Joseph Cornell

Joseph Cornell was born in 1903. He was originally from New York, America, and died peacefully in his home town. Cornell was an artist, sculptor and experimental filmmaker influenced by Surrealists.

Cornells work often included found materials which he assembled in to small simple boxes. Most of these materials were victorian bric-a-brac, he was fascinated by once beautiful and precious objects he found in bookshops and thrift shops in New York. He was renowned for being a big collector.

"By collecting and carefully juxtaposing found objects in small, glass-front boxes, Cornell created visual poems in which surface, form, texture, and light play together. Using things we can see, Cornell made boxes about things we cannot see: ideas, memories, fantasies, and dreams."-The Joseph Cornell Box.

I think Josephs work is very creative and imaginative. The use of various materials that he has randomly searched and found is extraordinary. Some artists go to extreme lengths to create their work such as props, make up, need for lighting, camera angles and even location. Instead Joseph has created something simple but affective. His work reminds me of the work by Damien Hirst.

This is another artist who's work I relish in. Damien explores issues of life and death in provocative ways using dead animals bodies and entombing in glass cases for audiences to see and get an up close look. Another reason why I like this artist is because Damien doesn't work using canvas, he makes his art work with things we can touch and see (the scale of). I think this is the same case with Joseph's work.