Welcome to your Art Appreciation Instructor's  Web Office!      Cheryl McGrath Email
                             Please look around, delve into stuff you find interesting.....

                                                                   art is life!
                                                                                                                                            

Diploma Stuff
Your instructor graduated from Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi in 1997 with a Master of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies.   She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Art History from Southern Methodist University in 1990.
                       

                                                
                                                       NeoClassical Chili  by McGrath Associates, 1988

                                                   The unexamined life is not worth living.     
                                                                           - Socrates

This painting in the instructor's office is based on the 1787 Neoclassical painting by
Jaques Louis David, The Death of Socrates. The referenced real painting is in the
Metropolitan Museum, NY. NeoClassical Chili  is the most prominent thing in my office:
4 panels - each 4' x 6', acrylic on board. Its original purpose was to be
the centerpiece and theme for the 1988 McGrath's booth at the annual Graphic Designer's
Chili Cook-off in Dallas. In this rendition, Socrates is given a bowl of "Hot" designer's chili
featuring a hot red pepper. The painting is in black and white, with color only on the
Mexican hat, bowl of chili and the neon orange letters spelling out NEOCLASSICAL CHILI.

Socrates, c. 470-399 BCE, was a Greek philosopher sentenced to death by drinking
poison hemlock. He was accused of corrupting the youth of Athens through his teachings. One
of his most famous quotes is: The unexamined life is not worth living. 
For more details  click on these two links: 
Socrates' Death and Socrates' Philosophy.

Webster's Dictionary Definition of the Socratic method - a method of teaching or discussion, like that used by Socrates,
in which by means of a series of questions and answers the logical soundness
of a definition is tested, the meaning of a concept examined, etc.

                                                    MORE OFFICE STUFF

                                                                                                 
                                                                Cheryl McGrath. Grandmother Spider. August, 2003              
                                                                Native grasses, twigs, twine                        
                                                                                                      
This work is based on Native American Indian legends and the transformation of living and dying as        
part of the web of Grandmother Spider.
                                            
                                                                                                 

                                                                    
                                                                                          Cheryl McGrath.
                                                                    Post Pop Povera July 2002
                                                                    Metal, paint. each 5'H, 2'W
                                                                    Displayed by hanging from the ceiling in the  2002        
                                                                   NCTC Faculty Show, the quirky color and angles
                                                                   are comments on our world using Postmodern concepts.    
                                       

The work of art below is in my office, underneath bay windows. Its part of a series of works I
made this summer exploring the contrast and morphing together of nature and manufactured
worlds, among other issues.

From the Series Post Pop Povera by Cheryl McGrath.  July-Aug., 2002.
Acrylic and electrical tape on curved, brushed aluminum, 18"H x 60"L.

                  Art in the Movies Database

OBEY GIANT: THE MANDATE THAT GRABBED A GENERATION
link to an article about poster, billboard and sticker art based on
graphic artist Shepard Fairey's Andre the Giant concept. Irreverant fun!
After you've read the article, it will make more sense to visit the artist's site linked below:
                    OBEY GIANT. Maybe you'll get inspired.

One of your instructor's main areas of concentration in college was early modern art.

Sonia and Robert Delaunay in front of his painting,
                                     Propeller, 1923. This is a photo of a famous art
                                     couple living in France. It was taken during the modern
                                     abstract art movement called Orphism. Sonia and
                                     Robert first called this style Simultaneity. Their movement
                                     brought color to Cubism and Robert later became one
                                     of the first artists to abandon subject matter referring
                                     to the real world. He painted a kaleidoscope of geometric
                                     shapes in brilliant color. Sonia designed clothing in the
                                     same colors and shapes, which she wore like an abstract
                                     painting while watching Robert dance the Tango and Foxtrot
                                     at dance halls like the Bal Bullier; a place where artists
                                     and poets such as their friend, Apollinaire, also gathered.
                               
If you are interested in reading more about the modern art time period,
below are recommended books. You may find them at Half-Price Books,
or check local libraries.  These books are among those you will find
on my shelves in the real world.

General Reading on the subject of Modern Art:

Tompkins, Calvin. The Bride and the Bachelors: Five Masters of the
  Avant-Garde. Penguin Books, 1986.

Shattuck, Roger. The Banquet Years. Vintage Books, 1968.

Sourcebook by Artists and Critics:

Chipp, Herschel B.  Theories of Modern Art. University of California Press,
     1968.

"YOU ARE MY DESTINY, YOU SHARE MY REVERIE"....

                    
         My two granddaughters:                 This photo was taken in June 2004.
         Terra Sky, 2 and Madison, 4 .         My grandchildren - my true
         They are my inspiration,                "Art is Life" philosophy. Here,
         my twin muses! Two new              they enjoy an outdoor sculpture
         inspirations arrived recently,         at the Ft. Worth Museum of Science.
         my grandsons.                               The youngest, Takoda, joins in
         Tye Alezander, held                      the fun with his sister, Terra and cousins.
         safely in his sister,
         Madison's care, is shown
         in the photo above. Takoda,
         at the age of 2 months, is
         in the far right photo.