artwork on reddit and it didn’t have any credentials on it but as I was scrolling down the comments, we found that the artist name was Leonid Afremov. Afredmov was a struggling artist but as he continued promoting his artwork, his sales started boosting on inline and eBay. He moved to various places in his lifetime. Afredmov passed away in August 2019 in Playa Del Carmen, Quintana. After his passing his family decided to sell his artwork. As I was looking for the artwork I had originally chosen, I encounter another beautiful artwork by the name of Flamenco Dancer.

This artwork is very well put together and has great color, shape, and form. What we see here is a beautiful woman dancing flamenco a traditional dance from Rajasthan and migrated to Spain in the 9^th and 14^th century.  In flamenco they use a body suit, or a leotard and the bottom is a flamenco skirt with some tights underneath.  The women’s skirt in the artwork is composed of various colors ranging bright to dark tones. I would consider the lines in the skirt to be organic since they have some sort of curving upward since the dancer is flipping it up towards the sky. The compounding effect of the colors really gives then outline of the skirt. Her eyes are fixated in her bent leg, which this can maybe be an implied line, to what may be her next move. Around her shoulders she is wear, what we normally call it in Mexico, is “un chal.” Which is basically in this case a white wrap. And the head piece can be very unique and sometimes it is custom made for the dancer. The head piece is most likely to be wrapped around the bun. They usually put their hair in buns, so it is sturdy and doesn’t fall out when they are dancing. I think this artwork is very inspiring because it shows culture from another part of the world and to be able to paint this and share it with the world is amazing. Showing culture for others to enjoy and also so others can learn from it.

canvas, FLAMENCO. 2021. "FLAMENCO DANCER — PALETTE KNIFE Oil Painting On Canvas By Leonid Afremov". Leonid Afremov. https://afremov.com/flamenco-dancer-palette-knife-oil-painting-on-canvas-by-leonid-afremov-size-40-x20.html.