check it out:
http://whenthehotgluehitsthefan.blogspot.com/
2 years ago
Friday, January 29, 2010
looking for artists - here's a great site
This is a former student's blog that lists all these artists that she likes (*and for full disclosure - I think are great too!)
check it out:
http://whenthehotgluehitsthefan.blogspot.com/
check it out:
http://whenthehotgluehitsthefan.blogspot.com/
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Lara Jade Photography
Lara Jade Photography
Conceptual Portfolio
Lara Jade Photography is a recent discovery that has caught my attention. Generally speaking, I tend to find myself drawn towards an individual piece or two, rather than an artist's works as a whole, but on a bit of further investigation, I found Lara Jade's work to hold a collection of striking compositions for the fashion and beauty industry. I love fashion photography. But what I found even more intriguing was her collection of conceptual pieces.
The images I found are from her online portfolio, and while I had a bit of difficulty deciding which photo to focus on, I found myself gravitating back to the above image, so this is the one I am featuring. The juxtaposition of an almost overly-feminine figure – in this case portrayed by the excessive ruffles and white lace – within a grungy or somehow darkened setting is a common theme among fashion photographers. But what I like about Lara Jade's interpretation is that the effect is not so overtly drastic. She uses faded lighting, screens, and textures to give her photos a worn down and darkened feel rather than the pitch darkness, chains, blood, and old warehouses that you might find from other photographers. Obviously in the digital age, this involves a bit of photoshopping with the texturing along the top and right side of the image to create the effect of a worn, wrinkled, and torn book page. However, I don't see the use of photoshopping on a photo to be a detriment - provided it is done in appropriate amounts to enhance the overall effect of the photo rather than photoshopping simply for the sake of hashing an image up. The texturing in this piece gives the photo a storybook atmosphere – practically that of an illustration or oil painting - that compliments this idea the feminine fairytale character within a slightly unnatural setting. It also presents the image as something of a narrative focused on a definitive character and a story, which I find to be key to this style of photography.
Egon Sheile
Sich Aufstützende Blonde Nackte mit Dunklen Strümpfen,' by Egon Schiele For me the first time I saw Egon Sheile's work I was at the MIA for an art history class our assignment was to find a piece of work and write about it. I walked into the room that held His portrait of Albert Paris Von Gutersloh and I was immediately drawn to it. I stood and looked at it for a long while in awe. This is when I fell in love with him.
This particular piece by Sheile is just something I ran across in trying to find a piece. I picked it because I love the lines and contours of the arms and the face, the tilt of the head, the red of the lips, the flow of the yellow hair.
It was so hard to choose just one piece and had I done this last night or even five minutes later I would have changed my mind because I like them all so much. Some of them make me feel like I am peering in on an intimate moment that Sheile is portraying. The honesty that is held in his work is so alarming as well as alluring. I can't help looking at it no matter how grotesque it may be and I like it which could be the strangest part. Ah, his lines they are so beautiful (I am such a sucker for good lines). The color so minimal vibrant and uneven. The women and men he draws are never perfect and he concentrates on their sexuality in such a bold manner.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Fast Money Music
Hey I wanted to share the blog Fast Money Music with you guys. If you're ever wanting to find upcoming shows, show reviews, album reviews, something new to listen to/go to, check it out.
Jean-Michel Basquiat
Untitled (Skull)
By: Jean-Michel Basquiat
Taken from: http://africanartists.blogspot.com/2008/08/jean-michel-basquiat_11.html
It was sometime in 2007 when I first saw a painting by Jean-Michel Basquiat. It was an instant love and an instant curiosity. The magnetism of his work sucked me in and I had to know more work, more Basquiat. I bought the movie, not entirely knowing what to expect, but hey, it was on sale (thanks, Amazon.com). It was amazing. Not just the fact that Gary Oldman and David Bowie (who made a great Warhol, if you ask me) were in the movie, but the story of Jean-Michel was beautiful. I started to grow a bit of an obsession.
He was just some high-school-dropout-
homeless-guy that wrote graffiti around New York City, under the signature SAMO (technically, it was a collaboration between Basquiat and his friend Al Diaz), which meant "same old shit". Then he became huge. First painter of African descent to reach international art star level huge. Basquiat seemed to almost hold that "The American Dream" status for me. Going from nothing to a hugely successful artist. Maybe that's what draws me in. Or, what draws me in more now. I was already intrigued before knowing his background. What about this specific piece though? What draws me in? I could research deeply into his paintings, but I feel like it's not supposed to be researched deeply. All that will end up happening is over thinking, over analyzing, pulling my hair out trying to figure out why this why that why blah blah blah. I have a basic idea of who Basquiat was. Why not just go from there?So I guess this is when I get to what this painting means to me, not just the entity and idea of Jean-Michel Basquiat. This painting is beauty. It's got this feeling of decay to it. Primitive and simple, but still a powerful image. It's got an eerie vibe, even with the brighter colors used in it. It's this decay, beauty, creation thing I see. It's beautiful with it's simplicity. The decay just adds to the beauty, but it also gives it a primitive feel. With how patchy it looks, it reminds me of creation, in the sense of Frankenstein's monster. It sticks with me. That's why I chose it. I don't have any deep and prophetic theory for the painting. I have some ideas of why I like it. It means something to me.
I love Basquiat. A lot. And here's a fun cameo of him in Blondie's "Rapture" (he was a replacement for DJ Grandmaster Flash since he didn't show up).
http://africanartists.blogspot.com/2008/08/jean-michel-basquiat_11.html
http://www.gis.net/~fotoflo/graffiti/samo.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Michel_Basquiat
Deborah Butterfield
Untitled (pinto)
By: Deborah Butterfield
Taken: http://www.gregkucera.com/butterfield.htm
One of my favorite artists to follow for new works from them or pieces published about them would have to be Deborah Butterfield. Her medium is sculptural which by far is my favorite to work with and the way that she forms her pieces to me is an intriguing process. I started following her work after I was emailed pictures of her pieces my freshman yeah of high school by a friend who had stumbled upon them and thought nothing more then, ‘Sadie like horses, I should send this to her.’ This piece is my favorite one of hers because it plays onto my love of not only horses but also horses with color pattern, (paints or pintos).
This piece by Deborah Butterfield is known as Untitled (pinto) 1978. The medium of mud and plaster over plaster over wood and steel gives it such interesting dynamic structure and texture. The steel structure of the piece gives it its basic form and its stability but for me it is really the plaster and mud layers that give this piece its life and real likeness to the type of horse it is meant to be portraying. The way that the mud gives definition to certain areas of the sculptures body and gives the audiences eye a nice eye flow to follow is far more then most would think mud would be capable of doing. The texture of the mediums together also brings an element of character to this piece, it could be representing the hair on a horses body as well as portraying some sense of emotional character giving this horse a rougher exterior rather then the smooth lines you see in a lot of Deborah Butterfields work.
http://www.gregkucera.com/butterfield.htm
Alex Pardee
Good Night Lava
By : Alex Pardee
Taken: http://eyesuckink.com/
I first stumbled across Alex Pardee during my years of teenage angst without even knowing who he was. I remember picking up a CD and staring at the artwork on the cover thinking it was most deranged image I had ever seen. As I grew out of that stage and slowly began getting into the local graffiti scene I came across Alex Pardee again. I had been looking up different artist and seeing how their work made an impact on me. I watched these videos of Alex Pardee on YouTube doing graffiti and I thought the images themselves were so morbid and deranged that I needed to find more of his work. As I looked on his website I found myself having slight déjà vu, lo and behold the album artwork from the CD I bought years ago was his. Over the past few years I have been an avid follower of Alex Pardee and would kill to see his work in person. It was hard for me to narrow down one piece of his since I adore all of his work.
The image I selected is Good Night Lava. This piece shows how well Pardee uses his mediums along with his vibrant use of color. I love how you can feel the texture throughout this piece. The agony in the narwhal-esque creatures face really makes you want to pick up the little guy and make its pain stop, but yet it makes you just want to be the outside spectator and let it happen. The yellow figure is so tranquil and makes the viewer want to know what is going to happen. Pardee makes using ink as a medium to be a very easy task. Alex Pardee is one of very few contemporary artists out there that is actually making work that just isn’t splatter paint on a canvas or rolling around in dirt and putting it on a canvas and calling that “art”. Pardee captures emotion and makes the viewers feel like they are part of his work. I adore this man even if his work may seem macabre to most common folk I find every inch of Pardee’s work irresistible, and I hope you viewers do too. Plus any man who can turn Steve Urkel into a demonic looking creature is good in my book.
Alex Pardee himself
Links
Michael Levin
Steel Pier
By: Michael Levin
Taken: http://www.photographersgallery.com/by_artist.asp?id=175
Black and white is by far my favorite aspect of photography. There’s something about the absence of color that intrigues me. I have never seen any of Michael Levin’s work before, but I happened to come across a website featuring galleries of different photographers and fell in love with his work.
What caught my attention the most was the simplicity of his photos. There’s not a ton going on, but still just enough to make you want to take another look.
His use of line and texture is very alluring and striking. As well as the placement of the subjects in his compositions; they pull you through each photo. Which is why I chose this piece titled Steel Pier. This piece is a good example of Levin’s use of line and shape and how your attention is easily drawn from the upper left and right corners, to the center of the image.
Also, in most of his photographs, the foreground or middle ground is rarely visible and tends to fade into the background, making the subject appear to be floating in space. Which can tend to give his work this realism meets surrealism feel to it.
otto dix (thanks abbi)
"Tropas Avancando Sob Gas"
by otto dix
taken from: arsrhetorica/wordpress.com
This work by Otto Dix is my favorite "art piece" at the moment. I love the use of line in this illustration. He creates a dark and scary world on paper. The work really gives you the feeling that the world is going to end and your life is over. I think that death or the knowledge of being at death's doorstep is one of the strongest feelings one will ever feel. This feeling however comes along few times in one's life and here Dix has captured it perfectly. when you closely study this work you will see that the perfect attention is given to each character.By attention I do not mean over attention. The characters are mostly rough sketches comparatively to Dix's other work.I think this however helps the overall character of the piece giving it a rough and haggard look helping the overall message as stated above.
This work will also become more meaningful to you if you take into consideration the time period and the state of Germany and central European counties during this era. Right after world war one was a horrible time for Europe, and a great depression plagued Germany(Otto Dix's homeland) after the war. I think this can be clearly seen in this and other works by Dix. a new weapon to our world (mustard gas) was unleashed during this great and horrible conflict.this is refferenced by Dix's use of gas masks on the soldiers seen in the work. I think this even extenuates the figures "scariness" by giving them a sickeningly non human appearance. Other horrors of war are also pictured in this work such as a grenade and barbed wire things relatively new to the modern battlefield.
This work clearly reflects the horrible and painful hardships of Dix's time. I think we can also carry the meaning and feeling of this work to our everyday life in that we are in a war time society,people are dieing and pain is still felt as it was in 1924. We are so cut off from our war over oil that we loose a conscience feeling towards the people sacrificing themselves for our once great nation. We care more about Hollywood and cellphones that we do about real culture and real things that will effect our future. My advice to people of my own generation is to slow down, look at your world, and make steps to make your life not fall into the horrible pattern of youth today. you will learn more from a great novel or a great art work such as this that you could ever learn from TMZ or Ellen(however there is nothing wrong with Ellen, good comedy is good comedy). This piece makes me wonder why our lives have not been skewed by these once unthinkable things. This work is all in all a reflection to me of the past and therefore what our great future should have been. Instead we where immediately sprung into world war two and then into the slums of modern America. I hope I did not lose those who disagree with me because of my very opinionated banter. I only wish to stop and think about society as form and function(like art) and to help others do the same. When you die it wont matter what dig screen you had or what lab top you could buy. It will matter what you spent your time doing, viewing and being. So live it up have fun and always remember to stop and smell the roses even if your roses are German soldiers with grenades at the ready.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otto_Dix
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/ARTdix.htm
words of a critic - with a playful touch
It may be a little dorky - but at it's core - it's really what art is all about. Be willing to try new things, love to make what you can't help yourself from making, stay authentic.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Local Gallery List / Links and then Some
Local Gallery; Museum List; & Links:
D. Museums
LINKS n' things; Resources for you! (*Great for research)
• Arts and Culture: www.artandculture.com
• The Design Museum www.designmuseum.org
• Ted Talks (*I love this one!) www.ted.com
• Walker Art Center's resources for images etc adaweb@walkerart.org
• www.shortstreet.net
• www.artnet.org
• This one is your school's Website. Well, why not? www.cva.edu
• Information about Zines. Now we do blogs, so once I find a great site about that you will have that on this list as well www.girrrlzines.net
• Everyone should get a web site for their own work here: www.mnartists.org
• Walker stuff: www.tech90’s.walkerart.org
• The Walker of Course www.walkerart.org
• Where you go To start your Blog: www.blogspot.com
And of course - your class blog:
http://cva-oad-spring2010.blogspot.com/
D. Museums1. Walker Art Center, 1750 Hennepin Avenue, Minneapolis, MN, 612.375.7600
Hours: Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday 11-5
Thursday and Friday 11-9 (Closed Monday)
2. 
Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 2400 Third Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN 55404
Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 2400 Third Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN 55404
Hours: Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday 10-5
Thursday 10-9
3.
Minnesota Museum of American Art, Kellogg Boulevard and Market Street, St. Paul, MN 55102
(*I think they have moved and are re-modeling...)
Hours: Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday 11-4
Thursday 11-8
4. 
Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum Contemporary Art, 333 East River Road, Minneapolis, MN
Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday 10- 5
Thursday 10- 8
F. Galleries
1. • Art of This - http://aotbloggy.blogspot.com/ awesome blog about their work
3506 Nicollet Ave., Minneapolis, MN. http://www.artofthis.net/index.html
• Flanders Contemporary Art 3012 Lyndale Av S Minneapolis 612-344-1700 www.flanders-art.com
3506 Nicollet Ave., Minneapolis, MN. http://www.artofthis.net/index.html
• Flanders Contemporary Art 3012 Lyndale Av S Minneapolis 612-344-1700 www.flanders-art.com
4. • Gallery Co 400 First Avenue North, Suite 210 Minneapolis 612 332 5252 www.galleryco.net
10. • No Name Exhibitions at the Soap Factory 110 5th Avenue SE Minneapolis 612-623-9176 www.soapfactory.org
11. • Soo Visual Arts Center 2640 Lyndale Ave. S. Minneapolis 612-871-2263 www.soovac.org
12. • Thomas Barry Fine Arts 530 North 3rd Street, Minneapolis 612-338-3656 www.thomasbarry.com
14. • Rogue Buddha Gallery. 357 13th ave NE, Minneapolis, MN 55413 www.roguebuddha.com/
LINKS n' things; Resources for you! (*Great for research)
• Arts and Culture: www.artandculture.com
• The Design Museum www.designmuseum.org
• Ted Talks (*I love this one!) www.ted.com
• Walker Art Center's resources for images etc adaweb@walkerart.org
• www.shortstreet.net
• www.artnet.org
• This one is your school's Website. Well, why not? www.cva.edu
• Information about Zines. Now we do blogs, so once I find a great site about that you will have that on this list as well www.girrrlzines.net
• Everyone should get a web site for their own work here: www.mnartists.org
• Walker stuff: www.tech90’s.walkerart.org
• The Walker of Course www.walkerart.org
• Where you go To start your Blog: www.blogspot.com
And of course - your class blog:
http://cva-oad-spring2010.blogspot.com/
C. Sources for Materials
1. Art Materials, Inc., 2728 Lyndale Ave .S., Minneapolis, 612.872.8808
2. ArtCellar, 2501 Steven Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN, 612.874.3775
3. Daniel Smith, http://www.danielsmith.com/
4. Dick Blick Art Supply 1641 W. County Rd. C, Roseville, 612-636-2812 http://www.dickblick.com/
5. Dick Blick Art Supply, 2389 Fairview Avenue, St. Paul, MN 651.636.2818
6. Dick Blick Art Supply, 2501 26th Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 612.721.6421
7. Golden Artist Color, http://www.goldenpaints.com/
8. Kinkos, 58 Snelling Ave. S., St. Paul, MN, 651.699.9671
9. Local Color Art Supply, 165 Western Ave N, St. Paul, MN 651.227.7701
10. Penco Graphic Supply/ Artists Supply, 718 Washington Ave. N, Minneapolis, MN 612.333.3310
11. Utrect, 1601 Hennepin Ave., Minneapolis, MN 612.339.3400 http://www.utrecht.com/
12. Wet Paint, 1684 Grand Avenue, St.Paul, MN, 651.698.6431 http://www.wetpaintart.com/
(*these guys are offering a HUGE deal on the kit, and a regular discount, so for C.V.A. students, I highly suggested it)
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Strong Blogging Examples
Initial Responses about a favorite artists
From Sam's Blog --> http://cva-oad-sectb-basques09.blogspot.com/
Created by Milton Glaser, the "I Love New York" symbol has become a renown and iconic symbol of our generation. Not only has it originated and created a wide band of merchandise, it's become the beginning of a new era. Following the "New York" image, comes a long line of successors and look-alike images.
One wonders why the "I Love New York" symbol is so iconic in the first place. Is it the simplicity of the symbol itself, and in being so simple embeds itself in the minds of anyone who sees it? It's a symbol that sticks with you once you see it, and continually recognize throughout the rest of your life. The symbol has grown to worldwide infamy and status. It's no longer available just to New Yorkers, but everywhere around the nation, and from there, the world. Posted by Sam Basques at 7:17 AM 4 comments
From Angie's Site: http://cva-oad-sectb-shark09.blogspot.com/
Image taken from Arcadia Gallery Web Site
When I first saw this piece I was hypnotized. It caught my eye while I was rifling through the magazine stand at a Barnes and Noble. She was on the front cover of American Art Collector, which is not a mag I typically indulge in, so I desperately persuaded myself not to buy the issue, and walked out of the store. I exited the mall, and carried on with my daily business. However, much to my dismay the painting haunted me. For hours I felt regret for having not snatched up the publication. Over the next three hours this woman's image and I developed an emotional relationship.
Why was her face burned into my brain? It's simple really. The artist of the piece is Malcolm Liepke. I'd read about him about a year or two earlier, and was intrigued with his style, but now, because of the new direction he was taking, I had grown obsessed. Needless to say I returned to the store, found the most pristine copy (not the copy everyone mistreats on top of the pile with the bend pages and the torn cover, and definitely not the one behind that, which get's second-hand mistreatment, the one in the back...the virgin literary treasure), and purchased it.
I bought the magazine for reasons only a psychologist could explain. What I can convey is how the painting captivates me still as I reflect on it over two months later. To me, that defines great art. Great art can lock in a viewer, no matter if they like the piece or not...the artist wins.
In this case the artist is Liepke. His pieces in the past usually have had narrative atmospheres, and generally contain more than one subject. In his new work Liepke has zoomed in, cropped, and simplified to achieve a collection of portraits that convey not only clear emotions, but a strong cohesiveness as an entire collection. They were exhibited in New York, New York at the Arcadia Gallery, http://www.arcadiafinearts.com , from July 23rd through August 6th.
In his 48'' x 48'' oil painting, Sideways Glance, the artist, in my opinion, strikes gold. The focal point of the painting are the subject's eyes, that sensually gaze back at the viewer. Her pale face is framed by a mop of careless brown hair, as her arm gracefully closes off the left side of the piece. Liepke has stripped the image down to the components that are most essential to captivate a viewer. His new artistic deviation has not only gained him new fans and collectors, but also new buzz... and no press is bad press.
Mining the MIA
Adam's Blog http://cva-oad-sectb-fuchs09.blogspot.com/
I can’t believe that the people at MIA are actually paid to screw things up the way they have. They blatantly placed a few works of art in obviously incongruous spots in the museum without regard to their correct configuration and mojoistic relationship with the universe. I can’t believe the world has not imploded. This travesty must be corrected immediately. Thankfully I am here to set things in order.
Responding to the Midway Art Center:
Mandy's Blog http://cva-oad-sectb-martinson09.blogspot.com/
Monica Bonvicini, ADD ELEGANCE TO YOUR POVERTY (2002) Collection of Kati Lovaas. Image taken from Premier Art Scene. (http://premierartscene.com/uploads/pics/ArtBasel2009_Bonv400.jpg)
Bam. These bold, black words spray-painted on a clean white wall immediately captured all of my attention. Monica Bonvicini, an Italian artist, used this phrase and drew a simple picture of a fence on a large white wall in 2002. The words are all capitalized and are handwritten, looking as if someone quickly, and somewhat unevenly, wrote this message. The phrase is written as such:
ADD ELEGANCE
TO YOUR POVERTY
Below this phrase, a rough sketch of a simple fence is drawn. The two lines of text and the fence all line up at the left. The lines of the words and drawing slightly vary with thickness and size. The spray-paint also gives a very blurry and diffused look. The phrase and picture of the fence are large, taking up much of the wall. There is no exact size of the piece because the dimensions vary. Since the work is directly spray-painted on the wall, the gallery will use the original drawing and project its image onto the wall it is to be displayed on. Someone then traces the image as accurately as possible.
We live in a time where we often see graffiti in urban areas, on public and private property. This work suggests that people use graffiti to enhance the appearance of run-down or derelict places. Bonvicini probably used the drawing of the fence to show how it is so much cheaper and easier to just spray paint one, than rather build a fence, costing a lot more money and time.
I love the simplicity of both the drawing and text. The phrase reminds me of something Jenny Holzer would write. The statement might imply that you can make anything elegant and that you don't need money to make it that way. Maybe it is saying we live in a culture where we can take something and make it brand new by adding our own flare. Or, maybe the statement is mocking our culture with graffiti and its destruction to public places. Many would argue that graffiti only satisfies the artist who makes it and ruins the space for the rest of the public.
Adam's Blog http://cva-oad-sectb-fuchs09.blogspot.com/
I recently had the opportunity to visit the Midway Contemporary Art gallery in Minneapolis. I was part of a group that received a guided tour by a founder of the gallery and in depth analysis of many of the piece’s on display. One artwork in particular struck me. In a small room that goes by the description of “Gallery 2”, I was confronted by a massive blue rectangle that measures 94 x 17 x 4 inches leaning up against the wall.
My first impression was that someone had left one of their child’s building blocks in the gallery and that evil aliens had enlarged using cosmic rays to ridicule the foundations of American childhood. It was smooth and sleek, with perfect corners, clean lines, and was the color of the Pacific on a bright 90 degree day in 1965. I am not a fan of the modernist movement at all. The extreme emphasis on form and medium being art is so a little ridiculous to my frame of mind. If that was all that art was, than the people at Sherman Williams who make hundreds of colors of acrylic house paint should be heralded as the new masters. I am more about content, subject matter, feeling, motivation.
After a brief glance and a little shake of my head at how much time must have gone into the construction of a gigantic blue rectangle, my thoughts turned to the next piece. Big blue was gone from my mind in an instant because my uneducated non-modernist viewpoint suggested that it was just that- a big blue rectangle. Who cares about a big blue rectangle? As I went on to the next piece I heard the gallery operator mention that they had to increase their insurance due to the fact that the big blue rectangle was worth $200,000. Are you serious? I could finish my education, travel the world, and feed the homeless for months off $200,000. If someone wanted a rectangle, go to IKEA and buy some storage totes- you’d have enough for a Ferrari left over. I instantly hate big blue, which I found out is named “Sound”, by California artist John McCraken. The fact that an inanimate object that is so plain could excite that amount of interest was ridiculous in my opinion. The gallery owner went on to inform us that “Sound” was handmade fiberglass with high gloss lacquer. Given his southern California background, the artist likes to use the same materials that go into surf board construction. John McCraken also treats color as a material in his art. His decision to lean his objects against the wall rather going for a more conventional instillation was in his own mind the best way to reduce the forms down to their utmost basic abstract concept. (John McCraken Sketchbook: Interview with Neville Wakefield 15)
All of this basic went over mind head. I still could not wrap my mind around a blue rectangle supposedly worth $200,000. A classmate of mine tried to put it into perspective by informing me about the amount of time and meticulous craftsmanship that must have gone into a handmade perfect rectangle of that size. McCraken could have just sent his piece of to the factory to get machined, but instead he loving crafted his art by hand, just as the surfboard masters of old produced individual boards that combined perfection and personality. I was not ready to hear it. My mind still kept shouting $200,000, $200,000, $200,000! This morning, as I was researching the piece to write a very nasty critique, I was listening to my roommates talk about a friend of theirs from college who had moved to Vegas and tried to make a life for herself far away from friends and family in Minnesota. Long story short, she ended up prostituting herself and then got hook on drugs. I instantly felt sorry, not for the girl who I didn’t know, but for “Sound” who I came to know through indifference, fierce hatred, pity, and then finally a bizarre sort of love. It brings to mind an overpriced streetwalker, told by society that her purest essence is to lean against the wall with cold, deep, perfect beauty to wait for the highest bid. Pared down to her barest form, with nothing left but that which the viewer gives, she emanates reflects of our own desires and needs. She is lost, alone, powerful, and abused. She needs love, but has nothing left for love to cling to. Perfection, gloss, sleek beauty…. Nothing.
Image courtesy of midwayart.org Posted by cva-oad-sectb-fuchs09.blogspot.com at 12:55 PM 2 comments
WALKER VISIT
From Bernadette's Blog --> http://cva-oad-sectb-mueller09.blogspot.com/
The piece I chose that I believe has strong formal qualities is Hippopotamus by Paul Thek. This piece is very interesting to me because of the media he used and the effect it has on the viewer. He used beeswax, plexiglass, metal and rubber in order to create a faux slab of hippopotamus flesh. If his intent was to rear the media into appearing like an actual hippopotamus he comes eerily close. Although you can see drips of wax, you still cannot help but be thinking that you are staring at raw flesh pierced by rods of metal. I highly doubt he was going for beauty in this piece but because of its strong formal qualities it will make just about anyone stop and look and wonder about the hippo in a glass box.
From Chloe's Blog --> http://cva-oad-sectb-chloegoodman09.blogspot.com/
This first piece from the Walker's permanent collection I chose is by Jasper Johns titled "Flags". It is a color lithograph of two American flags. One of the flags has green and black stripes with thin white lines between them. The background for the now black stars is light orange. The other flag that this piece features is very monochromatic, and is varying shades of light gray. The entire piece is on a dark gray background. The strength of this piece is in it's formal elements, because it is all about color theory at work. Everyone is familiar with the rectangles and stars that make up the American flag. This entire piece is technical. If the viewer stares at the black dot in the colored flag for a while and then looks at the gray flag, they will see the American flag the way it normally is, in red, white, and blue. I decided that I like this particular piece even though I really don't know anything about color theory, I can still tell that it works. I would consider it art because it has an aesthetic value, though I would say the concept behind this piece may not be very "deep".
The piece I chose that has a high conceptual value is "Suspense". I do not know the artist's name, but I will post it when I get to the Walker next. The piece has little aesthetic value because it is an empty rectangular room with two black curtained doors that the viewer of the piece walks through. When the viewer opens the first curtain and steps into the room and begins to walk forwards, suspenseful, eerie music starts to play. The music rushes to a climax and stops like the worst cliffhanger ever, and then the viewer realizes that they are next to the exit curtain. The first time I experienced this instillation, I laughed because the way it made me feel was so intense. The conceptual value to this piece is very high because the viewer is so affected by it. We are in the palm of the (unknown) artist's hand. I think it does work in this case to have little aesthetic value because this piece is so intense. It is art though? I would say so, but perhaps my definition of "art" is more broad than others'.
The piece I chose for one with low aesthetic and low conceptual value is "Black Curve" by Ellsworth Kelly. It is an oil painting from 1962. I suppose one (namely Ellsworth Kelly) could say that this piece does have some aesthetic value, because it's "beautiful". However, this doesn't really do it for me. Yes, Ellsworth, it is a black curve. This means absolutely nothing to me, and I get nothing from it aesthetically. Maybe if I chatted with the artist I could get where he is coming from. I can certainly respect it, but I do not like it at all.
The piece I chose that has both conceptual and aesthetic value is "Bust of Diego" by Alberto Giacometti. It is a bronze bust from around 1954. To me, this is a very nice thing to look at which is why I would call it aesthetically pleasing. It is interesting the way the head is so narrow and long, Diego's expression is somewhat blank, but he is clearly looking at something. His body is huge in proportion to his teeny head. The texture of the piece also is nice, being made with bronze, the way the light bounces off all of the different textures made by Giacometti. The reason I would say it is conceptually pleasing to me is why on earth did Giacometti choose to portray someone in this particular way? I wonder if the reason for all of the interesting textures and proportions has something to do with Diego's personality, the vibes one gets from him, or something about the relationship between artist and subject.
The final piece I chose that has an influence on how I look at art altogether was Untitled by Robert Irwin. I've only seen this piece once in person about a month ago when I went to the Walker with a few friends, and I remember I was the only one who seemed to have an interest in the piece. Maybe they had seen it before, but I was so intrigued by how the artist just claimed this huge area in a museum as his own. I guess I'm not as impressed with the actual art piece as I am in how the artist chose to execute his vision. It's just so amazing to me how large his piece is in this huge room where his is the only one. It jsut blows my mind and I love it.
http://www.josephklevenefineartltd.com/NewSite/JasperJohnsFlag.jpg
http://www.artsconnected.org/media/14/ce/b28a42e12a32169cf8f24b73ae12/1024/768/20015.jpg
http://cva-oad-sectb-allan09.blogspot.com/
http://collections.walkerart.org/item/enlarge_fs.html?type=object&id=601&image_num=1 Posted by Chloe Goodman at 5:48 PM 2 comments
Choosing Your Artists for your Artists Book Blog Entry:
Mandy's Blog http://cva-oad-sectb-martinson09.blogspot.com/
Artist's Studio No. 1 (Look Mickey)
Roy Lichtenstein
1973
oil, Magna, sand on canvas
Walker Art Center
Image taken from the Walker Art Center
This piece has very strong formal qualities that grab your attention right away. Just as the title states, this piece is an interpretation of an artist’s studio. The room consists of a mirror on the left wall with a small table for a phone. In the left corner is a door with a small canvas facing away to the left side. On the right of the door is a potted plant and there is fruit on the striped floor. Three various sizes of paintings hang on the wall with a couch beneath it. On the right side we see a small statue or end of a table. Most all of the forms in this painting are rectilinear except for the potted plant, fruit, and phone. A large portion of this painting is also white. The small table, the pot for the plant, couch, and back wall are white. Each color is very pure and bold. The colors also stay consistent. For examples, all of the yellows used in the painting are the same yellow. This stays true with all of the other colors as well. The only other colors used are red, black, green, and blue. There are not many shadows, but the shadows that you see are solid black. The reflections in the mirrors are either solid black chunks or little specks of black, closely placed together. The outlines of all the forms are very thick and precise. The only shading in this piece is on the ceiling where you see gray turn to white very subtly. Every other part of the painting is distinct and sharp.
Forever, artists have done still life’s or studies of their studios. Lichtenstein wanted to follow this tradition, but pursue the idea in his own style. This piece should be recognized for its precise formal qualities. The painting is visually striking because of its sharp rectilinear forms and bright bold colors. The style should also be recognized for its originality. Lichtenstein appropriated this comic-book style from popular culture and made it into a true fine art.
Here are the sketches for my cover... Kind of.
I'd like one large portrait of Zak with his name going down the left side of the page, with lime green highlights.
The small pixel-looking image that my drawing is on top of is on of his installations at the Walker. I'm using the size and configuration as inspiration for the pages in the book. I'll have possibly 6 or 8 sections per page.
The smaller sketches on this page might do a
better job of explaining how I want my page
layout.
Overall, I'm really excited about the project. I've read several interviews, and am currently reading his memoir.
Think: Dirty Punk
EXTRA CREDIT BLOGGING
Robert Rauschenberg
"Storyline I"
Four Color Lithograph (1968)
21 ½ x 17
Image taken from www.Artstor.org
To be honest, this wasn’t the piece I was going to choose from Robert Rauschenberg. I went searching for a certain piece, but could not find a picture of it. I saw the piece originally at the Walker Art Center when they had an exhibition on his works. As I looked through Artstor.org to find this certain artwork, I kept finding more and more pieces I loved from Rauschenberg. It was so hard to choose even one artwork to focus on for this blog.
Finally, I settled on Storyline I (1968). This 21 ½ x 17’ piece was created using a four-color lithograph using only red, yellow, navy, and green. The individual images are placed in a haphazardly and sloppy way, over-lapping one another. Overall, you can somewhat see a grid. The images’ square shape and color placement gives the piece a grid-like feel. The arrangement of the images tells us a story. At the top are a red square and a green square. In the middle, there are two separate green square shapes. At the bottom, there is a navy and yellow square. The lithographed images are put on the paper in a very messy way, all smudged. In some places, it looks like too much ink was used and in other places not enough ink was used. The images look like they are from a film. In the top left red square, there is a face of a woman looking mischievous or disgusted. In the green square next to it, there is an image of a man hold a woman’s face. The woman is facing the other way so we cannot see her face. The man is looking straight at her very anxiously. It is uncertain what emotion he is conveying to the woman. He could be concerned with her, or angry with her. In the green area below the red woman, is an old (1930s/1940s?) car. Next to the car, there seems to be another image I cannot make out. Below the car, in the navy square is a person dead on the ground. Again, I cannot make out the yellow image.
The subject matter of this piece was to tell the viewer a story. It is not exactly clear what happens in the story or what the relationships are like, however we know some of the order and it’s progression. The placement of the images is displayed in the same type of sequence of a movie or a book. You look at one image at a time, going in order. The messy chaos in the placement of the images suggests to me that the story was complex. The images also overlap, creating layers. This reminds me of peoples’ emotions, and, actions caused by those emotions –like a chain reaction. This piece reminds me of how our lives progress one day at a time, but sometimes with multiple problems and many emotions. Our emotions and actions are so complex, that they overlap and connect, influencing the decisions that make up our lives.
Adam's Blog --> http://cva-oad-sectb-fuchs09.blogspot.com/
GREAT Descriptive work --> From Bernadette's Blog --> http://cva-oad-sectb-mueller09.blogspot.com/
Friday, September 11, 2009 "Cherry's Jubilee"
The painting, “Cherry’s Jubilee,” is hard to pass by. I found it immediately striking the first time I saw it. The content shows a young, tattooed women. Her appearance is the first thing to introduced opposing themes. She is dressed in a dress that looks like it came from a theater costume closet. The black and white stripped dress is met by two matching bubble gum pink bows at her waist. She is wearing black and white fingerless gloves, which accentuates the way she is biting on her pinky finger. The gloves are offset by a shrunken black and white stripped top hat with a black bow and feather slouched to the right side of her head. She is an attractive girl. Her black bob frames her face perfectly contrasting her porcelain skin and her crimson colored lips. Her eyes draw you into a dark abyss of wonder and question. Her arms, both covered with tattoos of music notes, a palm tree, a harp, a flamingo, a band-aid, among others, are pulled into her chest.
If the viewer is not immediately intrigued by her appearance, one would want to question her surroundings. She seems to have made her way into a carnival. Her cropped body, from the waist up, is framed between a ferris wheel and a carousel painted in grey hues with a powdery blue sky.
This painting interests me, like I already said, for a number of reasons. Of course my eyes like the colors and the content of the piece but the longer I look at it the more I want to know her story. I begin to ask myself a lot of questions. Who is she? Where is she from? Why is she at an empty carnival? Why is she dressed like that? Of course these questions I can only speculate at? But the fact that I am not quite sure what to make of this women leads me to something. She doesn’t look out of place in the painting but when you ask why would she be there, you don’t know? Everyone has their own story and people always surprise you. You can never think that everyone fits into certain guidelines. It’s better when they don’t. Perhaps that’s why she is called “cherry’s Jubilee.”
Posted by Bernadette at 3:21 PM 4 comments 
From Sam's Blog --> http://cva-oad-sectb-basques09.blogspot.com/
Saturday, September 12, 2009 Sept 15th Assignment "I Love New York"
Created by Milton Glaser, the "I Love New York" symbol has become a renown and iconic symbol of our generation. Not only has it originated and created a wide band of merchandise, it's become the beginning of a new era. Following the "New York" image, comes a long line of successors and look-alike images.
One wonders why the "I Love New York" symbol is so iconic in the first place. Is it the simplicity of the symbol itself, and in being so simple embeds itself in the minds of anyone who sees it? It's a symbol that sticks with you once you see it, and continually recognize throughout the rest of your life. The symbol has grown to worldwide infamy and status. It's no longer available just to New Yorkers, but everywhere around the nation, and from there, the world.
From Angie's Site: http://cva-oad-sectb-shark09.blogspot.com/
Sidways Glance by Malcolm Liepke
Image taken from Arcadia Gallery Web SiteWhen I first saw this piece I was hypnotized. It caught my eye while I was rifling through the magazine stand at a Barnes and Noble. She was on the front cover of American Art Collector, which is not a mag I typically indulge in, so I desperately persuaded myself not to buy the issue, and walked out of the store. I exited the mall, and carried on with my daily business. However, much to my dismay the painting haunted me. For hours I felt regret for having not snatched up the publication. Over the next three hours this woman's image and I developed an emotional relationship.
Why was her face burned into my brain? It's simple really. The artist of the piece is Malcolm Liepke. I'd read about him about a year or two earlier, and was intrigued with his style, but now, because of the new direction he was taking, I had grown obsessed. Needless to say I returned to the store, found the most pristine copy (not the copy everyone mistreats on top of the pile with the bend pages and the torn cover, and definitely not the one behind that, which get's second-hand mistreatment, the one in the back...the virgin literary treasure), and purchased it.
I bought the magazine for reasons only a psychologist could explain. What I can convey is how the painting captivates me still as I reflect on it over two months later. To me, that defines great art. Great art can lock in a viewer, no matter if they like the piece or not...the artist wins.
In this case the artist is Liepke. His pieces in the past usually have had narrative atmospheres, and generally contain more than one subject. In his new work Liepke has zoomed in, cropped, and simplified to achieve a collection of portraits that convey not only clear emotions, but a strong cohesiveness as an entire collection. They were exhibited in New York, New York at the Arcadia Gallery, http://www.arcadiafinearts.com , from July 23rd through August 6th.
In his 48'' x 48'' oil painting, Sideways Glance, the artist, in my opinion, strikes gold. The focal point of the painting are the subject's eyes, that sensually gaze back at the viewer. Her pale face is framed by a mop of careless brown hair, as her arm gracefully closes off the left side of the piece. Liepke has stripped the image down to the components that are most essential to captivate a viewer. His new artistic deviation has not only gained him new fans and collectors, but also new buzz... and no press is bad press.
Mining the MIA
Adam's Blog http://cva-oad-sectb-fuchs09.blogspot.com/
Monday, September 21, 2009 MIA- What the heck were you thinking??
I have constructed a hermetically sealed installation inside of a tapered, sloping tunnel built into the side of the Mississippi river bluffs. The opening is 50ft by 50ft and is made entirely of prismatic glass sections that throw kaleidoscopic beams of sunlight into the atrium. My first work of art is placed in just a few feet inside this entranceway.
Your Dog. Yoshitomo Nara. Japan 2002. 72 x 51 x 108 inch. Fiberglass sculpture. Photo courtesy of Adam Fuchs.
This is the first piece in my new collection due to the sense of fun and life that the art brings to the viewer. As the artist probably intended, you can see a sort of joy and pent up excitement in the posture of the dog, especially with it’s erect tail and closed eyes. This reminds me of the look a puppy gets when your hand is just about to pet it’s back. The choices of white fiberglass for the body and the bright red nose give it a sleek and streamlined look for the new millennium, imparting a sense of fun and life.
MIA Gift Shop Doll collection. Unknown Artists. Unknown Medium. Photo courtesy of Adam Fuchs.
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About ten feet farther into the exhibit you come across a 48 x 72 inch display case filled with shelves of stuffed dolls. The collection of gift shop dolls tossed on shelves without regard to the joy that they might bring someone provides the eye with a riot of color and perceived textures. The bright colors and soft appearance of the pieces contrast with the unblinking eyes and slightly malevolent stares to leave one unsure of the comfort given by these creatures. Their proximity to Your Dog implies a sense of continuity in the joyous celebration of life, yet the fact that one cannot touch or seek comfort from walled in softness of these glaring beasties imparts some caution and maybe a little foreboding.
Pillow. Unknown Artist. China, Ch’ing Dynasty 17th-18th Century. Greenish-White Nephrite. Photo courtesy of Adam Fuchs.
As you proceed another few steps into my exhibition you meet a stark white pedestal 24 inches tall by 12” square. The height of the pedestal and small size of the piece force one to stoop uncomfortably in order to obtain the best viewing. The hardness of the pillow combined with the soft rounded appearance continues the juxtaposition of comfort and unease stemming from the gift shop dolls. The uncomfortable looking position of the figurine combined with the facial expression that could either be pain or pleasure, and the severe white pedestal and washed out colors of the piece reinforce this idea.
Gift Shop Bone Doll. Unknown Artist. China 2009. Unknown Media
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At the very edge of where the fairy-tale patterns of dappled sunlight hit the floor, poised at the brink of darkness a few more feet into the tunnel you come across this colorful, defiant, disturbing piece. The walls have slowly tapered in toward each other at this point, and the slight downward slope of the floor is all the more noticeable as one makes the transition from light to dark, life to death. The tunnel is now 30 ft across and 30 ft high. Here, on the edge of the shadows, moving into the increasingly constrictive maw of the exhibit, you are confronted by the celebration of death and the afterlife in the form of another gift shop doll. Does it say something that this piece is posed alone? Sitting, slouched in the corner of two 36 x 36 inch black painted walls in the center of the tunnel, you are reminded of discarded trash and of things once bright and joyous, now past their prime and fading to shadows. The dim lighting exaggerates the faded impression of her bright robes as we continue our exploration of the decline of life and society.
Triptych; Prisoner’s of the Mountains of Mist (Center Panel). Giovanni Battista Crema. Italy 1910. Oil on Canvas. Photo courtesy of Adam Fuchs
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This piece is in shadows, light from below by a single bulb. Located 10 ft farther down the exhibit from the Bone Doll, just around a 90 degree right turn in the tunnel; the triptych raises a lot of questions. Are the male and female subjects simply sleeping lovers, sated after an afternoon of passion? Are they dead, cast aside, souls fled with the phoenix being held by the male? Does the fact that the phoenix is spread in much the same posture as the man and women, yet appears to be held by the man imply that there can be no rebirth due to the sins of the young and seemingly innocent? The fact that this painting is presented in the darker recesses of my gallery would imply some aspects of the transition from nubile young life and the hope of salvation to the cold stagnancy of death.
Female Acrobat. Pavel Tchelitchew. Russia 1930’s. Oil on Canvas. Photo courtesy of Adam Fuchs
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This paintings placement 15 ft beyond Crema’s triptych takes Pavel Tchelitchew’s graceful and erotic picture of a female acrobat and brings out what might be a truer meaning deep within the artwork. The air in this deeper part of the gallery is more stifling due to the airtight sealing of the entrance. The illusion of openness imparted in the radiant atrium is no longer in sight. The work is light from below by a single bulb. The dim light combined with the dull colors and stretched pose of the subject imply a sense of strain and painful, tormented struggle. Is she perhaps now striving to ascend to the afterlife rather than swing on the trapeze? Is she trapped in purgatory, begging for release? Is there no light, no heaven, no fluffy clouds and harps? Is there simply atonement and anguish?
Carcass of Beef. Chaim Soutine. Russia 1925. Oil on Canvas. Photo courtesy of Adam Fuchs
As we proceed another 20 ft into our exploration of the transition from 3D life to flat 2D death, we come across this painting. Lit from below, as with the previous two, the contrast of flesh tone with the deep reds and blues in this piece immediately draw our eye. Another foray into the idea that we are but meat, with nothing beyond our vibrant lives, this is perhaps the most disturbing piece in the collection. Given the previous human figures shown in various stages of deathlike and tormented poses, you can’t help but question- is this beef, or is it actually a rendering of the upside down carcass of a two legged creature cast aside after it’s moment in the sun.
Lyuba Rorschach. Roxanne Jackson. United States 2009. Unknown media.
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Thirty feet beyond the painting of the Carcass of Beef, at the very end of the tunnel, one is confronted with the Lyuba Rorschach. The tunnel at this point has narrowed to 20ft by 20ft. The piece is lit by cunningly hidden inset ceiling lighting, so as to give the impression of cold, sourceless mist. The black walls of the tunnel strengthen the impression of exanimate form. This tells you unquestionably that there is nothing else. There is no color, no life, no joy, no love, no feeling, no hope. This is the end.
Posted by cva-oad-sectb-fuchs09.blogspot.com at 2:51 PM 2 comments
Responding to the Midway Art Center:
Mandy's Blog http://cva-oad-sectb-martinson09.blogspot.com/
Tuesday, September 29, 2009 ADD ELEGANCE TO YOUR POVERTY
Monica Bonvicini, ADD ELEGANCE TO YOUR POVERTY (2002) Collection of Kati Lovaas. Image taken from Premier Art Scene. (http://premierartscene.com/uploads/pics/ArtBasel2009_Bonv400.jpg)
Bam. These bold, black words spray-painted on a clean white wall immediately captured all of my attention. Monica Bonvicini, an Italian artist, used this phrase and drew a simple picture of a fence on a large white wall in 2002. The words are all capitalized and are handwritten, looking as if someone quickly, and somewhat unevenly, wrote this message. The phrase is written as such:
ADD ELEGANCE
TO YOUR POVERTY
Below this phrase, a rough sketch of a simple fence is drawn. The two lines of text and the fence all line up at the left. The lines of the words and drawing slightly vary with thickness and size. The spray-paint also gives a very blurry and diffused look. The phrase and picture of the fence are large, taking up much of the wall. There is no exact size of the piece because the dimensions vary. Since the work is directly spray-painted on the wall, the gallery will use the original drawing and project its image onto the wall it is to be displayed on. Someone then traces the image as accurately as possible.
We live in a time where we often see graffiti in urban areas, on public and private property. This work suggests that people use graffiti to enhance the appearance of run-down or derelict places. Bonvicini probably used the drawing of the fence to show how it is so much cheaper and easier to just spray paint one, than rather build a fence, costing a lot more money and time.
I love the simplicity of both the drawing and text. The phrase reminds me of something Jenny Holzer would write. The statement might imply that you can make anything elegant and that you don't need money to make it that way. Maybe it is saying we live in a culture where we can take something and make it brand new by adding our own flare. Or, maybe the statement is mocking our culture with graffiti and its destruction to public places. Many would argue that graffiti only satisfies the artist who makes it and ruins the space for the rest of the public.
Adam's Blog http://cva-oad-sectb-fuchs09.blogspot.com/
Saturday, September 26, 2009
"Sound"
I recently had the opportunity to visit the Midway Contemporary Art gallery in Minneapolis. I was part of a group that received a guided tour by a founder of the gallery and in depth analysis of many of the piece’s on display. One artwork in particular struck me. In a small room that goes by the description of “Gallery 2”, I was confronted by a massive blue rectangle that measures 94 x 17 x 4 inches leaning up against the wall.
My first impression was that someone had left one of their child’s building blocks in the gallery and that evil aliens had enlarged using cosmic rays to ridicule the foundations of American childhood. It was smooth and sleek, with perfect corners, clean lines, and was the color of the Pacific on a bright 90 degree day in 1965. I am not a fan of the modernist movement at all. The extreme emphasis on form and medium being art is so a little ridiculous to my frame of mind. If that was all that art was, than the people at Sherman Williams who make hundreds of colors of acrylic house paint should be heralded as the new masters. I am more about content, subject matter, feeling, motivation.
After a brief glance and a little shake of my head at how much time must have gone into the construction of a gigantic blue rectangle, my thoughts turned to the next piece. Big blue was gone from my mind in an instant because my uneducated non-modernist viewpoint suggested that it was just that- a big blue rectangle. Who cares about a big blue rectangle? As I went on to the next piece I heard the gallery operator mention that they had to increase their insurance due to the fact that the big blue rectangle was worth $200,000. Are you serious? I could finish my education, travel the world, and feed the homeless for months off $200,000. If someone wanted a rectangle, go to IKEA and buy some storage totes- you’d have enough for a Ferrari left over. I instantly hate big blue, which I found out is named “Sound”, by California artist John McCraken. The fact that an inanimate object that is so plain could excite that amount of interest was ridiculous in my opinion. The gallery owner went on to inform us that “Sound” was handmade fiberglass with high gloss lacquer. Given his southern California background, the artist likes to use the same materials that go into surf board construction. John McCraken also treats color as a material in his art. His decision to lean his objects against the wall rather going for a more conventional instillation was in his own mind the best way to reduce the forms down to their utmost basic abstract concept. (John McCraken Sketchbook: Interview with Neville Wakefield 15)
All of this basic went over mind head. I still could not wrap my mind around a blue rectangle supposedly worth $200,000. A classmate of mine tried to put it into perspective by informing me about the amount of time and meticulous craftsmanship that must have gone into a handmade perfect rectangle of that size. McCraken could have just sent his piece of to the factory to get machined, but instead he loving crafted his art by hand, just as the surfboard masters of old produced individual boards that combined perfection and personality. I was not ready to hear it. My mind still kept shouting $200,000, $200,000, $200,000! This morning, as I was researching the piece to write a very nasty critique, I was listening to my roommates talk about a friend of theirs from college who had moved to Vegas and tried to make a life for herself far away from friends and family in Minnesota. Long story short, she ended up prostituting herself and then got hook on drugs. I instantly felt sorry, not for the girl who I didn’t know, but for “Sound” who I came to know through indifference, fierce hatred, pity, and then finally a bizarre sort of love. It brings to mind an overpriced streetwalker, told by society that her purest essence is to lean against the wall with cold, deep, perfect beauty to wait for the highest bid. Pared down to her barest form, with nothing left but that which the viewer gives, she emanates reflects of our own desires and needs. She is lost, alone, powerful, and abused. She needs love, but has nothing left for love to cling to. Perfection, gloss, sleek beauty…. Nothing.
Image courtesy of midwayart.org
WALKER VISIT
From Bernadette's Blog --> http://cva-oad-sectb-mueller09.blogspot.com/
Monday, October 12, 2009 Tour de Walker
The piece I chose that I believe has strong formal qualities is Hippopotamus by Paul Thek. This piece is very interesting to me because of the media he used and the effect it has on the viewer. He used beeswax, plexiglass, metal and rubber in order to create a faux slab of hippopotamus flesh. If his intent was to rear the media into appearing like an actual hippopotamus he comes eerily close. Although you can see drips of wax, you still cannot help but be thinking that you are staring at raw flesh pierced by rods of metal. I highly doubt he was going for beauty in this piece but because of its strong formal qualities it will make just about anyone stop and look and wonder about the hippo in a glass box.
The piece that I chose for strong content was the piece done by Lucio Fontana called Concetto Spaziale (Spatial Concept-Expectation). Lucio Fontana challenged the ideas behind painting when he created this piece. I can imagine many people who look at art and the first thing they say is "I could do that" would most likely have that reaction to this piece. But even though it appears to be a painted black line down the middle of a canvas, there is a lot more to it than that. By doing this painting, Fontana was challenging and experimenting with space. When I look at this piece I am intrigued that space or rather a blank, white canvas can be tweaked in a way that may not seem that dramatic but the concept behind that step is packed with dramatic elements. The reason I liked this piece so much is because, exactly as the title says, you are expecting something, you are quetioning and you are curious about that black puncture on the canvas.
The third piece at the Walker that we were told to look at was one that lacks both formal and content qualities. I am not sure that I saw one that struck me as lacking in both these categories. Even though there are some artworks that do not thrill me as much as others do it does not mean that I find them lacking in formal qualities or content. For example, I was going to say that Black Curve by Ellsworth Kelly was lacking in formal and content qualities but then you hear the background or find something out about the artist's concepts and or other background information and it completely changes your mind about it. So, I honestly can't write about a piece that was lacking because there were not any that I thought were. However, this does not mean that I liked all of them.
The piece that I chose that carried both formal and content qualities was Untitled by Shiraga Kazuo. This painting resinates texture. When we were on the tour everyone said that they wanted to reach out and touch it. Now if a painting makes people what to do that, then i must have very strong formal qualities. This painting was all over the place, the colors and textures were active and alive. I could picture in my mind the artist making this piece, I could imagine his movement across the canvas or perhaps where he might have sat down or smeared an area with his hand. The content was powerful as well. Although the tour guide said that Kazuo had no reference to war when this piece was made, he painted it in 1959 right at the beginning of the war in Vietnam. This painting looks like an explosion with dark colors of blood red, deep purples and blues to add to that image. Even though an artist does not intend for their artwork to come across or be read in a certain way it doesn't mean that it won't happen.
The last piece that had to be chosen was one that changed our view of what art is. Also, I chose a piece that made me want to go experiment and try different things. I really was impressed with Robert Irwin's piece Untitled. I am not quite sure why I was taken by this piece. It expressed a sense of calm quiet. Those expressions were created by Robert Irwin's use of synthetic fabric, wood, flood and florescent lights. This piece made me really excited about the endless possibilities in creating art and what art means. The power of art also is shown in his piece because it seems so simplified but at the same time so complex.
Posted by Bernadette at 9:08 AM 1 comments
From Chloe's Blog --> http://cva-oad-sectb-chloegoodman09.blogspot.com/
Monday, October 12, 2009
Walker Assignment
This first piece from the Walker's permanent collection I chose is by Jasper Johns titled "Flags". It is a color lithograph of two American flags. One of the flags has green and black stripes with thin white lines between them. The background for the now black stars is light orange. The other flag that this piece features is very monochromatic, and is varying shades of light gray. The entire piece is on a dark gray background. The strength of this piece is in it's formal elements, because it is all about color theory at work. Everyone is familiar with the rectangles and stars that make up the American flag. This entire piece is technical. If the viewer stares at the black dot in the colored flag for a while and then looks at the gray flag, they will see the American flag the way it normally is, in red, white, and blue. I decided that I like this particular piece even though I really don't know anything about color theory, I can still tell that it works. I would consider it art because it has an aesthetic value, though I would say the concept behind this piece may not be very "deep".
The piece I chose that has a high conceptual value is "Suspense". I do not know the artist's name, but I will post it when I get to the Walker next. The piece has little aesthetic value because it is an empty rectangular room with two black curtained doors that the viewer of the piece walks through. When the viewer opens the first curtain and steps into the room and begins to walk forwards, suspenseful, eerie music starts to play. The music rushes to a climax and stops like the worst cliffhanger ever, and then the viewer realizes that they are next to the exit curtain. The first time I experienced this instillation, I laughed because the way it made me feel was so intense. The conceptual value to this piece is very high because the viewer is so affected by it. We are in the palm of the (unknown) artist's hand. I think it does work in this case to have little aesthetic value because this piece is so intense. It is art though? I would say so, but perhaps my definition of "art" is more broad than others'.
The piece I chose for one with low aesthetic and low conceptual value is "Black Curve" by Ellsworth Kelly. It is an oil painting from 1962. I suppose one (namely Ellsworth Kelly) could say that this piece does have some aesthetic value, because it's "beautiful". However, this doesn't really do it for me. Yes, Ellsworth, it is a black curve. This means absolutely nothing to me, and I get nothing from it aesthetically. Maybe if I chatted with the artist I could get where he is coming from. I can certainly respect it, but I do not like it at all.
The piece I chose that has both conceptual and aesthetic value is "Bust of Diego" by Alberto Giacometti. It is a bronze bust from around 1954. To me, this is a very nice thing to look at which is why I would call it aesthetically pleasing. It is interesting the way the head is so narrow and long, Diego's expression is somewhat blank, but he is clearly looking at something. His body is huge in proportion to his teeny head. The texture of the piece also is nice, being made with bronze, the way the light bounces off all of the different textures made by Giacometti. The reason I would say it is conceptually pleasing to me is why on earth did Giacometti choose to portray someone in this particular way? I wonder if the reason for all of the interesting textures and proportions has something to do with Diego's personality, the vibes one gets from him, or something about the relationship between artist and subject.
The final piece I chose that has an influence on how I look at art altogether was Untitled by Robert Irwin. I've only seen this piece once in person about a month ago when I went to the Walker with a few friends, and I remember I was the only one who seemed to have an interest in the piece. Maybe they had seen it before, but I was so intrigued by how the artist just claimed this huge area in a museum as his own. I guess I'm not as impressed with the actual art piece as I am in how the artist chose to execute his vision. It's just so amazing to me how large his piece is in this huge room where his is the only one. It jsut blows my mind and I love it.http://www.josephklevenefineartltd.com/NewSite/JasperJohnsFlag.jpg
http://www.artsconnected.org/media/14/ce/b28a42e12a32169cf8f24b73ae12/1024/768/20015.jpg
http://cva-oad-sectb-allan09.blogspot.com/
http://collections.walkerart.org/item/enlarge_fs.html?type=object&id=601&image_num=1
Choosing Your Artists for your Artists Book Blog Entry:
Mandy's Blog http://cva-oad-sectb-martinson09.blogspot.com/
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Look Mickey
Artist's Studio No. 1 (Look Mickey)
Roy Lichtenstein
1973
oil, Magna, sand on canvas
Walker Art Center
Image taken from the Walker Art Center
This piece has very strong formal qualities that grab your attention right away. Just as the title states, this piece is an interpretation of an artist’s studio. The room consists of a mirror on the left wall with a small table for a phone. In the left corner is a door with a small canvas facing away to the left side. On the right of the door is a potted plant and there is fruit on the striped floor. Three various sizes of paintings hang on the wall with a couch beneath it. On the right side we see a small statue or end of a table. Most all of the forms in this painting are rectilinear except for the potted plant, fruit, and phone. A large portion of this painting is also white. The small table, the pot for the plant, couch, and back wall are white. Each color is very pure and bold. The colors also stay consistent. For examples, all of the yellows used in the painting are the same yellow. This stays true with all of the other colors as well. The only other colors used are red, black, green, and blue. There are not many shadows, but the shadows that you see are solid black. The reflections in the mirrors are either solid black chunks or little specks of black, closely placed together. The outlines of all the forms are very thick and precise. The only shading in this piece is on the ceiling where you see gray turn to white very subtly. Every other part of the painting is distinct and sharp.
Forever, artists have done still life’s or studies of their studios. Lichtenstein wanted to follow this tradition, but pursue the idea in his own style. This piece should be recognized for its precise formal qualities. The painting is visually striking because of its sharp rectilinear forms and bright bold colors. The style should also be recognized for its originality. Lichtenstein appropriated this comic-book style from popular culture and made it into a true fine art.
From Angie's Site: http://cva-oad-sectb-shark09.blogspot.com/ |
Monday, November 23, 2009
Zak Smith Artist Book: Ideas
Here are the sketches for my cover... Kind of.
I'd like one large portrait of Zak with his name going down the left side of the page, with lime green highlights.
The small pixel-looking image that my drawing is on top of is on of his installations at the Walker. I'm using the size and configuration as inspiration for the pages in the book. I'll have possibly 6 or 8 sections per page.
The smaller sketches on this page might do a
better job of explaining how I want my page
layout.
Overall, I'm really excited about the project. I've read several interviews, and am currently reading his memoir.
Think: Dirty Punk
EXTRA CREDIT BLOGGING
Mandy's Blog http://cva-oad-sectb-martinson09.blogspot.com/
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Love for R.R.
Robert Rauschenberg
"Storyline I"
Four Color Lithograph (1968)
21 ½ x 17
Image taken from www.Artstor.org
To be honest, this wasn’t the piece I was going to choose from Robert Rauschenberg. I went searching for a certain piece, but could not find a picture of it. I saw the piece originally at the Walker Art Center when they had an exhibition on his works. As I looked through Artstor.org to find this certain artwork, I kept finding more and more pieces I loved from Rauschenberg. It was so hard to choose even one artwork to focus on for this blog.
Finally, I settled on Storyline I (1968). This 21 ½ x 17’ piece was created using a four-color lithograph using only red, yellow, navy, and green. The individual images are placed in a haphazardly and sloppy way, over-lapping one another. Overall, you can somewhat see a grid. The images’ square shape and color placement gives the piece a grid-like feel. The arrangement of the images tells us a story. At the top are a red square and a green square. In the middle, there are two separate green square shapes. At the bottom, there is a navy and yellow square. The lithographed images are put on the paper in a very messy way, all smudged. In some places, it looks like too much ink was used and in other places not enough ink was used. The images look like they are from a film. In the top left red square, there is a face of a woman looking mischievous or disgusted. In the green square next to it, there is an image of a man hold a woman’s face. The woman is facing the other way so we cannot see her face. The man is looking straight at her very anxiously. It is uncertain what emotion he is conveying to the woman. He could be concerned with her, or angry with her. In the green area below the red woman, is an old (1930s/1940s?) car. Next to the car, there seems to be another image I cannot make out. Below the car, in the navy square is a person dead on the ground. Again, I cannot make out the yellow image.
The subject matter of this piece was to tell the viewer a story. It is not exactly clear what happens in the story or what the relationships are like, however we know some of the order and it’s progression. The placement of the images is displayed in the same type of sequence of a movie or a book. You look at one image at a time, going in order. The messy chaos in the placement of the images suggests to me that the story was complex. The images also overlap, creating layers. This reminds me of peoples’ emotions, and, actions caused by those emotions –like a chain reaction. This piece reminds me of how our lives progress one day at a time, but sometimes with multiple problems and many emotions. Our emotions and actions are so complex, that they overlap and connect, influencing the decisions that make up our lives.
Adam's Blog --> http://cva-oad-sectb-fuchs09.blogspot.com/
Friday, November 13, 2009
MIA and the MIA
I recently went MIA at the MIA to check out the Asian collection. With some extra time on my hands before closing, I wondered into their Contemporary Art section. Like picking at the scab of skinned knee when I was a kid, I just can’t leave the modern art works alone. Knowing it will most likely be painful and will set back the healing of my aesthetic standards for uncountable years, I climbed to the third floor to see if maybe I could prove wrong my long held belief of the massive con game that is modern art.
From room to room, I wandered. I tried to at first to really find some redeeming qualities in the works hanging around me. Over and over, I was confronted with things I am pretty sure I once saw on an old girlfriend’s refrigerator, held in place with alphabet magnets. She had a daughter in kindergarten that loved to show off her art. As my steps got faster and faster and I both mentally kicked myself for my won stupidity and deplored the future of art and mankind, I came across a show stopper.
120 x 240 
in, dominating an entire wall of one of the gallery rooms, was a work by Frank Stella. Entitled Tahkt-I-Sulayman, Variation II, this brightly colored behemoth was an obvious attempt at formalism. Eight rectangles, each a different color, and each containing 7 concentric quarter circles partially overlapped by 6 concentric arcs springing from the opposite corner like boxers in a title fight at Madison Square Garden; this massive work at first reminded me of the Simpson’s episode where they went to Japan and the anime cartoons instantly sent them into seizures.
in, dominating an entire wall of one of the gallery rooms, was a work by Frank Stella. Entitled Tahkt-I-Sulayman, Variation II, this brightly colored behemoth was an obvious attempt at formalism. Eight rectangles, each a different color, and each containing 7 concentric quarter circles partially overlapped by 6 concentric arcs springing from the opposite corner like boxers in a title fight at Madison Square Garden; this massive work at first reminded me of the Simpson’s episode where they went to Japan and the anime cartoons instantly sent them into seizures. I ran to the wall plaque, hoping that some background information would help me put the piece in perspective. Painted in 1969 (hence the flower child colors), acrylic on canvas, this is part of Stella’s prolific Protractor series. Stella insists that his paintings are merely formal. In his own words, “My painting is based on the fact that only what is can be seen there is there. It really is an object. You can see the whole idea without any confusion” (Museum plaque- MIA, G374).
If that is the case, why name the painting after an ancient shrine in Azerbaijan, Iran? Stella traveled there in 1963 and in order for him to choose that name six years later, there had to be some strong personal connection between the painting and that place. His other paintings in the Protractor series are also all named after other Mid-East cities and archaeological sites.
Why the protractor in the first place? Is it just a simple tool to make half circles, or is Stella really a closet mathematician? I’m pretty sure that most people don’t wake up in the morning and think- “I’d like to paint a protractor, to attempt to capture the essence of a plastic half circle!”
Stella’s demands that his work is purely formal are also a big detractor from the work actually being formal. I believe it’s a case of the girl protesting too much. Anytime you have to state three times in one paragraph what your art is, chances are that’s what it isn’t. A standard criterion for the formalist school is art for art’s sake. Aesthetic value is all there is.
While there is some aesthetic value in the awesome size (can anyone say over compensation), the bright colors, and the mechanical lines of the piece; Stella’s need to attach a personal connection as well as his obsessive declaration of what his work is makes me believe that he is attempting to ride the coattails of the hugely popular formalist school that flourished at the time he produced this piece. I think that at heart Stella is an expressionist who lacks the imagination to paint in the expressionist style, so he tries formalism but falls short of the mark. He has been weighed, measured, and found wanting.
Posted by cva-oad-sectb-fuchs09.blogspot.com at 9:09 PM 1 comments
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