Similarities and/or Differences

EvolutionThe theory of evolution how we and all living creatures have changed and developed over the millennia. Looking at the similarities and differences in species, shape, size and colour.

Twins/family/siblings

The Jackson familyDiane Arbus- Twins(photographer)

Could similarities and differences in your family or people you know be a starting point for investigation?

Change/Time-past/present

Clarisse d'Arcimoles- this photographer has recreated a childhood photograph. It makes us play spot the difference.

Looking at images of places past and present can be interesting. You may be able to create some of your own

Plastic surgeryRight or wrong its here to stay. You could investigate humans obsession with perfection by changing their outer appearance.

Jenny Saville investigates surgery in her striking paintings

Cultural

• Similarities & Differences in language, customs, religions etc.. Between various cultures and nationalities the world over could provide a starting point for ideas...

Yinka Shonibare mixes western Victorian style dress design with traditional African fabric. Raising questions of differences in culture, class and identity.

Kyle Beans – Mobile evolutionSimilarities and differences in technological changes and developments could be a theme you choose to explore. The artist Kyle Beans has looked at mobiles and recreated them in card to slot inside each other like russian dolls.

Technological Evolution

Repetition/pattern • In nature...

You could create drawings and photographs of natural patterns. Aerial photos of the Earth, animals, plants, flowers, microscopic close ups, fractal patterns

Contrast-visual/ abstract

Bridget Riley

Victor Vasarelly

Chris Wood(female)

Frank Stella

Surreal/ metamorphosisSarah Lucas

Sarah often changes an object or recreates it in an unusual or humorous way. Here she has made a ‘drag-on’ to represent her addiction to cigarettes. She is often highly controversial.

Rene Magritte

MC Escher

The concept of something changing into or replaced by another links well with similarities and differences.

Contemporary Painting

Michael Craig-Martin

Lisa Milroy

Box art

Look here for more box art ideas...http://commonboxproject.blogspot.com/2009/01/inspiration-others-box-art.html

Sue Blackwell and Joseph Cornell are famous artists that create their art inside boxes.

Dan Baldwin

Dan and Grayson mix up classic and contemporary art ideas and imagery. They both use classic vase shapes that they decorate with modern graphic imagery. Dan’s paintings often explore death and nightmares.

Grayson Perry

Pottery/Ceramics

Grayson’s work is often controversial.

Textile/Fabric Art

Jenny Hart

Tracey Emin

Grayson Perry

All of these fabric artists use traditional textileTechniques such as; patchwork, embroidery and tapestry. The contrast or difference in their work is that they use modern imagery, text and designs, sometimes controversial to make their work original and interesting.

Photography

Elliot Erwitt

Zhang Huang

Photography is an excellent medium to show similarities, differences and change

Annette Messinger

Muybridge Shirin Neshat

Diane ArbusDiane was a photographer who focused on unusual characters and the similarities and differences to those around them. Her photos make you stop and inspect them often comparing those in the image.

BanksyFamous British street artist. Known mostly for his graffitti stencil art but also an accomplished painter and social satirist. Every piece has a meaning and often questions the modern world and the way we live our lives. The message is usually anti-war, anti-capitalist, anti-establishment or pro-freedom.

Sculpture

Claes Oldenburg

Anish Kapoor

Jim Lambie

Rachel Whiteread

These are all very different artist/sculptors in their style but can all be linked well to the Sim’ & dif’ theme. Looking at scale, change, negative space and colour

More sculpture....• Anthony Gormley Andy Goldsworthy

Collage

Andrew BarrowRobert Rauschenburg

Peter Blake

Collage is a medium of

contrasts and differences in itself. Artists here have

used different images and sources to create montages of several images

into one.

John Stezaker

Art of other cultures- Islamic Tiles

The patterns of Ancient Islamic tile designs have inspired many artists over the years. These designs are repetitive (similarities) and yet change frequently (differences). They tend to be geometric and often use symmetry across their designs.

Could link up well with abstract art...

African Adrinka symbols

The design of African Adrinka symbols links to the theme due to its repetition, they are also similar to each other in that they tend to be black outline designs. It can be linked in terms of cultural differences also.Could link up well with Yinka Shonibare...

Russian dolls• A matryoshka doll, or babushka doll is a Russian nesting doll

which is a set of dolls of decreasing sizes placed one inside the other. It shows a recognizable relationship of "object-within-similar-object" that appears in the design of many other natural and man-made objects.

Remember the main thing is to have fun with your art and experiments!