Estación Olleros

El gato montés y el mono al revés, alumnos de 1ro y 2do grado

Translation:

(the cat, mountains, and the upside down monkey; 1st and 2nd grade students)

The title of the painting describes the three most prominent figures. But in addition to the mountains, the monkey, and the cat, there is also a couple spiders, one particularly in the cat’s mouth, but then several running along the ground. On the right, there is an ocean with two white fish swimming around. Also, on the ground there are spring flowers and an unknown brown object near the monkey.

The label beside the painting tells us that this was done by a first and second grader. Directly below the title, in smaller print, translates “Introduction: Proposal to Create a Group Story” with a Professor’s name, Leticia Macagno, following after.

It appears that this was a project Professor Leticia Macagno set up and designed in order to study the interactions of children working together on large creative projects. It is unclear to be able to tell which child did which because it seems that they are at the same artist level. The spider in the cat’s mouth I would say is the most developed out of all the spiders due to the more accurate orientation of the legs. The monkey seems to have more detail with the stripes, feet, and hands, whereas the cat only has circles for the feet. It is possible that the second grader drew the monkey and the first grade drew the cat but age does not always resemble a person’s artist skill. The age is too close to really be able to make a hypothesis of who did what. There is not an understanding of three dimension which is typical for that age, but there is an understanding of spacial awareness. The mountains do feel like they fall further back into space. The animals in the front are bigger than the objects that are further back in the landscape such as the fish.

The variety of colors in the mountains I find the most interesting. Often times, kids will just use one for one object. For example, the sky is one color blue, the clouds are one color, the cat is one color of orange, and etc. But the mountains (or hills rather?) have all kinds of shades of green. Whether the students did not have enough of the same color or they were just trying to fill in the space, it is truly eye catching. The shades of green, although not the most artistically placed, show potential growth in furthering these students artistic skills. Maybe I am just thinking too much like an art teacher, but I am intrigued as to their choice of the variety of greens. To me, it feels as though there is more depth in comparison to anything else in the painting. Was this a collaborative choice between the two? How involved was the professor while the children created this piece?

It appears to be a successful project of two students working together to create a fairly large painting. There is a sense of playfulness and whimsical singing. The piece is place near the end of the escalator coming into the subway. There are not many opportunities to stop and observe the painting. But it does feel like as I ride down the escalator, that I am looking out the window to a spring day where all is alive and bright. It is quite a contrast in the humid, industrial, germ-y underground subway station.

*Subté = Underground Subway or Metro in the Buenos Aires Region. I may also just refer to it as Subway for convenience.