Sunday, April 18, 2010
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Princeton Art Museum
The Princeton Art Museum has an impressive collection of Modern Art. Some of the most interesting paintings were from artists like Bonnard, Morandi, and more. Not only is the architecture of the building inspiring in itself, but the artworks are all from significant, successful and interesting artists.
I was surprised to see one of the Still Life paintings by Giorgio Morandi. The small-scale still life has quiet personality. The tall slender bottles are lined up near the center of the painting. The muted color palette consists of mixed grays and whites, using minimal brush strokes to describe bottles that hover in the center of the painting.
The painting entitled, Tugboat on the Siene by Pierre Bonnard is a landscape painting that is in the same room as the Morandi still life. It is painted in a somewhat impressionistic style, using the least possible brush strokes to describe the scene. In comparison to his other works, the color palette is more realistic, consisting of mostly greens and grays.
In the center of the room is Auguste Rodin’s sculpture in marble, Danaid. The glossy mound of marble stood out in the center of the mostly grey room. It portrays an idealized nude male figure curled up and placed on top of a base. It is a small-scale sculpture, and fit in perfectly with the smaller sized paintings surrounding it.
The Princeton Art Museum houses many prestigious paintings. I'm not complaining about being surrounded by the likes of Monet and being overwhelmed by PAM's extensive collection of Greek Art (borderline crowded); however, it is quite obvious that you are in Princeton when you're standing in the museum. On that note, here are some other striking paintings from the collection:
Black Friday by Willem de Kooning, Oil and enamel on pressed wood panel, 1948
Untitled by Ad Reinhardt, Oil on canvas, 1960
Untitled by Philip Guston, Oil on particle board, 1973
To see the complete collection at the Princeton Art Museum, visit:
http://artmuseum.princeton.edu
I was surprised to see one of the Still Life paintings by Giorgio Morandi. The small-scale still life has quiet personality. The tall slender bottles are lined up near the center of the painting. The muted color palette consists of mixed grays and whites, using minimal brush strokes to describe bottles that hover in the center of the painting.
The painting entitled, Tugboat on the Siene by Pierre Bonnard is a landscape painting that is in the same room as the Morandi still life. It is painted in a somewhat impressionistic style, using the least possible brush strokes to describe the scene. In comparison to his other works, the color palette is more realistic, consisting of mostly greens and grays.
In the center of the room is Auguste Rodin’s sculpture in marble, Danaid. The glossy mound of marble stood out in the center of the mostly grey room. It portrays an idealized nude male figure curled up and placed on top of a base. It is a small-scale sculpture, and fit in perfectly with the smaller sized paintings surrounding it.
The Princeton Art Museum houses many prestigious paintings. I'm not complaining about being surrounded by the likes of Monet and being overwhelmed by PAM's extensive collection of Greek Art (borderline crowded); however, it is quite obvious that you are in Princeton when you're standing in the museum. On that note, here are some other striking paintings from the collection:
Black Friday by Willem de Kooning, Oil and enamel on pressed wood panel, 1948 
Untitled by Ad Reinhardt, Oil on canvas, 1960 
Untitled by Philip Guston, Oil on particle board, 1973
To see the complete collection at the Princeton Art Museum, visit:
http://artmuseum.princeton.edu
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
MFAII
MFA part two, MGSA, March 2010
sidenote: Sorry for posting this so late, for those of you who missed the show, you can view some images from the show on the MFA blog at http://rutgersmfa.blogspot.com
This show revealed some powerful egos as shown in the very different large paintings, sculptures, and a mix of somewhere in between the two. It is an extremely cohesive show, partially because of the color palette. It also seems completely indulgent in materiality.
Some of the most interesting artists that exhibited in this show included Brian Bulfer and Paul Demuro. Some of the works in this show frustrated and confused me, yet they seemed to work within the context of the other paintings and sculptures.
Brian Bulfer’s paintings were extremely tedious and process related; they included text that was steadily written/drawn onto the buttery canvas with graphite. The text involved stocks figures, which added a political or current events feel to the seemingly effortless organic paintings. They had quirky titles (along with many of the other pieces in the show). The incorporation of text into the painting was seamless, especially from far away; when the viewer approaches the canvas, it becomes obvious the subtle written words onto the painting, thus adding another aspect to the artwork. The paintings are geometric, but because most of the lines are hand-drawn, it gives a more organic feel to the otherwise flattened work. I learned at a later time that the paintings were made from a system of mathematical equations. This completely changes the meaning of the work; the artist did not chose the colors at all, they were pre-determined by information that was not under the artist's control. To what extent does the artist have to make choices within the work before it is considered just a visual and not a painting created by the artist? In other words, does the more robotic method of color choice take away from the artist's right to say, 'I created this and it is a result of my choices'? That might be a question that is open-ended.
The stippled application of the paint mirrors the thick paint that appears in Paul Demuro’s paintings as well. Demuro’s work consists of extremely layered and sculptural paintings. The most intriguing piece to me is the purple painting that has the soft edges. To be frank, I could look at those paintings for a much longer, sustainable time then the paintings by Leticia Luevanos. I enjoy the indulgent aspect of the work; thinking about how much money and time it must have taken to layer that much paint is mind-boggling. Contrasting with that idea is the use of metallic paint. I enjoy the metallic paint because it reverses the ideal of the elite, indulgent aspect of the paint. It adds an aspect to the work that relates to some of the other works, like Marketa Klicova’s sculpture/installation. The paintings mostly deal with geometric patterns applied in a rough way through the extreme layering of paint. There is not much mixing of color, however, the paint is applied over and over until it can still alone as a painting and sculpture simultaneously. Demuro’s work made me debate the difference between sculpture and painting, and it blurs the line between the two very different processes.
sidenote: Sorry for posting this so late, for those of you who missed the show, you can view some images from the show on the MFA blog at http://rutgersmfa.blogspot.com
This show revealed some powerful egos as shown in the very different large paintings, sculptures, and a mix of somewhere in between the two. It is an extremely cohesive show, partially because of the color palette. It also seems completely indulgent in materiality.
Brian Bulfer’s paintings were extremely tedious and process related; they included text that was steadily written/drawn onto the buttery canvas with graphite. The text involved stocks figures, which added a political or current events feel to the seemingly effortless organic paintings. They had quirky titles (along with many of the other pieces in the show). The incorporation of text into the painting was seamless, especially from far away; when the viewer approaches the canvas, it becomes obvious the subtle written words onto the painting, thus adding another aspect to the artwork. The paintings are geometric, but because most of the lines are hand-drawn, it gives a more organic feel to the otherwise flattened work. I learned at a later time that the paintings were made from a system of mathematical equations. This completely changes the meaning of the work; the artist did not chose the colors at all, they were pre-determined by information that was not under the artist's control. To what extent does the artist have to make choices within the work before it is considered just a visual and not a painting created by the artist? In other words, does the more robotic method of color choice take away from the artist's right to say, 'I created this and it is a result of my choices'? That might be a question that is open-ended.
The stippled application of the paint mirrors the thick paint that appears in Paul Demuro’s paintings as well. Demuro’s work consists of extremely layered and sculptural paintings. The most intriguing piece to me is the purple painting that has the soft edges. To be frank, I could look at those paintings for a much longer, sustainable time then the paintings by Leticia Luevanos. I enjoy the indulgent aspect of the work; thinking about how much money and time it must have taken to layer that much paint is mind-boggling. Contrasting with that idea is the use of metallic paint. I enjoy the metallic paint because it reverses the ideal of the elite, indulgent aspect of the paint. It adds an aspect to the work that relates to some of the other works, like Marketa Klicova’s sculpture/installation. The paintings mostly deal with geometric patterns applied in a rough way through the extreme layering of paint. There is not much mixing of color, however, the paint is applied over and over until it can still alone as a painting and sculpture simultaneously. Demuro’s work made me debate the difference between sculpture and painting, and it blurs the line between the two very different processes.
Sunday, March 28, 2010
ZimZam
The Zimmerli Art Museum in New Brunswick, New Jersey has a small, strange, and interesting collection of paintings, photographs, and sculptures. Currently on exhibition in the Special Exhibitions gallery is Lalla Essaydi's "Les Femmes du Maroc". The title of the show came from Delacroix's painting Les Femmes d'Algiers. Essaydi confronts many issues surrounding European Orientalist paintings of the 19th century by staging reconstructions of the paintings (in my opinion, both sexist and racist paintings) in photograph form.
Lalla Essaydi's process involves complex steps, and begins with her inspiration painting, in this case, the famous Ingres painting, "Grande Odalisque".
The impossibly long and seemingly boneless figure takes up most of the field, with her luminescent skin. This painting is said to be an Orientalist painting, because of the inclusion of what seems to be a hookah, an inclosed space primarily for women (known as the Harem), and the fabric covering her hair. Essaydi's opinion is that this is all fabricated and objectifying, and she wishes to re-establish the truth of her Moroccan culture. She takes this painting and about 10 others and sets up scenes that are similar to this. She creates sets that she draws on with Henna, a dark brown paste applied to women's bodies for celebrations such as weddings. Not only is all the fabric in the scene covered in Henna, but the women that are in the scene are covered in it as well, from head to toe. She utilizes a form of calligraphy that is mostly used by men, and controversially writes passages from her journals onto the skin and fabric. She also designs and makes all of the clothing that is worn.
The pictures are meticulously set up, photographed, and printed. The are all made up of a neutral color scheme of greys, browns, and flesh tones.
She choses to leave the film border on the pictures, which reminds the viewer that they are looking at a photograph, and to not get lost in the hypnotizing henna. The series plays on the idea of the male gaze of the Orientalist inspiration paintings; being that she is a female artist taking photographs of mostly females that are not objectifying, she is making a statement about her culture. Instead of placing the women in a Harem scene, she places them on a stage-like interior space that she created. There are no men within the scene, and none of the women are nude. They all seem to be asserting themselves as strong women that are not defined by their sexuality.
The other photography currently on view is Out of the Ordinary: Photography by Larry Clark and Gary WInogrand. The exhibit starts out with more mild photographs of women by Gary Winogrand, and slowly transitions into heavier subject matter surrounding violence and drugs by Larry Clark (mostly from the series 'Tulsa'). It was interesting to see the combination of different genre scenes, from the mild to the grotesque. I had a hard time staying in the same room as some of the portraits, because they were so shocking. However, I enjoyed that all of the photographs were meticulously taken and printed; they all had the same size and format, which unified the different subject matter.
Lalla Essaydi's process involves complex steps, and begins with her inspiration painting, in this case, the famous Ingres painting, "Grande Odalisque".
The impossibly long and seemingly boneless figure takes up most of the field, with her luminescent skin. This painting is said to be an Orientalist painting, because of the inclusion of what seems to be a hookah, an inclosed space primarily for women (known as the Harem), and the fabric covering her hair. Essaydi's opinion is that this is all fabricated and objectifying, and she wishes to re-establish the truth of her Moroccan culture. She takes this painting and about 10 others and sets up scenes that are similar to this. She creates sets that she draws on with Henna, a dark brown paste applied to women's bodies for celebrations such as weddings. Not only is all the fabric in the scene covered in Henna, but the women that are in the scene are covered in it as well, from head to toe. She utilizes a form of calligraphy that is mostly used by men, and controversially writes passages from her journals onto the skin and fabric. She also designs and makes all of the clothing that is worn. The pictures are meticulously set up, photographed, and printed. The are all made up of a neutral color scheme of greys, browns, and flesh tones.
She choses to leave the film border on the pictures, which reminds the viewer that they are looking at a photograph, and to not get lost in the hypnotizing henna. The series plays on the idea of the male gaze of the Orientalist inspiration paintings; being that she is a female artist taking photographs of mostly females that are not objectifying, she is making a statement about her culture. Instead of placing the women in a Harem scene, she places them on a stage-like interior space that she created. There are no men within the scene, and none of the women are nude. They all seem to be asserting themselves as strong women that are not defined by their sexuality. The other photography currently on view is Out of the Ordinary: Photography by Larry Clark and Gary WInogrand. The exhibit starts out with more mild photographs of women by Gary Winogrand, and slowly transitions into heavier subject matter surrounding violence and drugs by Larry Clark (mostly from the series 'Tulsa'). It was interesting to see the combination of different genre scenes, from the mild to the grotesque. I had a hard time staying in the same room as some of the portraits, because they were so shocking. However, I enjoyed that all of the photographs were meticulously taken and printed; they all had the same size and format, which unified the different subject matter.
Friday, March 26, 2010
Soccer balls & Spray paint
Wendy White’s paintings deal with several different ideas, including the incorporation of ordinary objects in painting, the utilization of spray paint, the integration of text, and the placement of a series of paintings together to create a singular painting. After seeing many of her works during the Mason Gross School of the Arts presents: Artist's Lecture Series, I can see her graphic design influence and training, especially because of the way she paired her paintings with still photographs of her inspirations scrolling on the right during the presentation- most of them being sports and advertisement related.
Wendy White talks about the difference between beautifying something and painting on it; there is juxtaposition between creating beautiful paintings comprised of spray paint, masking tape, and soccer balls. The idea of using spray paint adds another dimension to the work; spray paint immediately dictates the rebellious act of graffiti, and that triggers the thought of text. She talks about using “text as a construction of image.” Consequently, the utilization of spray paint, masking tape, and text makes complete sense.
She thinks about the frame of the painting reflected in the framework behind the walls, and the construction or breakdown of the painting.
Further adding to the breakdown of the artwork are the modular paintings that she makes. She purposefully paints on the moveable paintings to highlight the gaps in between the paintings and make it obvious that they are several canvases together. One might wonder what the back of the painting looks like and how it is constructed just from noticing the different panels. Furthermore, Wendy White talks about her inability to move her own canvases: a shortcoming that I too have had to deal with.
Joan Mitchell and I
So the assignment was to make a response painting. I chose Joan Mitchell's Sunflower paintings, particularly the diptych painting. I really enjoy the brush strokes she uses, they're juicy and expressionistic (hence the inclusion of Mitchell in the ABEX movement). I wanted to capture those brush strokes and the freedom that she must have had to do these paintings, but by using house paints. The colors I chose are vaguely reminiscient of the colors she uses, but a little more fleshy and grey.
I also wanted to play around with the composition. I found that it was un-necessary to do another painting because the composition of the one painting is satisfying enough. I also wanted to do the painting on paper. The feeling that the edges are peeling up subtly from the wall is completely different then paint on canvas... I might have to do a few more of these paintings. So, here it is!
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