Adrian Presley
12/14/19
Art Final Paper
Joan Semmel, Prefil Infinito, 1966
I will be talking about a painting done by Joan Semmel called Perfil Infinito, 1966.
Now, Joan Semmel’s paintings are usually very eye-catching pictures based on the research i
have already done on her paintings or other creations. They all are involving a lot of visual
excitement while also having meanings of their own. The painting Perfil Infinito is very
distinctive, it brings with it distinguishing features and placements of color. If you were to
see this hanging in a school, bank, or even a restaurant it will be eye-catching and fun to
analyze. Looks like it could be comfortable in any environment.
In the previous painting series that she has created that I have earlier analyzed called
“Naked Came From Nude” for example is way different from her paintings that I’m
critiquing now. Only because of the type of images painted. But both are abstract. It’s easy to
understand what’s happening in the pictures when she is painting people doing natural
things. But now it’s not very simply to understand because when I still look at the picture I
don’t really know what’s going on but I’m able to still enjoy that. Semmel seems to like using
bright colors and abstract objects that catch that previewed activities. When first looking at
this picture you see all the movement within it because of the bright colors or intense colors
that are brought out.
The way the colors of this picture bring out the sections and symbols within it made
me intrigued. For this reason is why I admire this whole piece of art. I couldn’t tell what the
symbols or letters spelled out on the painting. When I first was looking at this painting I
realized that it wasn’t at all sloppy but just super abstract. This photo unlike others seemed to
make you think more, and trying to understand it definitely starts to make your Brian flow.
Not everyone or everything is meant to be understood. But during this time she lived in
Madrid, Spain with her husband and her works of art were a response to the European art
movements like Spanish informalismo. This was a gesture of Post-war American abstraction
that challenged the traditional understanding of space. She stuck out between the other artist
