tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11782702139767366182024-03-18T09:43:24.325-06:00Art e-WalkSylvie Contigugliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06793587673934803612noreply@blogger.comBlogger364125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1178270213976736618.post-62528345503888183442024-02-25T13:09:00.001-07:002024-02-25T18:19:08.047-07:00Beauty and Happiness, Alma Thomas<p> </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">The artist's name is seldom found in history books, if at all. Following her retirement from teaching art, at the age of sixty, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alma_Thomas">Alma Thomas</a> veered from a figurative practice to an abstract style that defies time and classification. A long-time resident of Washington, D.C., she has been associated with the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_Color_School">Washington Color School</a>. A Black woman in an art world dominated by Abstract Expressionist white males, she did not seek fame and also stayed away from her peers' activism during the civil rights movement. She was honored when in 1972 at the age of eighty-one she had a solo <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1972/05/04/archives/at-77-shes-made-it-to-the-whitney.html">exhibition </a>at the <a href="https://whitney.org/">Whitney Museum of American Art</a>, a first for an African-American woman. Over the past decades, she has gained recognition locally in D.C. where her paintings can be seen at </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://www.phillipscollection.org/">The Phillips Collection</a> or the<a href="https://hirshhorn.si.edu/"> Hirshhorn</a>. They are also included in the permanent collections of institutions like <a href="https://www.artic.edu/">The Art Institute of Chicago</a>, the <a href="https://www.moma.org/">Museum of Modern Art</a> or the <a href="https://www.metmuseum.org/">Metropolitan Museum of Art</a>. </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Composing Color: Paintings by Alma Thomas</i><span> is the latest exhibition of her work taking place at the <a href="https://americanart.si.edu/">Smithsonian American Museum of Art</a> which</span><span> </span><span>"holds the largest public <a href="https://americanart.si.edu/exhibitions/alma-thomas">collection</a> of Thomas's works in the world". About thirty of her paintings are on display for the <a href="https://americanart.si.edu/exhibitions/alma-thomas">show</a> dedicated to her late years, starting in the sixties.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://americanart.si.edu/about/history/saam-architecture">The Patent Office building</a>, oldest public construction in Washington, now holds the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the <a href="https://npg.si.edu/home/national-portrait-gallery">National Portrait Gallery</a>. The wide corridors leading to the galleries are lined up with paintings and on the second floor, two works from Alma Thomas are an irresistible call to view the show.<i> Resurrection</i> (1966), a rather small sized square painting belongs to the <a href="https://www.whitehousehistory.org/diversity-in-white-house-art-alma-thomas">White House's collection</a> and was prominently displayed during the Obama administration. Centered on a pale green orb, an explosion of colors going through the gamut of the color wheel radiates in circles, from a cold blue to a sunny yellow trying to spill beyond the canvas. </span><span style="font-size: medium;">On the other side, <i>Atmospheric Effects I </i>(1970) is a calming blue field interrupted by small bands of burning red and yellow and a few notes of tranquil green. The paint drips at the bottom as if the work is still in progress, evoking the ever-changing state of nature.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><i></i></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyx0SFKbaYHKn54I9jRjom3Dv2_TRaWYRn8TgC29BglZafMSRpp-H9slq9C4vxoP2O0uQCxnn41FK1pZ1mQBQvy8TkHxS01_MCFLJ2M8EVss2MP6rb1y_sSlyOmGm5hzY2xGBsqkxAhIHeg0zO1f-s8sI-0siRCBr_7QugJ_bvvM4Nv4TLEpfOGErEWYA/s3400/AT8.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3400" data-original-width="2739" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyx0SFKbaYHKn54I9jRjom3Dv2_TRaWYRn8TgC29BglZafMSRpp-H9slq9C4vxoP2O0uQCxnn41FK1pZ1mQBQvy8TkHxS01_MCFLJ2M8EVss2MP6rb1y_sSlyOmGm5hzY2xGBsqkxAhIHeg0zO1f-s8sI-0siRCBr_7QugJ_bvvM4Nv4TLEpfOGErEWYA/w161-h200/AT8.jpeg" width="161" /></a></i></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><i><br />Space</i>, the first theme reflects Thomas's interest in technology, science, and the <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/the-apollo-program/">Apollo mission</a> she watched on television, which provided photographs of the Earth from space inspiring the artist for<i> Snoopy-Early Sun Display on Earth</i> (1970) and <i>Blast Off</i> made the same year, a painting which now belongs to the <a href="https://airandspace.si.edu/">Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum</a>. <i>Antares</i> (1972), a monochrome rendition of the bright star, shimmers due to the innumerable red thick strokes aligned in vertical stripes on the white canvas. The biggest piece in this room, </span><i style="font-size: large;">The Eclipse</i><span style="font-size: medium;"><i> </i><span>(1970), is built with the same pattern than <i>Renaissance</i> including the color scheme. The story of the rare and fleeting event is told with an off-centered dark orb, the moon, moving across the canvas.</span></span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><span>Upon entering the next room labelled <i>Nature and Earth</i>, I felt overcome by joy. For her series about nature, the artist revisited her childhood's memories or just looked at her backyard through the window of her kitchen-studio.</span></span><span><span> Rows of horizontal lines of colored patches for <i>Light Blue Nursery</i>, 1968, or vertical white lines on a green background for <i>Snow Reflections on Pond</i>, 1973, Thomas adopts the same technique for the abstract paintings about nature, yet they generate different emotions, one of happiness, the other of melancholy. </span></span><span><i>Fall Begins,</i></span><span>1976 or </span><i>Autumn Leaves Fluttering in the Breeze</i><span>, 1973, a symphony of reds or oranges, </span>are like a last hurrah before winter. <i>Spring Grass</i>, 1973, a monochrome bright green is all about patterns built with interwoven brisk short strokes of paint on the white canvas. The result is so fresh that we can smell the grass. While surrounded by the paintings, distillate of nature, we can hear melodies, sample perfumes, and feel the warmth or the coolness of the seasons. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMmf8sa0JqWsIZfqVZ4SOS-Iz4parpja0DgTM5nW3Cm-_qsKta4q-7-k4iyB6TUkLuVBdjEz9IaWxwGHQrIdHHziQgFr15lntwZcYfaq1fz1OuBv4qpuUD-XruJ9-jMpPvcZNqlFHTYpEgnvqpaNhA5ZWXNaqpYw1uNmGAH0ufDjWVk-OBgrcCP7MKtR4/s650/AT3.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="650" data-original-width="467" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMmf8sa0JqWsIZfqVZ4SOS-Iz4parpja0DgTM5nW3Cm-_qsKta4q-7-k4iyB6TUkLuVBdjEz9IaWxwGHQrIdHHziQgFr15lntwZcYfaq1fz1OuBv4qpuUD-XruJ9-jMpPvcZNqlFHTYpEgnvqpaNhA5ZWXNaqpYw1uNmGAH0ufDjWVk-OBgrcCP7MKtR4/w144-h200/AT3.jpeg" width="144" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />The titles of the five paintings assembled in the third room allude to music, a fundamental component of Thomas's practice. <i>Red Sunset: Old Pond Concerto</i> (1972), is found with late works like <i>Untitled (Music Series) </i>(1978), made the year of her death. The display allows to follow her experimentations, introducing what she called "hieroglyphs" like in <i>Grassy</i> <i>Melodic Songs</i> (1976). Her lively works do not reflect her physical decline in her late years and <i>Red Azaleas Singing and Dancing Rock and Roll Music</i> (1978) found in the modern and contemporary art galleries <a href="https://americanart.si.edu/artwork/red-azaleas-singing-and-dancing-rock-and-roll-music-24017">on the third floor</a>, created for her last solo show, is a testimony of the artist's relentless energy.</span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">An art teacher for decades, Alma Thomas was most likely very well versed in the theories about colors, Bauhaus,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synesthesia_in_art#:~:text=While%20in%20neuroscientific%20studies%20synesthesia,gestalt%20experience%20(Campen%202009)."> synesthesia in art</a>, and more. She grew up with music, nature, and of curious mind, stayed abreast of scientific discoveries. She was not engaged in activism, her mission was a search for beauty and happiness. Lost in the colors and rhythms of the paintings, we connect with her as she generously shares a primitive simple pleasure of being alive and answers to our questions: What is beauty? What is happiness? </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Alma Thomas's reply makes her work defy time and classification: “Through color, I have sought to concentrate on beauty and happiness, rather than on man’s inhumanity to man.” </span></p><p><br /></p><p> <span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSrnJzyh4a_QgxaVeH6rMYUXPi0-JaTVe_px71vjB0OQ1xSvK673z09yNsgE51PH-7HGlkbG6qo0sBXY4WqC_GPYeXSEY3qPthyUvgmB5EF3ht2jSo0SX8o-CjeJq1t51d0NZpLXwMR2GqbAVNIqsz8azJJZ7P953Cgrnbxu9S7jnDg6qoPMS7FO7WvUQ/s3024/AT2.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2917" data-original-width="3024" height="309" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSrnJzyh4a_QgxaVeH6rMYUXPi0-JaTVe_px71vjB0OQ1xSvK673z09yNsgE51PH-7HGlkbG6qo0sBXY4WqC_GPYeXSEY3qPthyUvgmB5EF3ht2jSo0SX8o-CjeJq1t51d0NZpLXwMR2GqbAVNIqsz8azJJZ7P953Cgrnbxu9S7jnDg6qoPMS7FO7WvUQ/s320/AT2.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><br /></p><p><i>photographs by the author:</i></p><p><i>"The Eclipse", 1970</i></p><p><i>"Untitled (Music Series), 1978</i></p><p><i>display Nature and Earth</i></p><p><br /></p>Sylvie Contigugliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06793587673934803612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1178270213976736618.post-90963767149529202562024-01-15T15:47:00.008-07:002024-03-16T15:04:31.214-06:00Rapping on canvas, Alexandre Diop<p> </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_mV2Cq5i7vNJYCydmUQq4r_uChw99al936MaGGCXeMsoR5RxYmFMnzzoncK4yGrkh7oh8HJVg4FkD8EUmFv8wCAyborkEen9sayngMbQXm75fq9x46qQw1aigD8_85X6AlYyumgVc2pxEIM8QEPuFhjdeJEqk0VcMUaeCynBNZCuYhUVSzxx1vKeNXSU/s2942/Diop1.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="2942" height="174" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_mV2Cq5i7vNJYCydmUQq4r_uChw99al936MaGGCXeMsoR5RxYmFMnzzoncK4yGrkh7oh8HJVg4FkD8EUmFv8wCAyborkEen9sayngMbQXm75fq9x46qQw1aigD8_85X6AlYyumgVc2pxEIM8QEPuFhjdeJEqk0VcMUaeCynBNZCuYhUVSzxx1vKeNXSU/s320/Diop1.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">2022 was a big year for Alexandre Diop, the Franco-Senegalese artist now living in Vienna, Austria. Under the mentorship of <a href="https://kehindewiley.com/">Kehinde Wiley</a>, his first <a href="https://www.reiffersartinitiatives.com/en/exposition/kehinde-wiley-alexandre-diop-mentorat-2022/">exhibition</a> in Paris "La prochaine fois, le feu" opened during the art fair <a href="https://parisplus.artbasel.com/galleries">Paris+</a> by Art Basel, in October. Following a four-month-long residency at the <a href="https://rubellmuseum.org/miami">Rubell Museum Miami</a> at the beginning of the year, he filled the venue with his work for a solo show in December, just in time for<a href="https://www.artbasel.com/miami-beach?lang=en"> Art Basel Miami Beach</a>. Presently, five of his "<a href="https://www.artbasel.com/stories/alexandre-diop-kehinde-wiley?lang=en">roaring monumental canvasses</a>" are on view at the <a href="https://rubellmuseum.org/dc">Rubell Museum DC</a>, displayed in the vast luminous foyer at the entrance of the building, a renovated high school, part of a project aimed at revitalizing the neighborhood. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">First impressions are lasting. Surrounded by Diop's works I remember being overwhelmed by the dense imagery filling the vast space. I could not figure out the subject of the works other than it seemed epic, and I got closer to <i>Mondo Carne</i> (2022). The huge painting (103x191 in.) describes an apocalyptic world through gruesome scenes featuring flailed bodies, skulls, screaming, disfigured faces... a pile of human misery. One cannot avoid thinking of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Michel_Basquiat">Basquiat</a> when looking at the painting which also includes barely legible writing in French meaning "stop this masquerade, there is enough to eat for everyone" (according to the wall text). The disturbing picture we are looking at seems from another time or another world, and yet, is inspired by the daily struggle of entire populations to survive, as "you enjoy your $2-dollar extra shot in your venti Starbucks Coffee". Made with traditional oil paint, oil stick, pastel, acrylic, charcoal, gouache on canvas, the raw, visceral composition is a violent, gruesome start to the show. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>L'incroyable Traversée d'Abdoulaye Le Grand, Troisième de la Lignée (The Incredible Crossing of Abdoulaye the Great, Third in Line to the Throne),</i> 2022, tells the mythical story of Abdoulaye, obviously the artist. Initially a scenario for a movie, the fable relates the journey of the hero who interacts with different characters, some good, others bad. Black and white, good and bad, a crossing between two worlds alludes to the river <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Styx">Styx</a> of the Greek mythology. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerberus">Cerberus</a> becomes a monster tamed by Abdoulaye riding the beast. The story built with themes embedded in our psyche unfolds from left to right and the white background of the triptych allows the silhouettes of the personages to stand out in lively postures. Looking at the details of the elaborate graffiti-like composition reveals the very personal technique of the artist who arranges refuses found in the streets, dumps and various indescribable places, using hammers and staplers to tack them to the wooden canvas. </span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMqV34hhzwxEFvV59j93P7ptWgkEuZR-VHgziEFd_rgXRyoeBuoWHf79LbJJKpRTjNiSl4kkxJ6uQW9hQ4V85DmXS5Ln9qzeD9P28GZ4oi53DJhyphenhyphenwut1FFvw9vKkc6bPVm-VQX_3FLffYOLiLFJMfpiEuSv9-5Xt14u7rKJbXjhZ5WzJVeND-Jurh542c/s2048/Diop2.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMqV34hhzwxEFvV59j93P7ptWgkEuZR-VHgziEFd_rgXRyoeBuoWHf79LbJJKpRTjNiSl4kkxJ6uQW9hQ4V85DmXS5Ln9qzeD9P28GZ4oi53DJhyphenhyphenwut1FFvw9vKkc6bPVm-VQX_3FLffYOLiLFJMfpiEuSv9-5Xt14u7rKJbXjhZ5WzJVeND-Jurh542c/w150-h200/Diop2.jpeg" width="150" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: medium;">Diop starts gathering material like a sculptor and produces scenes worthy of a painter like the next triptych, a colorful composition titled <i>L'Histoire du Monde-Le Temps et l'Espace (The History of the World-Time and Space), </i>2022. The ambitious subject is tackled with gusto by the artist who manages to add a dash of humor. If Eve, the temptress and the cause of our downfall is present, the monkey on the lower right takes over the work about <i>the past</i>. The wise observer has a pensive gaze and a sardonic grin as he scratches his head. This is the miracle of art: how to render such an insightful expression with pieces of colored paper. The word "loco" nearby, like in a cartoon, conveys his thoughts as he looks at the history of mankind. The location for <i>the present</i> is in Miami as per an upside down banner on top of the second panel. The claustrophobic accumulation of images, scribbles, dribbles, snippets of advertisements, with a partly decomposed portrait of Warhol (at least his wig), alludes to a confused, stressful world filled with anxiety. A lost breasted-man occupies most of the third tableau about <i>the </i> <i>future</i> as thriving monkeys keep watching the world led by cartels and its final apocalypse.</span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"> Following these visionary, mythic, violent works, the two nudes side by side on the facing wall feel out of place. <i>Honi soit qui mal y</i> <i>pense (Shame be (to him) who thinks evil of it)</i>, 2022 and <i>Le Mensonge d'État (The Lie of the State)</i>, 2021 are replicas (Diop's style) respectively of the famous <i>Grande Odalisque</i> (1814) from<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Auguste-Dominique_Ingres"> Ingres</a> and <i>Olympia</i> (1863-1865) from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89douard_Manet">Édouart Manet</a>. Every detail is carefully reproduced: fan, blue drapery, long spine, elongated arm. The face appears to be a mask with the same detached expression. Idem for Olympia and her erotic posture, the orchid in the hair, the black servant. I could not find the cat, and the bunch of flowers is replaced by a text "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheikh_Anta_Diop">Cheikh Anta Diop,</a> Civilisation ou Barbarie". It refers to the Senegalese historian, anthropologist , physicist and politician with the same surname than the artist. Looking carefully to each portrait, there are more scribbled messages. To<a href="https://www.artbasel.com/stories/alexandre-diop-kehinde-wiley?lang=en"> quot</a>e the artist about his works: "there’s really a lot for me to talk about every time I discuss these pieces". </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Not a painting, not a sculpture, not a tapestry, not a graffiti, not a bas-relief, ... Diop has mastered a unique technique, using objects as his palette, hammers and staplers as his brushes. He also sometimes leaves his own blood and spit as he works fast and furiously on his canvasses. The scion of an ancestral Senegalese family, he has a vision of history mixed with an anti-establishment view permeating through his work. Not quite thirty years old, the artist is looking forward to a bright future, and has many projects and ideas: "There are so many things I want to do. For me, this is really just the beginning of my career. I want to develop and not repeat the same things...I think the act of painting or sculpture is to recreate [oneself] as a human... It’s also not always about art, it’s also about life. What I feel. What I see." The future will tell what is next for the multidisciplinary artist full of promises. Hopefully he does not get too close to the fire and burn his wings, like <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icarus">Icarus</a> who melted his getting to close to the sun. </span></p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT6ZdFf7kAbee4p0FSNxuX-DOv-ZY4riErrUpyE8o2m8qTLzlxofiwq93s7lmCAyheVInFA-qZNrHq5IsolRgPJr0gNXFmhqXN9zFGE8FREApMt5xZwSV169I5863mbncItm0fRwqopb0cSUC5aeDUs12yg4XClABgTmom6i-HD72eqaZAEcBEXjFpFM8/s2965/Diop5.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1550" data-original-width="2965" height="167" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT6ZdFf7kAbee4p0FSNxuX-DOv-ZY4riErrUpyE8o2m8qTLzlxofiwq93s7lmCAyheVInFA-qZNrHq5IsolRgPJr0gNXFmhqXN9zFGE8FREApMt5xZwSV169I5863mbncItm0fRwqopb0cSUC5aeDUs12yg4XClABgTmom6i-HD72eqaZAEcBEXjFpFM8/s320/Diop5.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p>photographs by the author:</p><p><i>Mondo Carne</i> (2022)</p><p><i>L'Histoire du Monde-Le Temps et l'Espace (The History of the World-Time and Space) detail, </i>2022</p><p><i>Honi soit qui mal y</i> <i>pense (Shame be (to him) who thinks evil of it)</i>, 2022</p>Sylvie Contigugliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06793587673934803612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1178270213976736618.post-7944721534910247362023-12-31T10:22:00.003-07:002024-02-10T08:23:50.337-07:00Rothko, Known and Unknown<p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p> </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvevsfD7AxwyC0HlxyYkgt37Je5Y8YCpDpLMN9p1_ltgs8f328KfWCvELL71Ga2_vRSLJEAfuXO1kEHMBDZB-nitu-CQ_q07LOgvIa_s4Oqt-LmC3BIB6twI2GbcZDZ1UBi9K5VUuqx4RohCqFTOasLFT1_owx5wtWSmen-Q-Ekkd7hKCIb4U-rqUuIsg/s2848/R66.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2524" data-original-width="2848" height="178" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvevsfD7AxwyC0HlxyYkgt37Je5Y8YCpDpLMN9p1_ltgs8f328KfWCvELL71Ga2_vRSLJEAfuXO1kEHMBDZB-nitu-CQ_q07LOgvIa_s4Oqt-LmC3BIB6twI2GbcZDZ1UBi9K5VUuqx4RohCqFTOasLFT1_owx5wtWSmen-Q-Ekkd7hKCIb4U-rqUuIsg/w200-h178/R66.jpeg" width="200" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><span style="font-size: medium;">Two major exhibitions recently opened, ending the year on a high note:<i> <a href="https://www.fondationlouisvuitton.fr/en/events/mark-rothko">Mark Rothko</a></i> a retrospective at the <a href="https://www.fondationlouisvuitton.fr/en">Fondation Louis Vuitton</a> in Paris and <i><a href="https://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/2023/mark-rothko-paintings-on-paper.html">Mark Rothko: Paintings on Paper</a></i> at the<a href="https://www.nga.gov/"> National Gallery of Art</a> in Washington, D.C. Both organized in chronological order gather more than one hundred paintings each, some of them rarely seen, selected from renown institutions like the <a href="https://www.phillipscollection.org/">The Phillips Collection</a>, the National Gallery of Art or the <a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/">Tate</a>, and from private collections. Since my<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/1178270213976736618/8824570121031195621"> memorable encounter</a> with the artist's work at the <a href="https://www.mfah.org/">Museum of Fine Arts Houston</a> in 2015, I thought Rothko had no secrets for me. My peregrinations allowed me to visit both shows which left me dazzled by the richness of their content.</span><p></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">It would be overreaching and repetitious for me to discuss Rothko's work, subject of numerous analysis by famous art critics and historians, likewise to write a review of the flawless exhibitions organized by experts and top curators. I prefer to look back at my encounter with the paintings of the famous abstract expressionist<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Rothko"> artist</a> and to assess what resonates within me. To<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/1178270213976736618/5478736515432526553"> "see"</a> Rothko, I take advice from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Findlay_(art_expert)">Michael Findlay</a> who quotes the poet <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wallace_Stevens">Wallace Stevens</a> in his book <i>Seeing Slowly: Looking at Modern</i> <i>Art </i>in the chapter "Ignorance Is Knowledge?":</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> You must become an ignorant man again</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> And see the sun with an ignorant eye</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> And see it clearly in the idea of it. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In preparation for my visit, I adopted some sort of mental vacuity to receive the full impact of the paintings. It is a solitary, personal endeavor. I think that Rothko would agree. </span></div><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Starting in Paris, I was struck by a self-portrait made in 1936 near the entrance. The thirty-three-year-old artist, somber and enigmatic, eyes hidden behind dark glasses, appears to scrutinize the viewer. Other than this unsettling painting, Rothko's portraits are forgettable as confirmed a few weeks later looking at his works on paper. The figurative urban scenes of the 30's are followed by the often ignored paintings from the early 40's, <a href="https://wallach.columbia.edu/exhibitions/mark-rothko-spirit-myth">foundations of his practice</a>. In search of a universal "new myth" he incorporates motives from Greek mythology, then moves to surrealistic dreamscapes as he slowly veers to abstraction with his "Multiforms" until shapes become simple colored blocks floating on limitless monochrome backgrounds filling vertical canvasses. Rothko's practice reaches its acme in the 50's and the display of such a great number of works from the period is enthralling. Being surrounded by the paintings radiating in the semi-darkness is a unique experience. Each of them stirs deep emotions through a gamut of moody blues, elating yellows, oranges, reds, a symphony of colors mostly joyous until we reach the display of darker paintings introducing black, wine color, and a room filled with the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seagram_murals">Seagram Murals</a> travelling from the<a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/visit/tate-modern"> Tate Modern</a> in London, followed by several "Blackforms". Rothko's attempt to make black glow in the dark to let paintings "generate their own light", a rehearsal for the <a href="https://www.rothkochapel.org/">Rothko Chapel </a>at <a href="https://www.menil.org/">The Menil Collection</a>, engenders the same feeling of gloom and doom that besets me following my visits at the chapel itself in Houston. Braving a line of visitors, I spent a few minutes in the small gallery in which the <a href="https://www.phillipscollection.org/curation/rothko-room">Rothko Room</a> from <a href="https://www.phillipscollection.org/about">The Phillips Collection</a> is recreated minus one painting. As a frequent visitor of the venue in D.C., I have been able to contemplate the paintings in total serenity time and again. On the highest floor, a unique display assembles iconic sculptures from Giacometti and Rothko's late acrylic paintings (1969-1970) from the <i>Black and Grey</i> series, highlighting the influence of Giacometti's works on the painter. I could not recall seeing these before, but if I had, the uninspired grayish masses under flat black rectangles did not catch my attention. As a final note, three vibrant paintings made in 1967 in the small adjacent gallery remind us that Rothko never renounced the use of colors in his practice. </span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB1yxS_maAcRHT_osHayDdnjSoewO5NZPa-taGYWZ-bG63MeAWujQkxymNoUHIBnrmzEpM29menigETLoFxe8OxccRg5A28PN8Y4nMwDc5dlCk9hcnpX5DO4N29NSBiMsIzypqqMpSynWT-l0Whl5sE_6NAXe87Gu8ZxeBY-iGra89LouCYLcIuAfxLOY/s3384/R33.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3384" data-original-width="2278" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB1yxS_maAcRHT_osHayDdnjSoewO5NZPa-taGYWZ-bG63MeAWujQkxymNoUHIBnrmzEpM29menigETLoFxe8OxccRg5A28PN8Y4nMwDc5dlCk9hcnpX5DO4N29NSBiMsIzypqqMpSynWT-l0Whl5sE_6NAXe87Gu8ZxeBY-iGra89LouCYLcIuAfxLOY/w134-h200/R33.jpeg" width="134" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: medium;">Back in Washington, I could not miss the exhibition at the National Gallery even as I thought it might be redundant or worse, disappointing. It was full of surprises. With about a dozen paintings per room, the show unfolds in the same chronological order starting with figurative landscapes, portraits and nudes, providing a glimpse in the nascent artist's career. The wall texts add moving details about Rothko's life and the poor response to his works at the time. The next two rooms are a journey into the artist's surrealist period through a succession of paintings from the mid-40's I had never seen before. Each of them tells a story born from deep connections to mythology, prehistory, a primal world in which the artist searches for a new myth to reach spirituality. I spent some time looking at the biomorphic shapes floating in soft watery colors, savoring their content and the delicate brush strokes. Slowly, the paintings undergo some kind of purification as they become more abstract and the next works mirror those on canvas from the 50's, although smaller in size precluding a total immersion in the landscapes of colors. As we progress, the tones get darker and on the next floor, we reach the <i>Brown and Grays </i>series on paper echoing the <i>Black and Grey</i> series on canvas. Nearby, black paintings slowly appear to glow revealing drips of luminescent paint. The effect is working this time, possibly due to a careful lighting? Close by, in a separate space, a life size photograph of Rothko walking toward a huge easel gives a concrete idea of the painter's physical labor, and a few unfinished paintings on paper reveal Rothko's technique. Moving on, the last room is another delightful surprise, "an ethereal suite of paintings on paper with soft, cloudlike edges surrounded by margins of pale paper". The wall text gives a perfect description of the paintings, evoking the soft colors of the surrealist period. These late works, contemporary to his<i> Brown and Grays </i>series, close the show on a ravishing note.</span><p></p><p><a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-artists-reality-mark-rothko/1112485418"></a></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw8JZn_Rsy0Yyi5u8a_BHRomssVksPCTwCSne-uvcNAd7zGVjC_2FiOXVFHqRIPzwDxq44DwfhDfOTZMev4fNvWCudYwmfl-eUrBQ5Un7Bryq_HO-9h_T22LRtHBNzVfNP1-62Kkr4oKfKHb7mlWHN5WRTJGVrOlbtuDpO62Dn0IWpm2IwME_KSGbHxdA/s3295/R77.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3295" data-original-width="2757" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw8JZn_Rsy0Yyi5u8a_BHRomssVksPCTwCSne-uvcNAd7zGVjC_2FiOXVFHqRIPzwDxq44DwfhDfOTZMev4fNvWCudYwmfl-eUrBQ5Un7Bryq_HO-9h_T22LRtHBNzVfNP1-62Kkr4oKfKHb7mlWHN5WRTJGVrOlbtuDpO62Dn0IWpm2IwME_KSGbHxdA/w168-h200/R77.jpeg" width="168" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: medium;">"Why paint at all?" The answer is found in these two landmark exhibitions giving an in depth look at the path of Rothko's practice, reflection of his inner and most private life. The artist, a master of colors did not want to be called a colorist. Painting for him is not about beautiful hues, but is a catharsis in his search for the spiritual and his interest in "expressing basic human emotions". We can participate to the artist's journey as he arises a primitive angst common to all of us and translates the unspeakable through his art. A quote from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Rosenblum">Robert Rosenblum</a> about the <a href="https://www.wmagazine.com/culture/mark-rothko-exhibition-paris-fondation-louis-vuitton">abstract sublime</a> seems very appropriate: "These infinite, glowing voids carry us beyond reason to the Sublime; we can only submit to them in an act of faith and let ourselves be absorbed into their radiant depths."</span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Rothko was concerned about his legacy: "A painting lives by companionship, expending and quickening in the eyes of the sensitive observer. It dies by the same token." The unavoidable crowd of selfie takers somewhat spoils the visit, and the images of Rothko's paintings on the phone screens do not allow to "look and see". Everyone recognizes "a Rothko" and moves on. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Just a reminder that we are responsible for the artist's legacy as the two exhibitions resonate well beyond the visit. </span></p><p><br /></p><p><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipnsLIngiMTUw9rFsfPm-7cBWtgOYpq-vUo-eHw2zKxtMNIKNKIakHhPbd6FkFHBkM0vw10nI1AbZzs5p8UEqShvWqkseWn11C1c5wkpD6ELfSPZJI2wqo8q1bLwoqP_d9aMbUkwQJjGMZr52FI76lkBO4v9DGvhAwE6Xv1Y8UIvHAfUJb1Ex_N-mQoI4/s1866/R55.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1383" data-original-width="1866" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipnsLIngiMTUw9rFsfPm-7cBWtgOYpq-vUo-eHw2zKxtMNIKNKIakHhPbd6FkFHBkM0vw10nI1AbZzs5p8UEqShvWqkseWn11C1c5wkpD6ELfSPZJI2wqo8q1bLwoqP_d9aMbUkwQJjGMZr52FI76lkBO4v9DGvhAwE6Xv1Y8UIvHAfUJb1Ex_N-mQoI4/s320/R55.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><i>photographs by the author:</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>1-"Slow Swirl at the Edge of the Sea", 1944 (Fondation Louis Vuitton)</i></div><div><i>2-"Untitled", 1948 (National Gallery of Art)</i></div><div><i>3-"Blue, Yellow, Green on Red", 1954 (Fondation Louis Vuitton)</i></div><div><i>4-"Untitled (Forest Interior)", 1933 (National Gallery of Art)</i></div>Sylvie Contigugliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06793587673934803612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1178270213976736618.post-35864040773636403122023-11-30T16:30:00.000-07:002023-11-30T16:30:11.374-07:00Simone Leigh at Hirshhorn<p> </p><p><br /></p><p><i><br /></i></p><p><i><br /></i></p><p><i>Satellite </i>(2022), a massive sculpture at the entrance of the <a href="https://hirshhorn.si.edu/">Hishhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden</a> on the southern plaza is an irresistible invitation to the exhibition simply titled <i><a href="https://hirshhorn.si.edu/exhibitions/simone-leigh/">Simone Leigh</a>.</i> Spanning<i> </i>twenty years, the first<i> </i>survey of the artist's career made its debut at the <a href="https://www.icaboston.org/">ICA Boston</a> a few months ago, and the selection for the show includes three new sculptures, a number of artworks exposed at the <a href="https://www.labiennale.org/en/art/2022">59th International Art Exhibition</a> of the <a href="https://www.labiennale.org/en">Venice Biennale</a>, and early key pieces. Simone Leigh has received international recognition with her practice primarily focused on a Black female audience. In 2022, she was the first black woman artist invited to <a href="https://www.labiennale.org/en/art/2022/united-states-america">represent the United States </a>at the famous contemporary art show. The thirty works exposed in the galleries include sculptures in bronze, ceramics, and videos.</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5A8iNEOpFXAnql4Wlqa36zt7b2fUDQT3s5yNCVNnZvjtA16kpBItM1IMkrh2RDbMOdxSvh1hnrQ7mf0n-Kh6txAKwvYvxtulWZWyNMmonujCTa4RsFGQLIiejlHLxgRMSsVKkN_XMyjMvlTcUj7tgvWZrk49qOQ5zdBQYGp33jm5_uB8dnVexyUC4yDg/s3808/Leigh44.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3808" data-original-width="3024" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5A8iNEOpFXAnql4Wlqa36zt7b2fUDQT3s5yNCVNnZvjtA16kpBItM1IMkrh2RDbMOdxSvh1hnrQ7mf0n-Kh6txAKwvYvxtulWZWyNMmonujCTa4RsFGQLIiejlHLxgRMSsVKkN_XMyjMvlTcUj7tgvWZrk49qOQ5zdBQYGp33jm5_uB8dnVexyUC4yDg/w159-h200/Leigh44.jpeg" width="159" /></a></div><br />Following a non chronological order, the exhibition starts with <i>Cupboard</i>, 2022, an imposing grass skirt made of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raffia_palm">raffia</a>. Of perfect shape, huge, reaching the floor and toppled by a cowrie shell evoking female genitals, the piece which belongs to the <a href="https://www.glenstone.org/">Glenstone Museum</a> close-by in Maryland, is a great introduction to the show about the role and status of Black women. The matronly figure called "cupboard" alludes to domesticity, shelter and sustenance. Further, the visitor can find a gilded version also called <i>Cupboard, </i>2022, this time with a generously breasted bust on top of a pannier skirt decorated with palms. Early in her practice, Simone Leigh made ceramics an art form and recently discovered bronze <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/03/28/the-monumental-success-of-simone-leigh">with </a><a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/03/28/the-monumental-success-of-simone-leigh"><i>Brick House </i>(2019</a>),<a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/03/28/the-monumental-success-of-simone-leigh"> found on the High Line in NYC</a>, <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/03/28/the-monumental-success-of-simone-leigh">her first sculpture in the medium</a>. Her creative process remains the same as she keeps modeling her sculptures in clay at the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/29/arts/design/simone-leigh-sculpture-high-line.html">foundry</a> before they are cast in bronze. My first encounter with one of her bronze was in New Orleans where <i>Sentinel (Mami Wata) </i>(2020-2021) was<i> </i>erected on <a href="https://nolaccsrc.org/egalitecircle/">Egality Circle</a> formerly Lee Circle<i> </i>at the occasion of the <a href="https://www.prospect5.org/">fifth edition</a> of the <a href="https://www.prospectneworleans.org/">Prospect New Orleans Triennial</a>. Her more recent sculptures seen for the first time include <i>Vessel</i>, <i>Bisi</i> and<i> Herm</i> (2023). Tall, slender, ebony black, semi-abstract, they also have in common female attributes and are displayed as a group in the middle of the exhibition. <i>Herm</i> is clearly the female version of a Greek <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herm_(sculpture)">herm</a>, boundary marker traditionally featuring the head of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermes">Hermes</a>, god of fertility, on top of a squared column decorated with male genitals. Leigh's sculpture can also be interpreted as a veiled reference to a hermaphrodite with its gracile leg emerging at the back of the male post. <i>Vessel</i>, a uniped human creature with a standing up canoe-like shape for body and a head of mixed African-Caucasian traits with a retro hairdo, left me perplexed. The title, <i>Bisi,</i><i> </i>gives the key to the third sculpture, a portrait of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bisi_Silva">Bisi Silva</a>, a Nigerian curator-mentor encountered during Leigh's <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Simone-Leigh">trips to Africa</a>. A simple shape, half a cylinder, creates an empty space, a place to hide, a refuge for comfort. The naked torso on top supports a smooth head without eyes or ears, emotionless, like goddesses in primitive sculptures. Leigh's first portrait, <i>Sharifa</i>, 2022, <a href="https://www.pratt.edu/people/sharifa-rhodes-pitts/">(Sharifa Rhodes-Pitts)</a> is approximately nine feet tall and is a full length representation of the scholar of African-American history, friend of the artist. She appears deep in thoughts, head slightly bent, eyes wide-open looking inward. Proudly bare-breasted with her arms falling along her full-length skirt from which one foot emerges, she exudes pride, strength and determination. <p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_keI8cKOIOo95XHuMbTACSMr8kLSRg6FN2le1SFgVuliHavqwJUhSngdoucdPDPLFSoCdCO0-teJH9gUbtccld1LOTcW-KXqcMnmZ-r9a4QWlJgylu84yC09rSeTq6QLZzhmaazLeIhhw4ZFTX4AgT1qdxNo0Jhv7V78T2QRL8y4McdZ8KwsBlI6mtz8/s3690/Leigh555.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3690" data-original-width="3024" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_keI8cKOIOo95XHuMbTACSMr8kLSRg6FN2le1SFgVuliHavqwJUhSngdoucdPDPLFSoCdCO0-teJH9gUbtccld1LOTcW-KXqcMnmZ-r9a4QWlJgylu84yC09rSeTq6QLZzhmaazLeIhhw4ZFTX4AgT1qdxNo0Jhv7V78T2QRL8y4McdZ8KwsBlI6mtz8/w164-h200/Leigh555.jpeg" width="164" /></a></div><br />Ceramics remain the foundation of Leigh's practice and about ten of her earlier and more recent works in the medium are on display. Usually of smaller size, they introduce blazing colors like the yellow of the untitled portrait made in 2023. Eye-catching bright blue <i>Martinique </i>(2022), a tall monochrome sculpture, refers to a <a href="https://www.napoleon.org/en/history-of-the-two-empires/articles/napoleon-the-dark-side-napoleons-re-establishement-of-slavery-2-min-read/">painful history</a>: slavery during the Napoleonic era. The headless torso on top of the cylindric skirt is also a reminder of more recent events during which the statue of the empress <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9phine_de_Beauharnais">Josephine</a>, born on the island, was beheaded in 1991 and totally destroyed in 2020. <i>Jug</i> (2022), a white monochrome stoneware piece is a direct reference to the face jugs made by <a href="https://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/edgefield">Black American potters from Edgefield</a> County, South Carolina. Oddly, a white and black film (24:00 minutes) is projected in an area of heavy traffic, without seating. <i><a href="https://www.berlinale.de/en/2023/programme/202302332.html">Conspiracy</a></i>, 2022, a collaborative project between the sculptor and the filmmaker <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madeleine_Hunt-Ehrlich">Madeleine Hunt-Ehrlich</a> premiered at the Venice Biennale. In a dark room,<a href="https://americanart.si.edu/artwork/breakdown-116749"> <i>Breakdown</i></a> (2011) is a nine minute compelling solo performance by <a href="https://loonopera.org/artists/alicia-hall-moran/">Alicia Hall Moran</a> about Black female hysteria. A third video from Simone Leigh and<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chitra_Ganesh"> Chitra Ganesh</a> titled after a poem composed by <a href="https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/gwendolyn-brooks">Gwendolyn Brooks</a>, <a href="https://americanart.si.edu/artwork/my-dreams-my-works-must-wait-till-after-hell-116747"><i>My Dreams, My Works</i> <i>Must Wait Till After Hell </i></a>(2011) is about resilience of Black women in the face of adversity. The back of a reclining torso with a head buried under a pile of stones manages to be sensuous with the play of light on the black skin as a faint slow breathing reveals life. The end of the exhibition feels rushed. A small but powerful sculpture of a head almost faceless covered with handmade rosettes, symbols of manual labor, is faced by a glass cabinet filled with rows of sharpened teeth in memory of a man from Congo brought to America and put on display at the Bronx Zoo. The two works (respectively 2011 and 2001-04) deserve a more prominent spot earlier in the show. <p></p><p>Jugs, cowrie shells, raffia, vernacular objects evocative of African cultures have become Leigh's primary resources for her practice, reflecting the artist's background. Born in Chicago of Jamaican descent, she studied philosophy and ethnography. Both nurtured her enduring interest in African and African American art, and consequently her practice. Multimedia artist she is better known for her ceramics and now bronze sculptures found in museums and public places. Her latest abundant production concentrates on Black women with a wider theme about colonization, race, feminism, through oversized goddess-like sculptures. They depict cross-cultural blends of Black women, remote, introverted and emotionless, which may make it difficult to connect with. </p><p><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><br /></p><p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOIyMThzVLqeED58W2gqse2kBhqXuXVqn7wTZ6kmROtSi35WQd3gh_acsJETVUlTunf4WoPyaGhIkd5yYU8VzfX-MHj0ehtCM3CxE8d5baUdeVFvVRrh7NZTKoKn4wg8jjIFdA20-h-5jDn3si1EF36bo0w4UnnWQA5UPyL-nY5TL9vsbmD1-WUgXk69c/s3375/leigh1.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3375" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOIyMThzVLqeED58W2gqse2kBhqXuXVqn7wTZ6kmROtSi35WQd3gh_acsJETVUlTunf4WoPyaGhIkd5yYU8VzfX-MHj0ehtCM3CxE8d5baUdeVFvVRrh7NZTKoKn4wg8jjIFdA20-h-5jDn3si1EF36bo0w4UnnWQA5UPyL-nY5TL9vsbmD1-WUgXk69c/s320/leigh1.jpeg" width="287" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><br /></p><p><i>photographs by the author:</i></p><p><i>1-"Herm", 2023</i></p><p><i>2-"Overburdened with Significance", 2011</i></p><p><i>3-"Satellite", 2022</i></p><div jsslot=""><div class="VpH2eb vmod" data-hveid="CBQQBg" data-topic="" jsname="x3Eknd" style="overflow-wrap: break-word; padding-bottom: 10px;"><div class="vmod"><div class="vmod" data-topic="" jsname="r5Nvmf"><ol class="eQJLDd" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 20px;"><li jsname="gskXhf" style="list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div class="vmod"><div class="thODed" style="padding-top: 8px;"><div style="margin-left: 20px;"></div></div></div></li></ol></div></div><div jsname="Hqfs0d"><div aria-hidden="true" class="xpdxpnd" data-mh="-1" style="max-height: 0px; overflow: hidden; transition: max-height 0.3s ease 0s;"><div id="_u9pYZfHjG4-HptQP3e6ssA8_38"><div class="FpiMuf" style="color: #202124; font-family: "Google Sans", Roboto-medium, arial, sans-serif-medium, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24px; margin: 20px 0px 0px;"></div><div><g-img aria-hidden="true" style="display: inline-block; height: 118px;">The end of the visit appears more like a hodgepoge although it is important or other pieces randomly and the pieces put at the end do not makecredit to their importance due to thei place in the .. of the artist. iconic head with ... oTwo weird works, one with bananas the other wih teeth unrelated to women. </g-img> Early bronze are also present with ... and ... . It also brings up recent events as the sculptures erected .. was painted red and then altogether destroyed. putting an emphsis on the latest production creations of Leigh. She has been veryp productive lately with early bronze sculptures Jug, More bronze sculptures show the major interest of the artist for the medium, .jugs, heads, reference to house. constant theme. </div></div></div></div></div></div><div jsslot=""><div class="VpH2eb vmod" data-hveid="CBQQBg" data-topic="" jsname="x3Eknd" style="overflow-wrap: break-word; padding-bottom: 10px;"><div class="vmod"><div class="vmod" data-topic="" jsname="r5Nvmf"><ol class="eQJLDd" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 20px;"><li jsname="gskXhf" style="list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div class="vmod"><div class="thODed" style="padding-top: 8px;"><div style="margin-left: 20px;"></div></div></div></li></ol></div></div><div jsname="Hqfs0d"><div aria-hidden="true" class="xpdxpnd" data-mh="-1" style="max-height: 0px; overflow: hidden; transition: max-height 0.3s ease 0s;"><div id="_u9pYZfHjG4-HptQP3e6ssA8_38"><div class="FpiMuf" style="color: #202124; font-family: "Google Sans", Roboto-medium, arial, sans-serif-medium, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24px; margin: 20px 0px 0px;"></div><div><g-img aria-hidden="true" style="display: inline-block; height: 118px;"><img alt="" class="YQ4gaf zr758c wA1Bge" data-deferred="1" height="96" id="lr_dct_img_origin_u9pYZfHjG4-HptQP3e6ssA8_1" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAP///////yH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==" style="border: 0px; display: block; margin-bottom: 12px; margin-top: 10px; position: relative;" width="134" /></g-img></div><div class="wHYlTd" style="font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px;"><span class="AraNOb" style="text-decoration-line: underline;"><a class="rMNQNe" data-ved="2ahUKEwixrdv88M2CAxWPg4kEHV03C_YQgCt6BAgUEA0" href="https://www.google.com/search?sca_esv=583632294&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS983US983&q=Hermes&si=ALGXSlZs_yOcjbcvFwhB4E04oe9YelEXbFvFZM-xRq5xHYwz6o6KFLHbSeeyYFeetXUxB30EMOHaYSwY0FY-Kr7OL0o29iR2VA%3D%3D&expnd=1" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1); outline: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" tabindex="0"></a></span></div></div></div></div></div></div><div aria-hidden="true" class="xpdxpnd gi0Tyb" data-mh="-1" id="_u9pYZfHjG4-HptQP3e6ssA8_40" jsslot="" style="margin-left: -36px; margin-right: -36px; max-height: 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-left: 36px; padding-right: 36px; transition: max-height 0.3s ease 0s;"></div><div aria-hidden="true" class="xpdxpnd gi0Tyb" data-mh="-1" id="_u9pYZfHjG4-HptQP3e6ssA8_42" jsslot="" style="margin-left: -36px; margin-right: -36px; max-height: 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-left: 36px; padding-right: 36px; transition: max-height 0.3s ease 0s;"><div data-hveid="CBQQDg" jsname="Lfzded"><div aria-hidden="true"><div class="FpiMuf" style="color: #202124; font-family: "Google Sans", Roboto-medium, arial, sans-serif-medium, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24px; margin: 20px 0px 0px;"></div><div><g-img aria-hidden="true" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1); color: #1a0dab; display: inline-block; height: 142px; outline: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-style: initial; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial;"><span style="border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-style: initial; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial;"><a data-uti="1" href="http://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?year_start=1800&year_end=2019&corpus=26&smoothing=7&case_insensitive=on&content=herm" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=http://books.google.com/ngrams/graph%3Fyear_start%3D1800%26year_end%3D2019%26corpus%3D26%26smoothing%3D7%26case_insensitive%3Don%26content%3Dherm&ved=2ahUKEwixrdv88M2CAxWPg4kEHV03C_YQhCx6BAgUEA8" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1); color: #1a0dab; outline: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;" tabindex="-1"><img alt="" class="YQ4gaf wA1Bge" data-deferred="1" height="120" id="lr_dct_img_use" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAP///////yH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==" style="border: 0px; display: block; margin-bottom: 12px; margin-top: 10px; position: relative;" width="512" /></a></span></span></g-img><i style="text-wrap: nowrap;">Vessel </i><span style="text-wrap: nowrap;">coudl shelter , a</span><i style="text-wrap: nowrap;"> refuge in its carved bottom. , presented as a refuge. hiding place, comfort embrace. no folds but a </i><span style="text-wrap: nowrap;"> hald a cylinder. as Bisi is a portrait of ... like a boat, standing on one feet like a barque, with a head covered by hairdo definitely european. confusing or is it alluding to the curator .... more common features are the lack of eyes or ears, and arms. no embrace, inward turned inward. and silent. no smile of expressionless. </span><i style="text-wrap: nowrap;"> </i><span style="text-wrap: nowrap;"> Her more recent sculptures have the same majesty tall, slender, and the color of ebony. Three new sculptures from 2023 are displayed in coversation in the same room, although their themes differThree of them are displayed in the same room, and seen for the first time: </span><i style="text-wrap: nowrap;">Vessel</i><span style="text-wrap: nowrap;">, </span><i style="text-wrap: nowrap;">Bisi</i><span style="text-wrap: nowrap;"> and</span><i style="text-wrap: nowrap;"> Herm</i><span style="text-wrap: nowrap;"> (2023). The latest is a the other herm , is definitely female as god of Hermes, an susally a phallus appropriate, god male of fertitilty reference to female fertility turns male god in female also a foot , egyptian.Herm , the saquare column was found as a marker along the road. fecondity, dedicated to Hermes, here very female with prominent breast Herm relates to Greek mythology Herm Greek religion mythology Hermes fertility god pillars square bearded of Hermes ercect phallus replaced by breast hermaphrodite tapered rectangular stone post topped with portrait bust</span>Her bronze sculptures are always gigantic , slender, and simple, in linear like, or next to roundish shapes, like in the same room, first seen, the artist hiding in the skirt of a tall woman. breasts are always prominent, figures ar eear or eyeless, deaf or blind, hyeratic, but emotionless, perfection of the black bronze, like African statues , but without the shine and softness of ebny , cold and ternes, a rroup of three sculptures in the space. room. the shawdow are respected and the display in not busy, leaving the space to each sculpture.three new works Bronze sculptures Bisi, Herm, Vessel, 2023, nor really new in concept and technique or material. Maybe more personal together in the same room, in the middle of the exhibition, in conversation, Vessel, spoon, a caved vessel , protection, it is hard to understand why she has european white features, including the hairdo, more 1950's lost me, .like in her only portrait seen early.er , Bisi in the same room. only in common the material, oversized sculptures Bisi is a portrait of Bisi, the Nigerian curator from Nigeria now deceased who helped Leigh'career. I am perplexed by the hairdo of an African woman from Nigeria, a european features retro hairdo with hair well white european features flat hairdo not african retro hairdo. Curator going back and forth to Europe and Africa, boat like shape roundish for torso and body is like protection, More than color of skin it is culture that separate us first view is a protector for a child size person like a robe to hide into Material ceramic alows color always monochrome.There are a lot of references in Leigh's art: mythology, greek, roman, egyptian art, but also French ... with pannier, and also the colossal blue again ... favors simple shapes and smooth surfaces. paisible symbol of ... with her perfect ... African direct introduction, Africa , and then it is no surprise bathed into the ... without thinking, get into the mood the works of the artist, and her sculptures, giant, tall if not disctracted by a few smaller works like ... or .... along the way. if jugs cupboard cowrie shells bananas are homely, attribute, references, already hinted found in earler works, her use of bronze has allowed a new expression, this time of elencees, female curves , or filiforms, also in common a mute face blind or deaf inwrd turned. what is work achieving , discussion with Okoro </div></div></div></div><p> </p><p> </p>Sylvie Contigugliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06793587673934803612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1178270213976736618.post-59392775443031560812023-08-27T13:53:00.002-06:002023-11-09T09:09:19.681-07:00An American in London<p> </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJx9rd4cJ1Pngf-JRlvjWAVbYGwje9z_P3R4J-oRK2SCfWZM0lgakgiAFpIQRGaYXh3xj_s9wfWN4XjL9vngwU6Wm7xGJwCl8j80Z4dUeP4IrUQfKV9iaIglbDtwm2gHVlyrG5s7VytVSghIsJ3W488iE3DobraWDTskvc9G82mXS0iPDn5HOVY3bzLIw/s3078/W22.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3078" data-original-width="2312" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJx9rd4cJ1Pngf-JRlvjWAVbYGwje9z_P3R4J-oRK2SCfWZM0lgakgiAFpIQRGaYXh3xj_s9wfWN4XjL9vngwU6Wm7xGJwCl8j80Z4dUeP4IrUQfKV9iaIglbDtwm2gHVlyrG5s7VytVSghIsJ3W488iE3DobraWDTskvc9G82mXS0iPDn5HOVY3bzLIw/w150-h200/W22.jpeg" width="150" /></a></div><br />The <a href="https://www.nga.gov/">National Gallery of Art</a> and the<a href="https://hirshhorn.si.edu/"> Hirshhorn</a> are customary destinations for art buffs visiting the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Mall">National Mall</a> in Washington, D.C. Recently, a stroll in the <a href="https://gardens.si.edu/">Smithsonian Gardens</a> close by led me to the <a href="https://asia.si.edu/">National Museum of Asian Art</a> for a travel through time and places: Yemen, China, India, Japan,..., Hiroshige's landscapes, calligraphy scrolls, sculptures of Buddha,.... Wandering from gallery to gallery, the rather intriguing title of a wall text caught my attention: "Dirty Pictures". Furthermore, the paintings lining up the walls were definitively not Asian but Western art. I had reached the American art collection. <p></p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freer_Gallery_of_Art">The Freer Gallery of Art</a> combined with the<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_M._Sackler_Gallery"> Arthur M. Sackler Gallery</a> "houses one of the premier collection of Asian art". It is also famous for its unique example of interior decoration in the Anglo-Japanese style,<i> The Peacock Room</i> painted by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Abbott_McNeill_Whistler">James McNeill Whistler</a> in 1876-1877<i>.</i> Originally commissioned by the British shipowner <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_Richards_Leyland">Frederick Richards Leyland</a> to display his china collection, subsequently acquired by the American industrialist <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Lang_Freer">Charles Lang Freer </a>for his mansion, the paneled room was finally installed in the Freer Gallery of Art, opened to the public since 1923. In the 1890's Freer became patron and friend of Whistler and sought the artist's advice to build his Asian art collection. He was also the most important collector of Whistler's works, all bequeathed to the museum. </p><p>Whistler, born in America in 1834, had a peripatetic childhood due to his father's occupation as a railroad civil engineer. He spent some time in Massachusetts, Connecticut, St Petersburg in Russia and London. After a stint at West Point, it became clear that art was his calling and he left the United States for Paris where he adopted a free spirited lifestyle. He was twenty one years old. Despite his prickly character, he nurtured enriching relationships with artists of all venues. His peregrinations brought him as far as Chile in 1866 during the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chincha_Islands_War">Spanish-South American War</a> and later on, he produced a trove of works during a fourteen-month stay in Venice. He always came back to London, his favored city, where he died in 1903. </p><p>"Dirty" was the adjective used by aficionados to describe Whistler's series of thirty two landscapes of London at night. During a flourishing Victorian era, he was known for his portraits, and the images of the city's unalluring side were a challenge for the critics and the public. Under the low light of the Freer Gallery, five small paintings generated an irresistible attraction. <i>Nocturne: Grey and Silver- Chelsea Embankment, Winter</i> (Ca. 1879) features three small boats aground on the snowy bank of the Thames at the bottom of the painting. The vertical composition is filled with the grey of the icy river turning into a slightly bluer grey sky. In the background, the city's blurry shadow with its faint lights gleaming on the river underlines the menacing profile of cranes in the center, defiantly reaching the top of the painting. The silver and grey palette suggests the moonlight's reflection on the landscape.</p><p> <i>Symphony in Grey: Early Morning, Thames</i> (1871) is an horizontal composition filled with the calm river, a pale grey ribbon flowing between its banks. The painter brings us on a walk along the straight edge of the Thames, looking at an industrial site on the distant shore as a light fog blurs the contours of the land. A high chimney and puffs of smoke break the line of the horizon below a narrow strip of grey sky. The reflection of the industrial landscape in the water creates an inverted shadowy replica of a factory. Two ghostly ships drift far away. A closer look at the painting reveals a coat of brown underpaint seeping through the thin grey brushstrokes. From afar, the brown color melting into the grey gives depth and a subtle flow to the river. Whistler's butterfly signature at the bottom of the painting alludes to the influence of the Japanese masters on his works.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuIrb_5plTpc8pWJW1JMVe-Ni7_3bRmP9r5pPmhYxxf2_fmLNRKDRUOyDU8STj8Io4LsWMGDCLCBoSmldZFpfJ41_kx_vB1L1DiO2RTqKDe-WFXSoPRmgFQnew80eEt2dUOgsdtBA-LtpqLng-9BvVlsubo2Vn9tZBA7vbMhTUCsL1T6ZSbhsIpx84Z3k/s3085/W44.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3085" data-original-width="2059" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuIrb_5plTpc8pWJW1JMVe-Ni7_3bRmP9r5pPmhYxxf2_fmLNRKDRUOyDU8STj8Io4LsWMGDCLCBoSmldZFpfJ41_kx_vB1L1DiO2RTqKDe-WFXSoPRmgFQnew80eEt2dUOgsdtBA-LtpqLng-9BvVlsubo2Vn9tZBA7vbMhTUCsL1T6ZSbhsIpx84Z3k/w134-h200/W44.jpeg" width="134" /></a></div><br />On a similar theme,<i> Nocturne: Blue and Silver- Battersea Reach </i>(1870-1875) is centered around the motionless river lined up along its banks by a row of cranes and the smokestacks of factories. The stillness of the water reflecting a bluish grey sky and the lack of life imply silence. The gloomy atmosphere defines a short time at dusk "entre chien et loup" when one cannot distinguish a dog from a wolf.<p></p><p>Under a pale blue wintery sky, <i>Nocturne: Trafalgar Square, Chelsea-Snow</i> (Ca. 1875-77) depicts residential buildings around a square covered with dirty snow. A few yellow spots of light hint to the warmth of homes amidst the cold empty outdoors. At dusk, the trees become threatening shadows and mystery invades the abandoned city.</p><p>The scene of a naval battle witnessed by Whistler from the window of his hotel in Valparaiso, Chile, has become a key work of the artist's career. Eighteen sixty-six, the first date of <i>Nocturne in Blue and Gold;</i> <i>Valparaiso</i> (1866/ca.1874) is proof of a timely and precise recording of the action. The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombardment_of_Valpara%C3%ADso">assault</a> on the Chilean harbor occurred in the morning of March 31 1866, and the first version was a landscape bathed in an early daylight. Back in London, almost a decade later, it became a Nocturne. Hardly distinguishable black shapes dissolved in a threatening dark mass fill the lower half of the painting. The abstracted rendering of the action contrasts with, above it, the view of sailboats under full attack surrounded by smoke and fiery explosions and a detailed nighttime depiction of the harbor in the background. </p><p>"<a href="https://www.mutualart.com/Article/Acquainted-With-the-Night--How-Whistlers/42179197014DE7CB#:~:text=%E2%80%9CBy%20using%20the%20word%20'nocturne,form%2C%20and%20color%20first.%E2%80%9D">By using the word 'nocturne'</a>, I wished to indicate an artistic interest alone, divesting the picture of any outside anecdotal interest which might have been otherwise attached to it. A nocturne is an arrangement of line, form, and color first." In this quote, Whistler states his goal: art for art. </p><p>Two major exhibitions (last year "The Woman in White: Joanna Hifferman and James McNeill Whistler" at the <a href="https://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/2022/woman-in-white.html">National Gallery of Art</a> and ongoing "The Artist's Mother: Whistler and Philadelphia" at the <a href="https://philamuseum.org/calendar/exhibition/the-artists-mother-whistler-philadelphia">Philadelphia Museum of Art</a>) show the interest for Whistler's portraits guaranteed to bring crowds to the museums. What about his Nocturnes, his "dirty pictures"? Greys, blues, brown colors were selected to create <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tonalism">mood and atmosphere</a>, more important to depict landscapes than reproducing reality. Photography, electricity, factories, a new world of industrialization was in the making and for Whistler, painting was not just copying a scene, but creating "an artistic arrangement". During the <a href="https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-james-abbott-mcneill-whistler-sued-harshest-critic-won">Ruskin trial</a> about one of his Nocturnes, accused of messy work, quickly done and overcharged, the painter famously replied: "... I ask it (two hundred guineas) for the knowledge I have gained in the work of a lifetime."</p><p>Why was I struck by the five paintings during my visit? Why these Nocturnes still feel so relevant? The artist transmutes the scenes in a romantic way, filled with untold, leaving room for the imagination and dreams of a wandering mind. The paintings triggered my memories of aimless walks along the river and left me filled with emotions. After several encounters with his works, for the first time, I felt a connection with Whistler.</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkvuiAJ1rtz3-IeyEPUns2jF9w2m7QIHr23XyaVYAbpKOl5RSLcKRFlBnPp-rqgAm4tW7ohOhH28tk9yh6-FERNPPpCWmFJ2uVTNhzhdvENyeNadjVS287ppS8R2jb1oY0XBFNqTJNJw8Ld7F0jJAi3PfOzDKPwCXPTRjjSLgOIBWqMWimeem_684nPvw/s2826/W33.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1855" data-original-width="2826" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkvuiAJ1rtz3-IeyEPUns2jF9w2m7QIHr23XyaVYAbpKOl5RSLcKRFlBnPp-rqgAm4tW7ohOhH28tk9yh6-FERNPPpCWmFJ2uVTNhzhdvENyeNadjVS287ppS8R2jb1oY0XBFNqTJNJw8Ld7F0jJAi3PfOzDKPwCXPTRjjSLgOIBWqMWimeem_684nPvw/s320/W33.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><i>photographs by the author:</i></p><p><i>"Nocturne: Grey and Silver- Chelsea Embankment, Winter", ca. 1879</i></p><p><i>"Nocturne in Blue and Gold: Valparaiso", 1866/ca.1874</i></p><p><i>"Nocturne,: Blue and Silver-Battersea Reach", 1870-1875</i></p>Sylvie Contigugliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06793587673934803612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1178270213976736618.post-83648908291912232572023-07-09T17:24:00.001-06:002023-07-10T07:05:22.336-06:00Stories and History: Whitfield Lovell at VMFA<p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><i></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaS9-stpsp19IYy48Vg_g64QlSwh6_XWBjKo9UO83lJk3amzNnUA2s2X72iFdU-jN03u0tEfPTpiHZmnX3PRKUom9BoRosybaAUlU6RAq8kkrqME4T03yK-T-C38rA6ddhVlz0cfDD7-cUUUlFQR923a8kN5dK8pAWXp5bLl4ko1H4FnNGhd_xhi5rBKQ/s4032/pas8.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaS9-stpsp19IYy48Vg_g64QlSwh6_XWBjKo9UO83lJk3amzNnUA2s2X72iFdU-jN03u0tEfPTpiHZmnX3PRKUom9BoRosybaAUlU6RAq8kkrqME4T03yK-T-C38rA6ddhVlz0cfDD7-cUUUlFQR923a8kN5dK8pAWXp5bLl4ko1H4FnNGhd_xhi5rBKQ/w150-h200/pas8.jpeg" width="150" /></a></i></div><i><br />Passages, </i>a travelling exhibition, just opened at the <a href="https://vmfa.museum/home-mobile/">Virginia Museum of Fine Arts</a> in Richmond, Virginia. The solo show features works from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitfield_Lovell">Whitfield Lovell</a> who has dedicated his practice to a chapter of American history covering the period from the<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emancipation_Proclamation"> Emancipation Proclamation</a> to the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_rights_movement">Civil Rights Movement</a>. The photographs of anonymous African Americans collected over the years provide the medium from which he creates drawings with <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cont%C3%A9">Conté crayons</a> on salvaged wood or paper. At home and while travelling extensively from Europe to Africa and South America, Lovell was exposed to different artists and styles. Ultimately he chose to become a storyteller as illustrated throughout the exhibition which spans from his student years in the eighties until today. Displayed in a non chronological order on the lower level of the museum, the works include two major installations, series of drawings and assemblages.<p></p><p>Passage evokes loss and new beginning, change often accompanied by turmoil, and the entrance through a pair of black drapes is a theatrical introduction to <i>Deep River</i> and <i>Flight from Deep River </i>(2013), an immersive installation about a treacherous journey, the crossing of the Tennessee River to reach <a href="https://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/entries/contraband-camps/">Camp Contraband</a>, a Union Army site. In the dimly lit gallery, spotlights illuminate fifty-six portraits of African Americans drawn on wood drums of different sizes set around a mound of fresh dirt. Enthralled by the video of a murky river with shining ripples projected on the walls, the earthy and woody perfumes, the chirping of birds, it is easy to forget time and place and travel in the past. A slow walk around the installation allows to look at each portrait, sometimes full length. The tondi reveal the dignified expression and posture of the sitters with perfect hairdo wearing their Sunday best photographed for posterity, quiet presence in a scene staged by the artist. Gun, worn pair of shoes, kettle, trumpet, banjo,... a few of their belongings left on the tumulus, poignant remnants of their lives, add drama to the display. The everyday objects are now relics to remember thousands of enslaved people who crossed the river, symbol of their passage to freedom. The powerful installation leads to the portrait of a man on a voyage, standing tall above piles of worn leather suitcases, a proper transition to a sample of the <i>Kin</i> series, eight portraits out of sixty works on paper displayed next in a small gallery. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq4b5GydUE58iKfBPeo8vEwid9QYoUE1bWvsYt4APwHDBsofrU_n90ZKIlO6vw6bEa1chc4mlxu6-f-fTisCkI6TCx0lIG99Q6x5HQGEiYO3br8PU90oIuk6EtVkWwWLlcEzTcI_N4mVQ-LutRgK50hVi2SKcG8Yv-sHF5O_WJ6hs-FMdiwp7rxCeKTQo/s3780/pas6.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3780" data-original-width="3024" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq4b5GydUE58iKfBPeo8vEwid9QYoUE1bWvsYt4APwHDBsofrU_n90ZKIlO6vw6bEa1chc4mlxu6-f-fTisCkI6TCx0lIG99Q6x5HQGEiYO3br8PU90oIuk6EtVkWwWLlcEzTcI_N4mVQ-LutRgK50hVi2SKcG8Yv-sHF5O_WJ6hs-FMdiwp7rxCeKTQo/w160-h200/pas6.jpeg" width="160" /></a></div><br />The object combined with each drawing contributes to the make up of a life's story: a model ship, a flask, a rifle target, flags,... and leave our imagination wander. The series made from 2008 to 2011 is followed in the next room by several "Tableaux" started earlier, in the 1990's. The mixture of installations, arrangements spilling on the floor, wall pieces, is visually challenging and confusing at first with nine works overcrowding the space. <i>Still</i> (1999) reveals the peaceful domestic life of a couple while two compositions stand out: <i>America</i> (2000) the full length portrait of a proud man with a bunch of American flags sticking out from his guts and <i>You're My Thrill </i>(2004) the drawing of a cool young man who could be the hero of a movie with his well trimmed mustache, slick hair, posing with a handgun behind a row of empty shell casings. In the same vein, <i>Because I Wanna Fly</i> (2021) seen further in the show features an ethereal woman with black birds circling around her like bad augurs. All reveal aspirations, dreams, human stories belonging to a past ghostly world. Five colored compositions made with oil sticks and charcoal on paper bring us back to an earlier surrealistic period of the artist. They are followed by more recent works like<i> The Card Pieces</i> (2018-2022) in which one portrait is matched with each playing card of a vintage deck. Who is the queen of heart? At first playful, the fifty-four works displayed in a monotonous alignment of black frames on the four walls become tedious. In contrast, the series of<i> Reds</i> (2021) made of relatively small size drawings on a background of red paper with a token found object, the prominent red sofa, the red chair and phone, in the next gallery painted black, allude to passion and drama. However the message remains ambiguous and the emotionless expression of the sitters does not reveal a clue. <p></p><p><i></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7XIeNgHKjNiPvFmAblDSFHQ42q565koSf0c_NchQ_0-2SE98nSujB8rxUM2_3a_jEMd0jdXXNa07NoFfFnDg_sQfXR6L15V8afudVJtNhEATlHAzsV_hVGhWRvsZ2Y3cWuDFd-uajXnaLwqtFjQCfCG56iEOXBcC6Y0Inw7lO52lQ96rVYA8bye7B3vc/s2048/pas5.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7XIeNgHKjNiPvFmAblDSFHQ42q565koSf0c_NchQ_0-2SE98nSujB8rxUM2_3a_jEMd0jdXXNa07NoFfFnDg_sQfXR6L15V8afudVJtNhEATlHAzsV_hVGhWRvsZ2Y3cWuDFd-uajXnaLwqtFjQCfCG56iEOXBcC6Y0Inw7lO52lQ96rVYA8bye7B3vc/w150-h200/pas5.jpeg" width="150" /></a></i></div><i><br />Visitation: The Richmond Project</i> is home. The immersive installation created in 2001 involved a thorough research by the artist in the local archives and refers to the struggles and ultimately successes of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackson_Ward">Jackson Ward</a>, a thriving Black community now dispersed. A female voice reads the names of sixty-three of its prominent citizens as the visitor walks through an elaborate display about five chapters of the collective history: <i>Battle Ground</i> features<i> </i>a soldier in full uniform, <i>Restoreth</i> a matriarch and her healing potions, <i>Our Best </i>a group of fashionable<i> </i>gents and ladies, <i>Coins </i>wooden coins with portraits of locals, and <i>Visitation: The Parlor</i> a fully furnished living room with a musical component. The decor of the parlor recreated in its minute details with furniture and accessories of the late 19th-early 20th century, is an invitation to visit a couple's most inner sanctum and share a piece of the private life of two ghostly shadows drawn on the wooden walls. Their presence haunts the room lighted by a soft table lamp as a gospel fills the air.<p></p><p>Like a memorial, the comprehensive exhibition generates a state of reflection, and the respectful visitors whisper while going through the galleries. The quiet presence of the anonymous sitters is felt from start to end as we read their stories looking at their portraits and attributes while music and sounds heighten our emotions. The artist succeeds in his quest to make us "feel the spirit of the past". </p><p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9hu9QgMNrFYOG7Bg1diIi-UQbt-h1UTyYO_rucOlmeHvkEAi3kXpbT56kzflomsRoJpKflEmiZkn-9z0K2FaE-jH3Ry56-52kyRI4aHkNyjfhauFKrH3raUELfFaRAk1xl-SrLgqzrXVAdDyjWKplJWeMd-Xe2zoakbeFQpv6k_EpzOVKnyBVlxkSwz4/s4032/pas3.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9hu9QgMNrFYOG7Bg1diIi-UQbt-h1UTyYO_rucOlmeHvkEAi3kXpbT56kzflomsRoJpKflEmiZkn-9z0K2FaE-jH3Ry56-52kyRI4aHkNyjfhauFKrH3raUELfFaRAk1xl-SrLgqzrXVAdDyjWKplJWeMd-Xe2zoakbeFQpv6k_EpzOVKnyBVlxkSwz4/s320/pas3.jpeg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><i>photographs by the author:</i></p><p><i>"Flight from Deep River", 2013</i></p><p><i>"Because I Wanna Fly", 2021</i></p><p><i>"Our Best" (detail), 2001</i></p><p><i>"Deep River", 2013 </i> </p>Sylvie Contigugliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06793587673934803612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1178270213976736618.post-10601930806626769272023-06-18T06:32:00.003-06:002023-07-01T09:55:08.449-06:00Group Show at The Kreeger Museum<p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9kPq5lhcqVEpHqSI6QV94wcCMV46isToEYl37R6CY3QXWwIDkz-3Cz74SEaxBtOK-2DpQvfw6aK6Ry6vT8oLNPO44OP5qaGIk8LL5JpPL3lEY5LelWYVV90XlfSfkmxYmQRnd1AWz0D7-arZQ1UHDvsnwEZnSSKRaggm7uSbb7GQZlCTmDzqAQ0kc/s1901/Kreeg1.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1901" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9kPq5lhcqVEpHqSI6QV94wcCMV46isToEYl37R6CY3QXWwIDkz-3Cz74SEaxBtOK-2DpQvfw6aK6Ry6vT8oLNPO44OP5qaGIk8LL5JpPL3lEY5LelWYVV90XlfSfkmxYmQRnd1AWz0D7-arZQ1UHDvsnwEZnSSKRaggm7uSbb7GQZlCTmDzqAQ0kc/s320/Kreeg1.jpeg" width="259" /></a></div><br /><br /><div><br /></div><div>Paintings from the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_Color_School">Washington Color School</a>'s artists are found in museums worldwide and their names belong to the history of modern art. Closely associated with <a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/c/colour-field-painting">color field painting</a>, the movement placed D.C. on the art scene's map, even as most of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abstract_expressionism">abstract expressionist </a>artists contributing to a roaring post-war creativity lived in or around New York City. What is happening today in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_metropolitan_area">DMV</a> area (D.C., Maryland, Virginia)? A visit at <a href="https://www.kreegermuseum.org/about-us/history">The Kreeger Museum</a> is the occasion to get a glimpse of Washington's lively art scene. The private residence of collectors <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Lloyd_Kreeger">David and Carmen Kreeger</a> built by renown architects<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Johnson"> Philip Johnson </a>and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Foster_(architect)">Richard Foster</a> now hosts their collection of paintings and sculptures mainly from the 19th and 20th centuries, displayed on two levels of the building and in the garden. In conjunction with the Hamiltonian Artists, the museum also promotes local artists through its program The Collaborative. The<a href="https://www.hamiltonianartists.org/historymission"> </a><a href="https://www.hamiltonianartists.org/historymission">Hamiltonian Artists</a> is a "career incubator program for emerging visual artists" which provides exposure for its fellows as well as more mundane support. The latest exhibition <i>Doing The Work</i> features creations from five Hamiltonian Fellows scattered within the permanent collection. </div><div><p></p><p>Randomly, I started the visit in the library on the first floor where three photographs of <a href="https://www.hamiltonianartists.org/artists1/samera-paz">Samera Paz</a> are hung on the wood panels. At first, they seem disconnected: pages of an adolescent's diary, still lifes of beauty products or neatly folded cloths. The vivid compositions are made of objects gathered in the foreground leaving little space for the neutral background. They represent a personal history, and "I" included in each title is the link. Can they involve "Us"? Rebellious adolescence, loneliness, consumerism, pressure to fit in,... the gamut of anxieties expressed through the accumulation of words or objects reaches a wide audience finding common ground. Activist and artist Samera Paz is known for her use of a different medium, menstrual blood. For the show, she simply exposes her vulnerability. </p><p>A narrow passageway lined up with drawings and small paintings from masters like <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Klee">Paul Klee</a>,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pablo_Picasso"> Picasso</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wassily_Kandinsky">Kandinsky</a>, leads to the next room. Surrounded by the lively colors and lines of the abstract works from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Hinman">Charles Hinman</a>, <a href="https://www.artsy.net/artist/david-urban">David Urban</a> and<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Downing_(painter)"> Thomas Downing</a>, <a href="https://bmoreart.com/2023/03/art-and-kyrae-dawaun.html">Kyrae Dawaun</a>'s piece is a surprise, on the floor. Combining copper nestled in a concrete square mound and a geometric structure made of pale bluish limestone framed by white oak, it appears indestructible. The title tells another story: <i>a confluence toward an ill Delta</i> (2023) evokes the <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ab4165">fragile ecosystem</a> threatened by climate change and human intervention. Under the playful rays of the sun, like an island on the parquet, the work found its place. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF8dr9ILtZ09r-NNdj5DrUryp_GI3aS8LQYRSdBRokclmVAAjyF6w32HKTY8DLzsmzYfN3EHpvkxAKiV7_TH4bQzcl_AF3gym5ml6IYUBS8g2kJ6ab4g7QTDZ28RV3D5PiTFgmcTTYJN2F9E3Wygz7CfjDm5K3_jse19tahSr-VV-RIPBdnzNOIZnU/s1530/Kreeg2.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1355" data-original-width="1530" height="177" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF8dr9ILtZ09r-NNdj5DrUryp_GI3aS8LQYRSdBRokclmVAAjyF6w32HKTY8DLzsmzYfN3EHpvkxAKiV7_TH4bQzcl_AF3gym5ml6IYUBS8g2kJ6ab4g7QTDZ28RV3D5PiTFgmcTTYJN2F9E3Wygz7CfjDm5K3_jse19tahSr-VV-RIPBdnzNOIZnU/w200-h177/Kreeg2.jpeg" width="200" /></a></div><br />An intimate parlor is the next stop to watch the three videos from <a href="https://ceciliakim.persona.co/bio-cv">Cecilia Kim</a>. The South Korean artist now living in D.C. stays hidden behind a black screen to perform a slow ritual, her hands carefully handling small pieces of food found in traditional Korean dishes. Lasting twelve minutes to over one hour, the footages reveal the value of "performed labor", title of the work (<i>Performed Labor</i>, 2021). With its implied respect for nutrients and cultural heritage, the slow repetitive activity leads to a state of quiet meditation, transforming manual labor into a spiritual endeavor. On the walls, still lifes from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vincent_van_Gogh">Van Gogh</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_C%C3%A9zanne">Cézanne</a>, Picasso, including the famous <i>Café de La Rotonde</i> (1901) complete an inspiring display.<p></p><p> The landing of the staircase is a perfect site for <a href="https://www.hamiltonianartists.org/artists1/ara-koh">Ara Koh</a>'s installation gathering thirteen sculptures made of fired clay. Two to six feet high, they create a landscape evoking the Southwest of the United States. Like sculpted by the elements, their rough surface even shows some cracks, underlining the fragility of the natural world. <i>Core Sample</i> (2020) describes an arid ecosystem, a haunting desert. Through an intense labor, the South Korean artist leaves her marks on the clay to represent "geological time and metamorphosis".</p><p> <a href="https://www.hamiltonianartists.org/artists1/matthew-russo">Matthew Russo</a>'s works are found between two major paintings, <i>Flin-Flon XIII </i>(1970) from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Stella">Frank Stella</a> and <i>Cape</i> (1969) from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Gilliam">Sam Gilliam</a>. <i>Practiced Play, Iterations #1-3</i> (2023), a gathering of white and fluorescent colored sculptures looks like made of playdough. Set on the floor in the center of the room, the line up of small whimsical objects brings a playful distraction to the magisterial display. On the wall, <i>Workplace Drawings #1-15</i> (2021), a series of fifteen blue and red drawings of surrealistic objects floating on a white background, reveals an infinite world of dreams. </p><p>For most of us "work" evokes enforced prosaic labor, sometimes physically or mentally exhausting , mostly dull. It feels paradoxical to use the word in the title of an art show. Here, photographs, sculptures, drawings and videos are born from a labor transcended by the artists. Their creations spread among the masterpieces enhance the visit and rejuvenate the permanent collection, transforming The Kreeger Museum into a dynamic and nurturing venue. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy70pJQ501oLjbh3hztnpmRmxWZE54_eSH-xLw58X041d8nHQ4ts7Hvh5wZr8ISajEyNpXNlgkOljW_U2c56XaDEfc9eCui_ysQ6O-5RVH8zMIR1tac_kHqI01W9rYbIwkMrnJ3QKKEZ_FZEALGY7eJiLkEqmgdmZmzQ6j9IL_LCX_3yQcN6OVB_yl/s1616/Kreeg8.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1616" data-original-width="1228" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy70pJQ501oLjbh3hztnpmRmxWZE54_eSH-xLw58X041d8nHQ4ts7Hvh5wZr8ISajEyNpXNlgkOljW_U2c56XaDEfc9eCui_ysQ6O-5RVH8zMIR1tac_kHqI01W9rYbIwkMrnJ3QKKEZ_FZEALGY7eJiLkEqmgdmZmzQ6j9IL_LCX_3yQcN6OVB_yl/s320/Kreeg8.jpeg" width="243" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><i>photographs by the author:</i><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>Ara Koh "Core Sample", 2020<br /></i><p><i>Cecilia Kim "Performed Labor", 2021 (videos)</i></p><p><i>Matthew Russo "Practiced Play, Iterations #1-3", 2023</i></p><p><i>Frank Stella "Flin-Flon XIII", 1970</i></p></div></div>Sylvie Contigugliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06793587673934803612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1178270213976736618.post-82067303550291727862023-05-31T16:41:00.004-06:002023-07-07T07:30:56.777-06:00"Drawing in Space": Richard Serra at Glenstone <p> </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Located on 230 acres in Potomac, Maryland, <a href="https://www.glenstone.org/">Glenstone</a>, largest private <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glenstone">contemporary art museum</a> in the United States, is a venue where architecture and nature blend in perfect harmony. Curves and lines from the rolling hills and the minimalist buildings, design a landscape colored by patches of violet grass and yellow wild flowers. Birdsongs are an invitation to walk along the trails and discover the collection of outdoor sculptures. Spring is a perfect time for a visit. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsqkCqNrpQf1iXD_HWhSu2ToSBb5hcc_Lehq5Tb-8Zad_bMaWybagWSzU-pTu4e3u70JDgC6KQcaUFoRHCDhs0I4QwaRlvNA2A9rYekggTNvY1OUGIDx9l-ORanFx9Iqe3cVxht_9H-SqLm8RgIQE20Md_85GLInikYmuYLayqtxCJHmDXP9ehObvf/s1648/Serra14.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1648" data-original-width="1421" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsqkCqNrpQf1iXD_HWhSu2ToSBb5hcc_Lehq5Tb-8Zad_bMaWybagWSzU-pTu4e3u70JDgC6KQcaUFoRHCDhs0I4QwaRlvNA2A9rYekggTNvY1OUGIDx9l-ORanFx9Iqe3cVxht_9H-SqLm8RgIQE20Md_85GLInikYmuYLayqtxCJHmDXP9ehObvf/w173-h200/Serra14.jpeg" width="173" /></a></div><br />Among the artists, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Serra">Richard Serra</a> is represented by three sculptures closely intertwined with the history of the site. The planned addition of <i>Sylvester</i>, 2001, influenced the selection of material and shape of the <a href="https://www.glenstone.org/architecture/">Gallery</a> designed by the architect <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Gwathmey">Charles Gwathmey</a>. Like an anchor, the massive sculpture permanently located near the building, was first displayed in 2001 at the <a href="https://gagosian.com/">Gagosian gallery</a> for the exhibition <a href="https://gagosian.com/exhibitions/2001/richard-serra-torqued-spirals-toruses-and-spheres/">"Torqued Spirals, Toruses, and Spheres"</a>. Named after the British art critic <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Sylvester">David Sylvester</a>, the work, part of the famous<i> Torqued</i> <i>Spiral series</i>, offers a unique experience while walking around and in the sculpture. The entrance is a narrow triangular passage shaped by the unstable edge of the curled sheet of steel. The more than thirteen foot high walls with inward and outward twists allow the light to project like a ribbon in between, and create during the walk a succession of geometric shapes born from the interplay between metal and sky. Visitors' voices and steps resonate in the claustrophobic space. In the heart of the sculpture, surrounded by the rough rusty metal, the only escape for the gaze is through an oculus filled with the blue-grey sky. Serra's comment "I am using a ton of steel to attain lightness" could not be more appropriate for this piece. <p></p><p>The trails in the woods become a zigzaggy boardwalk set over a stream and a marshy field to reach a pavilion. Of small size, it is imposing due to its thick concrete walls and wide open dark entrance. The <a href="https://www.glenstone.org/monumental-richard-serra-sculpture-in-custom-designed-building-by-thomas-phifer-to-go-on-view-at-glenstone-museum-beginning-june-23/">building</a> was designed by the architect <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Phifer">Thomas Phifer</a> in collaboration with the artist to house <i>Four Rounds: Equal Weight, Unequal</i> <i>Measure</i>, 2017. Inside, the cold grey bare concrete of the walls and the floor is warmed up by the orangy-brown Cor-ten steel of the four enormous cylinders arranged in the middle of the space. A soft natural light shines through sheaths of transparent glass supported by the ceiling's massive parallel beams. The imposing cylinders of unequal height and circumference, are of same weight "82 tons - the heaviest form that a foundry is able to forge". Numbers do not matter, they are just huge. The walk around, through, back and forth the <a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/i/installation-art#:~:text=The%20term%20installation%20art%20is,a%20temporary%20period%20of%20time">installation </a>provides a physical experience of the work, representation of the idea of weight. It also allows to connect with the artist as we share the awe he felt looking at the metal while visiting a boat yard with his father and later working in a steel mill. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_H._D._Buchloh">Benjamin Buchloh</a>'s statement in his essay for the catalog of the<a href="https://www.moma.org/calendar/exhibitions/14"> exhibition</a> "Richard Serra Sculpture: Forty Years" at <a href="https://www.moma.org/">MoMA</a> in 2007, feels very pertinent after looking at the work, result from a perfect harmony between the industrial material and the Minimalist aesthetic: "the artist as a designer with a renewed celebration of the artist as an industrial worker".</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5GuKenebZiaYDSVxHBiYaJzr_dy0JTNfGKcDC0ajdvujEjJBAgKyDQavOBl7BOFbnyXOmAdNdSpsgpx-tVRWE2HmXiNjEkNrU0aYskqvkAH7IywzMH9SLZJue6rcYPGIfFXsvsAeauaod2ibTzvTX4NpFcNIpCS0MiDE1w35oHp-lHO0gnk5yLl_J/s4032/serra1.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5GuKenebZiaYDSVxHBiYaJzr_dy0JTNfGKcDC0ajdvujEjJBAgKyDQavOBl7BOFbnyXOmAdNdSpsgpx-tVRWE2HmXiNjEkNrU0aYskqvkAH7IywzMH9SLZJue6rcYPGIfFXsvsAeauaod2ibTzvTX4NpFcNIpCS0MiDE1w35oHp-lHO0gnk5yLl_J/w150-h200/serra1.jpeg" width="150" /></a></div><br /> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynne_Cooke">Lynne Cooke</a> calls Serra's <i><a href="https://www.glenstone.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/QR-Code-Sheet_Contour-290_11-18-21.pdf">Contour 290</a></i>, 2004, "one of his most mercurial works". The site specific sculpture ensconced between two hilly meadows can be approached from different paths but stays remote, a wavy line in the landscape, sometimes obscured by trees when seen from different viewpoints. Located exactly 290 feet above sea-level, following the topography of the land, it required a meticulous mapping and engineering to secure the massive structure (15 feet high, 223 length and 165 tons). Closely involved in the process, the artist walked through the site to plan for the work embedded with nature. It introduces a three dimensional view of the landscape and Serra "was more interested in a penetration into the land that would open the field and bring you into it bodily, not just draw you into it visually". In 2006, the scene was disturbed by changes brought to the trees' alignment. If the steel wall from <i>Te Tuhirangi Contour</i>, 1999-2001, in New Zealand appears in harmony with the site (from photographs), <i>Contour 290</i> merely acts like an accessory to the landscape.<p></p><p>The term "architectural promenade" coined by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Corbusier">Le Corbusier</a> to describe "the intelligibility of a building given less through axonometric drawing than through the ways one moves through the space", applies perfectly to the visit of Serra's three sculptures "not objects we inspect but arrangements of space in which we move" (Buchloh). Hubris has to be part of the process of creativity, motivating the artist to redesign and domesticate nature with metal. Nature is resilient and follows its own rules but the massive sculptures, which at first sight seem eternal, show some vulnerability with their rusty haptic surface damaged not by the elements or time but by the visitors. Minimalism is about redesigning the space, here Serra "drawing in space" redesigns nature and sky. Does the sculptures' symbiosis with nature offer more than a casual walk? A spiritual experience? The artist makes his goal clear: "I don't think public sculpture is going to change the world, but I do think it might be a catalyst for thought. To see is to think and to think is to see." </p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsIVbO_0dPE76DNB-rPxcDW4ozPeHdtOYeJGkrXf8cjet9XagDw8aduCY2gxs9t-wcOf9lMilxZ3ykpyKzFyhjRkqzioYLciInZDJCSgyBqzgjA-7eOqg_j8P6fPNBzaGy4f6CB9Vtekb82WCmouqSt05pBjsL83Qioiz8IbXyy9MO0wbQTpTw-biH/s2965/Serra12.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2156" data-original-width="2965" height="233" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsIVbO_0dPE76DNB-rPxcDW4ozPeHdtOYeJGkrXf8cjet9XagDw8aduCY2gxs9t-wcOf9lMilxZ3ykpyKzFyhjRkqzioYLciInZDJCSgyBqzgjA-7eOqg_j8P6fPNBzaGy4f6CB9Vtekb82WCmouqSt05pBjsL83Qioiz8IbXyy9MO0wbQTpTw-biH/s320/Serra12.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><i><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i><br /></i></div>photographs by the author:</i><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>"Sylvester", 2001</i></div><div><i>"Contour 290", 2004</i></div><div><i>"Four Rounds: Equal Weight, Unequal Measure", 2017<br /></i><p><br /></p><p><br /></p></div>Sylvie Contigugliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06793587673934803612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1178270213976736618.post-45182404822300035232023-05-06T16:45:00.004-06:002023-05-06T16:45:40.150-06:00Kara Walker in Virginia<p> </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><i><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span></i></p><p><i><span></span></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div><i><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5o4fO9hd-HrJBcE8kNFBjoQxtOHnuM_fYaSuf9JpfhD22qAs0wPAneEXXA6BnotF97zqbGpqKjPjgcoHHpEEX7SjriqR4NMU8GbnAyj84qpMqPMt961J8uni2xH85-xcJ-Ams0paI-4RTAtRthgA54KTdUIvYlAEt7CXXYcxTKOIe4Eahpf8s6ZCo/s1523/Kara66.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1251" data-original-width="1523" height="164" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5o4fO9hd-HrJBcE8kNFBjoQxtOHnuM_fYaSuf9JpfhD22qAs0wPAneEXXA6BnotF97zqbGpqKjPjgcoHHpEEX7SjriqR4NMU8GbnAyj84qpMqPMt961J8uni2xH85-xcJ-Ams0paI-4RTAtRthgA54KTdUIvYlAEt7CXXYcxTKOIe4Eahpf8s6ZCo/w200-h164/Kara66.jpeg" width="200" /></a></div><br /> Cut to the quick, </i>an old <a href="https://grammarist.com/idiom/cut-to-the-quick/">idiom</a> suggests physical and by extension mental pain. The title of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kara_Walker">Kara Walker</a>'s latest <a href="https://virginiamoca.org/exhibition/kara-walker-cut-to-the-quick/">exhibition</a> at the <a href="https://virginiamoca.org/">Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art</a> gives a hint to the mood of the show about "<a href="https://www.jordanschnitzer.org/exhibition/kara-walker-virginia-moca-2023/">slavery, sexism, violence, imperialism</a>", themes which she started to investigate early in her practice and keep being its mainstay. The fifty-three-year-old artist has gained international recognition and created one of her major work<i> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fons_Americanus">Fons Americanus</a>,</i> 2019<i>,</i> for the <a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/visit/tate-modern/turbine-hall">Turbine Hall</a> at <a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/visit/tate-modern">Tate Modern</a> in London. The exhibition set in the main gallery of the museum, features more than eighty pieces from the <a href="https://www.jordanschnitzer.org/about/">Collections</a> of <a href="https://www.jordanschnitzer.org/">Jordan D. Schnitzer and the Jordan D. Schnitzer Family Foundation</a>. <p></p><p>Why <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_Beach,_Virginia">Virginia Beach</a>? The resort, largest city in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hampton_Roads">Hampton Roads</a> metropolitan area, is close to the site of the<a href="https://hampton.gov/3580/The-1619-Landing-Report-FAQs"> first landing</a> of twenty to thirty enslaved Africans in 1619. A history refresher is recommended before visiting the exhibit which starts abruptly with scenes of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Civil_War">American Civil War</a>. Twelve enlarged and revised prints of <i>Harper's Pictorial History of the Civil War</i>, a two-volume anthology published in 1866 and 1868, feature stenciled silhouettes to complete scenes in which a whole group of the community had been omitted. At first confusing, Kara Walker's<a href="https://www.nyhistory.org/exhibitions/kara-walker-harpers-pictorial-history-of-the-civil-war"> <i>Harper's Pictorial History of the</i> <i>Civil War (Annotated)</i></a>, 2005, (the series is made of <a href="https://www.moma.org/collection/works/portfolios/100549">fifteen lithograph and screenprints</a>) offers a new outlook on history. The wall texts are explanatory. </p><p>The scholarly beginning is followed by a display of more iconic works including a bronze relief portrait of a heavily featured African woman (<i>False Face</i>, 2017) and black cut-paper silhouettes on white background. The display is not in chronological order and a triptych inspired by Christian altarpieces, revisited through African and antebellum symbols, <i>Resurrection Story with</i> <i>Patrons</i>, 2017, is found next to <i>An Unpeopled Land in Uncharted Waters</i>, 2010, a series of etchings introduced by a poem from <a href="https://cionarousepoetry.com/">Ciona Rouse</a>. Hidden in a cubbyhole due to its graphic content, and easily missed, <a href="https://depont.nl/en/collection/artist/kara-walker/national-archives-microfilm-m999-roll-34-bureau-of-refugees-freedmen-and-abandoned-lands-six-miles-from-springfield-on-the-franklin-road/info"><i>National Archives Microfilm M999 Roll 34: Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands: Six Miles from Springfield on the</i> <i>Franklin Road</i>,</a> 2009, is a 13 mn video depicting rape and pillage with cut-out black puppets on bright backgrounds, the only colors in the show. <i>Testimony</i>, 2005, five framed stills from the video complete the display. More prints of different sizes mainly of the late 1990's and a few short poems from Ciona Rouse all related to the themes listed above are lined up on the walls. The black and white monotonous display is complemented by small scale models of famous works like <a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/kara-walker-2674/kara-walkers-fons-americanus"><i>Fons</i> <i>Americanus</i></a>, 2019, and <i><a href="https://www.artnews.com/art-news/reviews/cries-distress-horror-fear-prospect-4-new-orleans-kara-walkers-pitch-perfect-calliope-finally-sounds-9865/">The Katastwóf Karavan</a></i>, 1997, set in glass cases on pedestals in the middle of the room. The former is an uninspiring bronze maquette of the magistral sculpture erected in the middle of the <a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/visit/tate-modern/turbine-hall">Turbine Hall</a> at <a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/visit/tate-modern">Tate Modern</a>, while the latter brings back memories of the<a href="https://www.prospectneworleans.org/prospect-4"> Prospect.4 Triennial</a> in New Orleans where visitors got to share with the community a moment filled with emotions triggered by Kara Walker's installation along the Mississippi River. A playset in stainless steel describes lynching in a burning African village next to a <a href="https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/kara-walker-creates-porgy-and-bess-libretto-2393/">smudgy lithograph </a>illustrating the libretto of the famous opera <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porgy_and_Bess">Porgy and Bess</a></i> published in 2013. Satiated by images of rape and pillage, the visitor is invited to rest and reflect in a dedicated space offering deep soft cushions, books, mental health resources, a communal journal and a video of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emancipation_Oak">Emancipation Oak</a> projected on a large screen. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEg18P6bBvePv83iozmBeCqmD4ta2GkiUMaay0Gr9LBU9Rqbr4_JayNQdeUMaC4ZNzJoNqg_PtKRtYQ1FBEfHWzV4hww--F38xxrU6xJXhZUXie2os65PCg3BZYUdGP5dBClOnXpu62L8I24bNNy-4mWT4eq4QK3Y1-DlSCTS9_gj0Wvju_Eb54WSF/s2653/Kara55.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2003" data-original-width="2653" height="151" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEg18P6bBvePv83iozmBeCqmD4ta2GkiUMaay0Gr9LBU9Rqbr4_JayNQdeUMaC4ZNzJoNqg_PtKRtYQ1FBEfHWzV4hww--F38xxrU6xJXhZUXie2os65PCg3BZYUdGP5dBClOnXpu62L8I24bNNy-4mWT4eq4QK3Y1-DlSCTS9_gj0Wvju_Eb54WSF/w200-h151/Kara55.jpeg" width="200" /></a></div><br />A brief reprieve is needed before tackling the series titled <i><a href="https://jsma.uoregon.edu/sites/jsma1.uoregon.edu/files/Emancipation%20Approx.pdf">The Emancipation Approximation</a>, </i>1999-2000, where the subjects of rape and<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miscegenation"> miscegenation</a> are treated through mythological references. The succession of twenty six screen prints displayed in the narrow gallery tells a story filled with violent sexual acts between the swan (the white man) and Leda (the black woman). Black babies with white swan heads are born from the forced intercourse. Their silhouettes are drawn on grey backgrounds. The graphic series describing rapes and more sexual perversions is verging on obscenity. The accompanying wall texts about police brutality, health and wealth disparities, mass incarceration and today's nominal freedom of Black Americans, while raising genuine concerns, appear irrelevant to the work, so does its title. <p></p><p>Hailed as a<a href="https://virginiamoca.org/exhibition/kara-walker-cut-to-the-quick"> leading artist </a>of her generation, Kara Walker was the youngest recipient of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacArthur_Fellows_Program">Mc Arthur Fellowship</a> at the age of twenty eight, and dedicated her career to producing <a href="https://www.thebroad.org/art/kara-walker">"Black women's art"</a>. The eighty works spanning almost twenty five years are a testimony of her commitment. Over the years, she used various media while keeping the graphics of her iconic cut-out black silhouettes, and succeeded in reaching local as well as international audiences. However, her attempts to infuse spirituality to her works like in the triptych <i>Resurrection Story with Patrons</i>, 2017, or give them a mythical dimension, fall flat. Twisting history, she stated: "I'm fascinated with the stories we tell. Real histories become fantasies and fairy tales, morality tales, and fables. There's something interesting and funny and perverse about the way fairytale sometimes passes for history, for truth." At the end, her work, blurring reality and myth, history and tales, may confuse some of her audience and offers little hope. </p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betye_Saar">Betye Saar</a>, one of Kara Walker's detractors, stated in the <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/cultureshock/provocations/kara/3.html">1991 PBS series</a><i> I'll Make Me a World</i>:" I felt the work of Kara Walker was sort of revolting and negative and a form of betrayal to the slaves, particularly women and children; that it was basically for the amusement and the investment of the white art establishment." It is ironic that the collector who sponsored the exhibition <a href="https://www.jordanschnitzer.org/about/">Jordan D. Schnitzer</a> is the scion of a wealthy white family from Oregon.</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpE-HetG52yY0lQC1pzcIO7CsMkC3MtTbHVtNVOr2YBKYV0Z21EcVke247fHbqdG35zoyN_LCvDxp_bleN_8iHCQ4bu1DPASb9VCbSvPWsuyl2UYTRa3JqfKCqLSGrPK0LBonpDOoqwsqmpvxfxKCX1YrSHiiIQt1hwNUiu0hs-n9DCYfXyvd1Esxi/s2997/Kara33.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1032" data-original-width="2997" height="110" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpE-HetG52yY0lQC1pzcIO7CsMkC3MtTbHVtNVOr2YBKYV0Z21EcVke247fHbqdG35zoyN_LCvDxp_bleN_8iHCQ4bu1DPASb9VCbSvPWsuyl2UYTRa3JqfKCqLSGrPK0LBonpDOoqwsqmpvxfxKCX1YrSHiiIQt1hwNUiu0hs-n9DCYfXyvd1Esxi/s320/Kara33.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><i>photographs by the author:</i></p><p><i>"Harper's Pictorial History of the Civil War (Annotated): Alabama Loyalists Greeting the Federal Gun Boats", 2005</i></p><p><i>"African/American", 1998</i></p><p><i>"Resurrection Story with Patrons", 201</i>7</p><p style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: fox, sans-serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 0.35em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></p><div class="post-content-image //" style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; margin-left: calc(var(--a-content-left-spacing)*-0.5rem); margin-right: calc(var(--a-content-left-spacing)*-0.5rem); margin-top: 1rem;"><figure class="o-figure aligncenter size-horizontal wp-image-1202679131 lrv-u-max-width-100p" style="border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; float: none; margin: 1rem auto; max-width: 100%; width: 1024px;"><div class="c-lazy-image" style="border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="lrv-a-crop-16x9" style="border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; padding-bottom: 576.281px; position: relative;"></div></div></figure></div>Sylvie Contigugliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06793587673934803612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1178270213976736618.post-27670900369010541722023-04-03T08:56:00.001-06:002023-04-03T16:31:14.083-06:00Philip Guston at the National Gallery of Art<p> </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7yqx1VM0XlkhHicKU01CqfYMnS3et8-0aMPTmGd4vIHQS6DyzgJr0cECEp-w8VScFWpTjn7aGBnn2yriWtSiYUm0YrcjOrf8n2DTlTMSzGhTh_IYCMbDPX1bL1DIzejXS27EhdVpDr-4UgQPjrRfujoJ5CU5fzkOcJSTKWux4KkriboCP2Xg2TZO6/s1278/guston11.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1278" data-original-width="884" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7yqx1VM0XlkhHicKU01CqfYMnS3et8-0aMPTmGd4vIHQS6DyzgJr0cECEp-w8VScFWpTjn7aGBnn2yriWtSiYUm0YrcjOrf8n2DTlTMSzGhTh_IYCMbDPX1bL1DIzejXS27EhdVpDr-4UgQPjrRfujoJ5CU5fzkOcJSTKWux4KkriboCP2Xg2TZO6/w138-h200/guston11.jpeg" width="138" /></a></div><br />After a two-year-long delay, the exhibition <i><a href="https://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/2023/philip-guston-now.html"> Philip Guston Now</a></i> <i> </i>just opened at the <a href="https://www.nga.gov/">National Gallery of Art</a> in Washington, D.C. Expectations are high following earlier showings at the <a href="https://www.mfa.org/">Museum of Fine Arts Boston</a> and the <a href="https://www.mfah.org/">Museum of Fine Arts Houston</a>. Guston (1913-1980) disappeared more than forty years ago, and a retrospective of his career which spans half a century allows to take a fresh look at his work in today's context. Time has come to reassess the artist's legacy overshadowed by<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/chaddscott/2022/05/01/americas-most-controversial-art-exhibition-philip-guston-now-debuts-at-mfa-boston/?sh=845bab46e1cd"> controversy</a>. The exhibition assembles more than two hundred paintings and drawings from public and private collections, displayed in the temporary exhibition area near the auditorium of the <a href="https://www.nga.gov/features/slideshows/a-design-for-the-east-building.html">East building</a> designed by the architect <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I._M._Pei">Pei</a>. <p></p><p>Like advertisements, a video, two iconic paintings (<i>Rug</i>, 1976, and <i>Painter's Table</i>, 1973, from the National Gallery of Art's permanent collection) and a wall text, introduce the exhibit. The artist's short biography provides the thread for the show organized in chronological order, and includes at the bottom a warning about its content. At first glance it feels like being in the wrong place: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pablo_Picasso">Picasso</a>? <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giorgio_de_Chirico">De Chirico</a>? <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Ernst">Max Ernst</a>? and more... The self-taught artist ( Guston could not afford art classes) gets his inspiration from the bests and acquires a flawless technique producing works like <i>Mother and Child</i>, c.1930, or <i>Female Nude with Easel,</i> 1935. In <i>Bombardment</i>, 1937, a tondo about <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombing_of_Guernica">Guernica</a>, Guston expresses the horror of the dramatic event with evocative images surrounding a fiery explosion. He finds work as a muralist, influenced by artists like <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_Clemente_Orozco">Orozco</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Alfaro_Siqueiros">Siqueiros</a>. Early on, the "student" introduces personal marks like a lightbulb in <i>Nude Philosopher in Space-Time</i>, 1935 or a hood in <i>Drawing for</i> <i>Conspirators</i>, 1930, rich in symbolism. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPzWFjI0I3UTjihPFBgfqWCL7W-8Ab8C7LR-XGbov2Ydjcrne58HLkQIDEWJJjXRY3LSE2Kglw9zEm_AthzWtIZshOHSVcjO-lVU4sGLmeFN-E9I5pytb4f8Db3ePtv2J0LEEiaNoXU0ZxcTPYJk0HJIYJXT-2bsAIpdM8GRVhre_uS6ZjJKiN9l7t/s1349/Guston22.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1298" data-original-width="1349" height="193" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPzWFjI0I3UTjihPFBgfqWCL7W-8Ab8C7LR-XGbov2Ydjcrne58HLkQIDEWJJjXRY3LSE2Kglw9zEm_AthzWtIZshOHSVcjO-lVU4sGLmeFN-E9I5pytb4f8Db3ePtv2J0LEEiaNoXU0ZxcTPYJk0HJIYJXT-2bsAIpdM8GRVhre_uS6ZjJKiN9l7t/w200-h193/Guston22.jpeg" width="200" /></a></div><br />The path of the artist veers slowly to abstraction with tight compositions like <i>The Porch, </i>1946-1947 and <i>The Porch II</i>, 1947, followed by three dark red paintings made from 1947 to 1950 in which shapes are hardly visible, like fading hieroglyphs. Guston's move to New York City, where he reunites with his high school's friend<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackson_Pollock"> Jackson Pollock</a> and the group of abstract expressionist painters, appears to be a new beginning, and the next gallery is filled with colors from paintings lined up on both sides: the pinnacle of Guston's abstract period is represented by about ten works starting with an earlier piece <i>White Painting I</i>, 1951, and ending with<i> Fable</i>, 1956-1957, and <i>Voyage</i>, 1956. Guston rejected the fame brought by the exhibition of his works at the <a href="https://www.guggenheim.org/">Guggenheim</a> in 1962, and his black-grey self-portraits <i>Smoker</i>, 1963, <i>Painter III</i>, 1963, <i>Head I</i>, 1965, reflect his mood at the time. All along, the display of drawings combined with the paintings highlights the artist's reliance on the technique, foundation of his practice. In the late sixties, he literally went back to the drawing board. The artist's struggle comes to light through about twenty of his studies (1966-1968) organized on a wall, starting with a line, a shape then an object, followed by twenty five small images of painted objects (oil on panel) set in a narrow passage. From design to colors, lightbulb, iron, curtain, nail, book, shoes, ..., reach a "Gustonian" status and define his cartoonish alphabet. A sign at the entrance of a gallery on the right side warns the visitors about its content: the famous Marlborough paintings, at least some of them. In 1970, the exhibition at the Marlborough gallery with thirty new paintings represents a watershed in Guston's practice and life. Being surrounded by key works from Guston can be overwhelming: bigger size, pink color, content. It takes some time to look at <i>The Studio</i>, 1969,<i> Caught</i>, 1970, <i>City Limits</i>, 1969, ... more than ten paintings from the period next to each other. The omnipresent hooded figures, intellectually acceptable in Guston's context, remain culturally sensitive and the show's lay-out allows to skip the area filled with the paintings representing the crux of Guston's practice. <p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzNyt6Jrfcwj7TSffgasPq3VJ8yTGyzl1kZ4x_V3gnGKTjwPlfjrx2mVjbrmMEL3sDIulYFgXEHDEIN7kP0QUh6jKsB7WGEMLfko9cDiQsA5x9mKkamZRk99v57HhatTuJ807BdVD-VB9dfd70IhNhaDDs72HEdMgH-RDgDTLUyQ7gHA8pTikWZwkt/s2840/Guston44.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2840" data-original-width="2598" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzNyt6Jrfcwj7TSffgasPq3VJ8yTGyzl1kZ4x_V3gnGKTjwPlfjrx2mVjbrmMEL3sDIulYFgXEHDEIN7kP0QUh6jKsB7WGEMLfko9cDiQsA5x9mKkamZRk99v57HhatTuJ807BdVD-VB9dfd70IhNhaDDs72HEdMgH-RDgDTLUyQ7gHA8pTikWZwkt/w183-h200/Guston44.jpeg" width="183" /></a></div><br />Following the <i>Cyclops</i> <i>series</i>, which include the famous derisive self-portrait <i>Painting, Smoking,</i> <i>Eating</i>, 1972, the tone becomes intimate with the inclusion of Musa, his dedicated wife. Never the focal point, she is depicted as a remote but powerful presence, with on top of her head, a hairpiece like a sunset. <i>The Ladder</i>, 1978, depicts a touching scene in which the painter climbs a blue wall to reach Musa, a spiritual endeavor. Guston is facing aging and illness, torn between his roles as caregiver and artist. He holds his brushes tight while embracing Musa in <i>Couple in Bed</i>, 1977. The background is black and grey with a watch in the center of the painting. Time is running out. In a corner, a few drawings commissioned by the Navy and studies for murals made between 1936-1942 feel out of place as the exhibition progresses toward the last decade of Guston's career defined by darker works like <i>Flame</i>, 1979, <i>Talking</i>, 1979 or <i>Kettle</i>, 1978, facing a series of smaller canvasses still lifes from 1980, on view for the show in Washington only. Before reaching the last gallery, the ominous hand of God emerges from a puffy cloud, drawing a line (<i>The Line</i>, 1978). Six more late paintings, three of them about the studio, make up the grand finale including a one hourlong documentary about the artist in the nearby theater.<div><br /></div><div><div>The exhibition is flawless from the selection of works, to the wall texts and intermingled artist's quotes complemented by an essential catalog. It highlights the tight connection between Guston's life events and his practice and rejuvenates his paintings seen in a new social and political context. The visit of his career's most controversial period is softened by appropriate wall texts and the plan of the galleries. Projecting his personal conflicts on the canvass, the artist makes himself vulnerable as he brings along a great dose of cynicism and humor. He does not shy from his personal demons which brought him to adopt a most reviled figure as his doppelganger: "The idea of evil fascinated me,..., I almost tried to imagine that I was living with the Klan. What would it be like to be evil?"</div><div> Another quote about the Vietnam war gives a key to his practice: </div><div>"...What kind of man am I, sitting at home, reading magazines, going into frustrated fury about everything- and then going into my studio to adjust a red to a blue?" Guston did not believe in art for art's sake. It appears that if his early years including his abstract expressionist period deserve attention, Guston really thrived when he became himself: a storyteller.</div><div><p><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikVPt2YHIHHMKV3xckuW1_PA9SvVNo2NR-OfZMm0g-luBjPR7u0AnVb-GL1CIX6WZvCN_M22jDZVG_Zufoq6lgXbMLWhglt0Ac7Bs6nAT5ePOxzTQUE8E9hts8pe8gJt9ehWtRvorntOLW2dE8R1nkrSDqqXaiNGKrc8nzxHwcqfwK49DijZMVF3A7/s2897/Guston33.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1812" data-original-width="2897" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikVPt2YHIHHMKV3xckuW1_PA9SvVNo2NR-OfZMm0g-luBjPR7u0AnVb-GL1CIX6WZvCN_M22jDZVG_Zufoq6lgXbMLWhglt0Ac7Bs6nAT5ePOxzTQUE8E9hts8pe8gJt9ehWtRvorntOLW2dE8R1nkrSDqqXaiNGKrc8nzxHwcqfwK49DijZMVF3A7/s320/Guston33.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><i>photographs by the author:</i><p></p><p><span><i>"Self-Portrait", 1944</i></span></p><p><span><i>"Dial", 1956</i></span></p><p><span><i>"The Studio" 1969</i></span></p><p><span><i>"The Street", 1977</i><br /> </span><span> </span><span> </span><br /></p></div></div>Sylvie Contigugliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06793587673934803612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1178270213976736618.post-84994085825034150062023-01-12T16:03:00.003-07:002023-03-02T14:57:02.960-07:00At the Rubell DC<p> </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpJMtnMe_cHJCTMBDQ-jlONqN2eCk5_xRdizNeL6KnGtRsDfGBmK07ahFIl0_FZOmVx2YIzMoEU2DOOqYUsVoaz7v7bunnbkdVvXIiFj3ds8LDpzJluJOjGy94PmmbTWVqq14xRowfKWZiza0uijD5Jly8gnDXed8HF4LJm9kADAXAXWnA0dZher9O/s2048/rubell2.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpJMtnMe_cHJCTMBDQ-jlONqN2eCk5_xRdizNeL6KnGtRsDfGBmK07ahFIl0_FZOmVx2YIzMoEU2DOOqYUsVoaz7v7bunnbkdVvXIiFj3ds8LDpzJluJOjGy94PmmbTWVqq14xRowfKWZiza0uijD5Jly8gnDXed8HF4LJm9kADAXAXWnA0dZher9O/w150-h200/rubell2.jpeg" width="150" /></a></div><br />With more than <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubell_Museum">7,400 works by more than 1,000 artists</a> in its collection, the Rubell family has become a prominent mover of the art world, extending its reach from Miami to Washington DC with the Fall opening of the <a href="https://rubellmuseum.org/dc">Rubell Museum DC</a> in the <a href="https://rubellmuseum.org/dc">Southwest Waterfront</a> area. Ensconced in the heart of an African-American community, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randall_Junior_High_School">Randall Junior High School</a> building abandoned for decades was recently renovated to become an art venue, leading to the unavoidable gentrification of the neighborhood. The challenge will be to keep its soul despite its new purpose. From the entrance through the auditorium going up up and down the stairs of the three levels, corridors, classrooms (now galleries) are a constant reminder of its previous life. <p></p><p>Bathed in the sunlight drawing shapes on the floor, the wide space of the auditorium is the perfect setting for four major pieces by their size and quality, two on each side. <a href="https://kehindewiley.com/">Kehinde Wiley</a>'s <i>Sleep</i>, 2008, and<i> Another</i> <i>Man's Cloth,</i> 2006, from <a href="https://elanatsui.art/">El Anatsui</a> are like magnets for the viewers as they walk in. The punchy introduction is followed by a visit of the first gallery (twenty four total!) where the viewers can immerse themselves in<a href="https://www.haring.com/"> Keith Haring</a>'s cartoonish series <i>Untitled (Against All Odds), 1989, </i>dedicated to Don Rubell's brother deceased from AIDS, while listening to the music of <i>What's Going On,</i> an album from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvin_Gaye">Marvin Gaye</a>'s, previous student at the school. The surprisingly small size of the rooms allows intimate solo or group shows. One of the galleries is dedicated to female artists with nudes from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mickalene_Thomas">Mickalene Thomas</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cecily_Brown">Cecily Brown</a>, <a href="https://www.marlenedumas.nl/">Marlene Dumas</a> and<a href="https://yuskavage.com/"> Lisa Yuskavage</a>, another to African-American male artists with works from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glenn_Ligon">Glenn Ligon</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rashid_Johnson">Rashid Johnson</a>, <a href="https://garysimmonsstudio.com/bfihrh8yfe70m8myrec8ba65x0nac2">Gary Simmons</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_Drew">Leonardo Drew</a> who takes over the show with <i>Untitled #25, 1992</i>, a giant wall of cotton placed in the middle of the room, a feat in itself. The self-taught artist <a href="https://purvisyoung.com/">Purvis Young</a> from Miami, gets two walls in a corridor for his paintings about funerals, protesters and pregnant women, and <a href="https://hankwillisthomas.com/">Hank Willis Thomas</a> for his <i>Unbranded Series, 2006-2008</i>, in which he highlights the perverted use of black men's image in advertisement, a wall to wall display of photographs filling a gallery and an adjacent narrow passage. It is the occasion to discover the caricatural portraits from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tschabalala_Self">Tschabalala Self</a> empowering black females, accompanied by a wall text about <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intersectionality">intersectionality</a>, and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sylvia_Snowden">Sylvia Snowden</a>'s series <i>Shell;Glimpses, 2010-2012, </i>about her daughter's character depicted through an abstract expressionist vein with brash colors and heavy impasto. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0KdPg_ILVHMX8iCFXmcZ5q7ZPcgsWffJivRNXHtmPoQVsIdw2o87N_GOaItZWQ9RDUl8AAvEO4JLgGRgoznIQ5LRNQc8iq6Zrv0bv2Jm0-iSfIDAPalqhJYdrrnZ7PZU1gz3DBuCpSI_cejHGvEXrVRaUPcs7qRFg5MWBHxjYCSBoJ8k1V6bpxX0k/s3025/rubell11.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3025" data-original-width="2680" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0KdPg_ILVHMX8iCFXmcZ5q7ZPcgsWffJivRNXHtmPoQVsIdw2o87N_GOaItZWQ9RDUl8AAvEO4JLgGRgoznIQ5LRNQc8iq6Zrv0bv2Jm0-iSfIDAPalqhJYdrrnZ7PZU1gz3DBuCpSI_cejHGvEXrVRaUPcs7qRFg5MWBHxjYCSBoJ8k1V6bpxX0k/w178-h200/rubell11.jpeg" width="178" /></a></div><br />The list of artists goes on: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurizio_Cattelan">Maurizio Cattelan</a>, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/California-Institute-of-the-Arts">Carrie Mae Weems</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Boltanski">Christian Boltanski</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danh_V%C3%B5">Danh Võ</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cady_Noland">CadyNoland</a>,... Sometimes represented by one small piece lost among the overcrowded display like <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kara_Walker">Kara Walker</a> or <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Colescott">Robert Colescott</a>, the fifty artists selected for the exhibition are all "responding to pressing social and political issues" through their works as described on the museum's website. The walls are covered with paintings, drawings and photographs, along the stairs, the landings, the corridors, leaving little space to take a step back. A few sculptures are located in the central halls on the first and second floor. The visit ends in the basement where three installations are relegated possibly due to their sensitive subject and shocking visual impact on some visitors especially children. Starting with the least controversial, a room filled with plastic detritus thrown among broken classical columns, all covered with imitation gold leaf. <i>A refusal to Accept Limits, 2007</i>, from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Miller_(American_artist)">John Miller </a>invites the visitors to wander among glittering piles of garbage. Next door, in contrast, three pieces from<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josh_Kline_(artist)"> Josh Kline</a> bring a miserabilist touch with a lighted shopping cart filled with various items and a too realistic female body lying on the floor in a fetal position, thrown in a transparent plastic bag. The long-winded wall text poorly printed about capitalism predicts a dismal future. Is <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cajsa_von_Zeipel">Casja von Zeipel </a>a provocateur? <i>Post Me, Post You,</i> <i>2022</i>, her pornographic installation with all the props made a stir last Spring at the <a href="https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2022/05/19/frieze-new-york-2022-diary">Frieze New York Art Fair</a> and appears more appropriate for a sex-dungeon. Enough said about it and forget the selfies... gross. <p></p><p><i>What's Going On, </i>the vague title of the show,<i> </i>allows the inclusion of diverse works and a long list of artists, the ultimate aim being the presentation of the Rubell Family Collection for the benefit of the visitors (and the Collection). However, more can be less. </p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2OzmxuNTMPRw1P6VvUkqq2cY4BvEbaNw358dOIjvpB5KkqjzUaMpKd1OSRI6SFSlU20SkidZv1EL9gLGA4BWo2ZrxGWPUHpCSznWEQAKne-Ylh4YhtCYJfkKfK40gouttyPC26ZM8g-rYhIlBiFdAenhpBsmxFaqhwbsuZQ46b0c5qA-ViAgR3jwA/s2815/rubell33.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2436" data-original-width="2815" height="277" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2OzmxuNTMPRw1P6VvUkqq2cY4BvEbaNw358dOIjvpB5KkqjzUaMpKd1OSRI6SFSlU20SkidZv1EL9gLGA4BWo2ZrxGWPUHpCSznWEQAKne-Ylh4YhtCYJfkKfK40gouttyPC26ZM8g-rYhIlBiFdAenhpBsmxFaqhwbsuZQ46b0c5qA-ViAgR3jwA/s320/rubell33.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><br /><p><i>photographs by the author:</i></p><p><i>John Miller "A Refusal to Accept Limits", 2007.</i></p><p><i>Tschabalala Self, "Two Girls", 2019</i></p><p><i>Cecily Brown "Black Painting 4", 2003</i></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Sylvie Contigugliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06793587673934803612noreply@blogger.com0Washington, DC, USA38.9071923 -77.036870710.596958463821153 -112.1931207 67.217426136178844 -41.880620699999994tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1178270213976736618.post-75713325778259588952022-11-30T17:13:00.003-07:002023-02-25T13:40:38.065-07:00Hyper-realism<p> </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMbCrFixOp7KxujtiKm0XtgDAWAtlPmzfOlPhyt98z2C29FGmZwWiyonP2Whlg9suGio4OE1Ni_t2muF83-RhSpplxl_80e5QKnI9Vg4Sc3TgprWhyYTmYBz00HRuVXn1Yu_gCXOLhXpA28T1-I7_oW1UMrV-0QTyzuS2dy-rE0dTkfiJ9eAlM_WxN/s2048/hyper.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMbCrFixOp7KxujtiKm0XtgDAWAtlPmzfOlPhyt98z2C29FGmZwWiyonP2Whlg9suGio4OE1Ni_t2muF83-RhSpplxl_80e5QKnI9Vg4Sc3TgprWhyYTmYBz00HRuVXn1Yu_gCXOLhXpA28T1-I7_oW1UMrV-0QTyzuS2dy-rE0dTkfiJ9eAlM_WxN/w150-h200/hyper.jpeg" width="150" /></a></div><br />A former private mansion rue de Grenelle in Paris shelters the permanent collection of the <a href="https://www.museemaillol.com/">Musée Maillol</a>, primarily dedicated to the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aristide_Maillol">sculptor</a>. Usually quiet, the venue with its grand staircase and dark rooms, is taken over by a crowd spilling in the street, attracted by the travelling exhibition <i>Hyperréalisme: Ceci n'est pas un corps</i> ("Hyperrealism: this is not a body") well-advertised on tourists' websites. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperrealism_(visual_arts)">Hyperrealism</a> includes a whole gamut of<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Realism_(arts)"> realistic</a> paintings and sculptures with a twist, hence the prefix, and emerges from <a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/Photo-realism">photorealism</a>, an American art movement born sometimes in the 1960's as a reaction to the post-WWII abstract movement. Confused by the shapes, colors, and meanings of nonrepresentational works, frustrated visitors come by, eager to look at art they can relate to. The exhibition features thirty six works from thirty artists and spans almost forty years. In addition, a special display highlights four pieces spread among Maillol's permanent collection on the top floor . <p></p><p>What I thought was a distraught visitor leaning against the wall turned out to be my first encounter with the show: a life-like sculpture with long blond hair, wearing jeans and t-shirt like everyday teenager, <i>Caroline</i>, 2014, from <a href="http://danielfirman.com/">Daniel Firman</a>. The cow-boy and two tired laborers from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duane_Hanson">Duane Hanson</a> and <i>Ethyl</i>, 2003, from<a href="http://www.tskuebler.com/"> Tom Kuebler</a> fit perfectly the first theme "Human Replicas". In the same realistic vein, cliché with their props: hats, boots, buckets or a lasso for the cow-boy, they look cartoonish and fail to provoke an emotional connection. In contrast, two sculptures in polychrome bronze, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_De_Andrea">John Deandrea</a>'s <i>American Icon - Kent State</i>, 2015 and <i>Dying Gaul</i>, 2010, are unsettling. In the dark room, their bodies glowing under the spotlights, the distressed naked humans are represented in their most intimate details, pubic hair included, and their poses speak of a tragic destiny, one of violent death. Moving on, the moody sculpture from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Segal_(artist)">George Segal </a> <i>Blue Girl on Park Bench</i>, 1980, expresses the sadness of loneliness through the melancholy of the color blue. Farther, a nude also from Segal, appears abandoned, drifting on a couch, white like a ghost. Representing himself with a (tortured) tree trunk from the waist down or surrounded by birds, <a href="https://www.merellefabien.com/">Fabien Merelle</a>'s self-portraits allude to his deep connection with nature. More nudes fill this section dedicated to monochrome works with among them a very classical portrait in marble from <a href="http://www.fabioviale.it/">Fabio Viale</a>. "Parts of the Body" is taken over by a central piece from<a href="https://nicolaiwallner.com/peter-land/works/"> Peter Land</a>, an adjustable body, another self-portrait asleep this time, snaking its way at the center of the room. <a href="https://www.valteradamcasotto.com/">Valter Adam Casotto</a> cuts his body in pieces. Enlarged lips, elbow, palm, ..., with magnified creases and lines are covered with innocent drawings from his childhood, a not so subtle allusion to aging. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Warhol">Andy Warhol</a>'s bust by <a href="https://kazustudios.com/about">Kazu Hiro</a> appears very official with his grey hair well parted, closely shaved face, looking down at the viewer, without a smile, chin firmly set on two fingers in a judgmental pose, ready to take his place at <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madame_Tussauds">Madame Tussauds</a>. An iconic sculpture from <a href="https://www.carolefeuerman.com/">Carole Feuerman</a> and the famous <i>Ave Maria</i>, 2007, from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurizio_Cattelan">Maurizio Cattelan</a>, get lost in the display. "Playing with Size" and "Deformed Realities" assemble almost half of the group show's artists who represent diverse countries and continents: Australia, Serbia, Italy, Republic of North Macedonia, Belgium, South Africa, Sierra Leone, United States, a testimony to the international reach of hyperrealism. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaMU2OIWlwkSeZXOB0HOjLhqPbITR5Y4Qa5f2p2RRaLtHg6p8YbmYVa2nE4bLAct_hk4GHdRm3qk1FsJOHre8WfvemSXhqdMY47DamHiOOAnXA6bqiM43YWme7S8umQWdJBKKqlW2cwlfDJ4HvjNjmX41mcpfEZXIn1-7ZauUtTcTXCeCC9XOM0ZS2/s2048/hyper1.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaMU2OIWlwkSeZXOB0HOjLhqPbITR5Y4Qa5f2p2RRaLtHg6p8YbmYVa2nE4bLAct_hk4GHdRm3qk1FsJOHre8WfvemSXhqdMY47DamHiOOAnXA6bqiM43YWme7S8umQWdJBKKqlW2cwlfDJ4HvjNjmX41mcpfEZXIn1-7ZauUtTcTXCeCC9XOM0ZS2/w150-h200/hyper1.jpeg" width="150" /></a></div><br /> One can find works from<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_Mueck"> Ron Mueck</a> or <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlinde_De_Bruyckere">Berlinde de Bruyckere</a> next to those of less known artists, showcasing the diversity of backgrounds and practices. Following the rich display, "Shifting Boundaries", the exhibition's last chapter provides a glimpse into the future of hyperrealism, and sculpture in general, when the boundaries between fiction and reality are blurred and technology becomes the art as illustrated by the talkative animated piece <i>Jonathan</i>, 2009, from the duo Glaser/Kunz. At the end, the irresistible selfie takes over the show with the visitors lining up to become the subject of Erwin Wurm's piece <i>Idiot II, 2003</i>, eager to expose themselves to the anonymous crowd of social media. <p></p><p>Repulsion, compassion, indifference, the viewers go through a whole gamut of emotions mixed with curiosity and voyeurism. Many resist the temptation to touch the more haptic pieces of art... are they real? Spread in the rooms, loop videos of artists' interviews in which they reveal their techniques take away some of the magic. More or less relevant quotes are also available on the walls. However the bodies frozen for eternity appear objectified rather than transcended and this impression becomes more acute when they are spread among Maillol's sculptures. The short conclusion to the show leaves us pondering about the future of hyperrealism, stretched to the absurd. </p><p>Upcoming: three special showings for naturists allowed to go through the exhibition totally naked!</p><p><br /></p><p><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd5my8XIt3CuSPCKmpnyMxVt6fY7FXdWpF_1jhNimGIf0OwFonossKCfyTZKs5FDMq4ZrDuRP2qhDEKlKUFIeQK2nI7nT64VGkmL0kInZwo-Fkx4_9RCfUGgmy-jNARLzn4Om9jOKKQH2wvsGJdZplGYVMQ-7gVG1hQ6yrUu01Gkm9fJoFsF1eWKZE/s2048/hyper2.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd5my8XIt3CuSPCKmpnyMxVt6fY7FXdWpF_1jhNimGIf0OwFonossKCfyTZKs5FDMq4ZrDuRP2qhDEKlKUFIeQK2nI7nT64VGkmL0kInZwo-Fkx4_9RCfUGgmy-jNARLzn4Om9jOKKQH2wvsGJdZplGYVMQ-7gVG1hQ6yrUu01Gkm9fJoFsF1eWKZE/s320/hyper2.jpeg" width="240" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><i><div><i><br /></i></div>photographs by the author:</i><div><i>"Stringiamoci a coorte", 2017, Valter Adam Casotto</i></div><div><i>"Untitled (Man in a Sheet)", 1997, Ron Mueck</i></div><div><i>"Pat & Veerle", 1974, Jacques Verduyn</i></div><div> </div>Sylvie Contigugliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06793587673934803612noreply@blogger.com0Paris, France48.856614 2.352221920.546380163821155 -32.8040281 77.166847836178846 37.5084719tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1178270213976736618.post-82871573514403108842022-10-07T08:59:00.001-06:002023-02-25T13:41:05.277-07:00The year of women artists at Hirshhorn<p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span>In 2009, the curators at the<a href="https://www.centrepompidou.fr/en/"> Centre Pompidou</a> in Paris took the bold decision to fill the venue with works selected from the permanent collection of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mus%C3%A9e_National_d%27Art_Moderne">Musée National d'Art Moderne</a>, solely created by women artists. <i><a href="https://www.artnexus.com/en/magazines/article-magazine-artnexus/5d63490390cc21cf7c0a21f4/74/elles-at-centre-pompidou">elles@centre pompidou</a> </i>which took place from<a href="https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elles@centrepompidou"> May 2009 until<i> </i>February 2011</a> was a revelation for visitors like me. More recently in 2021, <i><a href="https://www.centrepompidou.fr/en/program/calendar/event/OmzSxFv">Women in Abstraction</a></i> showcased the ongoing interest in gender themed exhibitions extending lately to smaller museums like the <a href="https://museeduluxembourg.fr/fr">Musée du Luxembourg</a> with <i><a href="https://museeduluxembourg.fr/en/agenda/evenement/pionnieres">Pioneers: Artists in the Paris of the Roaring Twenties</a>, </i>a show about the influence of women artists between the two World Wars. This Fall, the <a href="https://hirshhorn.si.edu/exhibitions-events/">Hirshhorn </a>in Washington D.C. is catching up with an<a href="https://hirshhorn.si.edu/exhibitions/put-it-this-way/"> exhibition</a> of works selected from its permanent collection. <i>Put It This Way:</i> <i>(Re)Visions of the Hirshhorn Collection </i>"unites almost a century of work by 49 women and nonbinary artists". Located on the third floor, it assembles paintings, sculptures, collages, photographs, videos and installations spread in the galleries of the circular building. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3ppv7_dWdDSMny3xoXI9dC7fYxXSEzo_j5J2olUA5Z7j6MALeCwbKgXUhck8XP8d2Np9JcC9nb1EwLCv72EBH86cxnpanhSAEIFrlTLwVdAh_U0bTcuJxl1zc75emsiMp3iQr1Z_JWUUb6fZ9DbiDJH82VDpGtTNaJR5KI-8z5sHVhThUid7dkuvS/s1470/blog144.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1470" data-original-width="1164" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3ppv7_dWdDSMny3xoXI9dC7fYxXSEzo_j5J2olUA5Z7j6MALeCwbKgXUhck8XP8d2Np9JcC9nb1EwLCv72EBH86cxnpanhSAEIFrlTLwVdAh_U0bTcuJxl1zc75emsiMp3iQr1Z_JWUUb6fZ9DbiDJH82VDpGtTNaJR5KI-8z5sHVhThUid7dkuvS/w158-h200/blog144.jpeg" width="158" /></a></div><br />Organized by themes, the exhibition starts with "Eye, Body", a salient subject exploring voyeurism, violence, objectification of women, isms related to race and gender, through diverse works including <i>Display Stand with Madonnas</i>, 1987-1989, a towering accumulation of Virgin Marys from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katharina_Fritsch">Katharina Fritsch</a>. Further, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billie_Zangewa">Billie Zangewa</a> in <i>A Vivid Imagination</i>, 2021, represents a lonely matriarchal figure set in her backyard garden invaded by an ill-defined threatening white shape, fostering a feeling of doom. A major work from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carolee_Schneemann">Carolee Schneemann</a><i> Eye Body: 36</i> <i>Transformative Actions,</i> 1963-1973, feature photographs of the naked artist surrounded by attributes like snake, ropes, tarp, feathers, broken mirrors, and more. During her performances, the artist offers her body to the visitor's gaze in tableaux recorded by <a href="http://www.artnet.com/artists/err%C3%B3/">Erró</a>. Pain and trauma inspire the next works, from a video featuring <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ana_Mendieta">Ana Mendieta</a> in the nude, pouring blood on herself then rolling in white feathers to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cecily_Brown">Cecily Brown</a>'s painting "à la Soutine", <i>Hoodlum</i>, 2000-2001, inspired by her surroundings in New York City's Meatpacking district. Throwing soil from a plantation on a white wall to represent a map of the United States sums up the performance from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiyan_Williams">Kiyan Williams</a> filled with historical references. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Senga_Nengudi">Senga Nengudi</a>'s <i>R.S.V.P X</i>, 1976/2014, like a drawing in space, enlivens a corner of the gallery where the elegant sculpture seems ready to dance. Adding to its aesthetic element, the piece made of panty hoses filled with sand and rose petals alludes to the resilience of women's body during pregnancy. Did Nengudi hint also at their psychological resilience? Conceptual art allows us to speculate. Following the somewhat tense works, "Nature and Abstraction" offers a break with a stunning triptych from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_Mitchell">Joan Mitchell</a>. Size, vibrancy of colors, vigor of the brush, makes it an ode to nature and life. This also describes two paintings from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alma_Thomas">Alma Thomas</a> nearby. The cocoon-like sculptures made of alabaster, wood, silk, metal, from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Bontecou">Lee Bontecou</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbara_Hepworth">Barbara Hepworth</a> have a motherly side while <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jay_DeFeo">Jay DeFeo</a>'s drawing and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlotta_Corpron">Carlotta Corpron</a>'s photographs capture the play between light and darkness to produce abstract landscapes. Ultimately, the contemplation of nature becomes a spiritual journey conveyed through <i>Arcanum #2</i>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_Lundeberg">Helen Lundeberg</a>'s painting. <i>Oo Fifi, Five Days in Claude Monet's Garden, Parts</i> <i>1 and 2</i>, 1992, videos from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diana_Thater">Diana Thater</a>, provides a cheerful transition with its exuberant colors contrasting with the muted hues of the works in the next gallery labelled<i> Poetry of Perception,</i> starting with a meditative painting from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agnes_Martin">Agnes Martin</a>. The realm of poetry, a way to express the intensity of emotions, encompasses also works of art like sculptures, paintings, which can trigger intense feelings. However the minimalist pieces on display generate little of these: <i>Untitled (LeWitt)) #1</i>, 2016, from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liz_Deschenes">Liz Dechenes</a> inspired by Sol LeWitt, <i>Night Naiad</i>, 1977, a totemic piece from <a href="https://matthewmarks.com/artists/anne-truitt">Anne Truitt</a> or <i>Untitled</i> <i>(Orange Oval)</i>, 2019, from <a href="https://news.artnet.com/art-world/eva-lewitt-1643554">Eva LeWitt</a> stir little emotions. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jennie_C._Jones">Jennie C. Jones </a>in <i>Light Grey with Middle</i> <i>C</i> <i>(variation #2)</i>, 2013, adds a musical element to the visual experience, referring to the most abstract of the arts. Following this first part of the exhibition, a large space provides a place to relax on comfortable sofas while reading the very relevant posters from<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guerrilla_Girls"> Guerilla Girls</a> splashed on the walls. <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgexhQ3m_p9IgPKAGb8Imcj-1QbJnCbHbSPen7h37ISg1iQOs9XIUU5-Poq4MYM2p1o-gMUOq84YdzH_4HOpYJXKZl4QL3QN080fJ-f5tpyhm7Rsb8JqKVMXmS6cdS95deuiXlpMBrvfYMQ1ASHiax6NPkjXSv8xD4a1p8KcBcYLuEOiaGzM9aOlnuQ/s1513/blog133.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1448" data-original-width="1513" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgexhQ3m_p9IgPKAGb8Imcj-1QbJnCbHbSPen7h37ISg1iQOs9XIUU5-Poq4MYM2p1o-gMUOq84YdzH_4HOpYJXKZl4QL3QN080fJ-f5tpyhm7Rsb8JqKVMXmS6cdS95deuiXlpMBrvfYMQ1ASHiax6NPkjXSv8xD4a1p8KcBcYLuEOiaGzM9aOlnuQ/w200-h191/blog133.jpeg" width="200" /></a></div><br />"Stress Position" could be the title for <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sondra_Perry">Sondra Perry</a>'s installation (<i>Graft and Ash for a Three Monitor</i> <i>Workstation</i>, 2016) introduced by an invitation to pedal an exercise bicycle while watching videos of the artist's avatar. The following works are more or less related to the theme, a painful subject to reflect upon: "How does stress condition our physical spaces, bodies, and possibilities for freedom?... evident here are the ways in which marginalized bodies must continually persist in the face of resistance, pressure and even violence." The conceptual work from<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eva_Hesse"> Eva Hesse</a> <i>Vertiginous Detour</i>, 1966, sums up the long wall text while two homey photographs from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deana_Lawson">Deana Lawson</a> leave us speculate about a darker side to their story. "Earth Knowledge" includes two artists represented by installations, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dana_Awartani">Dana Awartani</a> from Saudi Arabia and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelle_Stuart">Michelle Stuart</a> associated with the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_art">Land art </a>movement. "Shape Shifters" organized around<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louise_Nevelson"> Louise Nevelson</a>'s <i>Dream House</i> <i>XXXII</i>, 1972, features also three smaller works from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betye_Saar">Betye Saar</a> and a portrait from the pioneer <a href="http://www.artnet.com/artists/niki-de-saint-phalle/">Nikki de Saint Phalle</a>. The exhibition concludes with an installation from the New Orleans born artist <a href="https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=592748062415214">Zarouhie Abdalian</a>: <i>threnody for the</i> <i>unwilling martyrs</i>, 2021, a final unsettling lament.<p></p><p>The diversity and abundance of works displayed is a testimony of the prolific creativity of women artists and the show provides a glimpse into the growing permanent collection: "Over the past five years 35% of Hirshhorn purchases artworks... made by women and non conforming artists. Last year alone, this number was nearly 60%." This commitment by the Hirshhorn Museum gives us the occasion to discover younger artists and savor revisiting famous ones. Long wall texts have become an unavoidable component of exhibitions, skewing the traditional relationship between artist, work of art and viewer. Under the museum's auspices, the printed statements become the official interpretation of the works of art with adds-on for "kids", possibly addressed to young teenagers (but set at a height for a six year old), robbing them of their emotions, imagination and creativity. </p><p> The clearly stated goal of the exhibition is not only to look at works from women artists but also consider the role of the museum in promoting them and emphasize "the significance of gender in creating and perceiving an artwork, the effects of categorizing artists by gender". This brings up ongoing concerns about the "<a href="https://www.parisupdate.com/women-in-abstraction/">ghettoing</a>" of women artists. While museums have sponsored art by women, the<a href="https://news.artnet.com/market/art-market-study-1179317"> art market </a>is still trying to catch up. Regarding the viewers' bias, it may vary according to their personal experience. About the artist? Of course their gender influences and enriches their work. </p><p>The year-long exhibition leaves plenty of time to visit and revisit. The only regret, the collection could be rotated over the coming months to display more works of art from women and nonbinary artists.</p><p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMjbxSkWlc3OV1DYj5u0oxI9ugF3s3cAfviNnG8ADdliwdX6X-4EfdVc3hoshAtAqvpNr_ejs2by8daMWTxRV1DjaLrfVASkeJNSD2IDQXLOsPxoyuzNdYooP4ldM_-w21wtlUUpshIrk074Y22_SZZUbjse40lbprf4jNpmJ0sYEzslYsTqII7LAN/s1503/blog111.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="590" data-original-width="1503" height="126" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMjbxSkWlc3OV1DYj5u0oxI9ugF3s3cAfviNnG8ADdliwdX6X-4EfdVc3hoshAtAqvpNr_ejs2by8daMWTxRV1DjaLrfVASkeJNSD2IDQXLOsPxoyuzNdYooP4ldM_-w21wtlUUpshIrk074Y22_SZZUbjse40lbprf4jNpmJ0sYEzslYsTqII7LAN/s320/blog111.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><i>photographs by the author:</i></p><p><i>Rosalyn Drexler "Put It This Way", 1963</i></p><p><i>Senga Nengudi "R.S.V.P. X", 1976/2014</i></p><p><i>Guerilla Girls "Women in America Earn Only 2/3 of What Men Do (from Portfolio Compleat:1985-2012)", 1986/exhibition copy 2022</i></p>Sylvie Contigugliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06793587673934803612noreply@blogger.com1Washington, DC, USA38.9071923 -77.036870710.596958463821153 -112.1931207 67.217426136178844 -41.880620699999994tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1178270213976736618.post-33599081140065416862022-06-11T08:40:00.001-06:002023-02-25T13:41:29.190-07:00Thirty Seconds<p> </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p> <br />The long line of visitors to see <i><a href="https://hirshhorn.si.edu/exhibitions/one-with-eternity-yayoi-kusama-in-the-hirshhorn-collection/">One With Eternity: Yayoi Kusama in the Hirshhorn Collection</a></i> at the <a href="https://hirshhorn.si.edu/">Hirshhorn</a> makes me wonder.<i> </i>What are they<i> </i>looking for? A taste of eternity? An artsy surrounding for another selfie? After a two-year wait to open, the abbreviated version of the <a href="https://hirshhorn.si.edu/kusama/the-exhibition/">previous exhibition</a> <i>Yayoi Kusama: Infinity Mirrors </i>in 2017 is significant due to the selection of works which feature the artist's iconic symbols including phalluses, dots, pumpkin, and span her practice with two infinity rooms recently acquired by the museum.</p><p>Born in Japan,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yayoi_Kusama"> Yayoi Kusama</a> lived through a traumatic childhood and relates her art to the psychological traumas she was exposed to as a child. She moved to New York City in the early sixties where she enlivened the art scene with her provocative happenings, writings, photographs, installations, overall being fashionably outrageous among her peers, with wit, determination and passion. Upon her return to Japan in the seventies, her fame dwindled while she checked herself into a facility for mentally ill persons permanently. However, she never stopped working in her studio located nearby and since the eighties her career has flourished, bringing her international recognition. Now in her nineties, she is still active as an artist. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuBQ7ADZWoQf8yoj1v7vDrRtaDQtKI5xSpBEoxXdt0OzZ09BBGWa_dzXpmZUtBLcR1ViCgDILwvXbHkr4ylJlE7HMTmI2NfBvJ-rCO1hv7ZNqURXGMPkvt2pV1k15NuW-TbPgR8ajE1tupNOFH9nC_f-GXqj2zpEyjh_dncYPwn7A-qdfK_QppufSr/s4032/Kusama3.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuBQ7ADZWoQf8yoj1v7vDrRtaDQtKI5xSpBEoxXdt0OzZ09BBGWa_dzXpmZUtBLcR1ViCgDILwvXbHkr4ylJlE7HMTmI2NfBvJ-rCO1hv7ZNqURXGMPkvt2pV1k15NuW-TbPgR8ajE1tupNOFH9nC_f-GXqj2zpEyjh_dncYPwn7A-qdfK_QppufSr/w150-h200/Kusama3.jpeg" width="150" /></a></div><p></p><p>The first work,<i> Pumpkin, 2016</i>, is more than an outsized yellow gourd with a patterned black dotted exoskeleton sitting comfortably on its wide saggy base. It is a quiet presence in the middle of a square orange colored room including floor and ceiling, decorated with dizzying black dots of various sizes. The fiberglass sculpture coated with enamel, symbol of serenity amidst an hallucinatory world filled with black dots, hints at the artist's longing, and ultimately represents an ideal self-portrait. </p><p>Chatting, looking at their cell phone while waiting to enter <i>Infinity Mirror Room-Phalli's Field</i>, 1965/2017, visitors seem to ignore the rousing poem from Kusama addressed "To the Whole World" and the texts about the artist and her works spread on the red walls of an antechamber-like space. With the last line still in my mind ("Revolutionist of the world by Art"), I walk in the installation: door closes... thirty seconds. The guard has a chronometer. Floating on a thick carpet of white phalli decorated with red dots like corals on a seabed, hundreds of me reflect in the mirrors, getting smaller and smaller until they fade in a black spot, lost in the void of infinity. Surrounded by "myselves" I try to capture this intense stolen moment which I expect to be otherworldly, transcendent, sublime. Time for one or two unavoidable selfies and... out. Still somewhat discombobulated, I regain my footing back in line, ready for the next room. </p><p><i>"Infinity Mirrored Room- My Heart is Dancing into the Universe"</i>, 2018, offers a walk through a small dark space filled with black paper lanterns illuminated by colored lights shining through translucent holes. Immersed in waves of blue, violet, red, orange, yellow, green,... a cacophony of colors glowing through dots of all sizes, I feel like experiencing a psychedelic nightmare or looking at a broken kaleidoscope. I hesitate to take a step forward, confused, my rods and cones in disarray, even the floor reflecting the lights appears uneven. Two minutes... time is up. Close to an attack of claustrophobia, I leave the kinetic light show and reach the last room where a metallic dark coat covered with plastic roses set on a hanger is the only piece on a white wall. The monochrome sculpture, a sort of relic, evokes Kusama's episodes of hallucinations. The anticlimactic finale to the short exhibition is not the end of the visit which reverberates long after. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXNl_H8q77EeB-maRx06WhKi-0QbFe20kc-Tpsk82Z_R7jbeC_xcT_ylMOkfXtqFGOeY0c85HEi0YaNGOdetcvI_Mm-7DciXAKypuGj5ylUU7mSAz8lvG1Fs0MhTH85j-KclzY68oXyzUIhfu8zbgZ--lKDdrAzdQlAPcb0RV57cWO4yYvgcgF1fDd/s4032/Kusama8.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXNl_H8q77EeB-maRx06WhKi-0QbFe20kc-Tpsk82Z_R7jbeC_xcT_ylMOkfXtqFGOeY0c85HEi0YaNGOdetcvI_Mm-7DciXAKypuGj5ylUU7mSAz8lvG1Fs0MhTH85j-KclzY68oXyzUIhfu8zbgZ--lKDdrAzdQlAPcb0RV57cWO4yYvgcgF1fDd/w150-h200/Kusama8.jpeg" width="150" /></a></div><br />In line with the flow of visitors there is little time to meditate! Getting a whiff of infinity at best, the viewer transformed into a consumer may feel frustrated but Kusama's work reaches beyond the museum. Inspired by her relentless fight with mental disease which has taken over her life, art has become the mean to conquer and share her fears, hallucinations, obsessions, and transcends a trivial design, a dot, to create a world of infinity and spirituality. Her practice reaches a large audience attracted by its pop art side and/or its otherworldly aspect. One of my unforgettable visit was at <a href="https://musee-des-beaux-arts.nancy.fr/accueil-145.html">Musée des Beaux-Arts de Nancy</a> in the East of France where <i>Fireflies on the Water, </i>2002<i>, </i>is a permanent installation. Without time constraint, alone, immersed in the quiet infinity mirrored room I connected with the artist who stated: "I felt as I had begun to self-obliterate, to revolve in the infinity of endless time and the absoluteness of space, and be reduced to nothingness." <p></p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6TFqUaY2_S-AhSuh7gjVH6wBdEyiLosQx0_FyxXIXLvmAtIMYfCwMesBKCcfjPWODUIWPh6OI7prnlaFJe_vyZ1U9zQgePOYOGGZmuYIVpZ5trB6ogrR-lqAfw1zyF0STt5fNjjpLmdHhAJOnVUP-7w87SjTO4K2g69sfslUF7hijhkruZZf5shJO/s3614/Kusama11.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3614" data-original-width="2994" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6TFqUaY2_S-AhSuh7gjVH6wBdEyiLosQx0_FyxXIXLvmAtIMYfCwMesBKCcfjPWODUIWPh6OI7prnlaFJe_vyZ1U9zQgePOYOGGZmuYIVpZ5trB6ogrR-lqAfw1zyF0STt5fNjjpLmdHhAJOnVUP-7w87SjTO4K2g69sfslUF7hijhkruZZf5shJO/s320/Kusama11.jpeg" width="265" /></a></div><br /><p><i>photographs by the author:</i></p><p><i>"Pumpkin", 2016</i></p><p><i>"Infinity Mirror Room-My Heart is Dancing into the Universe", 2018</i></p><p><i>"Infinity Mirror Room-Phalli's Field", 1965/2017</i></p><br /><p><br /></p>Sylvie Contigugliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06793587673934803612noreply@blogger.com0Washington, DC, USA38.9071923 -77.036870710.596958463821153 -112.1931207 67.217426136178844 -41.880620699999994tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1178270213976736618.post-34357173170915490292021-08-15T16:06:00.001-06:002023-02-25T13:41:55.360-07:00La Vie en Rose<p> </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p> Who am I to write a review of two ongoing shows from <a href="https://www.damienhirst.com/">Damien Hirst</a>, the most celebrated YBA (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Young_British_Artists">Young British Artists</a>)? Since the end of the eighties, he never ceased to shock the art world and the world in general with his gory pieces and make the news, from accusations of plagiarism to the astonishing price of his works. Not so young anymore, the fifty-six-year-old artist obsessed with death, has surrounded himself with an endless Spring during the pandemic, going back to painting, "the loneliest thing you can do". Thirty of his one hundred and seven compositions of cherry trees in bloom were selected for his Parisian debuts at the <a href="https://www.fondationcartier.com/en">Fondation Cartier</a> while <i>Cathedrals Built on Sand</i> at the <a href="https://gagosian.com/exhibitions/">Gagosian</a> Gallery off the Champs-Elysées features a series of <i><a href="https://gagosian.com/exhibitions/2021/damien-hirst-cathedrals-built-on-sand/">pill cabinets</a></i>. </p><p> Walking in <i>Les Cerisiers en Fleurs</i> is breathtaking... literally. The enchanted pink world of cherry trees in bloom soon becomes a claustrophobic congregation of colored spots spread on large canvasses covering the walls of the building's two levels. <i>Greater Love Has No-One Than This Blossom</i>, an outsized assemblage of four panels (quadriptych) consisting of interlaced tree branches with patches of clear blue sky peaking through, a jumble of uneven pink, white, pale yellow, blue to purple dots, a few green leaves, three dabs of red, sparse white drips, describes love as a heavenly prison. Why single out this piece? Because it is the largest and sums up the exhibition. All the paintings are variations on the same theme, parodies of abstract expressionism and pointillism, assigned grandiose titles: <i>Imperial Blossom</i>, <i>Spiritual Day Blossom</i>, <i>Wisdom Blossom</i>, <i>Truth Blossom</i>,<i> God Blossom</i>... and so on. </p><p> Meanwhile, Gagosian Gallery is filled with mournful landscapes of rows of perfectly aligned genuine or made up colored pills multiplied by their reflection on background mirrors, encased in heavy shiny stainless steel frames. Monochrome or multicolored, large or smaller pieces reflect a broken silhouette of the visitor surrounded by the pop-minimalist compositions lined up along the walls. <i>Prototype for Lies</i>, 1998, the first work of the series introduces the show. Walking through <i>Cathedrals Built on Sand</i>, one can ponder about our dependence on the attractive little fixes but the works bring little more for consideration. </p><p> From his mechanical <a href="https://www.damienhirst.com/texts1/series/spots">spot paintings</a> to his "back to nature" renditions of cherry trees, Damien Hirst embraces his love for color. "I love color. I feel it inside me. It gives me a buzz." However, his obsessive love for series is overshadowed by its commercial endeavor. Andy Warhol's quote comes to mind: "Making money is art and working is art and good business is best art". Going back to the cherry trees series, the "wow" of the first impression due to the abundance and closeness of the works rapidly fades and may not occur when the paintings are dispersed in museums or private collections. The artist has transformed the pink symphony of blooming cherry trees alluding to renewal and the lightness of being, into heavy renditions about the shortness of life. </p><p>A final quote from Damien Hirst: "Art is like medicine-it can heal" Thank you Dr. Hirst.</p><p><br /></p><p><i>pics by the author</i></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbDF79GGnTodxWp0h5ZXPSvbLXl60VdswhOHMrjh-bftfBpbc5GCeZz4vvmpILIqAoGNT4ZLfvdYmjYzEMJG2gbCZxdcezxQpQst9h8SqdkVx6nZE4yG_f9oeFdS-bCfmzLafBO8K_Rzw/s2048/Hirst22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1779" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbDF79GGnTodxWp0h5ZXPSvbLXl60VdswhOHMrjh-bftfBpbc5GCeZz4vvmpILIqAoGNT4ZLfvdYmjYzEMJG2gbCZxdcezxQpQst9h8SqdkVx6nZE4yG_f9oeFdS-bCfmzLafBO8K_Rzw/w278-h320/Hirst22.jpg" width="278" /></a></div><br /><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilK9iPhQAo_Nhtv2gHdVNMG3bzs895AvzWT9odNFDV1u-ZMl73QBZ5WVoSvJkC3QBaBTDAPBG9CYp50udyPVZlpLDInxdLs5WQLV46TaKNMm5Dih3CKTxQcBvxZSt9v993w1vOGPRPxgI/s2048/Hirst33.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1643" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilK9iPhQAo_Nhtv2gHdVNMG3bzs895AvzWT9odNFDV1u-ZMl73QBZ5WVoSvJkC3QBaBTDAPBG9CYp50udyPVZlpLDInxdLs5WQLV46TaKNMm5Dih3CKTxQcBvxZSt9v993w1vOGPRPxgI/w258-h320/Hirst33.jpg" width="258" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwenm5vDZnB08V4b9IcbKvLymKjppMVCOnySwwtOYSz4zYfwoQ1BwunMz_L1_N6L5GL5bn-qlkm3IWdsqwwSmte9Ni-mArUv46uDbfjzQWjpIr_jJ9fhVaQPq6EAsptRqRAkxVZnNd5VM/s2048/Hirst11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1337" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwenm5vDZnB08V4b9IcbKvLymKjppMVCOnySwwtOYSz4zYfwoQ1BwunMz_L1_N6L5GL5bn-qlkm3IWdsqwwSmte9Ni-mArUv46uDbfjzQWjpIr_jJ9fhVaQPq6EAsptRqRAkxVZnNd5VM/s320/Hirst11.jpg" width="209" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><p><br /></p><br />Sylvie Contigugliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06793587673934803612noreply@blogger.com3Paris, France48.856614 2.352221920.546380163821155 -32.8040281 77.166847836178846 37.5084719tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1178270213976736618.post-77187056742701573512021-07-05T13:42:00.012-06:002023-02-25T13:42:17.579-07:00Meet the Artist at the AcA<p> </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><div><p>Reflection on the past? Prelude to a new beginning? A mid-career retrospective can be <a href="http://www.artnet.com/magazineus/features/yablonsky/midcareer-question-10-17-11.asp">daunting for the artist</a>, for the visitor too, often exposed to lengthy wall texts and a line up of works deemed relevant to the artist's career, displayed chronologically. None of this for <i><a href="https://acadianacenterforthearts.org/exhibition/stephanie-patton-comfort-zone-1993-2021/">Stephanie Patton: </a>Comfort Zone 1993 -</i> <i>2021</i>, a lively, fun show, radiating the multi-talented artist's warm and caring personality. Born in New Orleans, she graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in painting from the <a href="https://louisiana.edu/">University of Louisiana at Lafayette</a> and moved North to receive a Master of Fine Arts in photography from the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/School_of_the_Art_Institute_of_Chicago">School of the Art Institute of Chicago</a>. She then spent <a href="https://arthurrogergallery.com/2014/01/stephanie-patton-level-at-the-mcnay-museum-mcnay-art-museum/">some time in New York City</a> and studied vocal and comedic performance at the <a href="https://www.newschool.edu/">New School</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upright_Citizens_Brigade">Upright Citizens Brigade</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gotham_Writers%27_Workshop">Gotham Writers' Workshop.</a> In 2001 Patton's Southern roots brought her back to Lafayette where she is teaching and pursuing her international career. The exhibition curated by Jaik Faulk at the <a href="https://acadianacenterforthearts.org/">Acadiana Center for the Arts</a> reflects the artist's eclectic background and includes sculptures, paintings, iconic wall pieces, photographs, videos and installations. </p><p>A pair of bronzed shoes set on a mirrored pedestal stands out in the middle of the vast main gallery partitioned for the show. The grandmother's empty shoes transformed into a keepsake like baby booties, allude to the process of reversion to infancy in old age. We can even look at ourselves while contemplating the piece! Like a memento mori, it also reminds us of the inevitability of death. <i>Bronzed SAS Shoes</i>, 2008, leads to two intimate spaces where, going back in time, we can get acquainted with the artist's alter ego, Renella Rose Champagne. A kitschy installation, a video of the artist performing as a (struggling country) singer, a photograph of Olympia-Patton (fully clothed) or disguised as a clown, are among a collection of items aligned along the walls. Advertisements for purses, shoes, compact discs, undergarments, magnets for refrigerators... Renella embraces pop. Like the girl next door she dreams of a traditional wedding and revels in the month-long preparations, documents lists of guests, collects newspaper clips and photographs. Boisterous, exuberant, bubbly, describe the creative energy of the artist, and the selected pieces exude her self-deprecatory humor which leaves us smiling. </p><p>What better transition to Patton's next period than <i>Toasty</i> <i>Warm Inside</i>, 2008, a full-length luminous self-portrait? It seems that about ten years ago her career took a turn with new conceptual works. The spacious display allows to contemplate meditative pieces, monochrome white landscapes made of vinyl filled with batting like <i>Revolve</i>, 2019. Quilting evokes a domestic life, love being a required ingredient to perform the labor intensive task. Fluffy like clouds, soft like blankets, the soothing pieces are an invitation to rest and heal our minds. Another "series" involves mattress as a media for calligraphically perfect designs of interjections found throughout the show: <i>Us</i>, 2021, <i>Join</i>, 2020, <i>You (Blue)</i>, 2020, can be interpreted according to context or mood. "You" can evoke a tender whisper in one's ear or an outburst of anger.</p></div><div>Mostly inspired by idioms found in her grandmother's mail catalog, Patton's videos complete the review of thirty years of her career. Making lemonade from lemons in <i>Heal</i>, 2011, walking on eggshells for <i>Diffuse</i>, 2008, or ripping off band-aids from her face in <i>Conquer</i>, 2013, Patton manages to interpret popular maxims through conceptual ideas, with a twist of humor. The flawless videos confirm the artist's attention to detail and her talent as a performer.</div><div><i>Dream</i>, 2011, a video about "memory, death and the afterlife" in which the artist sings the famous song "Dream a Little Dream of Me" and a bird view of the show from the mezzanine complete the visit. </div><div><br /></div><div>Comfort zone filled with wit and loving care.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3EHXdYlplMKfBeBxkuPZj58MsmsYvCY6SSv70YZy9cfHUz9keIjZ2M8hqW7v1lwcgQoqbmsv1uJtn1Gwjl0dFCwA0NEzpK-CFF38oUC3TEfTfe5Uzj27YauSSNZZQMtQt_GD8-qzKaUo/s2048/ACA1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1658" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3EHXdYlplMKfBeBxkuPZj58MsmsYvCY6SSv70YZy9cfHUz9keIjZ2M8hqW7v1lwcgQoqbmsv1uJtn1Gwjl0dFCwA0NEzpK-CFF38oUC3TEfTfe5Uzj27YauSSNZZQMtQt_GD8-qzKaUo/s320/ACA1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><i> Photograph by the author</i></div>Sylvie Contigugliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06793587673934803612noreply@blogger.com0Lafayette, LA, USA30.2240897 -92.01984271.9138558638211549 -127.1760927 58.534323536178846 -56.8635927tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1178270213976736618.post-2264614200561900932021-04-30T20:56:00.004-06:002023-02-25T13:42:41.579-07:00iPad Painter <p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>The <a href="https://www.mfah.org/">Museum of Fine Arts Houston</a> features two masters at once for its first contemporary art exhibition since reopening: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vincent_van_Gogh">Vincent van Gogh</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Hockney">David Hockney</a>. Who has not seen "a van Gogh" or at least a reproduction? <a href="https://www.hockney.com/home">Hockney</a> on the other hand, best known for his paintings of swimming pools inspired by California's lifestyle, has reached a more selective audience of connoisseurs in the United States. The show<i> </i>is the occasion to see the works from the artist whose 80's birthday was celebrated with a five-month-long comprehensive <a href="https://www.centrepompidou.fr/en/program/calendar/event/cR8ydbn">retrospective</a> at <a href="https://www.centrepompidou.fr/en/">The Centre Pompidou</a> in 2017. <i>Hockney-van Gogh: The Joy of Nature </i>which premiered at the <a href="https://www.vangoghmuseum.nl/en">Van Gogh Museum</a> in Amsterdam, highlights the Dutch painter's influence on Hockney and their shared love of nature. Paintings, drawings and other works are displayed in a succession of rooms, each focused on a theme: landscapes, trees, the arrival of Spring, the four seasons, and in the last room, new perspectives. </p><p><a href="https://www.vangoghmuseum.nl/en/stories/hockney-van-gogh-two-painters-one-love#3"></a></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMpqMC3RzbYVfUQxTwR46hBWbS_lLvRcjkG9XcZyyhVL1ZGACTVeBj1BifBo5NkARxWB4joa47_EWpeAH5_GIKpJJTM7bj0yQCimLZXmGgJ9o90HiyI7S6EbLB23xGayqfdNYIl6TL5oc/s2048/Hockney2.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMpqMC3RzbYVfUQxTwR46hBWbS_lLvRcjkG9XcZyyhVL1ZGACTVeBj1BifBo5NkARxWB4joa47_EWpeAH5_GIKpJJTM7bj0yQCimLZXmGgJ9o90HiyI7S6EbLB23xGayqfdNYIl6TL5oc/w150-h200/Hockney2.jpg" width="150" /></a></div><br />Back to his native Yorkshire in 2004 after spending more than two decades in California, Hockney began to paint 'en plein air'. His landscapes of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woldgate">Woldgate</a> fill the first room, intermingled with a few carefully selected scenes from Van Gogh, to highlight the similarities between the paintings. Fields, forests, roads, skies, horizons, subject, style, perspective, colors, show the correspondence. The comparison goes on with close-ups of trees, followed by a display of seasonal scenes from both artists. <i>The Arrival of Spring in 2013,</i> a<i> </i>collection of twenty-five charcoal drawings emphasizes the delicate process of representing nature: first looking then rendering 'every bit of grass', and showcases Hockney's draftsmanship. Watercolors complete the display which as we progress features less paintings from Van Gogh and becomes a one man show with works noticeably larger and more experimental including the famous iPad drawings. To meet the challenge brought up by the size of his oil paintings, Hockney divides huge canvasses like <i>The</i> <i>Arrival of Spring in Woldgate, East Yorkshire in 2011</i>, into thirty-two smaller units assembled like a grid and prints his iPad drawings on<i> </i>four sheets of paper<i>.</i> The resulting landscapes are an invitation to walk in the forest, under the trees, on the path, and savor the precious gift of nature. Hockney's passion for images brings him to look through the lens of a camera or better nine at once on a monitor installed on a moving vehicle to record the forest's seasonal changes in Woldgate. The bench in the middle of the room offers a place to rest while watching <i>The</i> <i>Four Seasons, Woldgate Woods</i>, 2010-2011, a dizzying synchronized projection of thirty-six videos, nine per season and per wall, offering different views of the same scenery. After this visual overdrive, walking through the show's conclusion is underwhelming, from the blinding orange of the walls to only three pieces which highlight Hockney's search for new perspectives during his sixty-year career with <i>In the</i> <i>Studio, December 2017,</i> featuring the artist surrounded by 3D renditions of his works for a grand finale. <p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOmF09j3JefBtuU4QlG1foAZwMcQtOEsmlHcO214P8CfJqqRQlM4C1zODx53A_qWIyglwtXLVU1s4CvKxARXaiPWqEwuudl8jKJELDzIsBH5ExYPCMyvewKru2xBNwT8x7fN1Nvd7CwiY/s2048/H1.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1602" data-original-width="2048" height="156" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOmF09j3JefBtuU4QlG1foAZwMcQtOEsmlHcO214P8CfJqqRQlM4C1zODx53A_qWIyglwtXLVU1s4CvKxARXaiPWqEwuudl8jKJELDzIsBH5ExYPCMyvewKru2xBNwT8x7fN1Nvd7CwiY/w200-h156/H1.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><br />Of course, setting the works of the two artists in the same room highlights the similarities between them, and also their differences: heavy brush and garish colors for Hockney who favors a naive style. It appears also that size does not matter regarding a work's content. Van Gogh's landscapes offer more than a visual feast with to <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Hockney-Van-Gogh-Joy-Nature/dp/0500239975">quot</a>e the artist: "that flat landscape in which there was nothing but.......... the infinite... eternity." Over the years, it feels like Hockney the artist who keeps experimenting with new technologies to enrich his practice in his pursuit of ways to describe space, is becoming Hockney the neophile. This should not become his legacy. The exhibition focuses on a period less than a decade of a long career which is ongoing. Van Gogh was 37 years old when he died, a pauper. At 83 years old Hockney just discovered Normandy in France (where he can smoke) and announced two upcoming exhibitions, 116 iPad drawings/paintings for the reopening of the <a href="https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/exhibition/david-hockney?gclid=CjwKCAjwm7mEBhBsEiwA_of-TFxStt7ygLybT6NkhHl03iRrBgxiyZEidKGuNcTI3jAY7HueIn_SAxoCUF4QAvD_BwE">Royal Academy of Arts</a> in London and one involving a 288-foot-long <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9509699/David-Hockney-83-prepares-unveil-mammoth-288-ft-long-Bayeux-tapestry-inspired-picture-Paris.html">tapestr</a>y in Paris. Prices of his works are <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-46232870">skyrocketing</a>.<div>Will David Hockney be remembered for his iPad drawings? </div><div><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGcmwR14_hvy5RgkVU5Dbau8umvV25erAVJAj-dvkG_yB_veUnOauC44fPX6RhD_9jTUBaec_3s5G-mUAaxoX31v6YG4HxUEBgIl8SNzNwQIiknMZLT4inamXjKhxC42JIjjxN79vNVO8/s2133/H2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="893" data-original-width="2133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGcmwR14_hvy5RgkVU5Dbau8umvV25erAVJAj-dvkG_yB_veUnOauC44fPX6RhD_9jTUBaec_3s5G-mUAaxoX31v6YG4HxUEBgIl8SNzNwQIiknMZLT4inamXjKhxC42JIjjxN79vNVO8/s320/H2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><i>photographs by the author:</i></p><p><i>"The Arrival of Spring in Woldgate, East Yorkshire in 2011", David Hockney</i></p><p><i>"Tree Trunks in the Grass, April 1890", Vincent Van Gogh</i></p><p><i>"May Blossom on the Roman Road", 2009, David Hockney</i></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p></div>Sylvie Contigugliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06793587673934803612noreply@blogger.com1Houston, TX, USA29.7604267 -95.36980281.4501928638211545 -130.5260528 58.070660536178849 -60.2135528tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1178270213976736618.post-38928982142095774442021-03-31T20:00:00.004-06:002023-02-25T13:43:02.148-07:00Action at the AcA<p> </p><p><br /></p><p><i>Slammed!!</i> <i>Sensationalism and Culture in the Squared Circle </i>is a catchy title<i> </i>for an exhibition. The punchy word refers to the art of wrestling and the squared circle to the ring in which it takes place. Set at the<a href="https://acadianacenterforthearts.org/"> Acadiana Center for the Arts</a>, the group show co-curated by <a href="https://www.jaikfaulk.com/pagecv">Jaik Faulk</a>, visual arts director of the AcA and<a href="http://www.hilliardmuseum.org/team/benjamin-hickey"> Ben Hickey</a>, curator of the <a href="http://www.hilliardmuseum.org/">Hilliard University Art Museum</a>, assembles the works from more than thirty artists who answered an open call. The selected works are displayed in the main gallery of the venue and include paintings, drawings, videos, photographs and installations.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2bC98bWVJ0vCraHnU9WfEdsczIwCY4wKqLcAy0MdCwcb36k3reFkE7g2Z1kY4ShoZzB5Yx_LzyxDhMaab9fBmLTQAikr3YALdPlvJL-JywfTtxG1q-UZ02H_u5yOMozdhyphenhyphenxiKLzPC0oA/s2048/Isiah33.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="2034" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2bC98bWVJ0vCraHnU9WfEdsczIwCY4wKqLcAy0MdCwcb36k3reFkE7g2Z1kY4ShoZzB5Yx_LzyxDhMaab9fBmLTQAikr3YALdPlvJL-JywfTtxG1q-UZ02H_u5yOMozdhyphenhyphenxiKLzPC0oA/w199-h200/Isiah33.jpg" width="199" /></a></div><br />Back to the seventies, the world of wrestling is in full swing, so are motorcycle gangs. <i>Streetfighters:</i> <i>Ninjas</i>, 2016, a video from <a href="https://atlantacontemporary.org/people/generic-art-solutions">Generic Arts Solution</a> is a great introduction to the show with two mechanized centaurs (the artists) disappearing in a cloud of fiery smoke accompanied by a soundtrack of engines, screeching tires and brakes. The machine, two conjoined motorcycles, is also displayed close by. The main gallery is a wide open space filled with a lavish display of art works related to the theme of the exhibition, each artist represented by several carefully selected works. The four oils on canvas from<a href="http://johnisiahwalton.com/"> John Isiah Walton </a>made in 2018, especially relevant to the topic, appear to have been inspired by the show's title and vice-versa. The paintings feature colorful wrestlers in a ring surrounded by a black background. This is a short description of the narrative pieces. Their titles provide a cue to the depicted scenes like <i>Super Dome F5</i> which, according to the artist, is about "The Undertaker's shocking defeat at the hands of Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania XXX", or <i>The</i> <i>Perfect Plex</i>, for <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suplex">Suplex</a> an offensive move with several variations. The visual recording of these famous moments provide a way to build a collective memory of the sport and create a bond among the fans. I have to confess I am not one of them. Clueless about the art of wrestling, I look at the works from another angle. Catching the free fall of a blond haired wrestler in <i>Wrestle Mania 2k</i> or a scream of victory in <i>Sharp Shooter</i>, the artist offers the best view with his close-ups allowing to seize the pinnacle of the move, the fleeting moment that makes history. The contrast between white mats, fighters underlined by the blue halo from the spotlights and a dark invisible crowd, brings a spiritual dimension to the competition. Colors become a tool to express the tense atmosphere, underlying the loneliness of the fighters and their status as heroes in the squared circle, surrounded by unseen spectators but so present in the shadows that we can imagine hearing their cheers and jeers. Beyond figurative, the artist's technique with his vigorous brush and vivid colors, translates the physicality of the encounter. <p></p><p>Walton assimilates all the attributes of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neo-expressionism#:~:text=Neo%2Dexpressionism%20developed%20as%20a,way%2C%20often%20using%20vivid%20colors.">neo-expressionism</a> for his inimitable style and proceeds to apply it to render raw, brut scenes about a "world of power and display" best seen through his eyes. </p><p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaHvuA3HkbiZxO_pfWx9Wv1czfMU1Xa9T5hJjh6Y12R9jhfn4cJl0ggZTX40N0pDYXHXvgw5J2kZvoCNOx8r1zgdhwXVR2FTDbLl3149vZp5whHUN6Qto80PB0_5Letc2-BzajN7BGqKs/s2048/Isiah4.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="2048" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaHvuA3HkbiZxO_pfWx9Wv1czfMU1Xa9T5hJjh6Y12R9jhfn4cJl0ggZTX40N0pDYXHXvgw5J2kZvoCNOx8r1zgdhwXVR2FTDbLl3149vZp5whHUN6Qto80PB0_5Letc2-BzajN7BGqKs/s320/Isiah4.JPG" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><i>photographs by the author:</i></p><p><i>"Sharp Shooter"</i></p><p><i>"Wrestle Mania 2k"</i></p>Sylvie Contigugliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06793587673934803612noreply@blogger.com0Lafayette, LA, USA30.2240897 -92.01984271.9138558638211549 -127.1760927 58.534323536178846 -56.8635927tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1178270213976736618.post-18350289064228191282021-02-28T19:32:00.003-07:002023-02-25T13:43:26.660-07:00 Sculpting Glass <p> </p><p><br /></p><p> A new show at <a href="http://arthurrogergallery.com/?dur=293">Arthur Roger Gallery</a> features two sculptors working with glass. <a href="https://liberalarts.tulane.edu/departments/art/people/gene-koss">Gene Koss</a> and <a href="https://arthurrogergallery.com/artists/stephen-paul-day/">Stephen Paul Day</a> have little else in common with the former related to the<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Studio_glass#The_studio_glass_movement"> glass movement</a> and the latter labeled as a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postmodernism">post</a> or <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metamodernism#:~:text=Metamodernism%20is%20a%20proposed%20set,similar%20term%20is%20post%2Dpostmodernism.">metamodernist</a>. However, categorizing their practice limits the impact of their idiosyncratic work revealed in the display of two massive sculptures complemented by a dozen of smaller ones for Gene Koss and a number of delicate pieces for Stephen Paul Day, making for a busy visit. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqjx7y3s3pX6jBXKKJRGrNQRvbgYcSuV5-d6devGAay6-9dVGhUvk-YagBuC_R8BYGBNBjZEn9RGOCb90CcB8h6SLqGx4RocrxMC_zm9hWyiGldcro5ovNBLT3s1WvjRn6Mh4wVIfAhP4/s2048/arthur22.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1801" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqjx7y3s3pX6jBXKKJRGrNQRvbgYcSuV5-d6devGAay6-9dVGhUvk-YagBuC_R8BYGBNBjZEn9RGOCb90CcB8h6SLqGx4RocrxMC_zm9hWyiGldcro5ovNBLT3s1WvjRn6Mh4wVIfAhP4/w176-h200/arthur22.jpg" width="176" /></a></div><i><br /> Toil,</i> 2019-2020, a Brobdingnagian sculpture visible from the street fills the entire front gallery. The machine born from the artist's imagination is reminiscent of heavy farm equipment, alluding to his upbringing in rural Wisconsin. Koss who started the <a href="https://liberalarts.tulane.edu/departments/art/studio-art/glass">Tulane University glass program</a>, is known for his monumental public sculptures made of glass and steel. Looking back at his 45-year career, his practice reaches a climactic stage with this piece so huge that it requires some steps back to see it wholly. Walking around the mastodon helps connect with our inner child, overwhelmed by its dimensions, filled with awe. In the same room, shape and components (spring, fulcrum, wheel , fork) of a model, <i>Bridge Series #2, </i>2010<i>, </i>give a cue to the artist's inspiration for its giant clone. Crystalline, pure, soothing, decorative, refreshing, ..., so many qualifiers come to mind when looking at the two-sided sculptures displayed along the rear gallery. They feature colored particles floating in glass like nebulae in a transparent sky or swirls in frozen water. Among the blue marine, turquoise, cobalt green, pale yellow, red <i>COVID-19</i>, 2020, stands out, like a device ready to explode. The<i> Ridge Road Climb</i> series provides an escape, a way to connect with nature from our desk or our living room. The clear rough surface of the man-made "mineral" evokes waves, precipices, glaciers, mountains, cascades, frozen lakes and more to the wandering mind. The closing piece <i>Furrow</i>, 2020, made of glass and steel, indestructible, stands like a final statement from the modern Vulcan. <p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcf7prKLHCrJ1WlDNwB3zmyBphh0C-9lCADAIDfQ9uA0bShdPApLLqpsCzvwNNX5P21c7uxqwd07Bb4yhoon0Ng7lGHBF65UVUBvBeICuDO5bqENvYLgloJAzsfhkv_TYDITpawXIFyqY/s2048/arthur33.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1483" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcf7prKLHCrJ1WlDNwB3zmyBphh0C-9lCADAIDfQ9uA0bShdPApLLqpsCzvwNNX5P21c7uxqwd07Bb4yhoon0Ng7lGHBF65UVUBvBeICuDO5bqENvYLgloJAzsfhkv_TYDITpawXIFyqY/w145-h200/arthur33.jpg" width="145" /></a></div><br />It takes a completely different mindset to visit the show from Stephen Paul Day <i>Now She Sings, Now</i> <i>She Sobs, Now She Sings,</i> in the adjacent gallery bathed in pink, black and white, the three colors of twenty five or so sculptures laid on a white table or pedestals. This time the visitor is not overwhelmed by the size of the works but by their number (all made in 2020). Bicephalic closed compositions like <i>Lu Lu</i>,<i> Les Jumelles Roses,</i> or pieces with embedded black and white photographs and/or pipes instead of anatomic parts, all require some time to absorb their narrative. Some sculptures offer a clear message like <i>The Chain Done Broke</i>, others are more cryptic like <i>Eve</i>. The content of the miniature apothecary jars set in a display reminiscent of cabinets of curiosities relates to New Orleans's history: warped images of iconic buildings, trinkets, mementos, old photographs, objects, notes, plants, exude a whiff of nostalgia about times gone, some good, some bad. <i>Heart of New Orleans,</i> a frieze made<i> </i>with mirrors framed by the words "Now She Sings", "Now She Sobs" like a mantra, sums up a show which is not only about the city but has become an homage to the great pianist Chick Corea who just passed. <p></p><p>New Orleans, the city infused in music during good times and bad times, celebrations and funerals. </p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhInp0mXuV6Kpud_Nd3aqbFFhK5gL9bNILO6UM4bl4JA-rt1qnwh8G3v-SOWzAH0-1NdUWtaxU-bnoqwuX1JFwCHDP2h63YjOXobtR2GwyW1LBl7NQGGqK7liJ9HjaVTXyO28i5KGXnJz4/s2048/arthur111.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1869" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhInp0mXuV6Kpud_Nd3aqbFFhK5gL9bNILO6UM4bl4JA-rt1qnwh8G3v-SOWzAH0-1NdUWtaxU-bnoqwuX1JFwCHDP2h63YjOXobtR2GwyW1LBl7NQGGqK7liJ9HjaVTXyO28i5KGXnJz4/s320/arthur111.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>photographs by the author: </i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i> Gene Koss "Ridge Road Climb (GKOS 0424)", 2020</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i> Stephen Paul Day "Sirène", 2020 </i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i> Stephen Paul Day " Heart of New Orleans" (detail), 2020 </i> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><p><br /></p>Sylvie Contigugliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06793587673934803612noreply@blogger.com0New Orleans, LA, USA29.951065799999991 -90.07153231.6408319638211459 -125.2277823 58.261299636178833 -54.9152823tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1178270213976736618.post-89026202252858769942021-01-22T12:12:00.003-07:002021-01-30T07:27:32.797-07:00After the Tempest<p> </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>The <a href="https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20150217-is-painting-dead">death of painting</a> was predicted a long time ago, when <a href="https://www.artandobject.com/news/today-painting-dead-photographys-revolutionary-effect#:~:text=Upon%20seeing%20the%20first%20daguerreotype,see%2C%20understand%2C%20and%20explore.">photography was born</a>. Since then, visual art has flourished and controversies about abstract art are now history. Installations, videos, performances, are multiplying. Meanwhile, <a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/f/figurative-art#:~:text=Figurative%20art%20describes%20any%20form,particularly%20to%20the%20human%20figure">figurative painters</a> too often are ignored by the art scene, at the exception of a few stars. They represent a whole gamut of styles from realism to impressionism and everything in between, and beyond. One of these artists, <a href="https://eldergalleryclt.com/kathryn-keller/">Kathryn Keller</a> is presently showing some of her recent works for <i><a href="https://www.lemieuxgalleries.com/show/lemieux-galleries-kathryn-keller-beautiful-isolation">Beautiful Isolation</a>, </i>the latest exhibition at <a href="https://www.lemieuxgalleries.com/">LeMieux Galleries</a>. </p><p><br />Each gallery has a unique lay-out and walking in LeMieux for my monthly tour, I look to the right to find the show's title above the display of a major piece, and walk to the left to see the works from the featured artist. This time, I was drawn to three oil paintings aligned on the wall. Fallen trees occupy the whole foreground in the first one, and leave little space for a blue sky and a lush vegetation in the two others. The post-<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Laura">hurricane Laura</a> scenes sum up the disaster better than words. Walking back and forth, they become alive, the trees shimmering in the sunlight. A closer look at the canvas reveals delicate touches of white paint on the dark trunks for the effect. From her outdoor studio the artist reflects on life, resilience, and connects with nature to alleviate her grief following the disaster. </p><p>Painting indoor, she chooses watercolor still lifes to share more intimate scenes. The object (lipstick, scissors, bottle...) reaches a new status under the eye of the artist. During isolation, mundane tasks become important rituals and domestic life fills our world. She depicts bliss in <i>Bleakhouse 11.17.19</i>, 2020, a composition featuring a living room with fireplace, dog, books about her favorite artists <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milton_Avery">Milton Avery</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winslow_Homer">Winslow Homer</a>, revealing her sanctuary in the time of pandemic. </p><p>For her first exhibition at LeMieux Galleries, the sixty-eight-year old artist selected a dozen pieces to reflect upon the recent disasters' impact on nature and our lives. While terms like <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/En_plein_air">plein air painting</a>, figurative, watercolors, still lifes, can sound old-fashioned, they relate to artistic ways of expression that have never been out of fashion.</p><p>The paintings convey an inner tranquility, a permanence that is soothing, especially in times of turmoil.</p><p><br /></p><p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNvh_qA-nYEk3LG08UaBpi6mj2o7IZbT8IsGHQspgch3j8BOHFr6_fikrLOjS06O_NHdvrOtbdgwiW1W0Nwmz9pHdcr19jr1nNwZo5ZpoRKDaBA71UhCLpJrLwi94GE7cbJHDyhVGm_kA/s2048/Lemieux22.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1731" data-original-width="2048" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNvh_qA-nYEk3LG08UaBpi6mj2o7IZbT8IsGHQspgch3j8BOHFr6_fikrLOjS06O_NHdvrOtbdgwiW1W0Nwmz9pHdcr19jr1nNwZo5ZpoRKDaBA71UhCLpJrLwi94GE7cbJHDyhVGm_kA/w320-h270/Lemieux22.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p> </p><p><i> photograph by the author</i></p><div><i>"Aftermath Hurricane Laura 10.17.20", 2020</i></div><div><br /></div>Sylvie Contigugliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06793587673934803612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1178270213976736618.post-36598705573450150462021-01-13T20:33:00.002-07:002021-01-14T06:21:03.345-07:00Best Wishes 2021<p><br /></p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2DPEvAKojP1w46u4ctuzTnVFiCxDxpmmYvU0-X8d_zC08HHLCe3lTiFwO8tEx94smLrAQ2eOFd9IqjUxyuWPAct-Md52Qr-FhvLScFHMnE9UHf07bcTZVSdyVXJfZ7ky5ek0z3nuGoOU/s2048/sky444.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2DPEvAKojP1w46u4ctuzTnVFiCxDxpmmYvU0-X8d_zC08HHLCe3lTiFwO8tEx94smLrAQ2eOFd9IqjUxyuWPAct-Md52Qr-FhvLScFHMnE9UHf07bcTZVSdyVXJfZ7ky5ek0z3nuGoOU/w150-h200/sky444.jpg" width="150" /></a></div><br />Should mending the sky be our New Year's resolution? The title of the exhibition at the <a href="https://noma.org/">New Orleans Museum of Art</a> <i><a href="https://noma.org/exhibitions/mending-the-sky/#about">Mending the Sky</a></i> is timely and poetic. The allegory alludes to an ancient Chinese tale in which the goddess creator of mankind repairs a rip on the sky to stop calamities. Like all fables, it is simple but profound, timeless and universal. Eleven artists participate to the show which combines paintings, fiber art, videos, installations, sculptures and a musical performance.<p></p><p>Although the installation from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beili_Liu">Beili Liu</a> is most enticing, for my second visit I saw the show in reverse, walking toward a huge tableau from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firelei_B%C3%A1ez">Firelei Báez</a> I had almost missed the first time. Superimposed on an architectural drawing, a strange creature takes over the foreground, arched backward between two tracks from the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illinois_Central_Railroad">Illinois Central Railroad</a>. The curves of the body and the headdress made of luxurious palms and tropical flowers contrast with the blend colors and sober lines of the blueprint. A mass of water on the left side (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonnet_Carr%C3%A9_Spillway">Bonnet Carré Spillway</a>) spills over the track and fills the vanishing point. The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ciguapa">ciguapa</a>, a Dominican mythological figure, seems to push against the flood with her feet. Allegory of nature versus human, the picture also alludes to the <a href="https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/great-migration">Great Migration</a> facilitated by the construction of the railroad. Is the ciguapa also protecting the souls of the enslaved persons buried in the two cemeteries submerged under the spillway? Not only the composition is filled with a rich narrative fed by history, it also relates to the present as a reminder of nature's wrath. </p><p>In the next two weaved pieces, water is looked at as a benevolent element sustaining communities, a sort of gold for the poor. <i>Encontro das Aguas (Meeting of Waters)</i>, 2016-2018, from <a href="https://www.clarissatossin.net/">Clarissa Tossin</a>, refers to mighty rivers: Nile, Amazon, Yangtze, Mississippi, evoked by a long blue ribbon meandering on a chevron patterned background, widening at the bottom for the delta. Satellite photographs of the rivers are printed on vinyl, providing the material to weave for this work, a reflection on rivers' local and global impact. On the wall, <i>If you feed a river,</i> 2019, from <a href="https://www.diedrickbrackens.com/">Diedrick Brackens</a> has biblical undertones, depicting fishes swimming in a stream which connects two half bodies, one appears female on the right, the other male on the left. Adam and Eve? A symbolic scene about water, source of life. In the same room, <i>Burnout in Shredded Heaven</i>, 2018-2019, a "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edvard_Munch">Munchean</a>" closed composition from <a href="http://www.artnet.com/artists/heidi-hahn/">Heidi Hahn</a> depicts the emotionally charged interaction between two women. Across the room, in <i>A Sense of Memory</i>, 2015, made in wood, metal and glass,<a href="https://www.anabertahernandez.com/"> Ana Hernandez</a> looks at patterns found on wood and the brain convolutions, to find connections between "rhythms of nature and our thoughts, memories and dreams".</p><p>The three channel video installation from <a href="http://www.thaonguyenphan.com/">Thao Nguyen Phan </a>provides a fifteen minutes interlude. It brings us to a faraway land (Vietnam) in a remote time. Between reality depicted by gruesome films and photographs from the famine (1940-1949), and folktales illustrated by hand-drawn animations, we are told about a story of starvation, resilience and hope. Lost in the dark between the five screens of <i>Un chemin escarpé/</i> <i>A</i> <i>steep path</i>, 2018, from <a href="https://hammer.ucla.edu/exhibitions/2019/hammer-projects-jamilah-sabur">Jamilah Sabur</a>, I stayed confused by the images of this ambitious work which "draws upon metaphysics, geology, and familial ties to reframe the landscape and history of the Caribbean". </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyWfG1dtkgKVAyKPCCiRyul10uEAUNIPQnuxUEmKzUepDeAXoNGTX04MSHsxUu7fixZN-moYAKFxUUM3yxE3p1aw5gRu_JSI4dwz8JC303MOGnjLFJBbaJRCNTcZiDrDBjE_hicYUzhSE/s2048/sky6.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1638" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyWfG1dtkgKVAyKPCCiRyul10uEAUNIPQnuxUEmKzUepDeAXoNGTX04MSHsxUu7fixZN-moYAKFxUUM3yxE3p1aw5gRu_JSI4dwz8JC303MOGnjLFJBbaJRCNTcZiDrDBjE_hicYUzhSE/w160-h200/sky6.JPG" width="160" /></a></div><p></p><p>In the next gallery, at floor level, the convoluted roots of a tree pop out of the wall anchored on a metal support. Strength and fragility,<i> Lore</i>, 2017, from <a href="http://www.lornacwilliams.com/">Lorna Williams</a> is about us and where we come from. The third video <i>Braidrage</i>, 2017, from <a href="https://www.baseerakhanstudios.com/">Baseera Khan</a> should be a performance which had to be curtailed during the pandemic. If it looses some of its spontaneity, its physicality still transpires as we watch the artist climb a rock-wall. Grasping casts of her own body, loosing her grip, grunting at times, her slow ascend culminates with the view of a thick braid of human hair falling from the ceiling to the floor. Beyond the hairpieces' trade, the artist denounces the exploitation of women in the third world to feed our consumerism. </p><p>Walking through Beili Liu's<i> After All / Mending The Sky </i>is a great way to start or finish the visit, or both. The light blue clouds weighted by thousands of needles gently swayed by the air flow, gleaming under the skylights, is a poetic interpretation of a Chinese tale about repairing a broken world. </p><p>Natural calamities, human disasters are worldwide and it is fitting that the selected participants come from a cosmopolitan background, yet one can regret that male artists are underrepresented, perpetuating the idea of females in charge of comforting, mending, healing.</p><p>Time to pick up a needle. </p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq3ATZmMVb1KOGVnj2WH-KES4qWTRCYRS3yG6lpVH2V6sSYlfcc4xI65ySlIrMntzZkya1bzzTmup3Qxo2Ho0I4tPqohtTrbeaayg-lVZUwVpD5L8gH-RHMZGDgoWV3AdpJYoQdFPBUh8/s2048/sky11.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1645" data-original-width="2048" height="322" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq3ATZmMVb1KOGVnj2WH-KES4qWTRCYRS3yG6lpVH2V6sSYlfcc4xI65ySlIrMntzZkya1bzzTmup3Qxo2Ho0I4tPqohtTrbeaayg-lVZUwVpD5L8gH-RHMZGDgoWV3AdpJYoQdFPBUh8/w400-h322/sky11.jpg" width="400" /></a></div></div><br /><p><i>photographs by the author</i></p><p><i>Beili Liu "After All / Mending The Sky", 2018-ongoing</i></p><p><i>Lorna Williams "Lore", 2017</i></p><p><i>Firelei Báez "the trace, whether we are attending to it or not (a space for each other's breathing)", 2019</i></p><p><br /></p>Sylvie Contigugliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06793587673934803612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1178270213976736618.post-18579914590452840042020-12-27T10:06:00.002-07:002020-12-28T07:08:54.553-07:00Plastic and Porcelain at NOMA<p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><div style="text-align: left;"><i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhSTt76O_zXO3tk8ym2Pszn1ydT1KROrFo5fVJIQwBbziBGXs8Fj2JZtgNSdnM20fZP_NVMx0tz9eMdYifqEHtQoGgltst11rgaM_asGNeNeC2hDLSDVGn11QB3JKHcHWchNJwujysj0s/s2048/NOMA2.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhSTt76O_zXO3tk8ym2Pszn1ydT1KROrFo5fVJIQwBbziBGXs8Fj2JZtgNSdnM20fZP_NVMx0tz9eMdYifqEHtQoGgltst11rgaM_asGNeNeC2hDLSDVGn11QB3JKHcHWchNJwujysj0s/w150-h200/NOMA2.jpg" width="150" /></a></div><br />"Stunting" Garniture Set</i>, 2020, from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roberto_Lugo">Roberto Lugo</a>, commissioned by the <a href="https://noma.org/">New Orleans Museum of Art</a> is now on view in the Elise M. Besthoff Charitable Foundation Gallery, previous site of the exhibition <a href="https://noma.org/exhibitions/the-quilts-of-gees-bend/">The Quilts of Gee's Bend</a>. The new addition will become a permanent installation within the decorative galleries in April 2021. Born and raised in a poor Philadelphia neighborhood, Roberto Lugo was a graffiti artist early on. He is presently best known for his use of porcelain as a medium for his socially engaged pieces and is the first ceramicist to have been awarded the <a href="https://www.aarome.org/apply/rome-prize">Rome Prize</a> (2019).</div><div style="text-align: left;">The sculptural triptych combines three Grecian pillar-pedestals. The highest in the middle supports a replica of a golden tank and on both sides, richly decorated vessels featuring a semi-profile of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Armstrong">Louis Armstrong</a> on the left and<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lil_Wayne"> Lil Wayne</a> on the right, set in white medallions. Baffled at first by the image of Armstrong next to a war machine, I was reassured by the wall text: the tank refers to <a href="The gold tank represents No Limit Soldiers, the 1990s hip-hop artists responsible for coining the sound of “southern rap.” "><i>No Limit Soldiers</i></a>, a "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Limit_Records">group of hip-hop artists</a> responsible for coining the sound of <i>Southern <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Limit_Greatest_Hits">Rap</a></i>". Beyond music and musicians, the rococo vessels painted in iconic bleu-de-roi are an unmistakable reference to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manufacture_nationale_de_S%C3%A8vres">Sèvres porcelain</a>, the French kings' china. One of the golden handles represents an outsized trumpet for Louis Armstrong while Lil Wayne is surrounded by a massive chain necklace with a huge cross. The urns decorated with the artists' distinctive attributes could contain their ashes. They are set on crumbling neo-classical pillars in fake blue marble made of earthenware and plastic. Gold paint seeps from their cracks like blood from wounds. </div><div style="text-align: left;">Reflecting on the kitschy piece about two New Orleans icons and a hip-hop group, one finds out that it has little to do with music. The title "Stunting" borrowed from street slang, meaning showing off, (jewelry, cars, clothes...) next to "Garniture Set", a term used to describe a display of precious china on a salon's mantelpiece, introduces various means of claiming status, through a composition blending low and high art. With his selection of African American artists from poor backgrounds reaching the pinnacle of fame and media mixing plastic and porcelain, the artist sees his practice as a challenge to the establishment. Featuring African American musicians born in the city, neo-classical columns a reminder of its architecture, and French china of its history, makes the work a "native" from New Orleans. A single edition will be displayed at New Orleans Museum of Art.</div><div style="text-align: left;">I cannot wait to see the piece embedded in the permanent collection, bringing a whiff of the street to the museum.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>photograph by the author</i></div>Sylvie Contigugliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06793587673934803612noreply@blogger.com0New Orleans, LA, USA29.951065799999991 -90.07153233.4554243794248904 -125.2277823 56.446707220575092 -54.9152823tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1178270213976736618.post-86761716656282897232020-11-30T18:56:00.003-07:002023-02-25T13:44:14.682-07:00Together<blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><p></p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><p style="text-align: left;"> <br /> Following a quiet summer, <a href="http://arthurrogergallery.com/?dur=293">Arthur Roger Gallery</a> is awakening with a bang. Its latest show <a href="http://arthurrogergallery.com/exhibition/empathy/"><i>Art in the</i> <i>Time of Empathy</i></a> features seventy artists represented by more than one hundred works of art including paintings, sculptures, photographs and site specific installations. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm7IvQju_SMKjhPL8GhzuWr0s47HHKClmV4dclRBN4Jf1QVKrEkIbTUqBn0RbvGhOHbS74vwZEso1pDidO72k7UsRiL4oU6S8mGoTYnDe0mfcxhqb4DTvYM4ZbDSIaafi8V7Jw9kgES0c/s2048/arthur1.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm7IvQju_SMKjhPL8GhzuWr0s47HHKClmV4dclRBN4Jf1QVKrEkIbTUqBn0RbvGhOHbS74vwZEso1pDidO72k7UsRiL4oU6S8mGoTYnDe0mfcxhqb4DTvYM4ZbDSIaafi8V7Jw9kgES0c/w150-h200/arthur1.jpg" width="150" /></a></div> A playful series of <i>shoe-mask</i> from <a href="http://www.maxxsizeler.com/artist.html">Maxx Sizeler</a> leads to a spacious space lined up with paintings and photographs, leaving plenty of room to wander around the installation from <a href="http://www.megturnerprints.com/">Meg Turner</a> <i>Boardwalk Testing Site,</i> a kiosk advertising cures for our current torments: virus, elections, economy. It is a new world when exhibitions are also appreciated for their social distancing friendliness. The rear of the gallery, bathed entirely in artificial light keeps the same airy feeling before reaching the "dark room" always filled with surprises, this time a cosmic installation from <a href="https://www.polumbo.com/">Randy Palumbo </a><i>Antigenic Rift</i>.<p></p><p> Louisiana is depicted through quiet landscapes from <a href="https://www.simongunning.com/">Simon Gunning</a> <a href="https://www.simongunning.com/"></a>and dreamy abstract meanderings from <a href="http://www.brianguidry.com/">Brian Guidry</a>. Its rich local bestiary becomes alive in<a href="https://www.jacquelinebishop.com/bio"> Jacqueline Bishop</a>'s fiery end of the world scenes and <a href="https://jonathanmayers.com/home.html">Jonathan Mayers</a>'s illustrations of folktales. One cannot avoid a pang when looking at <i>Brassband on Frenchmen #4</i>, 2020, from <a href="https://www.culturetype.com/2019/02/28/keith-duncan-brought-moments-in-black-history-and-the-culture-of-the-big-easy-to-new-yorks-meatpacking-district/">Keith Duncan</a>. The lively, dizzying painting underscores the deafening silence of a city longing for better times. Artists invite us in their studios (<a href="http://www.davidhallidayphotography.com/">David Halliday</a>,<a href="https://mocajacksonville.unf.edu/artists/Amer-Kobaslija/"> Amer Kobaslija</a>), share drawings of their pets (<a href="https://cacno.org/artists/lee-diegaard">Lee Deigaard</a>), focus on food (<a href="https://hyperallergic.com/520993/beer-with-a-painter-richard-baker/">Richard Baker</a>'s cookbooks, <a href="http://www.clarkgallery.com/artists/amy-weiskopf#:~:text=Amy%20Weiskopf%20was%20born%20in,widely%20in%20the%20USA%20since.">Amy Weiskopf</a>'s still lifes) or paint deserted gardens (<a href="http://jimrichardart.com/">Jim Richard</a>). COVID-19 is on everybody's mind and inspires <a href="https://luiscruzazaceta-art.com/">Luis Cruz Azaceta</a>'s cartoonish rendition with its punchy acidic colors or the weaponized version of sculptor <a href="https://cacno.org/artists/gene-koss">Gene Koss</a>, complemented by masked portraits (Meg Turner, <a href="https://www.frahnkoerner.com/">Frahn Koerner</a>). Death ultimately is lurking with the taxidermized pietà<i> </i>from <a href="https://www.bernicesteinbaumgallery.com/enrique-gomez-de-molina-1">Enrique Gomez de Molina</a>. During the pandemic, loneliness is rampant. Marginalization, also a source of solitude, is brought up in <a href="https://calhounmccormick.com/">Keith Calhoun</a>'s photograph of prisoners, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Dureau">George Dureau</a> and <a href="https://www.leonardgalmon.com/">Leonard Galmon</a>'s portraits, with works from Dureau,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_T._Scott"> John T. Scott</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Colescott">Robert Colescott</a> faring well through time.</p><p>Overwhelmed at first by the abundance of works, I could recognize most of the artists, each represented by an iconic piece, sometimes a series. It would be boastful to claim that I knew all seventy of them, but when in doubt, a discreet QR code available on each side of the wall display gave access to the list of artists, name of work, description and price, on my phone. </p><p> Virus, race, economy, ecology,..., old, young, alive or dead, famous or not so well known, the gathering of so many artists with works covering such a wide array of themes in various styles could seem indiscriminate. A closer look reveals that each piece reflects the essence of the artist's practice, and the abundant display offers the occasion to gorge on art after months of frustration when the only way to look at paintings or sculptures (forget installations) was on a screen. It also bears witness to the artists' creativity during the mandatory solitude and fosters <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/empathy">empathy</a>, its ultimate goal. </p><p><br /></p><p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6v7WuVclvy_WveofYwdeJ1B_XBOEPvcWDUGqtvA4OydFeJ5jlNIA89V6nk7FXPjbb61R39bpjX_AnCcnokukTDFpjqmjv1NOCjKqciqX0EZuV4_xAEMC2DwDuwqOMu_hr2eXzDpg-Y0s/s2048/arthur100.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1683" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6v7WuVclvy_WveofYwdeJ1B_XBOEPvcWDUGqtvA4OydFeJ5jlNIA89V6nk7FXPjbb61R39bpjX_AnCcnokukTDFpjqmjv1NOCjKqciqX0EZuV4_xAEMC2DwDuwqOMu_hr2eXzDpg-Y0s/s320/arthur100.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><i>photographs by the author:</i></p><p><i>view of the exhibition </i></p><p><i>Jim Richard "The Waiting Game", 2020</i></p>Sylvie Contigugliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06793587673934803612noreply@blogger.com0New Orleans, LA, USA29.951065799999991 -90.07153231.6408319638211459 -125.2277823 58.261299636178833 -54.9152823tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1178270213976736618.post-23876019503856459632020-07-18T07:55:00.002-06:002023-02-25T13:44:47.639-07:00Alive and Well<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghwaxYDyk9Vb9YFicNdRS56tS3Y3f2cqrMB7H_KvmKf50aC545l5kt-Md1G1khQtr3GHoJByB3BWrs9bS9EGA80n7dqYlCrdwN8zonvfUBV7Nwjnm2XMEbs7mnuhOjkOW-pHXX321wtf0/s1600/Julia2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="300" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghwaxYDyk9Vb9YFicNdRS56tS3Y3f2cqrMB7H_KvmKf50aC545l5kt-Md1G1khQtr3GHoJByB3BWrs9bS9EGA80n7dqYlCrdwN8zonvfUBV7Nwjnm2XMEbs7mnuhOjkOW-pHXX321wtf0/s200/Julia2.jpg" width="150" /></a></div>
After a three-month hiatus, galleries in the <a href="http://www.artsdistrictneworleans.com/">Arts District</a> are reopening and the traditional First Saturday Art Walk has become a day-long event to accommodate the rules of distancing with a predictable outcome: more time to contemplate, less time to socialize.<br />
My first visit was at <a href="https://www.octaviaartgallery.com/">Octavia Art Gallery</a> where four artists are featured for the exhibition <i>Conceptual</i> <i>Creations: Collage and Assemblage</i>. The bold red color from the objects on display in the window was an irresistible invitation to walk-in. <i>Why Red</i> from <a href="http://robertctannen.com/">Robert Tannen</a>, a gathering of his latest works, is by itself a show within the exhibition. Microwave, laptop, typewriter, rotary telephone, ..., all candidates for the dumpster, are instead preserved for eternity, embalmed in a bright red monochrome spray paint. Red for love here is for danger, emergency, an alarm about pollution, global warming and the threats they represent to the planet. Recycling is part of the solution, cloth hangers become wall sculptures or get a second life as supports for calligraphic meditative drawings. Also reflecting a Far Eastern influence, <a href="https://reginascully.com/">Regina Scully</a>'s compositions acquire a third dimension with unknown pieces of objects embedded in her poetical landscapes. <i>The Three Fates</i>, 2020, a sculptural narrative scene, reconnects with a variety of media the artist explored in the past.<br />
Assemblage and collage for <a href="http://www.scott-andresen.com/">Scott Andresen</a> result in dreamy abstract pieces, so perfect they make us forget the industrious processes they underwent, including delicate mending with gold and silver leaf, a technique borrowed from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kintsugi">Kintsugi </a>the Japanese art of repairing ceramics applied to sandpaper, Andresen's medium of choice. James Henderson's works are a reflection about passing time with his selection of old photographs and pictures from vintage magazines. The mixed media layering builds a thick texture alluding at the accumulation of memories over the years.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU4EHONtYcKog_QkPL7pU3AWf_-FglUT0AMHbWySsHTwnnCU7jT72I8Jfd7a0IfYf_uQ4iHyDVluRctbgq4m65h5Id3qG4gNmr0i_SCsnjCzspbh2A7ZJDbkwoRhqt1OubAwcTzCrJ7qA/s1600/julia77.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="290" data-original-width="171" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU4EHONtYcKog_QkPL7pU3AWf_-FglUT0AMHbWySsHTwnnCU7jT72I8Jfd7a0IfYf_uQ4iHyDVluRctbgq4m65h5Id3qG4gNmr0i_SCsnjCzspbh2A7ZJDbkwoRhqt1OubAwcTzCrJ7qA/s200/julia77.jpg" width="117" /></a>Further on Julia Street, the visit at <a href="https://www.callancontemporary.com/">Callan Contemporary</a> felt like stepping in an enchanted world. The monochrome installations from the ceramic artist <a href="https://www.callancontemporary.com/artists/bradley-sabin/bio">Bradley Sabin</a> recreate the magic of nature with swirls of flowers invading the gallery. The lively display keeps changing as the visitor walks back and forth, each unique flower anonymous among the flock.<br />
<i>Art in Doom</i> which opened in March at <a href="http://www.jonathanferraragallery.com/">Jonathan Ferrara Gallery</a> was reviewed in "<a href="https://arte-walk.blogspot.com/2020/03/premonitory.html">Premonitory</a>", a post published earlier.<br />
At <a href="http://arthurrogergallery.com/?dur=293">Arthur Roger Gallery</a>, the animals photographed by <a href="https://davidyarrow.photography/">David Yarrow</a> appear to awake from a long sleep. Walking by close-up shots of bear, gorilla, lion, confirms that gallery visits are indispensable to connect with the photographer's subjects. With more than a dozen mesmerizing new works, <a href="http://www.troydugas.com/">Troy Dugas</a>'s show offers another kind of adventure. More than a purely visual experience, his mandalas provide a meditative place to pause and reflect. When I look at Kris Wenschuh's compositions, I always wonder why the value of a painting is related to its size. The classically trained artist keeps producing small surrealist landscapes featuring icebergs, clouds, floating in blue skies, catching a certain light that evokes <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luminism_(American_art_style)">luminism</a>.<i> Twice Upon a Time</i>, the title of the exhibition is perfectly fitting for a show which includes works from <a href="https://www.lemieuxgalleries.com/artists/LeslieStaub">Leslie Staub</a> known for her children's books illustrations.<br />
July is supposed to be a slow month for the galleries... not this year!<br />
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<i>photographs by the author:</i><br />
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<i>Robert Tannen "Wood Burning Furnace with Logs", 2020</i><br />
<i>Kris Wenschuh "Trail of Light", 2020</i><br />
<i>Bradley Sabin "Coral Flower Wall Installation", 2020</i><br />
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<br />Sylvie Contigugliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06793587673934803612noreply@blogger.com0New Orleans, LA, USA29.951065799999991 -90.07153231.6408319638211459 -125.2277823 58.261299636178833 -54.9152823tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1178270213976736618.post-75471363622603543772020-06-30T13:29:00.003-06:002020-07-02T12:53:19.249-06:00The Art of Wrapping, Binding, and More<br />
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Wrapping, binding, evoke ancient religious rituals from Mesoamerica or far away countries like Egypt. Famous contemporary artists like <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christo_and_Jeanne-Claude">Jean-Claude and Christo</a> (who passed away this month), appealed by its aesthetic qualities, rejuvenated the practice on a grand scale. Closer to home, eleven artists who incorporate the symbolic gestures in their body of work have been selected by Bradley Sumrall, curator at the <a href="https://ogdenmuseum.org/">Ogden Museum of Southern Art</a>, for the exhibition <i><a href="https://ogdenmuseum.org/exhibition/entwined/">Entwined: Ritual Wrapping and Binding in Contemporary Southern Art</a></i>. Following its press release in February, the long awaited show is finally open to the public who can interact with more than fifty works including installations, sculptures and paintings.<br />
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After walking through a Southern decor of exuberant trees, the visitor reaches the first gallery lined up on both sides by three black knotted brooms hanging from the ceiling. At the other end, a couple of grinding stones decorated with a full length portrait of the Virgin of Guadalupe cast in glass complete the funerary display. The objects-symbols reflect the cosmopolitan background of the artist. Raised in Mexico, <a href="http://www.susanplum.com/">Susan Plum</a> was exposed to Catholic religion, shamanism, and also Buddhism while travelling in South India.<i> Luz y Solidaridad </i>created in memory of the victims of f<a href="https://www.csis.org/analysis/femicides-mexico-impunity-and-protests">emicide</a> in the vicinity of Juarez, Mexico, reaches well beyond <a href="https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/77421/WHO_RHR_12.38_eng.pdf?sequence=1">borders, cultures</a> and time. Through a process liken to alchemy, <a href="http://www.hallbarnett.com/williford-statement">Ed Williford</a> transforms found objects in thrift stores or hardware stores into magical creatures and abstract compositions. More than a dozen of his earthy colored works are displayed on pedestals and along the walls of his allotted space. Combining skills and imagination, the Mississippi artist recreates nature's perfection through his exoskeletons-like sculptures made with abandoned material revived through a laborious process of assembling, twisting, knotting, binding, staining, gluing, influenced by the discipline and rigor of minimalism.<br />
In the next section, the three decorated brooms from <i><a href="http://friendswoodbrooms.com/">Friendswood Brooms</a></i> displayed on the wall illustrate a tradition born in the mid-eighteenth century while opposite, the installation from <a href="https://cacno.org/artists/elizabeth-shannon">Elizabeth Shannon</a> invites the visitor to reflect upon nature's bounty evoked by wood poles wrapped in fabric, growing on the wall like palmetto... with a twist: a black bird, a touch of red like blood, metal photogravure plates from <a href="https://josephinesacabo.com/">Josephine Saccabo</a>'s studio for a horizon filled with hope. <i>Re-Seeking Horizons</i> conveys subtle hints more powerful than blunt statements. <a href="https://www.sonyayongjames.com/about">Sonya Yong James</a> reminds us that white is also a color of mourning, and her tapestry draped along the whole length of the next passage is dedicated to the victims of the recent pandemic, police brutality and more. A detailed wall text describes the practice of the fiber artist from Atlanta and its sources, material and spiritual. <a href="https://www.sharonkopriva.com/">Sharon Kopriva</a>' s Italian catholic background influences her work (graphite and collage) in which she depicts females like secular saints reaching a sort of ecstasy while discarding their bondage. <i>The Red Headed Witness</i>, 2020, is a portrait of the recently deceased artist Nancy Redding <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nancy_Reddin_Kienholz">Kienholz</a> draped in a shroud made of white doves and two female torsos sculpted with coiled rope complete the display.<br />
A solemn bust introduces <a href="https://www.kristinmeyers.com/">Kristin Meyer</a>'s show which features more than a dozen of her smaller pieces compared to those selected for her exhibition <i>Into the Light</i> at <a href="https://www.dcc.edu/academics/arts-humanities/fine-arts-gallery.aspx">Delgado Fine Arts Gallery</a> or<a href="http://arte-walk.blogspot.com/2019/08/timeless.html"> <i>Sistema</i></a> for <a href="https://ogdenmuseum.org/exhibition/louisiana-contemporary-2019/">Louisiana Contemporary </a>last Summer. Gathering material, leaving it "ferment", wrapping, binding, are part of the process to create sculptures radiating spiritual energy. Pieces like <i>Rob's Foot,</i> 2018, or<i> Eye,</i> 2018,<i> </i>remind of votive offerings in Sicilian churches and <i>Charon</i>, 2016, with a title from the Greek mythology has also Voodoo connotations. The blending of references makes Meyers's practice well ensconced in the city known for its diverse heritage. Egg tempera, the medium for the five paintings from the multi-disciplinary artist<a href="http://www.susanjamison.com/"> Susan Jamison</a> is fitting for the delicate pink lace decorations adorning perfectly smooth female bodies. Bound with pretty ribbons or in corset, surrounded by birds, butterflies or ... wolves, they belong to a dream or a fairy tale. As the works from <a href="https://www.blogger.com/Wrapping,%20binding,%20evoke%20ancient%20religious%20rituals%20from%20Mesoamerica%20or%20far%20away%20countries%20like%20Egypt.%20Famous%20contemporary%20artists%20like%20Jean-Claude%20and%20Christo%20(who%20passed%20away%20this%20month),%20appealed%20by%20its%20aesthetic%20qualities,%20rejuvenated%20the%20practice%20on%20a%20grand%20scale.%20Closer%20to%20home,%20eleven%20artists%20who%20incorporate%20the%20symbolic%20gestures%20in%20their%20body%20of%20work%20have%20been%20selected%20by%20Bradley%20Sumrall,%20curator%20at%20the%20Ogden%20Museum%20of%20Southern%20Art,%20for%20the%20exhibition%20Entwined:%20Ritual%20Wrapping%20and%20Binding%20in%20Contemporary%20Southern%20Art.%20Following%20its%20press%20release%20in%20February,%20the%20long%20awaited%20show%20is%20finally%20open%20to%20the%20public%20who%20can%20interact%20with%20more%20than%20fifty%20works%20including%20installations,%20sculptures%20and%20paintings.%20%20After%20walking%20through%20a%20Southern%20decor%20of%20luxuriant%20trees,%20the%20visitor%20reaches%20the%20first%20gallery%20lined%20up%20on%20both%20sides%20by%20three%20black%20knotted%20brooms%20hanging%20from%20the%20ceiling.%20At%20the%20other%20end,%20a%20couple%20of%20grinding%20stones%20decorated%20with%20a%20full%20length%20portrait%20of%20the%20Virgin%20of%20Guadalupe%20cast%20in%20glass%20complete%20the%20funerary%20display.%20The%20objects-symbols%20reflect%20the%20cosmopolitan%20background%20of%20the%20artist.%20Raised%20in%20Mexico,%20Susan%20Plum%20was%20exposed%20to%20%20Catholic%20religion,%20shamanism,%20and%20also%20Buddhism%20while%20travelling%20in%20South%20India.%20Luz%20y%20Solidaridad%20%20created%20in%20memory%20of%20the%20victims%20of%20Femicide%20in%20the%20vicinity%20of%20Juarez,%20Mexico,%20reaches%20well%20beyond%20borders,%20cultures%20and%20time.%20Through%20a%20process%20liken%20to%20alchemy,%20Ed%20Williford%20transforms%20found%20objects%20in%20thrift%20stores%20or%20hardware%20stores%20into%20magical%20creatures%20and%20abstract%20compositions.%20More%20than%20a%20dozen%20of%20his%20earthy%20colored%20works%20are%20displayed%20on%20pedestals%20and%20along%20the%20walls%20of%20his%20allotted%20space.%20Combining%20skills%20and%20imagination,%20the%20Mississippi%20artist%20recreates%20nature's%20perfection%20through%20his%20exoskeletons-like%20sculptures%20made%20with%20abandoned%20material%20revived%20through%20a%20laborious%20process%20of%20assembling,%20twisting,%20knotting,%20binding,%20staining,%20gluing,%20influenced%20by%20the%20discipline%20and%20rigor%20of%20minimalism.%20%20In%20the%20next%20section,%20the%20three%20decorated%20brooms%20from%20Friendswood%20Brooms%20displayed%20on%20the%20wall%20illustrate%20a%20tradition%20born%20in%20the%20mid-eighteenth%20century%20while%20opposite,%20the%20installation%20from%20Elizabeth%20Shannon%20invites%20the%20visitor%20to%20reflect%20upon%20nature's%20bounty%20evoked%20by%20wood%20poles%20wrapped%20in%20fabric,%20growing%20on%20the%20wall%20like%20palmetto...%20with%20a%20twist:%20a%20black%20bird,%20a%20touch%20of%20red%20like%20blood,%20metal%20photogravure%20plates%20from%20Josephine%20Saccabo's%20studio%20for%20a%20horizon%20filled%20with%20hope.%20Re-Seeking%20Horizons%20conveys%20subtle%20hints%20more%20powerful%20than%20blunt%20statements.%20Sonya%20Yong%20James%20reminds%20us%20that%20white%20is%20also%20a%20color%20of%20mourning,%20and%20her%20tapestry%20draped%20along%20the%20whole%20length%20of%20the%20next%20passage%20is%20dedicated%20to%20the%20victims%20of%20the%20recent%20pandemic,%20police%20brutality%20and%20more.%20A%20detailed%20wall%20text%20describes%20the%20practice%20of%20%20the%20fiber%20artist%20from%20Atlanta%20and%20its%20sources,%20material%20and%20spiritual.%20Sharon%20Kopriva'%20s%20Italian%20Catholic%20background%20influences%20her%20work%20(graphite%20and%20collage)%20in%20which%20she%20depicts%20females%20like%20secular%20saints%20reaching%20a%20sort%20of%20ecstasy%20while%20discarding%20their%20bondage.%20The%20Red%20Headed%20Witness,%202020,%20is%20a%20portrait%20of%20%20the%20recently%20deceased%20artist%20Nancy%20Redding%20Kienholz%20draped%20in%20a%20shroud%20made%20of%20white%20doves%20and%20two%20female%20torso%20sculpted%20with%20coiled%20rope%20complete%20the%20display.%20Well%20known%20in%20New%20Orleans,%20Kristin%20Meyers%20is%20represented%20by%20more%20than%20a%20dozen%20of%20her%20works%20arranged%20in%20a%20gallery.%20A%20solemn%20bust%20introduces%20the%20show%20which%20features%20smaller%20pieces%20compared%20to%20her%20exhibition%20Into%20the%20Light%20at%20Delgado%20Fine%20Arts%20Gallery%20or%20Sistema%20selected%20for%20Louisiana%20Contemporary%20last%20Summer.%20Gathering%20material,%20leaving%20it%20%22ferment%22,%20wrapping,%20binding%20are%20part%20of%20the%20process%20to%20create%20sculptures%20radiating%20spiritual%20energy.%20Pieces%20like%20Rob's%20Foot,%202018,%20Eye,%202018,%20remind%20of%20votive%20offerings%20in%20Sicilian%20churches,%20Charon,%202016,%20with%20a%20title%20from%20the%20Greek%20mythology%20has%20also%20Voodoo%20connotations.%20The%20blending%20of%20references%20in%20her%20works%20makes%20Meyers's%20practice%20well%20ensconced%20in%20the%20city%20known%20for%20its%20diverse%20heritage.">Jeffrey Cook</a> (1961-2009) take more patina over the years they are more relevant than ever. Each piece <a href="http://arte-walk.blogspot.com/2018/01/artists-legacy-at-boyd-satellite.html">deserves to be looked at</a> as a link between its African roots, the city's history and current events. The exhibition ends on a bright note with the colored fiber art from <a href="https://www.sarah-zapata.com/">Sarah Zapata</a>. The Peruvian-American artist stated "I wanted to make work that's overtly female and overtly handmade. Like I am performing how I'm theoretically supposed to", revealing the deep personal and cultural conflicts that feed her practice.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTYnXfBzlqXQD-dOojWWVYJuTY9TLBPqoKpnZ3tKHY30b1Wnnuo_dhOfalTRw3PcSjVRzQNMS0XSkc8KB9FhMEYg9jLKkUo6y8aEHSLk-rbtRX2fqBqZroYvLQxalNgGDgX9nQzGzB-k8/s1600/pic6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="300" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTYnXfBzlqXQD-dOojWWVYJuTY9TLBPqoKpnZ3tKHY30b1Wnnuo_dhOfalTRw3PcSjVRzQNMS0XSkc8KB9FhMEYg9jLKkUo6y8aEHSLk-rbtRX2fqBqZroYvLQxalNgGDgX9nQzGzB-k8/s200/pic6.jpg" width="150" /></a></div>
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One cannot avoid noticing that only two male artists are included in the show, most likely reflecting a gender disparity in the field of fiber art and also in the ritual act of wrapping and binding. Fiber art is still considered by too many a crafty occupation on the fringe of art (no pun intended). The exhibition with its informative wall texts shows that each individual practice is built on the artist's personal journey enriched by its cultural heritage. Featuring eleven artists, it does not feel like a group show due to the setting which allows to fully appreciate each of them, one at a time.<br />
The exhibition is one of the compelling reasons to visit the Ogden ASAP.<br />
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<i>photographs by the author:</i></div>
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<i>Susan Plum "Luz y Solidaridad"</i></div>
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<i>Kristin Meyers "Charon", 2016</i></div>
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<i>Ed Williford "Articualated Sphere Over Perforated Platform", 2012</i></div>
Sylvie Contigugliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06793587673934803612noreply@blogger.com0