Vincent Van Gogh, 1883
Have you heard the joke about cows and art? It goes like this:
In an art class, a kid gave his teacher a blank piece of paper.
Teacher: What is this?
Student: It’s a drawing of a cow eating grass.
The teacher looks at the paper and asks “Where’s the grass?”
Student: The cow ate all of it.
The teacher looks at paper again and further asks – “then, where’s the cow?”
Student: It left because there was no more grass.
While cows may be a lazy student’s excuse for not participating in an art class, if you look around you may notice that cattle are actually the subject of many works of art.
Have you ever seen fiberglass cow sculptures in pictures or around your town? CowParade is a popular, international public art exhibit which has appeared in major cities all over the world. Cow sculptures are decorated by local artists and then displayed in public spaces throughout a city. After a few months the cows are auctioned off and donated to charity. CowParade came to Houston in 2001 and the cows invaded Austin last year.
Vincent Van Gogh, the famous Dutch post-impressionist painter who lived in the later half of the nineteenth century, created multiple works of art that feature cattle including: Cows in the Meadow, Cart with Black Ox, Cart with Red and White Ox, and Lying Cow.
If you have ever been to New York City or heard of the “bull and bear market” then you must know about the Charging Bull on Wall Street. This bronze sculpture by Arturo Di Modica is a symbol of aggressive financial optimism and prosperity.
Cow art was even created in ancient and biblical times. The bible makes several references to the Golden Calf which was used in idol worship. You can visit several artistic interpretations of Minotaurs in museums throughout Europe and the Mediterranean. Minotaurs are Greek mythological creatures with the head of a bull and the body of a man.
Now that we have established our authority on art (or at least a working knowledge of cows in art), we hope you will be mooved to attend the 2013 Artist Expo in Houston. This three day event will take place at the Waterway Marriott. The organizers of this event are savvy enough to know that hosting an event in the heat of a Houston summer is for the birds! This is not an outdoor event, all classes and exhibits will occur inside. The three day exhibition is free and open to the public. Various art classes are available for artists of all skill levels with reasonable associated costs. There are over 100 different exhibitors including a wide range of art material suppliers. Attendees can also view and experience diverse art from both local and nationally recognized artists. Who knows you may even be inspired to create your own work of art featuring a cow! If you see a piece of artwork depicting a cow, share it with us. Snap a pic (with the artist’s permission) and post it to our Facebook page!
For more information: http://www.artistexpohouston.com/print_artist_expo_directory.php