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.

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!

Kirkpatrick Chapel (for Janine)

Colored Pencil on Paper, 10x12 inches, 2010

Playing 'Catchup'

It feels like I'm so far behind on the many things I wanted to say, so be patient with me. I've seen a lot of shows and heard a lot of things in the past month.. So much that I haven't had time to post. So here it goes...

Odili Odita's Artist Lecture
Odili Odita is a Nigerian-born painter that utilizes geometricized shapes of color painted on canvas and directly onto the wall surface. During the visiting artist lecture, Odita spoke of his color choice being personal colors that are used in order to trigger something in the viewer, like a memory or an emotion. This idea of universality of emotions is said to have began with Kandinsky and his use of abstraction; however, Odita utilizes space in a much different way. Being born in Nigeria, Odita is even more sensitive to presence of differences in societies, and drew from the inventions of televisions and computer as a source and inspiration. In particular, he spoke of the particular moment that a person turns on their television and sees everything and nothing at that same time; he utilizes the screen as a portal into other worlds, and his artwork as a statement that television is as subjective as art is. In his earlier works, it became obvious that he was focusing on color and utilized it to highlight subtle differences. Further on, he began to complicate his work by increasing the size and thus interacting the body within his work while complicating the weaving geometric triangles to form interlocking zigzags that made the composition more complex.
Some of Odita’s most interesting pieces are his wall paintings because it culminates his ideas more fluently and more concretely. The wall paintings could be done wherever there is a wall, and they are made specifically for a space. It feels like the wall paintings have more possibilities in composition and do not feel as limited, almost as if the canvas was not sufficient in holding his paintings, so he had to burst over them. The idea that his wall paintings are commissioned just for the space sums up his opinion on art, especially because he takes into consideration where the viewer stands, the openness of the space, the lighting, and the surrounding items in the space.

My favorite installation:

For more artworks, see Odili Odita's website:
http://www.odilidonaldodita.com/

Natura Morte

I find myself even more confused today then I ever have been with my paintings. Talking to people has made me feel more alienated in my frustrations. And I feel better realizing the history that has gathered behind me...

There is something deceivingly simple about the idea of the still life, something I have (until this point) refused to think about. Still lifes are not at all simple, they hold a history of symbolism and meaning, not only from the objects in them, but in the way they are painted. I find myself amused by the idea that when looking at a still life, you are looking at a captured moment of fresh fruit, as seen through the painter's eyes. Something about painting feels fresh, like it was just painted yesterday. This feeling is especially evident in the still life paintings of Chardin. These paintings are almost real-er then real.

Maintaining a stage-like space similar to Chardin but completely different handling of paint is Morandi. I recently saw a Morandi still life at the Princeton Art Museum (by the way, an amazing collection that is obviously well-funded). The idea of painting only this banal genre scene and only these vases for his whole life is mind-boggling. The texture of his paintings is alluring, whereas they feel dry and wet at the same time. The brushwork feels effortless. Also in the museum were paintings by Cezanne and Soutine, two artists that have explored the idea of 'natura morta' and took it even more literally.

Cezanne puts a skull in the painting, referencing death and decay. He places the skull next to fruits, of which are eternally stuck in their bountiful ripeness. It is a visual juxtaposition that describes the imminent yet impossible death of the fruits. The skull is painted in what seems to be the same space and style as the fruits, which further emphasizes the juxtaposed items. Cezanne represents the epitome of the still life painters, and the objects that were chosen for the still life paintings determine the meaning of the painting, and that choice holds great importance.

Furthermore, Soutine explores the idea of painting a splayed carcass of an animal, posing a question to the viewer: is that inside us too? The idea of painting a dead animal makes literal the idea of the still life. The idea of painting the gushing organs from an opened up carcass partially disgusts me. On the other hand, these paintings are beautifully painted in a shade of red that doesn't make me gag. Seeing a painting like this hanging next to a landscape or a still life makes me think of the acceptance and willingness from the viewer to see something in a museum that could possibly be disgusting or revolting.

Hans Holbein paints an aristocratic portrait called "The Ambassadors," while keeping a hidden secret (that is distractingly obvious after revelation) that reveals an anamorphic skull. This painting has been extremely studied, in fact, I'm sure every into to art history has mentioned it. The only way to view the skull would be either tilt the screen or paper that is in view, or in person to basically get down on the ground and look at the perfect angle. It's a strange painting because it feels like a common portrait with still life items surrounding it, and yet, there's this obsession with the stopping of time and death that becomes obvious upon the realization of the skull. Unfortunately, after that realization, there is no other way to reconcile the image of the skull, hence my brain constantly is trying to put together that image.

This leaves me feeling somewhat comforted after linking together only several of the infinite artists that inspire me on a day to day basis, while solidifying even more the idea that I do not want to paint really-real paintings of fruits or vases, not even potraits. Although it has worked for this artist, there are limitations to how much a viewer can take out of paintings like say, Holbein's "Ambassadors".