Revisiting Edgar Degas

Edgar Degas: the private Impressionist at the Newcomb Art Gallery on the Uptown Tulane Campus  provides a glimpse into a less known scope of Degas' practice through its display of "Works on Paper by the Artist and His Circle". The famous sculptor and painter produced also a substantial body of work on paper. The drawings, prints, photographs and related pieces from the artist and his peers on view for the exhibition, were gathered by Robert Flynn Johnson over a forty-year period for his collection.

The visit appears daunting at first sight due to the voluminous material on display, its predominant black and white colors and the monotonous presentation along the walls. However, themes emerge as one walks through: Marie Cassatt at the entrance, or in the main gallery Edouard Manet, portraits of family and friends, studies after Old Masters or Classical sculptures also horses in one of the adjacent room and works from contemporaries in the other. Degas, the photographer, is well represented with a collection of shots made by the Master which contributes greatly to the worthwhile visit. So does the display of works on paper from peers like Ingres, Cézanne, Toulouse-Lautrec, ... or less known artists, spread within the show. Detailed wall texts are found next to each work and hand-outs are available for more information, including a glossary of graphic art terms. Etching, aquatint, drypoint, lithographs, first impression,..., the technicalities surrounding works on paper, prints in particular can be confusing but transform the exhibition into a didactic experience for an amateur like me. For example, one can learn about monoprints and monotypes which fell in disfavor after the sixteenth century. They are represented by three works by Degas who was introduced to the technique by Ludovic Lepic: Les Deux Arbres, ca.1878, Bust of a Woman, ca. 1876 and Heads of a Man and a Woman, ca. 1877-78. Most of the prints however are impressions from cancelled plates, made posthumously by Degas' dealer which means without the artist approval. Degas sold his cancelled plates to AmbroiseVollard as explained on page 40 of the book published at the occasion of the exhibition: "Degas' cancellation lines were clearly visible but done so as not to deface the compositions", "Degas himself rarely published or sold any of his work in the medium during his lifetime.". The assumption is that Degas intended to have further editions of the cancelled plates made after his death, which prompted Gary Arseneau to raise some polemic about the exhibition in his blog. The lonely sculpture Head, Study of the Portrait of Mademoiselle S. adds up to the controversy surrounding posthumous sculptures from Degas and appears irrelevant in an exhibition of works on paper. Likely the illustrations from Maurice Potin "after Degas" are subject to further scrutiny after reading the book: "Degas never exhibited the works in his lifetime", " Degas sold them... surely knowing that the dealer intended to use them as illustrations for further publication."...maybe.
The exhibition is a great venue to discover Degas, the photographer, and imagine the artist "at work" while looking at studies made in preparation for his paintings and sculptures. It shows Degas experimenting, presents his circle of friends and acquaintances, and brings up technical issues of interest to the collectors and viewers.
Degas was reluctant to be labeled an impressionist and preferred to be called a realist or independent, he may not approve of the exhibition's title and may also have some reservations about the content.
But who can tell?

photographs by the author:

"Manet Seated, Turned to the Right", ca. 1864-1865, Edgar Degas
view of the exhibition

Dazzling, Newcomb Art Gallery

 Un Monumento às Fantasias Descartadas ( A Monument to Discarded Fantasies) from Andrea Fraser is a festive introduction to the Prospect.3 show at the Newcomb Art Gallery on the Uptown Tulane campus. The site specific work is an accumulation of left over beads, baubles, clothes, feathers, garlands from the Rio Carnival and the heap of abandoned objects instills melancholy. Assuming it is intentional, the Christmas tree shaped composition refers not only to Mardi Gras but also to the quasi secular celebration taking place two months before. However, the pile of shiny, decorative, lifeless objects feels contrived. Soiled, crushed, shattered trinkets would bring spontaneity and genuineness to the installation.
Monir Farmanfarmaian's works shimmer along the walls, surrounding the center piece. The geometric wall sculptures ally the sobriety of minimalist shapes and the richness from the glitter to reach a perfect mixture of Islamic inspired motives and minimalist influence, defying all categorization. Farmanfarmaian has perfected the techniques of cut mirrors, mosaics and reverse glass painting to create the mainly monochrome, silvery works, activated by the viewer's reflection: a successful amalgam of East  and West.
In keeping with her quest, Ebony Patterson fills a room with a new body of works created for P.3. Mixing paint, beads, glitter, flowery wallpaper, she stages black bodies lying in a lush nature or overtaken by raucous celebrations. The human form dissolves in the luxurious vegetation or the party's decorations. Primal calls lead to Mardi Gras festivities or a search for paradise in a communion with nature. Paterson keeps us guessing and wandering in her celebratory landscapes.


Black is for funerals. According to Hew Locke, black is also for parades. In his site specific installation The Nameless, mythical heroes drawn with cords and beads on a starry background, come alive on the four walls of the room, encircling the visitor. Referring to our collective memory, childhood's nightmares or fairy tales, the overpowering figures (about twice my size) are a mixture of symbols, cultural and historical references like the demon with angel's wings or the Medieval warrior riding a lion. In a new world, the pageantry of semi-gods brandishes Kalashnikovs, the symbol of modern weaponery.

Each artist is presented with a concise informative wall text and if their works are influenced by diverse backgrounds, the curator found a common discussion.The exhibition  is a reference to a 1959 show organized at the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston. Totems not Taboo, about the dichotomy of objects. 
Flawless, dazzling!


photographs by the author:

"Un Monumento ás Fantasias Descartadas" ( A Monument to Discarded Fantasies), Andrea Fraser
with on each side, wall sculptures from Monir Farmanfarmaian
"...shortly after 8- beyond the bladez", Ebony Patterson, 2014
"The Nameless", detail, Hew Locke

Sculpting Tires

Chakaia Booker's latest exhibition Eradication: A Form of Obsession at the Newcomb Art Gallery on the Tulane University campus is the occasion to rediscover the artist, famous for her sculptures made with rubber tires. Following my first exposure to her work at the New Orleans Museum of Art, then an encounter at Art Basel Miami Beach and lately a daily walk by FOCI, an outdoor sculpture located on Poydras Street in New Orleans, I assumed that I knew the artist. After all, what else can be said in the monochrome medium? The conceptual artist's practice has been discussed, analyzed, interpreted and the metaphors about her work abound, alluding to forced labor, industrial revolution, racial differences, scarification,  consumerism, global economy, colonization, social disparities... The artist states her goal in the introduction to the exhibition: "...how broad, complex cultural transformations can continue to be expressed through common material".
At first sight, the visitor is drawn to a relief sculpture Color of Hope, 2010, a haptic landscape, harmonious construction made of rough material overtaken by curly pieces of rubber resulting in an organic composition, vision of generous opulence and growth surrounded by two intimate, smaller sized wall pieces Misleading Circumstances, 2005 and Masked Appeal, 2012.
The show includes also six sculptures in the round, and the visit becomes an aesthetically pleasing experience looking at Conversion, 2006, a strange animal built with pipes on one side and a rubbery, reptile-like material on  the other, Mixed Message, 2005, black ribbons flowing to the ground, like water out of a fountain, Wrench (Wench), 2001, an over-sized industrial tool featuring a boa feather for a handle or The Nest, 2003, evoking sexuality and birth with its feminine shapes. Privilege of Eating, 2012, goes straight to the point with two shovels representing the voracity of an opulent world  in contrast with the crumbled signs "private property", "no trespassing" embedded in the work, pieces of food carts, a broken door lock, symbols of a deprived world and its resulting marginalization.
The New Jersey hills in Booker's neighborhood are not made of white marble but piles of used tires which have become her medium since the 1990's, bringing analogy to speed, machinery and also pollution. Tearing, cutting, shredding, tugging, carving the tires, the artist's violent gesture to "deconstruct" is  followed by the act of conceptualization and creativity, transcending the material to "reconstruct". The sculptures offer a dialogue between feminine and masculine, roughness and smoothness, wealth and poverty... inviting deeper thoughts, addressing diverse issues with one medium she has transformed into a palette of colors and textures.
What makes the visit at the Newcomb gallery so compelling? The show offers a walk through almost two decades of the artist's practice in a space where the sculptures come alive under the soft natural light diffused through the ceiling and allows to discover the tactility and the depth of the work. An enlightening experience.

photographs by the author:

"Misleading Circumstances", 2005
Detail, "Mixed Messages", 2005
"Industrial Perpetousity", 2001

Graduation!

The latest exhibition at the Woldenberg Art Center on the Uptown Tulane campus included the works of three students realized for their Bachelor Degree in Fine Arts.
Their artists' statements available at the entrance in a folder were a great introduction to a well prepared show in the spacious and well lit gallery.
Starting with the works from Margaret Spacapan, with her transformation of industrial objects, keeping their shapes but changing scale and material, she introduces new meanings to an element of concrete retaining wall or ventilation system. These mundane pieces when executed in a different media acquire a new status. Light, ethereal in glass or heavy, funerary in cast concrete, they loose their function but gain a  minimalist aesthetic and symbolic value.

The bright painting from Madeline Marak (a pentaptych) is a résumé of her presentation, an accumulation of colors, shapes, designs and memories from childhood. Two abstract panels suggest a relationship between natural and man-made world. In the adjacent room, pattern pieces at first have an uptownish flavor till one looks closer and discovers the fading, scratches, watermarks and the deeper meaning of the work. Like photographs, perfumes, the wallpaper samples bring memories and stimulate the imagination. Catheter Bags, 2012 is an interesting caricature of our consumer world where  very intimate indispensable products  are covered by colored graphics to give them an appealing look. The pink designs hide the function of the object, the catheter bag.

Sam Crosby invites us to a party and we feel like being too early or too late. This is the intention with The Party, 2012. We can anticipate the fun but know that fun is always tainted with some regret. Crosby uses repetition to give us a feeling of boredom with twelve identical clown faces arranged next to each other or with Aloha, Aloha, 2013, a similar pattern of shower curtains applied on a board. Yes, fun can be overwhelming and a tropical paradise can become oppressive.


In all their works, with different media, each artist has delivered a consistent message.
Graduation, a milestone, the end and the beginning,
Congratulations!

photographs by the author:

work from Margaret Spacapan
"Fairfield Breakfast Room", Madeline Marak, 2012
detail "The Party", Sam Crosby, 2012

A Forest of Drawings

At the Newcomb Art Gallery, the installation is black and white with the drawings from Sandra Pani a Mexican artist.The giant panels (118 x 43 inches) hanging from the ceiling transform the space in a maze where the visitor can gaze at different stages of metamorphosis of humans into trees. Spines become trunks, branches float, roots support fragile giants. The Greek goddess Daphne was transformed into a tree by her mother Gaia to avoid Apollo's pursuit, a rebirth of a sort. In fairy tales, trees are alive and speak. Shape shifting often involves magic. The grey shadows softening the black shapes on the white background create an atmosphere of unfinished process...
a quest to solve the mystery of reincarnation.

photograph by the author