Neo-Impressionists Georges Seurat and Paul Signac pioneered a painting technique, dubbed Pointillism, that was revolutionary for its time. Bored of traditional paintings, artists of the era were searching for new ways to make “impressions” of landscapes and day-to-day life. Seurat and Signac looked to science for inspiration, and discovered how to trick the eye into seeing more in a painting than the sum of its parts: an arrangement of colored dots.

Informally known stippling art or dot art, since its inception, Pointillism has influenced many artists working across a diverse range of mediums, and today we see traces of it in modern art, fashion, and tattoos.

What is Pointillism?

Part of the Post-Impressionist movement, Pointillism is the technique of painting with distinct dots of color, which are meticulously applied in patterns to compose a cohesive image.

While Impressionists, such as Claude Monet and Vincent van Gogh, often used small dabs and strokes of paint as part of their technique, Pointillism artists took this idea a step further, by painting tightly packed, individual dots of pure color. When viewed from afar, the viewer’s mind and eye blur the dots together to create detailed images, comprising a fuller range of tones than the dots provide alone. The term “Pointillism” was in fact coined by art critics in the late 1880s to ridicule the works of these artists. Little did they know that the term would be used today as a positive association for some of the world’s most renowned master painters.

Influential Pioneer Artists of Pointillism

Georges Seurat

The first pioneer of Pointillism was French painter Georges Seurat, who founded the Neo-Impressionist movement. One of his greatest masterpieces, A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte (1884–1886), was one of the leading examples of Pointillism. The dotty composition depicts 19th century Parisians relaxing on the River Seine. One of his other works painted shortly before—titled Bathers at Asnières (1884)—mirrors the riverbank scene. In this piece, the bathers are doused in light, while most of the people in the …Sunday Afternoon… painting are hidden in shade. Both pieces were painted on large canvases with dots of oil paint in a range of summer hues.

Paul Signac

Another artist to adopt the revolutionary style was Paul Signac, who studied the science of dot art with Seurat. Since 1886, the French artist worked in this style throughout the entirety of his career, and carried on producing a large collection of Pointillism artwork, even after Seurat died in 1891, aged just 31. Among his most well-known works is The Pine Tree at St. Tropez, which depicts a brightly colored pine tree in the south of France; a place where the artist spent his time each summer. In another, titled Un Dimanche (A Sunday), Signac’s close-together, vibrant oil paint daubs depict a Parisian couple and their cat on a Sunday afternoon. This is an example of how Pointillism artists created clearer pictures: by painting smaller dots, closer together.

End of the Golden Age of Pointillism

By the 1890s, Pointillism had reached its peak, with many artists of the time choosing to adopt the technique. However, even though the golden age of Pointillism is now over, many of the concepts and ideas still continue to be used by artists today, in many different mediums.

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You don’t have to look far to find sexist vintage ads. In the middle of the 20th century, these advertisements were considered completely normal and even amusing. Nowadays, they’re not just dated but appalling for the misogynistic treatment of women they display. (Of course, these types of gendered stereotypes in advertising still exist today, though in less potent forms.) To help expose its toxicity, photographer Eli Rezkallah is reimagining some of the worst old sexist ads by swapping gender roles.

Rezkallah calls his series In A Parallel Universe, and it’s a redo of the advertising of yesteryear—with men taking on the tasks commonly reserved for women. In his retelling, the women are the ones who have careers and demand dinner be on the table when they come home each day; the men, however, are so inept that they can hardly open a ketchup bottle.

The photographer had the idea for In a Parallel Universe after Thanksgiving with his relatives. “I overheard my uncles talk about how women are better off cooking, taking care of the kitchen, and fulfilling ‘their womanly duties.’” he explained. “Although I know that not all men like my uncles think that way I was surprised to learn that some still do, so I went on to imagine a parallel universe, where roles are inverted and men are given a taste of their own sexist poison.”

Rezkallah’s images are a satisfying rebuttal to the advertising of long ago, but it’s not a solution to their harmful point of view. Instead, he intends for this series to help illuminate the problematic aspects of the print ads. “I hope that people who are stuck in stereotypical gender roles imposed by patriarchal societies will be able to visually see the cracks in the limitation that those roles carry through this project.”

In his series In a Parallel Universe, photographer Eli Rezkallah reimagines gender stereotypes in advertising.

The sexist vintage ads are given a twist by swapping the roles of men and women.

“I hope,” he explained, “that people who are stuck in stereotypical gender roles imposed by patriarchal societies will be able to visually see the cracks in the limitation that those roles carry through this project.”

Eli Rezkallah: Website | Instagram | Facebook
h/t: [Design TAXI]

All images via Eli Rezkallah.

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There are many ways to say “I do” but few are as daring as Ryan Jenks and Kimberly Weglin. After getting engaged on a space net in Moab canyon, the adventurous couple decided to have their wedding in the same place—suspended net and all. When the big day finally came, Jenks and Weglin said their vows four hundred feet above the desert floor. The photographers, Abbi and Callen Hearnes, captured the extreme wedding pictures, which are as stunning as they are breathtaking.

As if the ceremony site wasn’t unconventional enough, the couple customized their nuptials with other playful (if not terrifying) elements. While Jenks and Weglin exchanged their vows, their friends were performing aerial moves on silks below and walking on high lines. And in a creative take on “flower girls,” they had the roles fulfilled by BASE jumpers who plunged off the cliffs with 5,000 “petals in their packs.”

The gorgeous wedding photos convey the incredible energy of all who participated in the special day. “It was unreal,” Abbi recalls, “I am so beyond in love with this amazing community and stoked to see everyone’s creativity come together for Kim and Ryan.” Weglin echoes this in an Instagram post: “It was so fun to be able to take the traditional ceremony of marriage and turn it into something so completely ‘us,’ down to every last detail.”

Looking for extreme wedding ideas? Ryan Jenks and Kimberly Weglin made it happen when they got married suspended 400 feet in the air.

The event, which included a space net and BASE jumpers, was captured in extreme wedding pictures by photography couple The Hearnes.

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