Today's walk took me to BAMPFA for two new exhibitions: Spiritual Mountaints: The Art of Wesley Tongson and Lines of Thought: Gestural Abstraction in the BAMPFA Collection. The Gestural Abstraction exhibition is one gallery but with some choice pieces by artists such as Hans Hoffman, Gerhard Richter, Joan Mitchell, Jackson Pollack, and others. I especially liked a piece by Esteban Vicente because of the color palette that juxtaposed colors I associate with '80s jewel tone fashions. I will have to go back to see the Tongson show again. I was captivated by his work, both the black ink pieces inspired by Chinese artistic traditions of ink painting and calligraphy, and his pieces that explored color. Some works on paper done in Toronto combined colored inks that looked like watercolor with a Chinese technique of black ink line work. Some of the paintings use color wash next to highly textured resist techniques that evoke mountains and vegetation.
You can get a sense of his work from this short video produced in conjunction with a show of his work in SF:
Looking over my "life list," I remember how many items are about expanding my range of ways to be creative: knitting, sewing, beading or making jewelry, playing with photos, writing. I found iHanna's lovely blog when she was the curator of the @sweden Twitter account. One of her first posts for 2013 was about her intention to make a collage every day this year, a kind of "project" she has done before (here's a list). I decided that I wouldn't (couldn't) make a commitment to one particular art form, but that I could make room every day for creativity.
Jan 1, I took a "photo safari" around Zaragoza and put up three blog entries with some of my photos. Jan 2, I pillaged the magazine pile and cut out words and images related to the turning of the year, and to my exploration of making major changes in my life. It was hella fun, and I ended up making two collages: one inside the cover of my current journal using mostly words, and another more visual one on a journal page. I've taken photos of them and will decide if they are good enough to post (the photos, not the collages), because I'd like to document these projects. But I'm not going to beat myself up if I don't manage to write or post about this every day. Maybe I'll end up doing a weekly round-up on a particular day; I'll see how it works out. I'm adopting iHanna's tag of #365in2013.
Yesterday we went to La Lonja, a jewel of a building built in the 1500s in high Renaissance style and now used for art exhibitions. The latest is a collection of 43 paintings called “Rubens, Brueghel, Lorena. El paisaje nórdico en el Prado.” By "nórdico" from the perspective of Spain in the 17th century, one should understand the Spanish Netherlands (the name given to the Southern Netherlands when they were ruled by the Archduke Albert VII (of Austria) and Archduchess Isabela Clara Eugenia Infanta of Spain. This couple were patrons of the arts in an effort to legitimize Hapsburg rule during the peaceful period after war between Spain and the Dutch Republic ended in 1609.
The exhibit was divided into nine sections, showing how a realist representation of the landscape became an important, even central feature in genre, maritime, mythological or allegorical paintings, and in works clearly intended to display the new peace and prosperity, as well as the property, of the rulers. My favorite work was Winter Landscape with a Bird-Trap, one of five copies Pieter Breughel the Younger made of a 1565 painting originally done by his more famous father (Pieter Bruegel the Elder).
I saw Laurie Anderson perform "Dirt Day" at the Walker last night. I ended up with an extra ticket at the last minute, so I left it at the box office; they said a woman was on the waiting list. After I had been in my seat for a while, she arrived, offering to pay me. I said that since it was going to be my birthday, the ticket was a gift. We talked and discovered some things in common, so after the show, exchanged emails.
The piece was nothing like the "hits" I know, but combined many of the elements of her previous work. It was infused with great melancholy, as well as humor.
And, for old time's sake, here's the first thing I ever heard her do:
Today in class we did some writing assignments in response to Frida Kahlo's painting The Two Fridas (1939). By coincidence, I found this video through Tumblr this morning: FOUND by Carina Garcia from Van Maximilian Carlson on Vimeo.
UMN Art students in a printmaking class bust out of two dimensions with their project "Blood Vengeance 2011."
How did they make these masks? Check out the illustrated step-by-step photo explanation of "relief printmaking" here.
When my big girl was little, we would watch Sesame Street together. I had never watched it before, so I was almost (almost) as captivated as she was. There are so few places that give us messages of hope and pride, it seems. But in the past week, I have been thinking every day about Lucinda Naylor's calm, brave, love-filled message to us all. Today, Fresca is accompanying Lucinda Naylor this morning at the Basilica in a manifestation of the power of love over hate. As Lucinda says in this letter to the Star Tribune* her art project of turning the Catholic Bishop's (funded by the Knights of Columbus and an anonymous donor) DVD messages of hate into a work of art that manifests the spirit of love does not come from hate, but from love. She the solidarity and support of many people of faith as well as those of us whose families are targeted by the the Bishop and all the others who try to tell us we are bad or wrong or unworthy.
So, Bishop, listen up!
We need to help our children survive the messages of hate. Too many are succumbing to despair and ending their lives because of hateful acts against them. This morning, my daughter and I watched this video that Dan and Terry made to kick off their "It Gets Better" project, in response to all the stories of young people taking their own lives, many of them because of the relentless bullying to which they were subjected by their peers. Art can make a difference. Let's spread these messages of strength, love and solidarity, even as we mourn the stunted spirits of those consumed by hatred. UPDATED TO ADD: here's a handy round-up of some of the more famous folks who've contributed to the "It Gets Better" project, not because their stories are more important, but simply because their fame helps attract attention to the project itself, and is especially likely to appeal to teens who are looking for role models.
*Because it is so beautiful, I'm including Lucinda's letter to the paper:
CATHOLIC CHURCH
Lucinda Naylor on her DVD to ART project
The Star Tribune's Sept. 28 article about my DVD to ART project, "Job on the line over DVD protest," missed the point. I aim to create a hope- and spirit-filled artwork that expresses inclusion out of the archbishop's disheartening, divisive DVDs. The project is not an anger-fueled protest. Instead, it is energized by all the wonderful, loving Catholic people who know the sky won't fall if Minnesota legalizes civil marriage for same-sex couples. It will be a positive expression of this spirit of love and transformation.
This is a personal project. I never capitalized on my title of artist-in-residence at the Basilica to promote this project. I accept my suspension from that role as the unfortunate by-product of taking art down off the wall and into the hubbub of the community.
Many Catholic congregations support this project. DVD to ART has accepted the support of Protestant churches to host collection boxes because their congregations have the freedom to support the project without backlash from the archdiocese. Obviously, Catholic churches do not.
DVD for ART is partnering with ReturnTheDVD.org, which has pledged a financial donation to St. Stephen's Human Services, an outreach program for the homeless, for each DVD that is sent to them.
ReturnTheDVD's website states: "We are a group of Catholics who are concerned about the priorities of the leaders in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis." Their action, distributing 400,000 DVDs on the single subject of same-sex marriage shortly before the upcoming election, reflects misguided priorities and strays from the essential teachings of Christ.
The money and effort expended would be put to better use by focusing on Catholicism's "preferential option for the poor" and the commandment to love thy neighbor.
One of my favorite places to visit in San Franciso is a discreet installation in the sculpture garden of the De Young museum. To find it, you walk down a bamboo-lined path, then turn toward a structure set into the earth. It is called "Three Gems" and is one of the many Sky Space creations of James Turrell.
You enter an open-air pathway that curves around to the entrance into the chamber in the center. The chamber entrance is arched, the room inside is domed, with a small round opening at the top.
Sunlight through the opening moves across the wall as the day goes by. Look straight up; the clouds moving across the blue sky look like clouds on the moon.
I have just discovered that Turrell has a similar installation now at the Walker Art Center called "Sky Pesher!" People have made music in it, gotten married in it, made out in it....I will go see it today!
The morning was foggy, but the light was beautiful. We drove from SF to Bolinas to visit Sally Robertson's garden, a place she has created and from which she draws her inspiration as an artist in watercolor. We had a private lesson from her, in observation and in painting. This rose was our subject. The palette of colors in the foliage here is fascinating. I had not picked up a paintbrush for decades, but two of our party were dedicated watercolor painters, and another is a budding artist. Sally was able to speak to all of us clearly, gently, and with tremendous insight. She told us stories, and recommended books, especially The Art of Watercolor by Charles LeClair.
We ate lunch in her garden, and gradually the sun came out.
Another internationally participant in the Quinto Asalto Urban Art festival in Zaragoza is the Belgian artist who goes by the ame Roa. You can see from his Flickr stream that he specializes in large-scale figures of animals and birds, done all in black with with lots of textural details of fur, feathers, scales. Sometimes they are alive, sometimes not, sometimes their bones or muscles or innards are showing.
Unurth has excellent photos of the four pieces he did in Zaragoza: a fish, a squirrel, a rabbit, and the two crows. I only saw the crows in person, but I was completely enamored. He has a tumblr site with more examples of his work.
A few years ago, we discovered that there was a thriving graffiti/urban art community in Zaragoza, especially in the oldest part of the city called the "casco histórico" where old buildings in various states of disrepair are sometimes revealed when buildings next to them are knocked down to make way for new construction. We had a lot of fun looking for images to photograph; I blogged about our discovery of this event, called the "segundo asalto," here.
The first "asalto" happened in 2005, and was already an ambitious gathering of local and international artists. As is always the case, this kind of art is ephemeral; some pieces have painted over, but many have remained a part of the urban landscape, like this giant figure by Blu (see more pictures here) a few blocks from home (the sunglasses were added this year). We had fun trying to locate all of the numbered figures to photograph. This year was the fifth collective art party, called the "quinto asalto." The local hosts have documented the event with tons of pictures and links at their site "asaltoproducciones.es". You can find links to all the artists who participated, as well as a map. This piece is one of the most colorful. I haven't identified the artist yet. This one is by an artist with the French collective from Nantes, 100 pression .
Some stupendous photos of this event can be found here.
If you want to see more images of urban art in Spain, I recommend the blog "Escrito en la pared." Professional photographer and designer Rudy Alvarez, aka "Brazo de hierro," has an astonishing portfolio here that includes portraits and iconic images of the life of the urban artist. And a collection of images of street art worldwide is at Unurth; it has a great shot of a huge piece I was not able to photograph completely, by Malakkai and CNFSN.
My poor sweet baby took a tumble yesterday and hurt her ankle (she may be taller than I am now, but she'll always be my baby girl). When I saw how swollen it was, I flashed on when I broke a bone in my foot a few years ago and was afraid she might have done the same, but it's a painful, nasty sprain (a Grade II eversion sprain, if you want to get technical) nothing more. I'm glad nothing is broken, but it will be a few weeks wearing an ankle brace and an ace bandage, probably a week at least of evil crutches, and a month for full recovery. What a bummer. We are so fortunate that we have good medical care. Every single person who helped us at urgent care was wonderful to her. She even got to ride in a wheelchair for a little, which is sometimes the only highlight of the tedium of waiting around in a clinic on a beautiful Saturday afternoon instead of going for a walk. It was very cool that the doctor let me look at the X-rays on the computer with him (being the physiology geek that I am). They can see so much more know because they can zoom in. My daughter has lovely bones!
When I was six, I had my first of what would be four ankle sprains, and two twisted knees. The treatment then was a plaster cast for six weeks (and apparently there continue to be arguments about the best form of treatment for sprains!) prolonged immobility is no longer the fashion, but there are arguments to be made for "giving the foot a holiday" for the first phase of treatment. I spent so much time in those freakin' casts. A plaster cast is still the best for a complete ligament rupture (Grade III) but I'm sure mine weren't that bad, and I know that at least two of the sprains were re-injuries because of atrophied muscles and no rehab. I got very good on crutches and also enjoyed a lot of plaster cast artwork. But now, the emphasis is on evaluating each injury and beginning to strengthen the ankle and leg muscles (without pain) as soon as possible so as to prevent further injury. For now, she is doing homework, drawing, reading, and listening to music while I dose her with smoothies!
Coincidentally, my daughter also just found an amazing T-shirt that has a drawing of internal organs on it (yep, she's my daughter). And I just found this great blog Street Anatomy, where artists combine medical illustration with all the ways people (not just artists) are using anatomical drawings, for art, fashion, furniture and more.
A fabulous and very smart discussion about rethinking education (beyond academia) is taking place at Snarkmarket ("The stomping grounds of Robin Sloan, Matt Thompson, and Tim Carmody, serving up links and dish on the happenings of the day -- or back in the day -- or the days to come").
They started talking about what are the liberal new arts? and moved on to brainstorming the new "liberal arts 2.0". They've issued a "call for comments" which in the academic setting would be like a "call for papers." Their immediate goal is, among other things, a book, but the discussion itself is so exciting, liberated from the inertia of the tanking academic institutions, that I am going to be reading it slowly, thinking hard about all the ideas in the comments, and sharing it with my students and colleagues.
Go to this post to read what their brainstorming commenters have to say. Feel free to contribute your own ideas!
P.S. A byproduct of finding this discussion is the discovery of smart and interesting people and their blogs+ Russell Davies is in London. I need some time to read and absorb his "new schtick" part 1 and part 2 because he has really smart things to say about the evolving relationship between print media, digital media and the love of books, and how people are much more creative than corporations.
TED has a YouTube channel and a blog. But I got this via email from an extraordinary dancer named Florencia Tacetti, who teaches tango here in the Twin Cities. Thank you, Florencia!
From the video description: "Pilobolus dance company members Otis Cook and Jennifer Macavinta perform the sensuous duet "Symbiosis." Does it trace the birth of a human relationship, or the co-evolution of a pair of symbiotic species? That's left for you to decide. Gorgeous, organic choreography blurs the boundaries between the two performers, who use the body's own geometry to lift, move and combine. The music, recorded by the Kronos Quartet on Nonesuch Records, is a compilation of works: "God Music" from Black Angels by George Crumb, "Fratres" by Arvo Pärt, and "Morango ... Almost a Tango" by Thomas Oboe Lee." From the comments: "The director for "symbiosis" was Michael Tracy in collaboration with Otis Cook (in the video) and Renee Jaworski."
As I was driving home, I heard a story on MPR about how some predict that Wal-mart and Costco are going to do well this Christmas because of the recession. That ticked me off. I will continue to buy from local artists or businesses so that what tiny fraction of the wealth I have to spread around goes to people who live here or make things here.
Coming up after Thanksgiving is the No Coast Craft '08 Craft-0-Rama, Friday Dec 5 and Sat Dec 6, 9-5, at the Midtown Global Market. On Sat. at 2 there will be a team competition called the Craft-a-thon! There will be four-person teams and their challenge will be to take the material given them and "upcycle" them into something on the spot. I may have to go just for that. It's free to browse, and of course there are all the yummy things one can eat at the market, especially the sweet and savory pastries at The Salty Tart.
The Craft-o-Rama vendors are listed here. I like these tote bags made from recycled vinyl billboards at Drive-By Bags, especially a yellow one. One of the artists who will be featured is Amy Rice. I love her work and I'm seriously thinking of buying something, although the big pieces really aren't in my budget; I'm hoping she has some smaller prints at the event. We saw a show of hers at Cafe Barbette and fell in love with her stenciled paintings on wood and metal.
There are so many other great exhibits ongoing at the MIA, including the natural history paintings from Suriname of Maria Sybilla Merian, but we are just going to see this one because we have to do some shopping for pants. Someone has grown three inches in the last year, and it wasn't me. I am now one of those moms who is shorter than her lanky daughter. We wear the same shoe size, but she doesn't like any of my shoes, for which I am thankful.
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