Sophia Hwangbo paints a picture of Mixed Arts Club

Mixed Arts Club provides a space for students to learn more about the various forms of art outside of a formal classroom setting. It is a place where members can create small art projects as well as watch presentations about art. The day I infiltrated this club, the members were discussing famous artworks and how they achieved their renown.

Club president junior Tanya Yu began the meeting with a presentation on what makes certain pieces of art famous. Yu spoke about how famous artworks are not always alone in their allure, but they have greater fame due to external factors. This topic immediately piqued my interest because its amazing how out of millions of artworks, only a couple obtain world-wide recognition. She explained that many factors contribute to the fame of a painting, such as the context in which the painting was created or the emotions it evokes. Yu then played a video explaining how the Mona Lisa became the world’s most famous painting. I never really understood why the Mona Lisa is so famous—it seems like such a simple painting to me, and it’s only one of countless amazing Renaissance artworks. I’ve always heard about how her smile evokes mystery, but I never knew about all the external factors. I learned that the Mona Lisa was written alluringly about by many scholars throughout the centuries and was stolen from the Louvre Museum in 1911, which led to its fame. The whole video was very informative and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Yu continued on to talk about postmodernism and how there is much controversy on whether or not it is considered true art. Pieces such as a banana duct-taped to a wall has been sold for thousands of dollars, but Yu emphasized that art is simply subjective and is up to the consumer to judge the quality and worth. Overall, the atmosphere of the club was calm and relaxed, and as a person who enjoys various forms of art, learning more about the world of art was very engaging and interesting.