tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15228004712583837182024-03-05T05:43:24.683-05:00Left Bank Art BlogCharles Kesslerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07068758792988742599noreply@blogger.comBlogger476125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1522800471258383718.post-89154430340919558452016-07-24T22:10:00.000-04:002017-05-01T05:16:24.731-04:00So Long For Now<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b>UPDATE:</b> Shortly after Carl Belz and I put together this post of our top ten favorites, Carl died. Scroll down to the bottom of this post to see my tribute to him.<br />
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Followers of this blog have probably noticed there haven't been any posts since December. Although I still look at a lot of art, it seems I've lost interest in, and energy for, writing about it – so Carl Belz and I have decided to suspend publication of <i>Left Bank Art Blog</i> for the foreseeable future.<br />
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There are many posts that we think you'll find are worth reading (or re-reading), and the entire blog will remain online and searchable. (We're still getting an amazing 400-500 page views per day, and sometimes 1000 and more.) So we've taken this opportunity to review the entire archive and select out some of our favorite posts.<br />
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<b>Charles Kessler's Top Ten:</b><br />
Almost all of my favorite posts are about individual artists, and usually I have a different take on their art than is generally accepted. So in <i><a href="http://leftbankartblog.blogspot.com/2015/02/cezannes-portraits-of-madame-cezanne-at.html">Cezanne's Portraits of Madame Cezanne</a> </i>I make the case that rather than massive, rounded and solid, I see Cezanne's art as elusive, evanescent, and unstable.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvCNacid5-XuAy3EdRqoavfj10EdwUnVCbstsU_H8BEuvh8Bg0WN1p57LypGIffE_0R0K9kb8QR5E-HWqY6Xa1hJvqouMXmSC2_WSzIhc4dV-oe3SG1WAVgDCImHop_QSrDEBO87j00P0/s1600/Paul+Ce%CC%81zanne,+Madame+Ce%CC%81zanne+in+a+Red+Dress,1888-90,+oil+on+canvas,+45+%E2%85%9E+x+35+%C2%BC+inches,+(Met)%2B.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="490" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Paul Cézanne, <i>Madame Cézanne in a Red Dress</i>, 1888-90, oil on canvas, 45 ⅞ x 35 ¼ inches (Metropolitan Museum of Art).</td></tr>
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And in <i><a href="http://leftbankartblog.blogspot.com/2010/11/on-pollocks-classic-drip-paintings_11.html">On Jackson Pollock's Classic Drip Paintings</a>, </i>I argue that these paintings are not "all over," that the surface is not, in fact, uniform, but rather patterns and rhymes are formed.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="323" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj80ufdAlDBvUuWmgi3M5LSaliyOKXK8rd-Q9-vLKFoFqrF4GO1IMm-MQK8Vrn6rJ-XN74vZPauLINrGw9t-4JQQnurMdx_uplPDwCaVxkMVTE8wtwtl4ay_sLE9gXG3XFBnSwKX3FI40zO/s640/PHTSP%252C+MoMA%252C+Jackson+Pollock%252C+One%252C+Number+31%252C+1950%252C+1950.+Oil+and+enamel+paint+on+canvas%252C+8%2527+10%2522+x+17%2527+5+5-8%2522.jpg" style="-webkit-user-select: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="640" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jackson Pollock, <i>One</i> (Number 31, 1950), 1950, oil and enamel paint on canvas, 8' 10" x 17' 5 ⅝ " (MoMA) - marked in green to show the dominant compositional elements.</td></tr>
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And I think the post <i><a href="http://leftbankartblog.blogspot.com/2014/04/matisses-cut-outs-as-environments.html">Matisse's Cut-Outs as Environments</a> </i>has unique insights into this late work.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="461" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9JXjqlOBCRh7bOKRY1aEbfHrh-FCDhkQrh8oAhOmJOYljjFZV0jmTbVjW0Qy3tHxwn1LVCqtodL83c17912hmcopIXQIGw6bL5FphmiBuNhpbfhXkSJ9OHBUr-31ijpAiC61SGo2PTNE/s640/View+of+The+Swimming+Pool+in+Matisse%E2%80%99s+dining+room+at+the+Ho%CC%82tel+Re%CC%81gina,+Nice,+c.1952.+Women+and+Monkeys+can+be+seen+above+the+entryway.+Acrobats+and+a+preliminary+drawing+for+Rose+Chasuble+can+be+seen+through+the+entryway.(Photo+from+Elderfield,+The.png" style="-webkit-user-select: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="640" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">View of <i>The Swimming Pool</i> in the dining room of Matisse’s apartment at the Hôtel Régina, Nice, c.1952. <i>Women and Monkeys</i> can be seen above the entryway. <i>Acrobats</i> and a preliminary drawing for <i>Rose Chasuble</i> can be seen through the entryway (photo from John Elderfield, <i>The Cut-Outs of Henri Matisse</i>, 1978, p.119).</td></tr>
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Given his pervasive influence on twentieth-century art, it's not surprising that I chose two posts on Picasso.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="[Les_Demoiselles_d_Avignon.jpg]" border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8zmJ6o44Q1AAuh8Qln4KycrXwCf9zZTl5U4Ay3Wm7h-eUCfGptn_gF40-Coogi6T7rKWQnAe_VqKeoRhWNw6RVbDY7sJlFHNUxHgVDm6crMQBFTM6KG-4tcj0pelIxY6UDO-UQVsxxPpS/s640/Les_Demoiselles_d_Avignon.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="613" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pablo Picasso, <i>Les Demoiselles d'Avignon</i>, 1907, oil on canvas, 96 x 92 inches. </td></tr>
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<span class="s1">In <i><a href="http://leftbankartblog.blogspot.com/2009/03/les-demoiselles-davignon-1907.html">Les Demoiselles d'Avignon</a></i>, </span>I wrote about how Picasso's masterpiece radically changed the relationship between the painting and the viewer; and in <i><a href="http://leftbankartblog.blogspot.com/2010/04/decoding-picasso.html">Decoding Picasso</a></i>, <span class="s1">I </span><span class="s3">attempt to</span><span class="s1"> decipher the complicated imagery in two of Picasso's prints from the mid-thirties by </span><span class="s3">painstakingly</span><span class="s1"> identifying them and then outlining his obscure and complicated images. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9jQmpAKNX_L7OYUbdmD2E2g0YEIPmMhjffuNCSPsl-gPd5vRhyphenhyphenZ0xK9Epuks8yxCDnqR2FsEvX7hpFH0zUoxYDjhw1VUGnWvC5QFe5p_Gj6VRXbSk2ofKz_ooWwfZ2QUcXudBbrU6zF8/s1600/A+Screen+Shot+2016-07-22+at+Friday%252C+July+22%252C+2016+++++3.24.19+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="390" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9jQmpAKNX_L7OYUbdmD2E2g0YEIPmMhjffuNCSPsl-gPd5vRhyphenhyphenZ0xK9Epuks8yxCDnqR2FsEvX7hpFH0zUoxYDjhw1VUGnWvC5QFe5p_Gj6VRXbSk2ofKz_ooWwfZ2QUcXudBbrU6zF8/s640/A+Screen+Shot+2016-07-22+at+Friday%252C+July+22%252C+2016+++++3.24.19+PM.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pablo Picasso, <i>Marie-Thérèse as Female Torero,</i> June 20, 1934 (sheet: 17 5/8 x 13 3/8"), from the Vollard Suite.</td></tr>
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<span class="s1">The stilted </span><span class="s3">style of</span><span class="s1"> writing in <i><a href="http://leftbankartblog.blogspot.com/2012/05/clyfford-still-part-2-art.html">Clyfford Still Part 2</a> </i>(sorry) </span>is probably because I wrote my MA thesis on his art and the academic style stuck. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSCU10TO4Iuq6865KrSMGm_3qBukt6n14e-gYR7Jnyefv53vltiUKaNct-mJ78oFnXrhhDK6ztZGmtzidClEpsycs5FIo4_HqUyTy6pf2kASw2QWVW7Vg-GoZLSl9f8wtWteocW1CCd_4/s1600/Clyfford+Still,+1947-R-NO.1.+oil+on+canvas,+69+x+65++inches.+(This+painting+recently+sold+at+auction+for+more+than+21+million.).jpg" style="-webkit-user-select: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Clyfford Still, <i>1947-R-No.1</i>, 1947, oil on canvas, 69 x 65 inches. </td></tr>
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Nevertheless, there's a lot of information and ideas about Still and Abstract Expressionism in this post.</div>
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<span class="s1">Until his recent death at age 92, I believed the Los Angeles artist Charles Garabedian was the most vital living artist. </span><span class="s3">I love his art and wrote about it for art magazines and exhibition catalogs, as well as for Left Bank.</span><span class="s1"> The post <a href="http://leftbankartblog.blogspot.com/2011/03/charles-garabedian-retrospective.html" style="font-style: italic;">Charles Garabedian Retrospective</a> </span>is an overview of the art of this extraordinary, expressive, and prolific artist. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZRqMdAQ4yAtw-em5eRVxHFZlv9hSKnyPtU8wtjaXhqQVKQVIWNd3HNfcoLWt3EhSJEtOdrfhFoXe-2wUx1GdqKJCSmIuNCVHfReWFTrDk961fMf7na-va6d6BVe4NpxXmcMRblkrH4UD7/s640/Charles+Garabedian%252C+The+Meeting+of+Greece+and+China%252C+1970%252C+wood%252C+acrylic+and+polyester+resin%252C+97+x+59.5+in.+%2528246.4+x+151.1+cm%2529%252C+photo+credit%252C+Courtesy+of+L.A.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="384" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Charles Garabedian, <i>The Meeting of Greece and China</i>, 1970, wood, acrylic and polyester resin, 97 x 59.5 inches; (photo: Tom Vinetz, courtesy of L.A. Louver, Venice, CA).</td></tr>
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<span class="s1"><a href="http://leftbankartblog.blogspot.com/2010/12/my-two-weeks-with-andy-warhol-and.html" style="font-style: italic;">My Two Weeks with Andy Warhol and the Velvet Underground</a> </span>is a fun read, and it offers insights into their lives at this early period of their careers. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="384" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5ItK1obnUu2ZwvYR983-IGolVPFiVdmU4jG2keGlMMogQ4agFbbmqbzF33_abkCJeD1jfHXScTqJlh_YDxpjvQKkVc3xk709PyBhTAs4N6HtokxIVAF4QD06qC4ZNSi6FFL5m5ALUP3_L/s640/Artist+and+his+musicians+...+Andy+Warhol+pictured+circa+1965+with+the+Velvet+Underground%252C+Nico+and+Gerard+Malanga.+Photograph%252C+Steve+Schapiro%253ACorbis.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="640" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not looking happy, from the left: Mary Woronov, Gerard Malanga, John Cale, Sterling Morrison, Maureen Tucker, Lou Reed, Nico and Andy Warhol, c. 1965, (photo: Steve Schapiro/Corbis).</td></tr>
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One of the few disappointments in publishing this blog was the paucity of comments and discussion. Two notable exceptions are responses to the post <i><a href="http://leftbankartblog.blogspot.com/2010/02/unexpected-theatricality.html">Unexpected Theatricality</a>, </i>especially Paul Sullivan's insightful comments; </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="340" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzW2-uCD9D7_MnW71xrDPeb7mgqjmDyxPlZ6kHghSwIqtYq4zl6Yrz4R5HLJdGoOU6LItXSdtRovAHDRcl_4FMx9xspy1EQfiDDALDKoOcDc4vk6r3czJWibXqxv_bOLUglWQt8EG3-Byv/s640/NYT+LUCIANO+ROMANO+-+CHANGE+PERFORMING+ARTS+Peter+Greenaway%E2%80%99s+Leonardo%E2%80%99s+Last+Supper+an+installation+at+Santa+Maria+delle+Grazie+in+Milan.jpg" style="-webkit-user-select: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="640" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Film director Peter Greenaway used theatrical lighting to re-create the window, light and shadows that existed when Leonardo was painting the <i>Last Supper </i>(c. 1495-1498).</td></tr>
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<img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf8oUed8hvCvXPQ-BHLY-DAWoKt3kpnF23zVURlbQWXgBwOl3Jt9aO4FmjAdMd1MGAsk0fErAVWKx9LB-JdcQ8TT8yHT2IQ5QJf25hUJ-uOHZFVJVaLjbzzfSEXOhYi0ZitoX1JRIf7NQ/s1600/Peter+Voulkos+in+his+Glendale+Blvd.+studio+with+Black+Butte-Divide,+1959..jpg" style="cursor: move; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="634" /></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px; padding-top: 4px; text-align: center;"><div style="margin: 0px;">
Peter Voulkos in his Glendale Blvd. studio with <i>Black Butte-Divide</i>, 1959.</div>
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and perhaps my favorite post, <i><a href="http://leftbankartblog.blogspot.com/2014/06/peter-voulkos-and-ceramics-revolution.html">Peter Voulkos and the Ceramics Revolution</a>, </i>which stimulated a lot of valuable input and discussion and eventually led to a guest post by Ken Garber: <i><a href="http://leftbankartblog.blogspot.com/2014/05/in-defense-of-ken-prices-cups_25.html">In Defense of Ken Price's Cups</a></i>. (Update: precipitated by this post, Frank Lloyd contributed two more comments that added a lot to the discussion and corrected some facts.)</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGTPfFW7dAgrmJzXoX3vuaELOlA7wBn6L7thkiXpVzowwkv9sFpuQpV48-sYHtQv4Jr335vskPfJXvigvzfgYwP_jXrIcXmRXQh59fAlHVZZqtPRVJvK3uwFucQt-XPD1TIl7TAGPfp18/s1600/Ken+Price,+Snail+Cup,+1968,+glazed+ceramic,+3+%C2%BD+inches+high+%28private+collection%29..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGTPfFW7dAgrmJzXoX3vuaELOlA7wBn6L7thkiXpVzowwkv9sFpuQpV48-sYHtQv4Jr335vskPfJXvigvzfgYwP_jXrIcXmRXQh59fAlHVZZqtPRVJvK3uwFucQt-XPD1TIl7TAGPfp18/s1600/Ken+Price,+Snail+Cup,+1968,+glazed+ceramic,+3+%C2%BD+inches+high+(private+collection)..jpg" style="-webkit-user-select: none;" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ken Price, <i>Snail Cup</i>, 1968, glazed ceramic, 3 ½ inches high (private collection).</td></tr>
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<span class="s1"><b>Carl Belz's Top Ten:</b></span></div>
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<span class="s1">Carl Belz is Director Emeritus of the Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University, where he was director from 1974 - 1998; and he was an inspiring teacher for even longer. He was my first art history professor, and he has been a friend and mentor to me for 50+ years and counting. </span><br />
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<span class="s1">Republished from other sources, and somewhat revised for LBAB, is an extensive <a href="http://leftbankartblog.blogspot.com/2015/01/studio-romance-jake-berthots-paintings.html">essay on Jake Berthot's art </a>that includes heartfelt and perceptive quotes from the artist; </span>and, my personal favorite, a masterful essay that places the under-appreciated artist <a href="http://leftbankartblog.blogspot.com/2013/10/david-park-california-dreaming.html">David Park</a> in the context of the San Francisco and New York art scenes. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="654" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrIv-gbCepsTK6jOL-gQdiH3jR70E59rpeqLI8H78E3-GDriAVfgB3xsiX-wTUyRtM4jDcECClRlfPeUDnWRteprjvpNMc_BHwFCda28ZLeRf2ifciQedPkDGSpShTCk3yAhRWTzqU1sqv/s1600/Jake+Bethot,+Lovella's%2BThing%2C%2B1969.jpg" style="-webkit-user-select: none; cursor: zoom-in; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="573" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jake Berthot, <i>Lovella's Thing</i>, 1969.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="595" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHxUlvHzu72JGYuuPU-ulfh_KcKTlciaeSYs_Up8B1L1j5dKq2r3EqbjAiAPso7HZUu-_Qr6k5_gA4HhnrCUBDre8X2-KdWtNTyETR_MG0hhzVGZFTu_lxI6E7owxXZ4XnR4Larjq3FDA8/s640/David+Park,+Rowboat,+1958,+oil+on+canvas,+57+x+61+inches+(Boston+MFA),.jpg" style="-webkit-user-select: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="640" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">David Park, <i>Rowboat</i>, 1958, oil on canvas, 57 x 61 inches (Boston MFA).</td></tr>
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<span class="s1">Two other bravura, big-picture essays are <i><a href="http://leftbankartblog.blogspot.com/2012/10/a-note-on-pop-art-50-years-and-counting.html">A Note on Pop Art: 50 Years and Counting</a></i></span></div>
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<img height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5ugfoEmHDz-WXb_AIDHl19oOl24L53gBgGcH9lOwA539hf_UQiY_9npHtW65qmHsdBSSAkcZF0geZr0BehbicuVCJmtwxWx-BMeY9ECusCJe84WA0edXRNpSvKJnTeYi2TEpZLrmQcPhj/s400/Carl's+soup+can+-+Version+2.jpg" style="-webkit-user-select: none;" width="302" /></div>
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<span class="s1">and <i><a href="http://leftbankartblog.blogspot.com/2011/01/aarp-painter-supreme-note-on-late-style.html">AARP Painter Supreme</a> </i>on Belz's personal response to Hans Hofmann's late great painting phase. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRF3f5ksLPqbzTsDXzemSIkZVzyXZ8rmbn6I1QrOd9Gcu-Kc-oKnMeBOP1bwHAHelHpD-1PtVhQ5Cyfu2NPJj2V-LFq4_aECucJjWXrm8frcxH6p1wCba9RAdrFOzkE5ufKdweF-1ws3jO/s1600/Hofmann%252C+Hans%252C++The+Clash+1964+oil+on+canvas+52+x+60+inches+%2528berkeley%2529.jpg" style="-webkit-user-select: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Hans </span>Hofmann (at age 84), <i>The Clash,</i> 1964, oil on canvas, 52 x 60 inches (Berkeley Art Museum).</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1">The remaining essays are selected from <i>Curatorial Flashbacks</i> – a series of twenty posts about Belz's years as Director of the Rose. <i><a href="http://leftbankartblog.blogspot.com/2011/08/curatorial-flashbacks-15-early-daze.html">Curatorial Flashbacks #15: Early Daze</a> </i>recounts some of his experiences becoming an art historian and museum director;</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKQtD9oCGMx8CP9DzWaT8u7hJk3IdVfHeUYBw85bj6HNNxItfE3Vp80ZvsVAkmGCeUDk14UvFR5qTxC5SiXtqfNMurtx-thgkCEdPks8R95V76wqSFOiC8gXu_vrSred2RXp9Q9wSfOLSV/s1600/Screen+shot+2011-08-07+at+Sunday%252C+August+7%252C+2011+++++11.43.19+PM.png" style="-webkit-user-select: none;" /></div>
</div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"><i><a href="http://leftbankartblog.blogspot.com/2011/05/curatorial-flashbacks-12-perfect-fit.html">Curatorial Flashbacks #12: The Perfect Fit</a> </i>is an entertaining post about acquiring a Mel Ramos painting – a spin-off of <i>Woman 1</i>, 1950-52, a famous de Kooning painting at MoMA. The Ramos painting inspired another spin-off by Robert Colescott that was already in the Rose collection at the time Ramos's picture became available;</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="654" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibp7qNZx-pWqtPYhAv5DUTdgsc4G2Q69eppZE6r1si5onR89snRGI30e_kuPWJxeqXg0qVdiWpW4RWNyVXFQkTMwzrL0MjmW_c1T0eIML4qTYLKVemJb_afLBGjm31ovW5CZeLhEtRyBIS/s1600/Ramos1-+scanned.jpg" style="-webkit-user-select: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="569" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mel Ramos, <i>I Still Get A Thrill When I See Bill #1</i>, 1976, oil on canvas, 80 x 70 inches. (Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University).</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"><i><a href="http://leftbankartblog.blogspot.com/2010/09/curatorial-flashbacks-6-judy-pfaff.html">Curatorial Flashbacks #6: The Judy Pfaff Experience</a></i> is an account of a very large installation Pfaff constructed at the Rose;</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgceKIcGm87RT7OdDDmrb20XvzFCbVHY7mPGFbnGsJ5Ud6XopFcBd9lb05Uv9FOaDNS6btdnF7zKUhU5GaotUqHA7Y4wcj5kjKo5CooXyP_fMHez4aITkjGt04eEsAerxNLoGVIezBdkwb-/s640/3_G.jpg" style="-webkit-user-select: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="640" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Installation View, Judy Pfaff, <i>Elephant</i>, Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University, 1995.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1">and <i><a href="http://leftbankartblog.blogspot.com/2011/05/curatorial-flashbacks-11-meet-george.html">Meet George Augusta</a></i> is about, to quote Belz, "a first-rate, highly successful artist working in an art world that orbited in tandem with the art world I knew." </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj56U8t_Aoak09ErX8YvgWEIkRIuJF1WGulK3MA5D98yEVp9ToCV40Gos8rTpU3hxvcvEgSbC9HKoUoIHmCLs3hw8FPTEXvVZojWdyJXzyQ40h1Io39YaGdOrVy_Z5IM9GGbagDdkFTFXXc/s640/Portrait+of+Rosalynn+Smith+Carter+by+George+Augusta%252C+1984%252C+oil+on+canvas+%2528White+House+Collection%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="528" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Portrait of Rosalynn Smith Carter</i> by George Augusta, © George Augusta, 1984, oil on canvas, 32 x 40 inches (White House Collection).</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1">There are two painfully funny posts about his dealing with the Abstract Expressionist painter Helen Frankenthaler, a</span> great artist but a difficult person. <span class="s1"> <i><a href="http://leftbankartblog.blogspot.com/2010/08/curatorial-flashbacks-aint-no-mountain.html">Ain’t No Mountain High Enough</a>, </i>is<i> </i>about the ordeal of working with her on a catalog of her exhibition at the Rose; </span>and <a href="http://leftbankartblog.blogspot.com/2013/03/once-more-with-helen.html" style="font-style: italic;">Once More With Helen</a> relates the trials of curating this exhibition.</div>
<div class="p2">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="507" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5fWxnt8k8qHaV4t4SJ-QS-npyo9NgSSulT2MgmjsS1PWI_z8I8ViVJyk3HQESOexPb32NH7pD6b67f6Xa-zcR6wzVy60Gf9i4e545Nzqg3X_Nawpj-QRM0Vqam4HJ_jLqdwGhdOyLDJgN/s640/Helen+Frankenthaler,+Mother+Goose+Melody,+1959,+oil+on+canvas,+81+%C2%BE+x+103+%C2%BD+inches+(Virginia+Museum+of+Fine+Arts,+Gift+of+Sydney+and+Frances+Lewis).+.png" style="-webkit-user-select: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="640" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Helen Frankenthaler, <i>Mother Goose Melody</i>, 1959, oil on canvas, 81 ¾ x 103 ½ inches (Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Gift of Sydney and Frances Lewis). </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div class="p1">
<b>And two more posts:</b></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1">Finally, I selected a couple of standout posts from <b>Kyle Gallup </b>and <b>Irene Borngraeber</b> who each wrote an occasional piece for Left Bank: <i><a href="http://leftbankartblog.blogspot.com/2013/10/remembering-sir-anthony-caro.html">Remembering Sir Anthony Caro</a></i></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg46wKC9BfVkQyeJkPKzpaMzv56ZJ7mol_RDrs6aNs6CrfgKJxyUbLZM_ndirFwX4WN5PjiyyslHuc_ILPg6IFbRo3-H01IXTWCW5Gs-usTCrtLGpbJ6sfXoAtOanXUtEm4KWc68xZa51AR/s1600/siranthonycaro_1842023b.jpg" style="-webkit-user-select: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Anthony Caro, 2011 (photo: Rex features for <i><a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/opera/8365785/The-beautifully-shaped-truth-about-sculpture.html#disqus_thread">The Telegraph</a></i>).</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1"></span></div>
</div>
<div class="p2">
and <i><a href="http://leftbankartblog.blogspot.com/2009/06/sophie-calle-at-paula-cooper.html">Sophie Calle at Paula Cooper</a>. </i><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="[+032-web.jpg]" border="0" height="404" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4ytMxkkb4wVdqfGgqd1jC6FxQwmDVuLatZA0Kbubnwh9gYlq0xEqRdJEX3_p1GH3_aiL1hcXDkcstg5ko-7thzy7B_1e9ysMzZFUviOdpy31pNQWSFyDqjfRicQQ67LiL9EIkXeiSQFw/s640/+032-web.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="640" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">©Sophie Calle/ARS. Courtesy of the Paula Cooper Gallery, New York. Photo: Ellen Wilson.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>***</b></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4lrztfrdkIqGHV4YVvan-BcEW2b4Fbfquj0QJlrPjaYIzeu5Gw6Tphu-aMtbP8GRmKYG7tx5QSakpK_GtqukTF8F6Q08bZVo_UgjLZaiQh8Us2STCYKSPULjpNbEeKNOEtLzaEIg4esw/s1600/IMG_0304.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4lrztfrdkIqGHV4YVvan-BcEW2b4Fbfquj0QJlrPjaYIzeu5Gw6Tphu-aMtbP8GRmKYG7tx5QSakpK_GtqukTF8F6Q08bZVo_UgjLZaiQh8Us2STCYKSPULjpNbEeKNOEtLzaEIg4esw/s640/IMG_0304.JPG" width="472" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: left;">Photograph of Carl Belz by Man Ray, Paris, 1962, 5 ½ x 3 ½ inches.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1"></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: left;">
Carl Belz, my friend and mentor for fifty-five years, died on April 28th. He taught the first art history class I ever took (at UMass Amherst), and it was one of the first classes he taught after graduating from Princeton. At 6-foot-5, with intense eyes and a bushy mustache, Carl was an imposing figure. He'd dramatically pace back and forth in front of the slides, gesturing with a very long pointer (this was before lasers), totally absorbed. That intensity, together with his passion for art and his desire to engage with students, made him such a charismatic and inspiring teacher that I, and several of my fellow students, became art history majors.</div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Carl treated even apparently trivial things as meaningful and profound, so it’s not surprising that he was the first person to write a serious book on pop music. <i><a href="https://smile.amazon.com/Story-Rock-Carl-Belz/dp/B000WGBADS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1473216635&sr=8-1&keywords=Carl+Belz%2C+The+Story+of+Rock">The Story of Rock</a>,</i> published in 1969, is a classic still read and admired by pop music aficionados. (I was one of his research assistants on the book, and for years afterwards I would call him and, without introduction, play a second or two of a forty-five record. He would inevitably be able to tell me not just the title, but also the title and length, in minutes and seconds, of the song on the “flip-side.")</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">In addition to being an influential teacher, Carl was director of the Rose Art Museum at Brandeis University for 24 years (recounted in his </span>LeftBankArtBlog series called "Curatorial Flashbacks.") He substantially expanded their collection of contemporary art and curated many notable exhibitions, developing close relationships with many of the most well-known artists of the day. And perhaps most important, he inspired, championed and be-friended local artists in the Boston area — a city that, at the time, didn't have many exhibiting venues or support structures for contemporary artists. </div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">When Carl retired from Brandeis, I asked him if he'd consider writing for this art blog, and to my surprise and delight he agreed. At first, working with my idol felt awkward to me, but Carl, as was his way, always treated me as a friend and colleague, and we grew even closer. I really miss him.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><a href="https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2016/09/01/carl-belz-championed-contemporary-artists-rose-art-museum/K1uc1EnL6LYcRocqxuBGML/story.html">Here</a> is a comprehensive Boston Globe obituary that notes many of Carl's achievements, including holding Princeton's single-game rebounding record (29 against Rutgers University in 1959).</span></div>
</div>
Charles Kesslerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07068758792988742599noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1522800471258383718.post-18644599787854585252015-12-23T20:41:00.001-05:002016-09-12T17:51:56.312-04:00"The Ceramic Presence in Modern Art" at YaleBy Charles Kessler<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFM7vqKs8NIS88Vm_lhgV9Y568dtsithvdh1-aCRpy05ypnssaw5hMQx_dv_bTJZLfJFlXKJz9y_dVQ11CUoI3k-GsEDIYcuVb-AwE3mY17Ri4WNPa0CP56iRagc_GWIaH5uJsOR9msNI/s1600/The+Ceramic+Presence+in+Modern+Art-+Selections+from+the+Linda+Leonard+Schlenger+Collection+and+the+Yale+University+Art+Gallery%252C+3881.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFM7vqKs8NIS88Vm_lhgV9Y568dtsithvdh1-aCRpy05ypnssaw5hMQx_dv_bTJZLfJFlXKJz9y_dVQ11CUoI3k-GsEDIYcuVb-AwE3mY17Ri4WNPa0CP56iRagc_GWIaH5uJsOR9msNI/s640/The+Ceramic+Presence+in+Modern+Art-+Selections+from+the+Linda+Leonard+Schlenger+Collection+and+the+Yale+University+Art+Gallery%252C+3881.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Installation view, <i>The Ceramic Presence in Modern Art</i>. In the foreground is John Mason's <i>Untitled, Vertical Sculpture,</i> 1961, glazed stoneware, 30 x 15 3/4 x 7 3/8 inches; and behind it to the left is Willem de Kooning's <i>Untitled XIII</i>, 1975, oil on canvas, 87 x 77 inches. (Photo: Yale Art Gallery). </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
A major exhibition of ceramic art is unusual in itself, but what makes <i><a href="http://artgallery.yale.edu/exhibitions/exhibition/ceramic-presence-modern-art-selections-linda-leonard-schlenger-collection-and">The Ceramic Presence in Modern Art </a></i>(Yale University Art Gallery, through January 3rd) really extraordinary is that it places ceramic art in the context of other art of the period. The exhibition was co-curated by Jock Reynolds, the director of the gallery, and Sequoia Miller, a Pd.D. candidate in Art History at Yale. It contains about 100 clay objects (20 from Yale's own collection and 80 from the Linda Leonard Schlenger Collection) plus about 150 paintings, sculptures, prints, and drawings from Yale. In addition, like the great educational institution it is, Yale organized a two-day symposium in connection with the show. I'll be reporting on the symposium in another post.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcgPWpkqEPnCxC9qXHzpedw9Rr-WgLLX2xBbm8PWu6LAq6Dimpo8nlYRK8copz47RA1OltjEehBUNCcQ_vTBGsXeuxNLKgFIBRQdA0yUtnehkFHmk5gciU7GMcKKoE2iWBaY9TIVE9m8o/s1600/In+the+foreground+is+a+1961+glazed+stoneware+sculpture+by+John+Mason%252C+behind+it+is+a+sculpture+by+Manuel+Neri%252C+and+clockwise+on+the+wall+are+paintings+by+David+Park%252C+Richard+Diebenkorn+and+Elmer+Bischoff.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="492" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcgPWpkqEPnCxC9qXHzpedw9Rr-WgLLX2xBbm8PWu6LAq6Dimpo8nlYRK8copz47RA1OltjEehBUNCcQ_vTBGsXeuxNLKgFIBRQdA0yUtnehkFHmk5gciU7GMcKKoE2iWBaY9TIVE9m8o/s640/In+the+foreground+is+a+1961+glazed+stoneware+sculpture+by+John+Mason%252C+behind+it+is+a+sculpture+by+Manuel+Neri%252C+and+clockwise+on+the+wall+are+paintings+by+David+Park%252C+Richard+Diebenkorn+and+Elmer+Bischoff.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In the foreground is a 1961 glazed stoneware sculpture by John Mason; behind it is a sculpture by Manuel Neri; and clockwise on the wall are paintings by David Park, Richard Diebenkorn, and Elmer Bischoff.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
It’s been more than 60 years since Peter Voulkos and others had their breakthrough making ceramics a viable art. [See my <a href="http://leftbankartblog.blogspot.com/2014/06/peter-voulkos-and-ceramics-revolution.html?m=1">post</a> on that subject.] It’s time for their work to be included in the same room with paintings and sculpture of the period, instead of being isolated in decoration and design galleries as is done at MoMA, or allocated a separate, usually minor, space, such as the <a href="http://www.metmuseum.org/visit/museum-map/galleries/asian/202">Met's glass cases</a> along the balcony over the entrance hall.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmHPw4JCXg6Ec9qidhGOayCkSMOKh7JTfsMT1JjfKb3n2XcJ2WJrENtvWpJpKNQ8gx3tA_o3i6OpXNXEJukh-UTegtWD8BodKjxzmxkWtQ9EhChIyYqJWs4MIbRCAdojNJwZLgz3CoGe4/s1600/In+the+foreground+is+Peter+Voulkos%252C+Cadiz%252C+1998%252C+wood-fired+stoneware%253B+right+background+is+David+Smith%252C+Bec-Dida+Day%252C+1963%252C+painted+steel.++jpg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmHPw4JCXg6Ec9qidhGOayCkSMOKh7JTfsMT1JjfKb3n2XcJ2WJrENtvWpJpKNQ8gx3tA_o3i6OpXNXEJukh-UTegtWD8BodKjxzmxkWtQ9EhChIyYqJWs4MIbRCAdojNJwZLgz3CoGe4/s640/In+the+foreground+is+Peter+Voulkos%252C+Cadiz%252C+1998%252C+wood-fired+stoneware%253B+right+background+is+David+Smith%252C+Bec-Dida+Day%252C+1963%252C+painted+steel.++jpg.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In the foreground is Peter Voulkos, <i>Cadiz</i>, 1998, wood-fired stoneware; right background is David Smith, <i>Bec-Dida Day</i>, 1963, painted steel. According to co-curator Sequoia Miller, Voulkos admired David Smith and often visited him in his studio in the 1960s.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Fortunately this seems to be happening. The <a href="http://www.lacma.org/">Los Angeles County Museum of Art</a> has already integrated ceramics into their collection, and the <a href="http://www.mfa.org/">Boston Museum of Fine Arts </a>is starting to show ceramics with sculpture and painting of the period (although even they still have galleries where ceramics is segregated along with design and decoration).<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfcOpksOaHhozRaLCA7ocE-VJpd0hZyczyA8bp73Vf2B8uLkR-3KEfL1S_NKchgpc_ZdoIF5BdhK9peDSP_oH54Uv9rtBVLwifm427RpQPqPlsSOG9R7E0_iFL1qbsPyqV5KRV2SU8Tfo/s1600/Installation+view%252C+of+a+gallery+in+the+Contemporary+Art+wing+of+the+Museum+of+Fine+Arts%252C+Boston.+On+the+right+are+ceramic+cups+by+Ken+Price..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfcOpksOaHhozRaLCA7ocE-VJpd0hZyczyA8bp73Vf2B8uLkR-3KEfL1S_NKchgpc_ZdoIF5BdhK9peDSP_oH54Uv9rtBVLwifm427RpQPqPlsSOG9R7E0_iFL1qbsPyqV5KRV2SU8Tfo/s640/Installation+view%252C+of+a+gallery+in+the+Contemporary+Art+wing+of+the+Museum+of+Fine+Arts%252C+Boston.+On+the+right+are+ceramic+cups+by+Ken+Price..jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Installation view of a gallery in the contemporary art wing of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. On the right are ceramic cups by Ken Price.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Even MoMA might be changing. According to a <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/16/arts/design/moma-rethinks-hierarchies-for-a-multidisciplinary-approach-to-art.html"><i>Times</i> article</a>, after their Picasso Sculpture exhibition closes, they'll be reinstalling their permanent collection, and curators from different areas will be collaborating on the installation.<br />
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One surprising result of integrating ceramics with the rest of art is the ceramics doesn't seem precious, as it sometimes does when displayed by itself in glass cases or on shelves. Even work that plays with preciousness, like that of Ken Price and Ron Nagle, seems edgy in this context.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN4A4kRBgPIcTFwIdJ9u6WT4dX6BUgEpkG4HT5yFW30K1I0-uoWfyaTSAvlXsw_BkSM4843ENWHRVS1mZ9vu-aQKTVSwF3cpxACdEOrsnGlG7K9g7GZnX8MSUKqtaVvezGIz7IhG6Qrlg/s1600/On+the+table+from+the+left+are+sculptures+by+John+Chamberlain%252C+ohn+Mason%252C+cup+by+Billy+Al+Bengston%252C+Jim+Melchert+and+three+John+Mason+plates+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN4A4kRBgPIcTFwIdJ9u6WT4dX6BUgEpkG4HT5yFW30K1I0-uoWfyaTSAvlXsw_BkSM4843ENWHRVS1mZ9vu-aQKTVSwF3cpxACdEOrsnGlG7K9g7GZnX8MSUKqtaVvezGIz7IhG6Qrlg/s640/On+the+table+from+the+left+are+sculptures+by+John+Chamberlain%252C+ohn+Mason%252C+cup+by+Billy+Al+Bengston%252C+Jim+Melchert+and+three+John+Mason+plates+.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On the table from the left are sculptures by John Chamberlain, John Mason, cups by Billy Al Bengston, a colorful sculpture by Jim Melchert behind the cups, and three John Mason plates.</td></tr>
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Nor was the work in this exhibition crammed together so it looks junky, as is often the case when it's shown in galleries:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggFS0mmRouFCfh6GiogNViAiMdg2g0sxB5R7k26tiak4iVOq3KasgxMrJltx_xcdyk97S_P8JLjCEa10MirP0HmCLf6hhBpypzaIzksPVQIBsKbm9Bb1vcLOcb8dJF9yBgaGfuBoeuTiE/s1600/Installation+view%252C+Paul+Clay%252C+Salon+94+Gallery.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggFS0mmRouFCfh6GiogNViAiMdg2g0sxB5R7k26tiak4iVOq3KasgxMrJltx_xcdyk97S_P8JLjCEa10MirP0HmCLf6hhBpypzaIzksPVQIBsKbm9Bb1vcLOcb8dJF9yBgaGfuBoeuTiE/s640/Installation+view%252C+Paul+Clay%252C+Salon+94+Gallery.jpg" width="612" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Installation view,<a href="http://www.salon94.com/exhibitions/detail/paul-clay"> <i>Paul Clay</i>, Salon 94 Galler</a>y, June 23, 2011–August 12, 2011. At least the Salon 94 gallery regularly exhibits ceramic art.</td></tr>
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Of course there will always be disagreement about what should or should not be in any exhibition, but Yale owns one of Viola Frey's best pieces, and at the symposium the curators were roundly criticized for excluding her.<br />
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Her omission is especially egregious since there were so few women in the show, and, putting salt on the wound, Frey's sculpture could be seen from the exhibition, in an adjacent room segregated with design and the decorative arts, thus contradicting the main message of the exhibition.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy7nTbuI_NSF6qlcFc7gBCEIs13Z8mqYtQ7ZqbxSZRgmhDszjpl3HoHI8hKz9rFZps_q8i-HcMgh4mcptx2grhmEZRB_KzdlKU3LAFEUitTjPY0Rma4JWf6I8YNR-VFN69AoEGb5jyC44/s1600/Viola+Frey.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy7nTbuI_NSF6qlcFc7gBCEIs13Z8mqYtQ7ZqbxSZRgmhDszjpl3HoHI8hKz9rFZps_q8i-HcMgh4mcptx2grhmEZRB_KzdlKU3LAFEUitTjPY0Rma4JWf6I8YNR-VFN69AoEGb5jyC44/s640/Viola+Frey.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Viola Frey, <i>Resting Woman #2</i>, 1989, glazed ceramic, 40 x 102 x 49 inches (Yale Art Gallery, photo: Mara Superior Instagram).</td></tr>
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On the other hand, some artists don't belong in the show, and including their work also confuses the issue. I feel the ceramic artists based in England (e.g., Ruth Duckworth, Magdalene Odundo, Hans Coper, Lucie Rie), beautiful as their work is, are still in the functional craft/design tradition. While it's possible to make a case for exhibiting craft and design objects with fine art, that isn't the point of this exhibition, which is to put ceramic art on the same level as painting and sculpture of the period.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyTx5_1q83sz4gbgWXmcyW56jNk_k2I0VkkP3tLMa0q5QqrHMldmPIYm_EZZIrrr_I0KZLMia2BAp-_5iE5X9y6-VfPX_9GuXYf-CCqUYUF6kHPS1Z9RxD-4EWtLNNyVtV99-Euq9gpdo/s1600/IMG_3645.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="368" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyTx5_1q83sz4gbgWXmcyW56jNk_k2I0VkkP3tLMa0q5QqrHMldmPIYm_EZZIrrr_I0KZLMia2BAp-_5iE5X9y6-VfPX_9GuXYf-CCqUYUF6kHPS1Z9RxD-4EWtLNNyVtV99-Euq9gpdo/s640/IMG_3645.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hans Coper, <i>Bottle with Disc and 4 Cycladic Forms</i>, ca. 1970–75. stoneware, ranging from 4 1/2 × 3 3/4 × 3 1/2 inches to 11 3/4 × 2 × 1 3/4 inches (Linda Leonard Schlenger Collection. © Crafts Study Centre, University for the Creative Arts).</td></tr>
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And aesthetically this work doesn't go much beyond ancient Asian vessels.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgizPep-74Gr0R1gbaq10vg0fvvrzvN_575dwf-uHLQHxEoFCfuYkDK3-Nx2aY8FswY_42kozZHQI3SavD0xBQGqJh5jRINod6Q4S28paJYxlSSeuCEgJdbDT2RmQWkFsD59VdDAp_HTv8/s1600/Screen+Shot+2015-12-23+at+Wednesday%252C+December+23%252C+2015+++++12.49.19+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="410" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgizPep-74Gr0R1gbaq10vg0fvvrzvN_575dwf-uHLQHxEoFCfuYkDK3-Nx2aY8FswY_42kozZHQI3SavD0xBQGqJh5jRINod6Q4S28paJYxlSSeuCEgJdbDT2RmQWkFsD59VdDAp_HTv8/s640/Screen+Shot+2015-12-23+at+Wednesday%252C+December+23%252C+2015+++++12.49.19+PM.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On the left: Lucie Rie, <i>Vase</i>, ca. 1967, glazed stoneware, 15 3/4 x 6 3/8 x 6 3/8 inches (Linda Leonard Schlenger Collection. © Lucie Rie / Courtesy Yvonne Mayer); on the right: <i>Trumpet-Mouth Vase,</i> Chinese, Yaun dynasty, c. early 14th century longquan ware (Yale Art Gallery, 1955.4.64).</td></tr>
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The curators' attempt to relate these ceramicists to Robert Irwin, Sol LeWitt, and Agnes Martin is far-fetched, to say the least. But, as Jock Reynolds, the co-curator of the exhibition and director of the gallery said, this exhibition was the "first word, and hopefully not the last word.”Charles Kesslerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07068758792988742599noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1522800471258383718.post-254786425013752812015-12-14T12:23:00.001-05:002015-12-14T12:23:44.177-05:00More on Picasso's SculpturesBy Charles Kessler<br />
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As I <a href="http://leftbankartblog.blogspot.com/2015/09/picasso-sculpture-at-moma.html">stated before</a>, <a href="http://www.moma.org/calendar/exhibitions/1505">The Picasso Sculpture exhibition</a> at the Museum of Modern Art (through February 7th) is like a huge (159 works!) group exhibition of a dozen great sculptors. The guy was a monster – some kind of freak.<br />
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On a recent return visit, I was struck by the various ways Picasso used the base for his sculptures. (I am deliberately using the term <i>base</i>, because <i>pedestal</i> and <i>stand </i>imply more of a separation between the sculpture and its support than is usually the case with Picasso.) His bases, when he uses them at all, set off the work, but they also become a part of it. I'm not making a claim that Picasso was the first to do this – it was probably Brancusi, or maybe Giacometti – but I'd like to point out some brilliant examples.<br />
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In his <i>Reclining Bather</i>, 1931 (below), the base of the sculpture is whatever it is the bather is reclining on (grass? sand? dirt?).<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFslbZzgvYxr5jNNUCLjCirOyQPkpLPEA7Xoian5W3T1ZcaSmLA6M52yx1z_bp_SdbhaQEkf_ILNnS1LLCoZPhT_Gt6rZv52TMo7U6jPH5K_swx7sfVptSF8nqJJpnElvFqu-PU8VC_Uo/s1600/Reclyning+Bather%252C+1931%252C+bronze+%2528Muse%25CC%2580e+national+Picasso.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFslbZzgvYxr5jNNUCLjCirOyQPkpLPEA7Xoian5W3T1ZcaSmLA6M52yx1z_bp_SdbhaQEkf_ILNnS1LLCoZPhT_Gt6rZv52TMo7U6jPH5K_swx7sfVptSF8nqJJpnElvFqu-PU8VC_Uo/s640/Reclyning+Bather%252C+1931%252C+bronze+%2528Muse%25CC%2580e+national+Picasso.jpg" width="430" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Reclining Bather,</i> 1931, bronze, 9 1/16 x 28 3/8 x 12 3/16 inches (Musèe national Picasso).</td></tr>
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Similarly with <i>Woman Reading</i>, 1951-53, the base is the bed or platform that the woman is reading on.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2S72h3WQ6hLNwBZFSLnksQsop-6xwlw33Pj_dtx0waW3yEEr3c6Fmput7s58-Db4nInGBT9_MNe4N3BDO2AfYV5OzOlgKtD9jjIVErl5PyqLrV-Q5mk0orYqyIxLLdipfekttyuciIho/s1600/Woman+Reading%252C+1951-53%252C+painted+bronze+%2528Centre+national+d%2527art+et+culture+Georges+Pompidou%2529.+%25E2%2580%2593+Version+2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: start;"><img border="0" height="420" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2S72h3WQ6hLNwBZFSLnksQsop-6xwlw33Pj_dtx0waW3yEEr3c6Fmput7s58-Db4nInGBT9_MNe4N3BDO2AfYV5OzOlgKtD9jjIVErl5PyqLrV-Q5mk0orYqyIxLLdipfekttyuciIho/s640/Woman+Reading%252C+1951-53%252C+painted+bronze+%2528Centre+national+d%2527art+et+culture+Georges+Pompidou%2529.+%25E2%2580%2593+Version+2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px; padding-top: 4px; text-align: center;"><i>Woman Reading</i>, 1951-53, painted bronze, 6 1/8 x 14 x 5 1/8 inches (Centre national d'art et culture Georges Pompidou). </td></tr>
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Picasso sometimes sinks his figures into his bases, analogous to the merging of figure and ground in his paintings.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhepP7x2u9WtV1DgXUwyXQHm3TSutq_3zpkU7CkTJHQ1FZgOc3nwU30mVV8wkfC2032Z20p2D2MGge7QK9EZSeFBOp2sh20HIHZxhC8KBtnF51OShxSTXXhyhig_eaF0xYcg29JEmi4YCo/s1600/Cock%252C+1932%252C+bronze+%2528Tate%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhepP7x2u9WtV1DgXUwyXQHm3TSutq_3zpkU7CkTJHQ1FZgOc3nwU30mVV8wkfC2032Z20p2D2MGge7QK9EZSeFBOp2sh20HIHZxhC8KBtnF51OShxSTXXhyhig_eaF0xYcg29JEmi4YCo/s640/Cock%252C+1932%252C+bronze+%2528Tate%2529.jpg" width="548" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Cock</i>, 1932, bronze, 25 13/16 x 22 15/16 x 15 9/16 inches (Tate).</td></tr>
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And the surface of the bases in these sculptures are worked in a similar manner as the figures.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZoUJtDIfO0VIRZuqEYdwHo3FtQkHGouTdDeuNuciGF8RY50I-yMXyQWImKhSNdpcO27p3WxquXMdCcyf36BjQHyB3L-Wrvv8QL4m5k3oVKevSv1NudLnsCqEeWWwKoBWCrnQ028DGzXc/s1600/Bather%252C+1931%252C+bronze+%2528Muse%25CC%2580e+national+Picasso%2529..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZoUJtDIfO0VIRZuqEYdwHo3FtQkHGouTdDeuNuciGF8RY50I-yMXyQWImKhSNdpcO27p3WxquXMdCcyf36BjQHyB3L-Wrvv8QL4m5k3oVKevSv1NudLnsCqEeWWwKoBWCrnQ028DGzXc/s640/Bather%252C+1931%252C+bronze+%2528Muse%25CC%2580e+national+Picasso%2529..jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Bather</i>, 1931, bronze, 27 9/16 x 15 13/16 x 12 3/8 inches (Musèe national Picasso).</td></tr>
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Many of Picasso's bases are small and thin relative to the sculptures, so the sculptures appear precariously, and expressively, top heavy, which gives a sense of great weight to the figures. In these cases Picasso often makes a clear distinction between the sculpture and base.<br />
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The smooth, round disc of the base in <i>Head of a Woman</i>, 1931, and many similar sculptures of this period, sets itself off from the rougher treatment above it. And this rough area seems to extend into the smooth, rounded (and quite phallic) neck and head.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXNifDRqm-RSloUTZYAVUNYwvZj6q7h2bF_p24Rarvw5DrB3QiteQrhzNIVUeN2NqgeaSon-3PqWsauOm9fGEcdHRZXKbTDcp1qbkitxLd6bvVMT7BzlDpptOXI22TYW5e4PUvZNCECuc/s1600/Haed+of+a+Woman%252C+1931%252C+plaster+%2528Muse%25CC%2580e+national+Picasso%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXNifDRqm-RSloUTZYAVUNYwvZj6q7h2bF_p24Rarvw5DrB3QiteQrhzNIVUeN2NqgeaSon-3PqWsauOm9fGEcdHRZXKbTDcp1qbkitxLd6bvVMT7BzlDpptOXI22TYW5e4PUvZNCECuc/s640/Haed+of+a+Woman%252C+1931%252C+plaster+%2528Muse%25CC%2580e+national+Picasso%2529.jpg" width="528" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i style="font-size: 12.8px;">Head of a Woman</i><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">, 1931, plaster, 37 13/16 x 12 5/8 x 19 1/8 inches (Musèe national Picasso).</span></td></tr>
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Even more extreme (in more ways than the base) is <i>The Orator,</i> 1933-34, in which the sculpture is supported by a pole anchored to a large stone. The figure is presented like a flag or a sign, and the base acts as a soapbox for the absurd orator.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc76Df09P96BhQcOWU5I7BrRMybJ-rdmu0qLkyL-_QcGOdHpzNxgUF0-B6Wj6dIjbdcIR53Z5kdBDv02Ee8p17zRfjLY8Z-M6eKdK4LzqPUVUxPNblcDynyprrUID96ySDEhfd4U8LPe4/s1600/The+Orator%252C+1933-34%252C+plaster%252C+stone%252C+and+metal+dowel+%2528Fine+Arts+Museums+of+San+Francisco%2529..png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="410" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc76Df09P96BhQcOWU5I7BrRMybJ-rdmu0qLkyL-_QcGOdHpzNxgUF0-B6Wj6dIjbdcIR53Z5kdBDv02Ee8p17zRfjLY8Z-M6eKdK4LzqPUVUxPNblcDynyprrUID96ySDEhfd4U8LPe4/s640/The+Orator%252C+1933-34%252C+plaster%252C+stone%252C+and+metal+dowel+%2528Fine+Arts+Museums+of+San+Francisco%2529..png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The Orator</i>, 1933-34, plaster, stone, and metal dowel, 72 x 26 x 10 5/8 inches (Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco).</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT2vGdQ-0ss5qviLjTZ6x_TppMjOyUSysH8-kAKKCNDWP6-HWUzENGXFkOW9aHj2YxFK5PFSfL0edX3arCeZU2QSUNcr_YmbO-GDmoti0jPT66mXd1yQUn1VzgsjhUQn51EbkP01CL0vo/s1600/The+Bathers+Group%252C+1956%252C+wood+%2528Staatgalerie+Stuttgart%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="412" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT2vGdQ-0ss5qviLjTZ6x_TppMjOyUSysH8-kAKKCNDWP6-HWUzENGXFkOW9aHj2YxFK5PFSfL0edX3arCeZU2QSUNcr_YmbO-GDmoti0jPT66mXd1yQUn1VzgsjhUQn51EbkP01CL0vo/s640/The+Bathers+Group%252C+1956%252C+wood+%2528Staatgalerie+Stuttgart%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The Bathers,</i> 1956, wood (Staatgalerie Stuttgart).</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw6WoY0qBGfV0AWn_29UtaogZsmK6se9c7wOYwRtKAO1vwE0-QbkUNigNTJe9gdPqtt5lJ8cKLU3gFR1g_VWwCBG5i-6RQOAAfSRsZLCDTNI9ICt_PxWWHoN1vxDJvXmMuHYE4-EJ9czY/s1600/Screen+Shot+2015-12-05+at+Saturday%252C+December+5%252C+2015+++++1.04.10+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw6WoY0qBGfV0AWn_29UtaogZsmK6se9c7wOYwRtKAO1vwE0-QbkUNigNTJe9gdPqtt5lJ8cKLU3gFR1g_VWwCBG5i-6RQOAAfSRsZLCDTNI9ICt_PxWWHoN1vxDJvXmMuHYE4-EJ9czY/s400/Screen+Shot+2015-12-05+at+Saturday%252C+December+5%252C+2015+++++1.04.10+PM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Detail closeups of the stands for <i>The Bathers</i>, 1956 (above). </td></tr>
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<i>The Bathers</i> have <i>stands</i>, but they're too flimsy for the job they need to do. There must be a plate under the gravel that attaches to Picasso's sculptural ensemble, otherwise they'd just fall over. Again, Picasso uses clearly inadequate bases to create an expressively precarious work, and, in this case, to emphasize the frontality of the figures.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Fountain Man, The Bathers</i>, 1956, wood (Staatgalerie Stuttgart).</td></tr>
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By the way, the figure in the middle background, <i>Fountain Man</i>, is a man urinating. Once <i>The Bathers </i>were<i> </i>cast in bronze, Picasso intended a water pipe to be installed in it to provide a stream of water. It's unclear from the exhibition catalog if this was ever carried out.</div>
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Charles Kesslerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07068758792988742599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1522800471258383718.post-44924422955503500782015-12-04T12:25:00.000-05:002015-12-04T12:25:07.041-05:00A Selection of Bushwick Exhibitions – Part 2By Charles Kessler<br />
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I'm really impressed by Christian Ruiz Berman's striking <a href="http://www.outletbk.com/exhibitions/christian-ruiz-berman-chapultepec-samsara">show at Outlet</a>, 253 Wilson Ave., Brooklyn, NY, 11237 (through December 6th). Like heraldry or icons, Berman's work seems to have some esoteric meaning, however cryptic. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Installation view of the work of Christian Ruiz Berman at Outlet<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">.</span></td></tr>
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With its bright, luscious colors, and materials such as porcupine quills and Macaw feathers, there's an exotic quality about the work that references South American kitsch – but, of course, this work is refined and sophisticated.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUf7BU9A6lLVQtihfL5229_1tblcpABkHzkHrZmVX4Ej5zzzdtbrKqQjp265WBBWuvsf0WXuYxy36kAlMkI6OlH4wkfPVufqkbWLu3C1PlfA-M1udZscpy_duKaH3imDRUuZQhvITsVIw/s1600/dos+mantras+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="450" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUf7BU9A6lLVQtihfL5229_1tblcpABkHzkHrZmVX4Ej5zzzdtbrKqQjp265WBBWuvsf0WXuYxy36kAlMkI6OlH4wkfPVufqkbWLu3C1PlfA-M1udZscpy_duKaH3imDRUuZQhvITsVIw/s640/dos+mantras+%25281%2529.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="640" /></a></div>
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Christian Berman, <i>Dos Mantras</i>, 2015, acrylic, gouache, feathers, porcupine quills, metal screen on panels, 24 x 18 inches.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh26ijmeNncbhAK0SAM18n2fZzZtTk4Hj78FLZmTZZpUnCbVJkTnKzWvZ4ZQHukM_n-UVlddUbLLHWkB3MaN4FPKf-tLWSAPiWicfFA2fiMwx8g8vTnKKwobHsNcRYz8VM6VdpuaMu1Ds8/s1600/Zai%25CC%2588de%2527s+Offer%252C+2015%252C+Oil%252C+acrylic%252C+wood%252C+cement%252C+sisal+rope%252C+and+macaw+feathers%252C+112%25E2%2580%259D+x+49%25E2%2580%259D.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh26ijmeNncbhAK0SAM18n2fZzZtTk4Hj78FLZmTZZpUnCbVJkTnKzWvZ4ZQHukM_n-UVlddUbLLHWkB3MaN4FPKf-tLWSAPiWicfFA2fiMwx8g8vTnKKwobHsNcRYz8VM6VdpuaMu1Ds8/s640/Zai%25CC%2588de%2527s+Offer%252C+2015%252C+Oil%252C+acrylic%252C+wood%252C+cement%252C+sisal+rope%252C+and+macaw+feathers%252C+112%25E2%2580%259D+x+49%25E2%2580%259D.jpeg" width="430" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Christian Berman, <i>Zaïde's Offer,</i> 2015, oil, acrylic, wood, cement, sisal rope, and macaw feathers, 112 x 49 inches.</td></tr>
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These are finely constructed objects made of separate pieces put together like marquetry or large jigsaw puzzles.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF7llTGk6ENoPW_OgIE91zSxkGeQ9aCi2SnBsMubkLL7-cVvidGP_qoLBkgRCnn1IGkjEsDBwRNf0kW0OdFu9Q3nWKs542VTnuP2FT991pcvQqS90AKYv-_yleDsccUBY779R127vFX1U/s1600/Christian+Ruiz+Berman%252C+Zai%25CC%2588de%2527s+Offer%252C+2015.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF7llTGk6ENoPW_OgIE91zSxkGeQ9aCi2SnBsMubkLL7-cVvidGP_qoLBkgRCnn1IGkjEsDBwRNf0kW0OdFu9Q3nWKs542VTnuP2FT991pcvQqS90AKYv-_yleDsccUBY779R127vFX1U/s400/Christian+Ruiz+Berman%252C+Zai%25CC%2588de%2527s+Offer%252C+2015.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Close-up detail of Christian Ruiz Berman, <i>Zaïde's Offer</i>, 2015.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7E6sArQE6EhWXcyKrUM9BXzeMUlbCEMn_xQk_o70YT75RV4chUT1jyIbiF2_pyYX3E990x8QLPDc-IwZpjsfpnuKd4gIZ0fkoV5zu4mSW40I42p7irCoNSIeZ339bZQ7ATBFIqApoSAc/s1600/IMG_3900.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7E6sArQE6EhWXcyKrUM9BXzeMUlbCEMn_xQk_o70YT75RV4chUT1jyIbiF2_pyYX3E990x8QLPDc-IwZpjsfpnuKd4gIZ0fkoV5zu4mSW40I42p7irCoNSIeZ339bZQ7ATBFIqApoSAc/s640/IMG_3900.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Installation view of <i>Days Have Gone By</i> at Galerie Manqué.</td></tr>
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<a href="http://galeriemanque.tumblr.com/">Galerie Manqué </a> (I love the name), in the 56 Bogart building, <span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">is a tiny "pop up" gallery</span> that has been doing some interesting shows. Their last exhibition consisted of photographs of disconcertingly human-looking robots – moles, wrinkles and blemishes included. Their latest, <i><a href="http://galeriemanque.tumblr.com/">Days Have Gone By</a> </i><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">(through December 6th), </span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue light" , , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">guest-curated by artist and poet <a href="http://www.andymister.com/">Andy Mister</a>, </span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue light" , , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">also has to do with realism – </span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">this time realistic depictions of other images. For example, Thom Stevenson, <i>Piranha II,</i> 2015 (below), is an oil enamel painting that's painstakingly rendered to look like a silk screen. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNMok9UgnyA37ozArmTU-5US8wQwFOftUWYG_LDVwbsaB45_Smj6HukWhH8_wMlz3mIJjYimRGn8vi9q8fLZPr8ahTo74JBJQwZw9U3xETK3zWE1dXl5F5wHWSZt63aplalVhHdaysHI8/s1600/Thom+Stevenson%252C+Piranha+II%252C+2015%252C+oil+enamel+on+canvas%252C+40+x+30+x+1.5+inches.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNMok9UgnyA37ozArmTU-5US8wQwFOftUWYG_LDVwbsaB45_Smj6HukWhH8_wMlz3mIJjYimRGn8vi9q8fLZPr8ahTo74JBJQwZw9U3xETK3zWE1dXl5F5wHWSZt63aplalVhHdaysHI8/s640/Thom+Stevenson%252C+Piranha+II%252C+2015%252C+oil+enamel+on+canvas%252C+40+x+30+x+1.5+inches.jpg" width="506" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Thom Stevenson, <i>Piranha II</i>, 2015, oil enamel on canvas, 40 x 30 x 1.5 inches.</td></tr>
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And Chris Oh's <i>Sirens</i>, 2015 (below) is a highly realistic depiction of a beat-up 1992 album cover of the R&B band Chic. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLIzuuE5mS8ZynEUblziu5eOc6bNOuhQjY0m0BWKReyjQQjA7xe6Lr4i7JwknGFGJXyGHPmEeRUMU2UogUzY73aXl-B1Fv-mJ3GWty_D16-ehToYLxqDBtBkmXL4IIMALKuU0tGuYIwFQ/s1600/Chris+Oh%252C+Sirens%252C+2015%252C+Acrylic+on+canvas%252C+24+x+24+inches..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLIzuuE5mS8ZynEUblziu5eOc6bNOuhQjY0m0BWKReyjQQjA7xe6Lr4i7JwknGFGJXyGHPmEeRUMU2UogUzY73aXl-B1Fv-mJ3GWty_D16-ehToYLxqDBtBkmXL4IIMALKuU0tGuYIwFQ/s640/Chris+Oh%252C+Sirens%252C+2015%252C+Acrylic+on+canvas%252C+24+x+24+inches..jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chris Oh, <i>Sirens</i>, 2015, acrylic on canvas, 24 x 24 inches.</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaO7XtQ4_KdHdkYZxNksh-tIJECFloGSO_g8PrcL9osM6O5JbLpAPJfstYZ5gdY8UeChVou2ji4H_pWR004PXkSggyXWqqO4URpTVtGTZocP5fNEDPzMtd0gtqI6f68-aagJBERr-5wME/s1600/Screen+Shot+2015-11-23+at+Monday%252C+November+23%252C+2015+++++2.46.31+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaO7XtQ4_KdHdkYZxNksh-tIJECFloGSO_g8PrcL9osM6O5JbLpAPJfstYZ5gdY8UeChVou2ji4H_pWR004PXkSggyXWqqO4URpTVtGTZocP5fNEDPzMtd0gtqI6f68-aagJBERr-5wME/s640/Screen+Shot+2015-11-23+at+Monday%252C+November+23%252C+2015+++++2.46.31+PM.png" style="cursor: move;" width="640" /></a></div>
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Installation view of <i>Lat and Long</i>, an exhibition by Karen Oliver (photo: Fresh Window). What look like the hollow centers of the cinder block wall are actually mirrors inserted in the openings that reflect the other objects in the room.</div>
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<i><a href="http://www.freshwindow.org/exhibitions/current-exhibition/">Lat and Long</a>, </i>an exhibition by Karen Oliver at <a href="http://www.freshwindow.org/exhibitions/current-exhibition/">Fresh Window</a>, 56 Bogart, Brooklyn, NY, 11206 (through December 6th) makes abstruse reference to the many places she has lived. (I assum<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue light" , , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">e the title of the show refers to latitude and longitude.) It doesn't matter if we get the references; what matters are the compelling objects her intention inspired. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM7yOF-Jn1cKScx156ZX_87VcCKAYNTvmBLSKOfmOvLhP8vaD825LTzRmJ-8MoXCsTbOyXfBxOM__Z9gGNOXuftL7s2ugwtWOHs_gJWTbmL9xwXwC6k0iJrd06xEVW2OjAEr2w-c2Tht4/s1600/MeriemBennani_GradualKingdom_installwide.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM7yOF-Jn1cKScx156ZX_87VcCKAYNTvmBLSKOfmOvLhP8vaD825LTzRmJ-8MoXCsTbOyXfBxOM__Z9gGNOXuftL7s2ugwtWOHs_gJWTbmL9xwXwC6k0iJrd06xEVW2OjAEr2w-c2Tht4/s640/MeriemBennani_GradualKingdom_installwide.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Installation view of <i>Gradual Kingdom</i> by Meriem Bennani at Signal. The actual exhibition is a lot darker than this photo. </td></tr>
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Unlike most galleries in Bushwick, which tend to be small, the <a href="http://ssiiggnnaall.com/">Signal</a> gallery, 260 Johnson Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11206, is large with high ceilings. They generally show big sculptures and room-size installations. Their current show is <i><a href="http://ssiiggnnaall.com/">Gradual Kingdom</a></i>, site-specific video installations and other works by Meriem Bennani (through December 20th). </div>
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I was hoping to review exhibitions in Bushwick that I hadn't covered in an <a href="http://leftbankartblog.blogspot.com/2015/11/a-selection-of-bushwick-exhibitions.html">earlier post</a>, but several of the galleries I wanted to visit weren't open when I went, and others were just too out-of-the-way for this trip. Another time. </div>
Charles Kesslerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07068758792988742599noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1522800471258383718.post-90986625056615471522015-11-27T14:06:00.000-05:002015-11-27T14:06:08.103-05:00Rewind and Reflect: John GoodyearBy Carl Belz <br />
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John Goodyear, <i>Up and Down Movement</i>, 1966, 24 x 24 x 4 inches (Berry Campbell Gallery, New York).</div>
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[Author's Note: I wrote the following text for a <a href="http://www.dhallfineart.com/exhibitions/2012_nov_goodyear/index.html">John Goodyear exhibition at David Hall Fine Art,</a> Wellesley, MA in 2012. It is reprinted here in conjunction with the exhibition, <a href="http://berrycampbell.com/exhibition/35/#!1222">John Goodyear, Perspectives/Six Decades, at the Berry Campbell Gallery</a>, 530 West 24th Street, New York, NY 10011, Nov. 25, 2015 - January 2, 2016.]<br />
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The 1963-64 academic year was for me eventful, even memorable. Fresh out of graduate school with my PhD, I started my first teaching job, at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. I taught a seminar on Marcel Duchamp that fall, and later that year I was able to interview him in New York while we sat across from one another at a chessboard with pieces designed by Man Ray, who had been the subject of my doctoral dissertation. I also met and talked with celebrated vanguardist John Cage when he was invited to campus for a performance, an uncanny experience that felt, on the heels of Duchamp, as though it was destined by chance, like one of those encounters celebrated in the Dada and Surrealist handbooks I’d been studying in connection with my thesis. Then, too, I met Bob Dylan, backstage before the spring concert he delivered in the packed UMass field house where he sang Mr. Tambourine Man, which he hadn’t even recorded yet, but which we all recognized as a tour de force, totally magical, surrealist-type poem if ever there was one. And last yet at the same time foremost in this litany of personal encounters – foremost, because it bore abiding rather than ephemeral significance – I met John Goodyear, artist and art department colleague, who knew, as I would soon come to know, more than a little about Cage’s chance and Duchamp’s ambiguity and, as much as anything else, the poetics of everyday experience. <br />
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The art department at UMass comprised three art historians and six artists, a personnel roster that was totally new to me. At Princeton, where I’d earned both my undergraduate and graduate degrees, the Department of Art and Archaeology comprised only art historians. An artist-in-residence position had been created in the mid-1950s, presumably to acknowledge studio practice, but the appointment was mostly honorific, requiring the artist to teach only two pass/fail courses a year, neither of which was required in the departmental curriculum. Art making in Princeton’s ivory tower, in other words, had largely to be imagined, like a virtual reality. At UMass, by comparison, I was interacting with practicing artists on a regular basis, and I responded to them with natural interest and enthusiasm, I felt at home in their community. In particular, I responded to John Goodyear, whose work hovered somewhere between painting and sculpture, possessed moving parts that invited viewer participation, and yielded optical sensations that were refreshingly new to my pictorial experience, while in the process additionally radiating a rich spectrum of ideas. So John and I began interacting and talking about his art, I watched his progress in the studio, I tracked his thought, and I got inspired to write and have published an essay about what he was doing – my first essay about an artist making art in the here and now. Though trained in the scholarly methodologies of art history, I found via my John Goodyear experience an abiding passion for working directly with living artists in and of our time.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE59h9lnuaw4e8rRgvRCjkki-r55-vT5o57DyJifKpfhht7ngWo7BmXswhGBim4I7vQcEUD7tRLxIxBD687TiTwB0t1XUKzfh1mD71EFD12UOnlmNT_FKgWYrvoe6xGBMTAoaFzPFvfvXE/s1600/John+Goodyear%252C+Blue+and+Brown+Kinetic+Construction%252C+1964%252C+acrylic+on+wood+and+canvas%252C+24+x+24+x+5+inches+%2528Berry+Campbell+Gallery%252C+New+York%2529..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="388" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE59h9lnuaw4e8rRgvRCjkki-r55-vT5o57DyJifKpfhht7ngWo7BmXswhGBim4I7vQcEUD7tRLxIxBD687TiTwB0t1XUKzfh1mD71EFD12UOnlmNT_FKgWYrvoe6xGBMTAoaFzPFvfvXE/s400/John+Goodyear%252C+Blue+and+Brown+Kinetic+Construction%252C+1964%252C+acrylic+on+wood+and+canvas%252C+24+x+24+x+5+inches+%2528Berry+Campbell+Gallery%252C+New+York%2529..jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">John Goodyear, <i>Blue and Brown Kinetic Construction</i>, 1964, acrylic on wood and canvas, 24 x 24 x 5 inches (Berry Campbell Gallery, New York).</td></tr>
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The optic-kinetic constructions John Goodyear was making in the mid-1960s registered quickly on the contemporary art radar screen. In 1965 alone his work was included in <i><a href="https://www.moma.org/momaorg/shared/pdfs/docs/press_archives/3439/releases/MOMA_1965_0015_14.pdf?2010">The Responsive Eye</a> </i>at New York’s Museum of Modern Art, <i>Art in Science</i> at the Albany Institute of History and Art, and <i>Kinetic and Optic Art Today </i>at the Albright-Knox Gallery in Buffalo. With visual dazzle on the one hand and technological know-how on the other, Op and Kinetic exhibitions promised ever-expanding horizons for artistic expression, while in the discourse surrounding them – in images, for instance, of research teams at work, not in studios but in laboratories – impersonal objectivity hovered as a guarantee of the new art’s authenticity. And thus was rehearsed a periodically recurring theme in 20th Century art, namely, its urge to secure credibility by grafting onto itself the methods and procedures and look of science. But science was neither the source nor the goal for Goodyear’s art, nor was credibility ever an issue, not then, and not now. His kinetic effects, for one, required no technology to speak of, just the touch of a finger, the tilt of a head, even a casual walk-by; while, secondly, whatever the resulting visual dazzle, it was just a prelude to the meditations that followed – about how and where real and virtual space connect, about images coming and going and being at once here and there, about paradox and ambiguity, about chance, about indeterminacy. If there was a model for such an art, its locus was not in the lab but in and around the ways of Cage or Duchamp.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYBRx8bfI1PfXYCFFjT15DaaGVJqfI2n4FiqvWB_-NQ-t9S_vranaa2Jxt7VLvUNusVvTnvl-t8MNCCqn2FrBm2JIrzKRYJRSvPAoCLN53ejwj-ypjk4m1XFzuxrSbq81rnfOIgyreLLc9/s1600/John+Goodyear%252C+Red%252C+Yellow%252C+Blue+Construction%252C+1978%252C+acrylic+on+wood+and+canvas%252C+28+3%253A4+x+29+1%253A4+x+6+inches..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="306" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYBRx8bfI1PfXYCFFjT15DaaGVJqfI2n4FiqvWB_-NQ-t9S_vranaa2Jxt7VLvUNusVvTnvl-t8MNCCqn2FrBm2JIrzKRYJRSvPAoCLN53ejwj-ypjk4m1XFzuxrSbq81rnfOIgyreLLc9/s320/John+Goodyear%252C+Red%252C+Yellow%252C+Blue+Construction%252C+1978%252C+acrylic+on+wood+and+canvas%252C+28+3%253A4+x+29+1%253A4+x+6+inches..jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">John Goodyear, <i>Red, Yellow, Blue Construction</i>, 1978, acrylic on wood and canvas, 28 3/4 x 29 1/4 x 6 inches.</td></tr>
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It goes without saying that John Goodyear’s art possesses a way of its own, a way I would describe as modest and unassuming, a way accessible in regularly referencing everyday experience, a way gently prodding thought while also being quietly informed by humor, a way generous in the openness and ease of its invitation to participate in its sensory and cerebral pleasures – as easy and accessible and natural, for instance, as looking out a third-floor window and all at once seeing the art in the tiled plaza you walked across but unknowingly missed because you were preoccupied with the quotidian business of meeting your appointment at the University of Medicine and Dentistry in Piscataway, New Jersey. John Goodyear’s way not so much makes art as allows art to happen, as if art were somehow there all along, as if latent, awaiting activation. Within the rhythm of this way, art experience and lived experience intersect and are continuous with one another by virtue of constantly informing one another. Within their interaction, at the same time, they are not the same, not interchangeable, for the identity of each – its viability in doing what it does and meaning what it means – is ever grounded in an acknowledgment of the separateness of the other, a separateness in which they are finally bound. Such, for me, is the way of John Goodyear’s art.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzP5X6YHWB9V8abvosgRbyI35WU12XhsH_okQkDq6ZUn85n1Ru-AN3gMl3xygLepWUw0XEkyM6xtkx2w404yvX4KlsbbhHHwLJiywugTjXrsIegtAHCLkWTWiyYvYZPJU2xdgw5HK3TLnX/s1600/John+Goodyear%252C+Food+for+Thought%252C+2011%252C+acrylic+on+wood+and+canvas%252C+96+x+39+x+6+inches..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzP5X6YHWB9V8abvosgRbyI35WU12XhsH_okQkDq6ZUn85n1Ru-AN3gMl3xygLepWUw0XEkyM6xtkx2w404yvX4KlsbbhHHwLJiywugTjXrsIegtAHCLkWTWiyYvYZPJU2xdgw5HK3TLnX/s640/John+Goodyear%252C+Food+for+Thought%252C+2011%252C+acrylic+on+wood+and+canvas%252C+96+x+39+x+6+inches..jpg" width="308" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">John Goodyear, <i>Food for Thought,</i> 2011, acrylic on wood and canvas, 96 x 39 x 6 inches.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAFIRcftdBTY0fKids1OwCzwg7knFXn4ctfl93F_FXwzlXWnebnpxOOyiw__WlQTo6egr7vh01U4A3XU23zxe3qvUtNnN6G2tsYF1VrrVGh-VeB7F4BBpREiaYaF_COL-OTTsuPY95l1Qo/s1600/John+Goodyear%252C+The+Indicative%252C+2013%252C+acrylic+on+wood+and+canvas%252C+24+x+27+x+2+1%253A2+inches+%2528Berry+Campbell+Gallery%252C+New+York%2529..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="281" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAFIRcftdBTY0fKids1OwCzwg7knFXn4ctfl93F_FXwzlXWnebnpxOOyiw__WlQTo6egr7vh01U4A3XU23zxe3qvUtNnN6G2tsYF1VrrVGh-VeB7F4BBpREiaYaF_COL-OTTsuPY95l1Qo/s320/John+Goodyear%252C+The+Indicative%252C+2013%252C+acrylic+on+wood+and+canvas%252C+24+x+27+x+2+1%253A2+inches+%2528Berry+Campbell+Gallery%252C+New+York%2529..jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">John Goodyear, <i>The Indicative,</i> 2013, acrylic on wood and canvas, 24 x 27 x 2 1/2 inches (Berry Campbell Gallery, New York).</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx5QB5L_PzyoyyF7owrNJ5PGyB72Xa-UFwCf_BiiJo9lBqbVHy6AUF4EmD-V4tkPf7zcikgL23rTyXUUrbEajMHu9rsYzxhq8FvnMGIyrRTCiXvuY19S-AEfaS5hk2mcwSw7fV_C1KMh9F/s1600/John+Goodyear%252C+Women+of+Art%252C+2014%252C+acrylic+on+wood+and+canvas%252C+72+x+36+x+3+inches+%2528Berry+Campbell+Gallery%252C+New+York%2529..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="636" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx5QB5L_PzyoyyF7owrNJ5PGyB72Xa-UFwCf_BiiJo9lBqbVHy6AUF4EmD-V4tkPf7zcikgL23rTyXUUrbEajMHu9rsYzxhq8FvnMGIyrRTCiXvuY19S-AEfaS5hk2mcwSw7fV_C1KMh9F/s640/John+Goodyear%252C+Women+of+Art%252C+2014%252C+acrylic+on+wood+and+canvas%252C+72+x+36+x+3+inches+%2528Berry+Campbell+Gallery%252C+New+York%2529..jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">John Goodyear, <i>Women of Art,</i> 2014, acrylic on wood and canvas, 72 x 36 x 3 inches (Berry Campbell Gallery, New York).</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpcK0ehwx1nTGEPa5vyWzIMredLGCjQ4utsm5yLn58wa_EgHO2O_RZnYyGevDOq9gxAIyTiTlnTp5PbKZGgfTmfUfyVVi6HFqULKeQLGvaixqYjaBrPmvEQYv0qK0_qGWL1bL_CPAvDjcM/s1600/John+Goodyear%252C+Figurative+Abstraction%252C+2015%252C+acrylic+on+wood+and+canvas%252C+36+x+36+x+6+inches+%2528Berry+Campbell+Gallery%252C+New+York%2529..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="393" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpcK0ehwx1nTGEPa5vyWzIMredLGCjQ4utsm5yLn58wa_EgHO2O_RZnYyGevDOq9gxAIyTiTlnTp5PbKZGgfTmfUfyVVi6HFqULKeQLGvaixqYjaBrPmvEQYv0qK0_qGWL1bL_CPAvDjcM/s400/John+Goodyear%252C+Figurative+Abstraction%252C+2015%252C+acrylic+on+wood+and+canvas%252C+36+x+36+x+6+inches+%2528Berry+Campbell+Gallery%252C+New+York%2529..jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">John Goodyear, <i>Figurative Abstraction</i>, 2015, acrylic on wood and canvas, 36 x 36 x 6 inches (Berry Campbell Gallery, New York).</td></tr>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1522800471258383718.post-36078074562393199702015-11-19T11:17:00.000-05:002015-11-19T11:17:17.814-05:00Frank Stella Retrospective at the Whitney MuseumBy Charles Kessler<br />
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There is little I can add to Roberta Smith's enthusiastic <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/30/arts/design/tracking-frank-stellas-restless-migrations-from-painting-and-beyond.html?ref=topics&_r=0">review</a> of <i><a href="http://whitney.org/Exhibitions/FrankStella">Frank Stella: A Retrospective</a> </i>at the Whitney Museum of American Art (through Feb. 7th), and there are many good reproductions of the work on the Whitney's <a href="http://whitney.org/Exhibitions/FrankStella">website</a>. What I can do here is provide some additional installation views of the exhibition so that you can get an idea of the tremendous scale of this extravagant, innovative, outrageous, sometimes completely bonkers art. I also provide some close-up views to show the variety of textures and layers.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho_ZOsIWj5NajYof7H1lkFkm-D_tNREmaBbpmkuyunDDLVfjOLK3Lh8DOC6lesXONj_j4acg6dEss3FCG_Y7jzuxfhIcxXeIXEWhv235XplSJM5Vjjqvi5kFe8BK8PLD9zSBmAxTjydAU/s1600/IMG_3804.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho_ZOsIWj5NajYof7H1lkFkm-D_tNREmaBbpmkuyunDDLVfjOLK3Lh8DOC6lesXONj_j4acg6dEss3FCG_Y7jzuxfhIcxXeIXEWhv235XplSJM5Vjjqvi5kFe8BK8PLD9zSBmAxTjydAU/s640/IMG_3804.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Paintings from 1958-59, the earliest work in the exhibition.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsxKr_FnYJ13eutO-ReuRkn1VYdqIP7Gr0j7Aj6SG2jbqoAdZk_JN3W9Y3QEA5nSlEiJn4JyMbhWVF1wz1QtLO30yykqr8ImS8kOFh6I01NJYjRgRJ4F0rB8N6Z38CfSRrTnG-9aCpQkE/s1600/IMG_3810.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="146" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsxKr_FnYJ13eutO-ReuRkn1VYdqIP7Gr0j7Aj6SG2jbqoAdZk_JN3W9Y3QEA5nSlEiJn4JyMbhWVF1wz1QtLO30yykqr8ImS8kOFh6I01NJYjRgRJ4F0rB8N6Z38CfSRrTnG-9aCpQkE/s640/IMG_3810.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px; padding-top: 4px; text-align: center;">Panoramic installation view of Stella's earlier work.<br />
<b>Click to enlarge.</b> </td></tr>
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Stella uses colors arbitrarily, to distinguish one shape from another. His colors don't resonate, interact or harmonize the way, say, Matisse's colors do. But that's asking Stella to be something he is not.<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxyhbzObEKpMCXWzwZL7Gysr9Wd7zzU0WuTTcEkkSQR3XhAqdbGyxrMmUD36fnY0o_r0iX9I-db45GfAE_7Jv92k5NLOobMmFZmF2cqrOcmeeBJwem53_VFvFUujIXz90CCjOlesj3o6g/s1600/IMG_3848.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxyhbzObEKpMCXWzwZL7Gysr9Wd7zzU0WuTTcEkkSQR3XhAqdbGyxrMmUD36fnY0o_r0iX9I-db45GfAE_7Jv92k5NLOobMmFZmF2cqrOcmeeBJwem53_VFvFUujIXz90CCjOlesj3o6g/s640/IMG_3848.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Frank Stella<i>, Damascus Gate (Stretch Variation III)</i>, 1970. alkyd on canvas, 120 × 600 inches (The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; museum purchase funded by Alice Pratt Brown).</td></tr>
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<div>
The Whitney's walls are not curved; this distortion typically happens with panoramic images.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSIjU4XTRYzTBsFFpzIfqY7fnJKTSt-m3Os1kpUoCsXPBREIJvdgowrPxnpOpw0lQgfp1B3W1-xmUvL-vncVd9AEz0yCisJ3hTgWlFscWQLSDQDKgFIW2A1TpqRPy28w69RYt7BF14s1k/s1600/IMG_3814.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="144" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSIjU4XTRYzTBsFFpzIfqY7fnJKTSt-m3Os1kpUoCsXPBREIJvdgowrPxnpOpw0lQgfp1B3W1-xmUvL-vncVd9AEz0yCisJ3hTgWlFscWQLSDQDKgFIW2A1TpqRPy28w69RYt7BF14s1k/s640/IMG_3814.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Panoramic installation view of work from Stella's middle periods.<br />
<b>Click to enlarge.</b></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrn1j2ndeMgiTmKlbiEaky0BlD9w5z6YGnsz_wK69ToxrCWUN0RZhyphenhyphenrkRw0nl_aoavnCeoytn30m_8XQRtkDpnKwEIZmwFPysO-2iBQoHFtq4IgqnKO4y57qP439Jh0mLIv_dGSGT70R4/s1600/IMG_3832.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrn1j2ndeMgiTmKlbiEaky0BlD9w5z6YGnsz_wK69ToxrCWUN0RZhyphenhyphenrkRw0nl_aoavnCeoytn30m_8XQRtkDpnKwEIZmwFPysO-2iBQoHFtq4IgqnKO4y57qP439Jh0mLIv_dGSGT70R4/s640/IMG_3832.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>St. Michael's Counterguard</i>, 1984, mixed media on aluminum and fiberglass honeycomb, 156 x 135 x 108 inches (Los Angeles County Museum of Art).</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnNrAaZV5FRDkvAYxHan6ONUHGLVEN7ZasnYvvPuAXjF3zC0xEfY2e4djYmyEXpBCfbk0iAN8Qh4KSjofmsx9CtZXgMK-KIKofmhh2VLvW58rcFgCUMM5yQ-AKbv_pqMZ7jEV8pBXt-Ic/s1600/IMG_3836.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnNrAaZV5FRDkvAYxHan6ONUHGLVEN7ZasnYvvPuAXjF3zC0xEfY2e4djYmyEXpBCfbk0iAN8Qh4KSjofmsx9CtZXgMK-KIKofmhh2VLvW58rcFgCUMM5yQ-AKbv_pqMZ7jEV8pBXt-Ic/s640/IMG_3836.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Close-up side view of<span style="font-size: 12.8px;"> <i>St. Michael's Counterguard,</i> 1984.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXTHHndQ6lzLYF6NFzqD148vOGgWKgPggMPndHkV1vq0diKXhHe-fSC0BopU_Lnn8iOrYf1OuLkR-pSN4inqUHsPJroKajfz4gYHGiFZ5gyDGX2e5h9PbNgNJTVHmv8XCdLzwNAkMK-Ms/s1600/Raft+of+the+Medusa+and+%253F.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXTHHndQ6lzLYF6NFzqD148vOGgWKgPggMPndHkV1vq0diKXhHe-fSC0BopU_Lnn8iOrYf1OuLkR-pSN4inqUHsPJroKajfz4gYHGiFZ5gyDGX2e5h9PbNgNJTVHmv8XCdLzwNAkMK-Ms/s640/Raft+of+the+Medusa+and+%253F.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On the left,<i> Raft of the Medusa (Part I)</i>, 1990, aluminum and steel, 167 × 163 × 159 inches (The Glass House, A Site of the National Trust for Historic Preservation).</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivbE69R-ijQfvyNQ2XxuGpNbzimo7cBZvKVPt-200pDgadSbDd84PXyyzWuiN-k1-8ndvqGEECukOSX0nwxUEGISgXvOEltly3qBEhIBizd1oZJycmb04tfg5CEu3sjcIXXY-jqmwcDVw/s1600/Raft+of+the+Medusa.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivbE69R-ijQfvyNQ2XxuGpNbzimo7cBZvKVPt-200pDgadSbDd84PXyyzWuiN-k1-8ndvqGEECukOSX0nwxUEGISgXvOEltly3qBEhIBizd1oZJycmb04tfg5CEu3sjcIXXY-jqmwcDVw/s640/Raft+of+the+Medusa.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Close-up detail, <i style="font-size: 12.8px;">Raft of the Medusa (Part I)</i><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">, 1990.</span></td></tr>
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In Stella's later work, he employs bright color, vigorous brushwork, and rhythmic line to enliven things; often these paintings are so active and aggressive they feel like an attack. The later work is very public, i.e., not intimate; it's meant for large public spaces like corporate lobbies or museums – abstract Pop Art, if you will. It's just that seeing a lot of them together is exhausting.<br />
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The reproduction below is of a huge, sixty-seven color print!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi36NlYUkxwGnms-WRD2B2wu-Mh3Og82Rjtone_sZwDHsgX0AUqfsUOwsWrErMiPfvGs5dHGuJsP79bV62mQM-hAnEvV9GhGH9TYj93M0L0iLJNhI26UaTiC7FJWwDilwL2AawmRQxbKJo/s1600/IMG_3851.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi36NlYUkxwGnms-WRD2B2wu-Mh3Og82Rjtone_sZwDHsgX0AUqfsUOwsWrErMiPfvGs5dHGuJsP79bV62mQM-hAnEvV9GhGH9TYj93M0L0iLJNhI26UaTiC7FJWwDilwL2AawmRQxbKJo/s640/IMG_3851.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The Fountain</i>, 1992, woodcut, etching, aquatint, drypoint, collage and airbrush, (printed and published by Tyler Graphics, Ltd., Whitney Museum of American Art).</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7VrnRkjpdJopG4OHeuACPcsCh6DX0VOWEGkWNQr8TK3NlQwFwtjTS4JqEdz32X3gzW5iSA9bwYJ_09SLoce_IFxiByNewtm7cyw_9s5dJdXXYzuj11yq2i1lVnZGEi8JV5oA1Uo0ZUco/s1600/IMG_3852.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7VrnRkjpdJopG4OHeuACPcsCh6DX0VOWEGkWNQr8TK3NlQwFwtjTS4JqEdz32X3gzW5iSA9bwYJ_09SLoce_IFxiByNewtm7cyw_9s5dJdXXYzuj11yq2i1lVnZGEi8JV5oA1Uo0ZUco/s640/IMG_3852.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Close-up detail, <i style="font-size: 12.8px;">The Fountain</i><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">, 1992.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYpRzzJPEe4sLQeyRW_e1coWcgPmwC16UnHttCQx715ZBMrDUwswgBF8_wAaOwxDfvx6QX1yTjWJrVqbHDq2B2gBUMUXlFVMyBDkRChONtEAofxy0xMqpdjmXwLPsDTUdIZ8BuEM43BFE/s1600/IMG_3797.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYpRzzJPEe4sLQeyRW_e1coWcgPmwC16UnHttCQx715ZBMrDUwswgBF8_wAaOwxDfvx6QX1yTjWJrVqbHDq2B2gBUMUXlFVMyBDkRChONtEAofxy0xMqpdjmXwLPsDTUdIZ8BuEM43BFE/s640/IMG_3797.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px; padding-top: 4px; text-align: center;"><i>Das Erdbeben in Chili [N#3]</i>, 1999. acrylic on canvas, 144 × 486 inches, (private collection. © 2015 Frank Stella/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York).</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEGwchcpEdNn5FLXV1NdCCUBG77TI27t9r26adNFlQloHlTQRSluWy14F3MxQ_4voj_TmsWh3rBI3s0zu84ioDP30pCnW3QY6N7X4QsMafkG6wnrvx87iR20KqXhsZxWKa0rmzuyjw-PE/s1600/IMG_3799.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEGwchcpEdNn5FLXV1NdCCUBG77TI27t9r26adNFlQloHlTQRSluWy14F3MxQ_4voj_TmsWh3rBI3s0zu84ioDP30pCnW3QY6N7X4QsMafkG6wnrvx87iR20KqXhsZxWKa0rmzuyjw-PE/s640/IMG_3799.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px; padding-top: 4px; text-align: center;">Close-up view of <i>Das Erdbeben in Chili [N#3]</i>, 1999.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeSLiaYt8OYtxZFENZgciRiXLWi2RwrEOPaRs7TH3NPnZjCYhYR6aBuMOEEEzC9vMWLSkuYS5TYNB6z6Dcot7ONyrWDFYOKuUC3HguVD_4I4ayytQ_QNvmIJCJhw3nYCG3U3Halo2fUoU/s1600/K.37%252C+2008%253F.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeSLiaYt8OYtxZFENZgciRiXLWi2RwrEOPaRs7TH3NPnZjCYhYR6aBuMOEEEzC9vMWLSkuYS5TYNB6z6Dcot7ONyrWDFYOKuUC3HguVD_4I4ayytQ_QNvmIJCJhw3nYCG3U3Halo2fUoU/s640/K.37%252C+2008%253F.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On the left, <i>K.81 combo (K.37 and K.43) large size,</i> 2009. protogen RPT with stainless steel tubing, 180 × 192 × 120 inches (private collection. © 2015 Frank Stella/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York). I didn't get information on the painting on the right. </td></tr>
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Charles Kesslerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07068758792988742599noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1522800471258383718.post-76274209101731284622015-11-11T16:34:00.000-05:002015-11-11T16:34:52.506-05:00John Lees at Betty Cuningham GalleryBy Charles Kessler<br />
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I've known John for at least forty years, but I don't love his art just because we're friends. As with Charles Garabedian, I loved John's art, so I made it a point to get to know him, then we became friends.<br />
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An exhibition of his relatively recent paintings and drawings can be seen at the <a href="http://www.bettycuninghamgallery.com/exhibitions/john-lees4">Betty Cuningham Gallery</a>, 15 Rivington Street, Lower East Side (through November 28th). I say "relatively recent" because John will work on a painting or drawing for years, decades sometimes – <i>Man Sitting in an Armchair</i>, for example, is dated 2008–2015.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ59Pxut_edVh8ERqL6SbsCI4rki7x7cgnUWBXqFy4UTASIbLhmvS1I7DdKI0PLe-w8xAbTuhGiOqmyOBzIIHSgFcL9wS9GTAfuVBirN20XvuXzg_A2Y8_vNqZxac_Eq0CKCblI0VcT5c/s1600/John+Lees%252C+Man+Sitting+in+an+Armchair%252C+2008-2015%252C+oil+on+canvas%252C+42+x+36+inches+%25281%2529.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ59Pxut_edVh8ERqL6SbsCI4rki7x7cgnUWBXqFy4UTASIbLhmvS1I7DdKI0PLe-w8xAbTuhGiOqmyOBzIIHSgFcL9wS9GTAfuVBirN20XvuXzg_A2Y8_vNqZxac_Eq0CKCblI0VcT5c/s640/John+Lees%252C+Man+Sitting+in+an+Armchair%252C+2008-2015%252C+oil+on+canvas%252C+42+x+36+inches+%25281%2529.jpeg" width="548" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Man Sitting in an Armchair</i>, 2008-2015, oil on canvas, 42 x 36 inches.</td></tr>
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He builds up the paint, scrapes it off, sands it down, and works into it again and again, piling up the paint so much that it becomes a palpable physical presence. The result is a crusty, fragmented image embedded in the rough, craggy paint surface. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikm8ug28o3z1PTcnD3gPT89ePNdQV1rMhk38TtF-MDi5f32tkEgrx-OwteMwke_Oe2VbYi80rOVk8lqI2lnxrwGLRSXbh7fGeF41NmFV0PsIAvdskd5Hvwjekc4O3LZBgBR9Y3CvHiVUo/s1600/Detail%252C+Man+Sitting+in+an+Armchair%252C+2008-2015%252C+oil+on+canvas%252C+42+x+36+inches+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikm8ug28o3z1PTcnD3gPT89ePNdQV1rMhk38TtF-MDi5f32tkEgrx-OwteMwke_Oe2VbYi80rOVk8lqI2lnxrwGLRSXbh7fGeF41NmFV0PsIAvdskd5Hvwjekc4O3LZBgBR9Y3CvHiVUo/s640/Detail%252C+Man+Sitting+in+an+Armchair%252C+2008-2015%252C+oil+on+canvas%252C+42+x+36+inches+%25282%2529.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Side view of <i>Man Sitting in an Armchair</i>, 2008-2015.</td></tr>
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Memory is frequently the subject of John's art, or, more accurately, he paints the experience of remembering. <i>Man Sitting in an Armchair</i>, for example, is a memory of his father; and, like a memory, the images are fleeting and hazy, slowly coalescing to reveal more and more detail the longer you stay with it.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh71zeDg_XENz2baGBvPHujw5yhTb3fyqgIbNndi5WTfpS_QMEthIbeeK-YTI_UfOIuwJgJQlla75SC4n0VWgZCnvqrSRu2tTdCyqH2j1rOLPLuzC0lDl9QLMbKuh8Bi9TRM-sgGyJkWfY/s1600/Detail%252C+Man+Sitting+in+an+Armchair%252C+2008-2015%252C+oil+on+canvas%252C+42+x+36+inches+%25283%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh71zeDg_XENz2baGBvPHujw5yhTb3fyqgIbNndi5WTfpS_QMEthIbeeK-YTI_UfOIuwJgJQlla75SC4n0VWgZCnvqrSRu2tTdCyqH2j1rOLPLuzC0lDl9QLMbKuh8Bi9TRM-sgGyJkWfY/s400/Detail%252C+Man+Sitting+in+an+Armchair%252C+2008-2015%252C+oil+on+canvas%252C+42+x+36+inches+%25283%2529.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Detail of the lower left of <i>Man Sitting in an Armchair</i>, 2008-2015.</td></tr>
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Lees's drawings are particularly remarkable because one doesn't expect this much physicality in a drawing. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw_PJkz82Ej7GrX862gHyaIehE_XTZpCsb26PqbCwJvs8TtRb9I1rEN-nQN_xhEvZwBmRdeVr7lVLN3VclSKH_76Ohyphenhyphenaes5dikH-vfYO2x289POUrJBd0NDV9sHOvD2RcV1f-xEY5RCCo/s1600/In+the+Park%253AEarly+Morning%252C+2015%252C+graphite%252C+ink+on+paper%252C+11+x+9+%25E2%2585%259B+inches..jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw_PJkz82Ej7GrX862gHyaIehE_XTZpCsb26PqbCwJvs8TtRb9I1rEN-nQN_xhEvZwBmRdeVr7lVLN3VclSKH_76Ohyphenhyphenaes5dikH-vfYO2x289POUrJBd0NDV9sHOvD2RcV1f-xEY5RCCo/s400/In+the+Park%253AEarly+Morning%252C+2015%252C+graphite%252C+ink+on+paper%252C+11+x+9+%25E2%2585%259B+inches..jpeg" width="275" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>In the Park/Early Morning</i>, 2009-15, graphite, ink on paper, 11 x 9 ⅛ inches.</td></tr>
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His drawings are worked and re-worked, erased until threadbare, patched and worked again. And like the paintings, the drawings are physically part of the paper the way the images in his paintings are physically part of the paint. <br />
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You can see this better in this photo of a drawing from an earlier exhibition:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHjgg0exbIpDwY1JBxGbpyN2l7qdzJKmp7vwQAjlUA460dIJtJkpFZoauTw8Ai4qsaMLCTZj6aWbgYjUwJ2oYzxbxE7C4bfd_kB8ejToxAfPMqhl1S6TwpZm5EhFJQDYUcZletNkqvuT0/s1600/+River+Landscape+%2528For+Bas+Jan+Ader%2529%252C+2003%253B2005-2007%253B2009+Ink%252C+Conte+Sanguine%252C+Chalk+and+Gouache+on+Paper+25+3%253A4+x+43+1%253A2+inches.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="384" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHjgg0exbIpDwY1JBxGbpyN2l7qdzJKmp7vwQAjlUA460dIJtJkpFZoauTw8Ai4qsaMLCTZj6aWbgYjUwJ2oYzxbxE7C4bfd_kB8ejToxAfPMqhl1S6TwpZm5EhFJQDYUcZletNkqvuT0/s640/+River+Landscape+%2528For+Bas+Jan+Ader%2529%252C+2003%253B2005-2007%253B2009+Ink%252C+Conte+Sanguine%252C+Chalk+and+Gouache+on+Paper+25+3%253A4+x+43+1%253A2+inches.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i> River Landscape (For Bas Jan Ader)</i>, 2003; 2005-2007; 2009, ink, conte, sanguine, chalk and gouache on paper, 25 3/4 x 43 1/2 inches.</td></tr>
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John is a good old-fashioned painter's painter, and very much a man of the 1930s and 40s, even though he wasn't even born until 1943. He enthusiastically talks about books, music, movies, and other things that happened then as if they were yesterday. So it's not surprising that the show contains several drawings and paintings with the words "42nd Street," referring to the 1933 <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0024034/">movie</a> directed by Lloyd Bacon. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTEJTt03mQc_luwXeBbLyUITE3Dkx0PLlhOOS0Jz62kBlpRXmtdvYXwSa8nQx-02xk47AA5wFjmEPm7QI6e_XnS4pZAvqqhzPSWte0NwRXJigdmfPxprXioFZGakBLege6euKBfm1V-QA/s1600/John+Lees%252C+42nd+Streeet+%2528Tesserae%2529%252C+2015%252C+oil+on+canvas%252C+24+x+32inches.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="482" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTEJTt03mQc_luwXeBbLyUITE3Dkx0PLlhOOS0Jz62kBlpRXmtdvYXwSa8nQx-02xk47AA5wFjmEPm7QI6e_XnS4pZAvqqhzPSWte0NwRXJigdmfPxprXioFZGakBLege6euKBfm1V-QA/s640/John+Lees%252C+42nd+Streeet+%2528Tesserae%2529%252C+2015%252C+oil+on+canvas%252C+24+x+32inches.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>42nd Streeet (Tesserae)</i>, 2015, oil on canvas, 24 x 32inches.</td></tr>
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Behind the words "42nd Street," or, more accurately, superimposed on a grid embedded into the words, is dialogue from the movie in which an old actress gives over her starring role to a young actress. The painting encapsulates the movie and these words as if it's the physical embodiment of them.<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc7pUpxXIEkwWZMI0wZlZTRW7VI3AZk0VNwEof26_xL4n1t7A7T0yggWBfNZId5dS4pGpul5PI4E7Yq583tM0sFbWmXTsOjK5XZCdit05yuAtUD1TTZgx4R3h5acSr-lO-0kuHZ1qxbaE/s1600/Detail+-+John+Lees%252C+42nd+Streeet+%2528Tesserae%2529%252C+2015%252C+oil+on+canvas%252C+24+x+32inches.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc7pUpxXIEkwWZMI0wZlZTRW7VI3AZk0VNwEof26_xL4n1t7A7T0yggWBfNZId5dS4pGpul5PI4E7Yq583tM0sFbWmXTsOjK5XZCdit05yuAtUD1TTZgx4R3h5acSr-lO-0kuHZ1qxbaE/s400/Detail+-+John+Lees%252C+42nd+Streeet+%2528Tesserae%2529%252C+2015%252C+oil+on+canvas%252C+24+x+32inches.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Detail: <i>42nd Streeet (Tesserae)</i>, 2015.</td></tr>
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This is a fabulous show – one of the rare exhibitions of art that evokes meaning in a powerfully visceral way.Charles Kesslerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07068758792988742599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1522800471258383718.post-32736369899264481102015-11-03T09:09:00.002-05:002015-11-03T09:09:37.095-05:00A Selection of Bushwick Exhibitions - Part 1By Charles Kessler<br />
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Here are highlights from the 19 Bushwick galleries I went to last week. I tried to get at least one good photo of each; a closeup detail, if I thought it might be useful; and an installation view to give you a sense of the scale of the art. Most of the gallery websites have additional images and information about the art.<br />
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Since there are 63 Bushwick and Ridgewood galleries listed on the excellent and comprehensive <a href="http://www.bushwickgalleries.com/spaces">BushwickGalleries.com</a>, this roundup is far from complete. More highlights will follow soon.<br />
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<b><a href="http://soho20gallery.com/">SOHO20</a>,</b> 56 Bogart, Ann Young <i>Water:Color,</i> and Kathy Stark <i>In Plain Sight</i> (through November 9th). This gallery is new to Bushwick, but it has been around since 1973. They focus on women artists.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipxKAv2fgDMhEAuXLb7uJ85jDFVVwi2r4cRI5RYI68D63Eswdx5kXbfpwY_UBHdmG61YTJ40MtitWtvNUTw1p6LiSGwAGrwaxd62JIreSBUcg51VHZNc7p1eBiu6UTcmlvQpxpJsOrxps/s1600/IMG_3443.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipxKAv2fgDMhEAuXLb7uJ85jDFVVwi2r4cRI5RYI68D63Eswdx5kXbfpwY_UBHdmG61YTJ40MtitWtvNUTw1p6LiSGwAGrwaxd62JIreSBUcg51VHZNc7p1eBiu6UTcmlvQpxpJsOrxps/s640/IMG_3443.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Installation view of Ann Young's exhibition, <i>Water:Color</i>.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://soho20gallery.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/WS131A20180dpi-300x295.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Ann Young" border="0" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-6312" src="http://soho20gallery.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/WS131A20180dpi-300x295.jpg" height="629" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ann Young, <i>Water Shield # 131</i>, 2014. oil on canvas, 20 x 20 inches.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTSpXHBfuPaz95S62hv3IapCswXqyoi4rCnQHQHfIhww9UKY6YOFQVVHgC0VM7I5589uwIWZ1PswWtRfYNwzW5h-xLjprm3wjy-_bv126LzfkYNd6BK9VQqHu1FalogaJ_AdE84_lhKJE/s1600/IMG_3447.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTSpXHBfuPaz95S62hv3IapCswXqyoi4rCnQHQHfIhww9UKY6YOFQVVHgC0VM7I5589uwIWZ1PswWtRfYNwzW5h-xLjprm3wjy-_bv126LzfkYNd6BK9VQqHu1FalogaJ_AdE84_lhKJE/s640/IMG_3447.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Installation view of Kathy Stark's exhibition, <i>In Plain Sight.</i></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWLxxLKyvEgdfvDuJPz25WBF7t2D_y5dwNPeegC9iGv0KOqP5JKAEX9p71wK8AwvcEwobTwp-wXEC_9us_ht2xCGMn5OAqMHLTsSLym09t6IJZsftYW97qpKg_yMw_jkkAxY8lorJml_I/s1600/IMG_3445.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWLxxLKyvEgdfvDuJPz25WBF7t2D_y5dwNPeegC9iGv0KOqP5JKAEX9p71wK8AwvcEwobTwp-wXEC_9us_ht2xCGMn5OAqMHLTsSLym09t6IJZsftYW97qpKg_yMw_jkkAxY8lorJml_I/s400/IMG_3445.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Detail, Kathy Stark, <i>Tossed in Unpredictable Directions by Random Events</i>, 2015, mixed media on wood.</td></tr>
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<b><a href="http://www.theodoreart.com/">Theodore:Art,</a> </b>56 Bogart, <i>Ready for Mayhem: </i><i>Scooter LaForge and </i><i>Bill Mutter </i>(through December 6th). This is a two-person show, but the work goes so well together I originally thought it was a collaboration. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi27Qmp-aor8oQL1aA1Sy36CNto7Xeqd2__7zzDf9WdbSpwuAeRUnKknO-gI-2RBcFFu3jwyIjfV-MfRtOsTZC8uhBJCTasfbpvFhRtGKcdV3uOvY3VCFZvsrYSkDg4-wTUYAY_TXgdGLU/s1600/IMG_3450.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi27Qmp-aor8oQL1aA1Sy36CNto7Xeqd2__7zzDf9WdbSpwuAeRUnKknO-gI-2RBcFFu3jwyIjfV-MfRtOsTZC8uhBJCTasfbpvFhRtGKcdV3uOvY3VCFZvsrYSkDg4-wTUYAY_TXgdGLU/s640/IMG_3450.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Installation view of <span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Scooter LaForge and Bill Mutter's exhibition </span><i style="font-size: 12.8px;">Ready for Mayhem.</i></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7KvPJfO5kZOZ1sz5JhQ4YaID2KffuX0WGed-nZgs8yqUAPRgkQuxTP4BCkDJzW8IBrEAid73CXx96jOqsNUICe56mPLY4wBgSge88xY2l3V80BOv-nfyXNl5VCaHKYpJ-lh1RopHS1sg/s1600/Bill+Mutter%252C+Little+Frog+Doll%252C+2014%253B+Glazed+earthenware+and+lace%252C6+x+9+x10+inches.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7KvPJfO5kZOZ1sz5JhQ4YaID2KffuX0WGed-nZgs8yqUAPRgkQuxTP4BCkDJzW8IBrEAid73CXx96jOqsNUICe56mPLY4wBgSge88xY2l3V80BOv-nfyXNl5VCaHKYpJ-lh1RopHS1sg/s640/Bill+Mutter%252C+Little+Frog+Doll%252C+2014%253B+Glazed+earthenware+and+lace%252C6+x+9+x10+inches.jpg" width="452" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bill Mutter, <i>Little Frog Doll</i>, 2014, glazed earthenware and lace, 6 x 9 x10 inches.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNDF0pXv7qn0xljmjbSlMC2vnQk13Vfjad3i5XHyRxvxMce4wVOrz7b-EjQGsYUudseysI5HVfaDsjPBXrIaH2eqTXTtR9KKvpHz5qo59jDRKBhH1A31fmYqOex6TQM1YrhXhFc5fC0oc/s1600/Scooter+laForge%252C+Raggedy+Ann+and+Andy+Go+To+School%252C+2015%253B+Mixed+media%252C+artist+frame%252C+48+x+36+inches.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNDF0pXv7qn0xljmjbSlMC2vnQk13Vfjad3i5XHyRxvxMce4wVOrz7b-EjQGsYUudseysI5HVfaDsjPBXrIaH2eqTXTtR9KKvpHz5qo59jDRKBhH1A31fmYqOex6TQM1YrhXhFc5fC0oc/s640/Scooter+laForge%252C+Raggedy+Ann+and+Andy+Go+To+School%252C+2015%253B+Mixed+media%252C+artist+frame%252C+48+x+36+inches.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Scooter laForge, <i>Raggedy Ann and Andy Go To School</i>, 2015, mixed media, artist frame, 48 x 36 inches.</td></tr>
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<b><a href="http://lifeonmarsgallery.com/todd-bienvenu-exile/">Life on Mars</a></b>, 56 Bogart, <i>Todd Bienvenu, Exile on Bogart Street </i>(through November 8th).</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="" class="img-with-animation " data-animation="fade-in" data-delay="0" src="http://i1.wp.com/lifeonmarsgallery.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Bienvenu_Exile_Install-09.jpg?resize=900%2C600" height="100%" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; opacity: 1;" width="100%" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Installation view of Todd Bienvenu's exhibition <i>Exile on Bogart Street</i>.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="" class="img-with-animation " data-animation="fade-in" data-delay="0" src="http://i2.wp.com/lifeonmarsgallery.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/DSC0829-Edit-copy.jpg?resize=600%2C526" height="560" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; opacity: 1;" width="640" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Todd Bienvenu, <i>Wrestlemania</i>, 2015, oil on canvas, 84 by 96 inches.</td></tr>
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<b><a href="http://www.studio10bogart.com/pages/exhibitions_current.php">Studio 10</a>,</b> 56 Bogart, <i>Meg Hitchcock, VERBATIM</i> (through December 20th). Hitchcock laboriously cuts out letters from a sacred text and uses them to make a design and another text.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJSR30FQ2dyDSN7oURwOw_R30ROaeG261p_5hqjXF8CxaV4YgMoA5xnzjEepU_t3Ozj2FLHfko2wVgJj0X91UIGKOKpZDsEvscVAjo13uS6M6RBR0vvkSN_ZH-eA4hyphenhyphenO6uToZU3WO5MZw/s1600/IMG_3463.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJSR30FQ2dyDSN7oURwOw_R30ROaeG261p_5hqjXF8CxaV4YgMoA5xnzjEepU_t3Ozj2FLHfko2wVgJj0X91UIGKOKpZDsEvscVAjo13uS6M6RBR0vvkSN_ZH-eA4hyphenhyphenO6uToZU3WO5MZw/s640/IMG_3463.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Installation view of Meg Hitchcock's exhibition <i>VERBATIM</i>.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwtsUnpCVYeFWUvp8g1ZFTHmnQ1XfmG0Ra0XuMurPwxWmfSrassnAv456dhW_JP8SIQ-ghIMHeJEjGnIQbNPuDs4H5CQd2ruy2wwTQzEwIrF88gRw2Dqzch_My9QaUMrcnSvsc4_Fx8GA/s1600/IMG_3452.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwtsUnpCVYeFWUvp8g1ZFTHmnQ1XfmG0Ra0XuMurPwxWmfSrassnAv456dhW_JP8SIQ-ghIMHeJEjGnIQbNPuDs4H5CQd2ruy2wwTQzEwIrF88gRw2Dqzch_My9QaUMrcnSvsc4_Fx8GA/s320/IMG_3452.jpg" width="245" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Meg Hitchcock, <i>Paradise, 2015,</i> letters cut from the Koran, approximately 12 inches high.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIUPWD9KMauLADUReLlBUIqOVCG-UNNzglA48ZQidWQHCgZ1jn1Iix4XCTov9p0UKhgEIDCkykwkRPRqn_cF2-clUV_ceMFtevzSrj7w0ENR1Xffbe12ThY1hGC_LwnP5yH0mjOcOSvWo/s1600/IMG_3453.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIUPWD9KMauLADUReLlBUIqOVCG-UNNzglA48ZQidWQHCgZ1jn1Iix4XCTov9p0UKhgEIDCkykwkRPRqn_cF2-clUV_ceMFtevzSrj7w0ENR1Xffbe12ThY1hGC_LwnP5yH0mjOcOSvWo/s640/IMG_3453.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Close-up detail of Meg Hitchcock, <i>Paradise</i>, 2015.</td></tr>
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<b><a href="http://www.roberthenrycontemporary.com/exhibitions/20151030-elise-engler-a-year-on-broadway">Robert Henry</a></b>, 56 Bogart, <i>Elise Engler: A Year on Broadway</i> (through December 20th). Using gouache, watercolor and colored pencils, Elise Engler spent a year documenting every block of Broadway – all 13 miles of it. </div>
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<a href="http://www.c-l-e-a-r-i-n-g.com/exhibitions/eduardo-paolozzi-horizon-of-expectations/"><b>CLEARING</b></a>, 396 Johnson Avenue, <i>Eduardo Paolozzi, Horizon of Expectations </i>(ended October 31st). Eduardo Paolozzi, who died in 2005, was a British artist active in the second half of the twentieth century. He will have a major retrospective in 2016, organized by the Whitechapel Gallery, London.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Installation view of <i>Eduardo Paolozzi, Horizon of Expectations</i>. In the foreground is the sculpture <i>Kalasan</i>, 1973-1974, cast, extruded and welded aluminum, 82 3/4 x 85 1/2 x 102 3/4 inches.</td><td class="tr-caption"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption"><br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUQZ-0ppwYI9yYO-ZK3-imbOvl_KLnpmCg71y5LTvxn1llSFFt8ASuAY799ZugfBiitJODNA52xqGCuQ0K-646qGxT1AUUouX1qPXgjMqKZqEWbUW6xjYN2WIhVoU5GKTcqEp9ChIaT5M/s1600/IMG_3482.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUQZ-0ppwYI9yYO-ZK3-imbOvl_KLnpmCg71y5LTvxn1llSFFt8ASuAY799ZugfBiitJODNA52xqGCuQ0K-646qGxT1AUUouX1qPXgjMqKZqEWbUW6xjYN2WIhVoU5GKTcqEp9ChIaT5M/s640/IMG_3482.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Foreground: Trishula, 1966, cast, extruded and welded aluminum, 74 x 78 x 112 1/2 inches; background: Suwasa, 1966, cast, extruded and welded aluminum, 87 1/2 x 37 1/2 x 130 3/4 inches.</td></tr>
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<b><a href="http://www.odettagallery.com/news.html">Odetta</a></b>, 229 Cook Street, <i>Seeing Sound</i>, work by Jane Harris, Alex Paik and Gelah Penn (through November 1st). The work I liked most in this three-person exhibition was by Alex Paik. The colored reflections off the ribbons of paper create a hazy atmospheric perspective that results in a sense of depth.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVeF0IVZlcGX0Mvas-HsjsvfppB785GTdXQCk2xT19CitmxWN8u0N3mQqWaLO1cu2F2EMZvqMXGtM0ejeBES3TD5FAh-PaMcPrHttD_TZZo6pd5KpVhUuJGpHp5dvO2tPFsSJcgxGq7io/s1600/Paik+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="452" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVeF0IVZlcGX0Mvas-HsjsvfppB785GTdXQCk2xT19CitmxWN8u0N3mQqWaLO1cu2F2EMZvqMXGtM0ejeBES3TD5FAh-PaMcPrHttD_TZZo6pd5KpVhUuJGpHp5dvO2tPFsSJcgxGq7io/s640/Paik+%25281%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Alex Paik, <i>Modular Wall Installation</i>, 2015, gouache, colored pencil, paper and nails, 96 x 180 x 1 1/2 inches. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlpUixlQdm9nITvbYcDDj-DZ1w7QeI66c1QvtnMHDP9AIJpYjirxslvFThBQ1HAgec7H7B5TRJ0AC3M9Dj_fbWlTTr7Afxd0sOOlkTPKCQ0v54LrB9X1sdn6FGi5CUk927z2_ITXobCck/s1600/alexpaik_1_0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlpUixlQdm9nITvbYcDDj-DZ1w7QeI66c1QvtnMHDP9AIJpYjirxslvFThBQ1HAgec7H7B5TRJ0AC3M9Dj_fbWlTTr7Afxd0sOOlkTPKCQ0v54LrB9X1sdn6FGi5CUk927z2_ITXobCck/s400/alexpaik_1_0.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Detail, Alex Paik, <i>Modular Wall Installation,</i> 2015. </td></tr>
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<b><a href="http://www.microscopegallery.com/?page_id=16870">Microscope</a></b>, 1329 Willoughby Avenue, <i>Sarah Halpern, The Changing Room</i> (through November 29th). </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYn9mZl8MvKbOVgzuI0m27_zHWSGLGPX-oFrCDmFn1lTQE5Kuv-4GVnhQt4tSMJHWyhyphenhyphenLWcEYxFgpYZuMm7fZoLTBfuteinpLZhD5dOwzI0vdnNRRX8AoNDGLNVsfIwD3of7v31WV8PrM/s1600/Sarah-Halpern_Traces.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="387" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYn9mZl8MvKbOVgzuI0m27_zHWSGLGPX-oFrCDmFn1lTQE5Kuv-4GVnhQt4tSMJHWyhyphenhyphenLWcEYxFgpYZuMm7fZoLTBfuteinpLZhD5dOwzI0vdnNRRX8AoNDGLNVsfIwD3of7v31WV8PrM/s400/Sarah-Halpern_Traces.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sarah Halpern, <i>Traces</i>, 2015, glue, pencil, and collage on paper, 12 x 12 inches.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgEJMHnRF_Lb6SImgY8AgKyVehN1laQvHJcFnV_Zh5I8qUKpr-UyUEyEunBs0QxuXbc5ZWiL-7FBuSrdoqguvK6xzQmaj09d79V4weC6zXfWEBuU2jtVyx6qqmZZQCOGsgKENAilJxLow/s1600/IMG_3567.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgEJMHnRF_Lb6SImgY8AgKyVehN1laQvHJcFnV_Zh5I8qUKpr-UyUEyEunBs0QxuXbc5ZWiL-7FBuSrdoqguvK6xzQmaj09d79V4weC6zXfWEBuU2jtVyx6qqmZZQCOGsgKENAilJxLow/s640/IMG_3567.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sarah Halpern, <i>Chapters</i>, 2015, 16mm film, single-channel video, and laptop.</td></tr>
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Halpern's video/film installation is multi-layered. A 2 ½ minute hand-processed color film of pages from the 1958 novel <i>The Leopard</i> by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, and footage from the 1963 movie of the same name directed by Luchino Visconti, are projected onto a laptop screen on which a video of the famous 45-minute ballroom scene is playing. </div>
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There were three excellent group exhibitions that involved many artists, and all of them were in small spaces.<br />
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<b><a href="http://www.transmitter.nyc/">Transmitter</a></b>, 1329 Willoughby Avenue, <i>Painting: More or Less... </i>with works by Aimée Terburg, Alain Biltereyst, Chris Fennell, Danielle Mysliwiec, Emma Langridge, Michael Rouillard, and Shawn Stipling. The subject of this group exhibition was the variety of mark-making possibilities.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxSuD9ArQSTbK9sTHM9-6zin7oge0-MxQF_Al05UTjOSyuSknnxhiwuOdx3OglQzDaRwOAEXMLPso-NtnNLpAhxPMCb5MRV0KSa3Xhvtk0pkrmmTvfSU-_Xn4EtWQRQgpGGJ2u-rOYoCY/s1600/Transmitter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxSuD9ArQSTbK9sTHM9-6zin7oge0-MxQF_Al05UTjOSyuSknnxhiwuOdx3OglQzDaRwOAEXMLPso-NtnNLpAhxPMCb5MRV0KSa3Xhvtk0pkrmmTvfSU-_Xn4EtWQRQgpGGJ2u-rOYoCY/s640/Transmitter.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On the left: four small works by Emma Langridge; on the right: Chris Fennell, <i>Enkidu</i>, mixed media on canvas, 48 x 40 inches. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVb_bxa3ByjOR2hPpCVoBvhmN9xi3ELwu9c6Mn2ZwlTOCusEqzK_AIat1QTFmT4TDCDNFQypa-l4mGtixRE8uA-aF14hmpFavKHXD5Y_j9w9X8bXloV0hR04m77Jn-yjDTbCO50IgxPPo/s1600/Emma+Langridge%252C+B1%252C+2015%252C+enamel+and+acrylic+on+wood%252C+11+%25E2%2585%259E+x+11+%25E2%2585%259E+inches..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="319" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVb_bxa3ByjOR2hPpCVoBvhmN9xi3ELwu9c6Mn2ZwlTOCusEqzK_AIat1QTFmT4TDCDNFQypa-l4mGtixRE8uA-aF14hmpFavKHXD5Y_j9w9X8bXloV0hR04m77Jn-yjDTbCO50IgxPPo/s320/Emma+Langridge%252C+B1%252C+2015%252C+enamel+and+acrylic+on+wood%252C+11+%25E2%2585%259E+x+11+%25E2%2585%259E+inches..jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Emma Langridge, <i>B1</i>, 2015, enamel and acrylic on wood, 11 ⅞ x 11 ⅞ inches.</td></tr>
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<b><a href="http://newyork.tigerstrikesasteroid.com/tagged/american-pharoahs">TSA New York</a>,</b> 1329 Willoughby Avenue, <i>American Pharoahs</i> curated by William Crump, including Mariah Dekkenga, Robbie McDonald and Ian Pedigo (through December 6th). Like this year’s Triple Crown winner, American Pharoahs, these artists are triple threats, and work in at least three disciplines including painting, sculpture, performance, collage, photography, installation, and digital media.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAcc15ww7AQI6c4GVPgsMA2gdakEjIqp2EovfsuCQ8WemiDo9FBpSZVDM7QEsa4xOAcPQT2fPdNWkxp2TMCgK3ti3g_5eiAm2J0OVqf_CUgOznP3rfMBB_JG91-mCA1T6f60f9uYWtkLQ/s1600/TSA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAcc15ww7AQI6c4GVPgsMA2gdakEjIqp2EovfsuCQ8WemiDo9FBpSZVDM7QEsa4xOAcPQT2fPdNWkxp2TMCgK3ti3g_5eiAm2J0OVqf_CUgOznP3rfMBB_JG91-mCA1T6f60f9uYWtkLQ/s640/TSA.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From the left: ink drawings on rice paper by Mariah Dekkenga; Robbie McDonald, <i>Sad Blue Flowers</i>, 2015, wood, acrylic, bulbs and wire; and in the background, on a shelf: Mariah Dekkenga, <i>Untitled no. 3,</i> 2015, sand and plaster.</td></tr>
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<b><a href="http://www.underdonk.com/exhibitions/paul-klee/">Underdonk</a>, </b><i>PAUL KLEE</i> (through November 1st). This is an exhibition of relatively small work by twenty artists who have some affinity to Paul Klee. Some of the artists are well know, such as Brenda Goodman, Jonathan Lasker, Dona Nelson, Carl Ostendarp (who really didn't fit), and my favorite ceramic artist, Joyce Robins.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzPexq0yWF-YFmvPm8GOHzllDaF2JwvjKgY_CIQcMuNNc4WhejY74C-Y1wYN-762kVTX4PApCso4PXa6w6ugsn9382I4ss-WfZLUtTpvtGoalRNyDHJk55zmxe5OXrx_0r6JXiwVCgVzU/s1600/IMG_3574+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="502" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzPexq0yWF-YFmvPm8GOHzllDaF2JwvjKgY_CIQcMuNNc4WhejY74C-Y1wYN-762kVTX4PApCso4PXa6w6ugsn9382I4ss-WfZLUtTpvtGoalRNyDHJk55zmxe5OXrx_0r6JXiwVCgVzU/s640/IMG_3574+%25281%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From the left, work by Lori Ellison, Brenda Goodman, Glenn Goldberg, Sanford Wurmfeld, Peter Acheson and J. Grabowski. </td></tr>
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Charles Kesslerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07068758792988742599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1522800471258383718.post-72118948267403282372015-10-15T16:04:00.001-04:002015-10-15T16:04:41.100-04:00Kongo: Power and MajestyBy Charles Kessler<br />
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<i><a href="http://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2015/kongo">Kongo: Power and Majesty</a></i> at the Metropolitan Museum (through January 3rd) is a major exhibition with 146 works borrowed from sixty different sources in the United States and Europe. Such an exhibition is well-deserved. Central Africa's Kongo civilization had one of the world's great art traditions, and a long one – going back as late as the 15th century and extending to the early twentieth. Below is a selection of the work I found most interesting; many more reproductions can be found <a href="http://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/objects?exhibitionId={65CA1F5A-B34A-4058-87AA-5E4B410DA3D7}">here</a>. <br />
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I was surprised to learn that the 15th century was a time of mutual friendship and respect between the Kongo peoples and Portugal, and, later, other European countries, and Christianity was accepted as a welcome addition to Kongo culture. The earliest works in the exhibition were items given by Kongo kings to fellow sovereigns in Europe who prized them for their invention and refined craftsmanship, and who prominently displayed them.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmvY6eUudGiiUFwfEnp3jn48-OblR3Kh2VF2cPf1FKVlVeNFkpL82OhdnSN9o7WHUqgidEW2uih-9unDFnDG6HEA-ge6TpJnDOHdkUtF-mHCNBgQ0jGxBFuPVQ-iWXHzl69STv0sLM17Q/s1600/Oliphant%252C+16th+Century%252C+Kongo+Kingdom%252C+ivolry%252C+32+%25E2%2585%259D+x+3+inches+in+diameter+%2528Palazzo+Pitti%252C+Florence%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmvY6eUudGiiUFwfEnp3jn48-OblR3Kh2VF2cPf1FKVlVeNFkpL82OhdnSN9o7WHUqgidEW2uih-9unDFnDG6HEA-ge6TpJnDOHdkUtF-mHCNBgQ0jGxBFuPVQ-iWXHzl69STv0sLM17Q/s640/Oliphant%252C+16th+Century%252C+Kongo+Kingdom%252C+ivolry%252C+32+%25E2%2585%259D+x+3+inches+in+diameter+%2528Palazzo+Pitti%252C+Florence%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Oliphant</i>, 16th Century, ivory, 32 ⅝ x 3 inches (Palazzo Pitti, Florence).</td></tr>
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This beautiful 16th-century ivory trumpet is a purely decorative luxury object and, according to the exhibition website, "it likely entered the Medici collections in Florence as a token of appreciation from the Kongo sovereign Afonso I (r. 1509–42) to Pope Leo X (r. 1513–21), the former Giovanni di Lorenzo de’ Medici, for appointing his son Henrique a bishop."<br />
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By the 17th century, however, European colonialism and the transatlantic slave trade had a catastrophic impact on the Kongo civilization. It decimated the population, destroyed the traditional economic and political system, and lead to the abandonment of traditional arts like woodcarving and metal work by the early 20th century. In the meantime, Kongo artists took inspiration from Christian and other European imagery.<br />
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Beginning in the mid-15th century, with the baptism of some of the Kongo royalty, thousands of Christian devotional objects were sent from Portugal to the Kingdom of Kongo. Kongo artists soon reinterpreted them for their own culture, as can be seen in this expressive crucifix.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgehyphenhyphen3gZLzdOuiBpMu4gB53iT8q1Nv1KX4n4UgovukZuPCHUoooImzHU-4mMHcjkqWePbrlwWG68a_KKsdg818syKFPnhtnA7DsU0LxquTAohJvEEyacOYdglShP-O39l6631oLnKG0Rf4/s1600/Christ%252C+18th-19th+century%252C+Kongo+Kingdom%252C+open-back+cast+brass%252C+4+%25E2%2585%259C+x+4+%25C2%25BD+x+%25E2%2585%259E+%2528Met+no.+1999.295.3inches.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgehyphenhyphen3gZLzdOuiBpMu4gB53iT8q1Nv1KX4n4UgovukZuPCHUoooImzHU-4mMHcjkqWePbrlwWG68a_KKsdg818syKFPnhtnA7DsU0LxquTAohJvEEyacOYdglShP-O39l6631oLnKG0Rf4/s640/Christ%252C+18th-19th+century%252C+Kongo+Kingdom%252C+open-back+cast+brass%252C+4+%25E2%2585%259C+x+4+%25C2%25BD+x+%25E2%2585%259E+%2528Met+no.+1999.295.3inches.jpg" width="489" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Christ</i>, 18th-19th century, open-back cast brass, 4 ⅜ x 4 ½ x ⅞ inches (Metropolitan Museum no. 1999.295.3).</td></tr>
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Below, the head on the woman's body is probably a lion – which is interesting because lions weren't indigenous to this part of Africa; the imagery was probably derived from European iconography.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpx-PcjgLYZJ8xCdYUexVC16WfJYFF3vbY6hnHOqEnHXIDuIJcJTP-lxqjXNXjkEZ1_7vjSbWwDMV3WRNXJ_WKNePbTSbGrcss7FAsqmHKjn2Vrmr0x7erdHYnns3ytnsYSUxpcTm6giY/s1600/Staff+Finial+-+Kneeling+Figure+with+Feline+Head%252C+19th+century%252C+ivory+and+stone%252C+7+%25C2%25BD+x+2+%25E2%2585%259B+x+2+%25E2%2585%259C+inches+%2528Smithsonian+Museum+of+African+Art%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpx-PcjgLYZJ8xCdYUexVC16WfJYFF3vbY6hnHOqEnHXIDuIJcJTP-lxqjXNXjkEZ1_7vjSbWwDMV3WRNXJ_WKNePbTSbGrcss7FAsqmHKjn2Vrmr0x7erdHYnns3ytnsYSUxpcTm6giY/s400/Staff+Finial+-+Kneeling+Figure+with+Feline+Head%252C+19th+century%252C+ivory+and+stone%252C+7+%25C2%25BD+x+2+%25E2%2585%259B+x+2+%25E2%2585%259C+inches+%2528Smithsonian+Museum+of+African+Art%2529.jpg" width="315" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Staff Finial - Kneeling Figure with Feline Head</i>, 19th century, ivory and stone, 7 ½ x 2 ⅛ x 2 ⅜ inches (Smithsonian Museum of African Art).</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpBnar4kq4BO4cWfmtKpYBYRrSQSsmG5Iztnh8m_1GkJFjN3Ra8MFARMGaY_cxXIp41hymFL-DVZpcGvTvZTGQNOFZGc7gTwhmtZbCynM45KaXoVRW1a_oV_wvXyIRTvQwlSeFmNcC6HE/s1600/Screen+Shot+2015-10-14+at+Wednesday%252C+October+14%252C+2015+++++10.44.18+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="402" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpBnar4kq4BO4cWfmtKpYBYRrSQSsmG5Iztnh8m_1GkJFjN3Ra8MFARMGaY_cxXIp41hymFL-DVZpcGvTvZTGQNOFZGc7gTwhmtZbCynM45KaXoVRW1a_oV_wvXyIRTvQwlSeFmNcC6HE/s640/Screen+Shot+2015-10-14+at+Wednesday%252C+October+14%252C+2015+++++10.44.18+AM.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On the left: <span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Master of Kasadi atelier</span><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">, <i>Mask, </i>19th - early 20th century, wood, pigments, buffalo hide and hair, metal tacks, 11 ⅜ x 6 ⅞ x 5 ½ inches (Royal Museum for Central Africa, Tervuren, Belgium). On the right: </span><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Master of Kasadi atelier</span><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">, </span><i style="font-size: 12.8px;">Mask</i><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">, 19th - early 20th century, wood and pigments, 10 ½ x 7 ½ x 5 ½ inches (Royal Museum for Central Africa, Tervuren, Belgium).</span></td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
Although we don't know the names of the artists who made most of this work, we do know that these masks were made in a specific workshop – the Master of Kasadi atelier. They were collected by the Belgian Protestant missionary Léo Bittremieux in the village of Kasadi. The white chalk on the faces of the masks has a spiritual dimension having to do with purity, virtue, and the land of the dead where powerful spiritual forces reside.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgNmN5dpuZ-DSSmAvPa-Oejg0NE2E1pBVn_8qLPvzcMk1nAVgjevNNCv1zHkTy-QLWgq3_12NAR3kqnLJvS7DRmpd8Qsg5PyUrHs5skBBYjmY0nDcP8He_G4yjSG-M6befCEdzGfTPVls/s1600/Screen+Shot+2015-10-12+at+Monday%252C+October+12%252C+2015+++++3.38.16+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgNmN5dpuZ-DSSmAvPa-Oejg0NE2E1pBVn_8qLPvzcMk1nAVgjevNNCv1zHkTy-QLWgq3_12NAR3kqnLJvS7DRmpd8Qsg5PyUrHs5skBBYjmY0nDcP8He_G4yjSG-M6befCEdzGfTPVls/s640/Screen+Shot+2015-10-12+at+Monday%252C+October+12%252C+2015+++++3.38.16+PM.png" width="628" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Left: Scepter - <i>Seated Chief above Bound Prisoner</i>, 19th - early 20th century, ivory and resin, 11 ¼ x 2 x 2 ⅛ inches (private collection); right: detail of back showing bound prisoner.</td></tr>
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The imagery in this carved ivory scepter speaks of power: a bound and gagged slave (right photo above) is behind an enthroned chief thus embodying the chief's power to keep his dependents from harm by subjugating rivals. The tip of the scepter contained a packet of medicines that empowered the chief, and the vine that the chief is chewing on was used to repel witches.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsrsd5mKCRzY3vIDiAbsR0mY0fMYqmM4wr3F2MFWnYtJFOiXzid4gJ_cwVTxJcfTAXWpwXfUnDvBN5_zQTU2zOazLdWhwpGm__NnoJFC-DVQoCNQvd0C0J5V-RNbl_9Hdr81XIu0SKJY4/s1600/Ancestral+Shrine+Figure%252C+19th+-+early+20th+century%252C+wood%252C+pigment%252C+20+%25C2%25BD+x+6+%25C2%25BE+x+6+%25C2%25BE+inches+%2528Museum+Rietberg%252C+Zu%25CC%2588rich%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsrsd5mKCRzY3vIDiAbsR0mY0fMYqmM4wr3F2MFWnYtJFOiXzid4gJ_cwVTxJcfTAXWpwXfUnDvBN5_zQTU2zOazLdWhwpGm__NnoJFC-DVQoCNQvd0C0J5V-RNbl_9Hdr81XIu0SKJY4/s640/Ancestral+Shrine+Figure%252C+19th+-+early+20th+century%252C+wood%252C+pigment%252C+20+%25C2%25BD+x+6+%25C2%25BE+x+6+%25C2%25BE+inches+%2528Museum+Rietberg%252C+Zu%25CC%2588rich%2529.jpg" width="522" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Ancestral Shrine Figure</i>, 19th - early 20th century, wood, pigment, 20 ½ x 6 ¾ x 6 ¾ inches (Museum Rietberg, Zürich).</td></tr>
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Female figures, which were symbols of the cycle of life, were used as burial shrines. This one simply and beautifully depicts a sense of loss.<br />
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2q9kt42Olf7QVg5Am8OvcVSY-vVwvcespuq9MKlj0tXQoedifpPBEy6fu17vr8FN8d7loIvADk14bJ-ddYwfJWLKNMH78bRpeZp7i98sJ3dzB4uY_p-fwtl8eVYAu1jsXLo5c6kHHBmM/s1600/Version+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2q9kt42Olf7QVg5Am8OvcVSY-vVwvcespuq9MKlj0tXQoedifpPBEy6fu17vr8FN8d7loIvADk14bJ-ddYwfJWLKNMH78bRpeZp7i98sJ3dzB4uY_p-fwtl8eVYAu1jsXLo5c6kHHBmM/s640/Version+2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Installation view, Kongo Power Figures, Metropolitan Museum of Art.</td></tr>
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The greater part of this exhibition, and a major coup, is an installation of fifteen of the twenty 19th-century "Power Figures," or <i>Mangaaka,</i> that are known to exist. The Mangaaka were created as a response to the turmoil caused by colonialism. They acted as conduits to the spirit realm for the purpose of aiding petitioners against opponents, settling conflicts, and protecting the community from European colonizers.<i> </i><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyZfAXshyphenhyphenfAa_MlOZ_98XGFZut1g4GjnfnG-WQa45kG06uUcxILDsGlbL-lSj1WxnChbxHzQlYh5i84qVY7aN_zhgrsb6J_I8b3g13li3kSyG9MY-_36WYjirbL4CxO0yD_a6qHFsPOB4/s1600/Power+Figure+-+Mangaaka%252C+19th+century%252C+wood%252C+iron%252C+resin%252C+cowrie+shell%252C+animal+hide+and+hair%252C+ceramic+textile+and+pigment%252C+44+%25E2%2585%259B+x+18+%25E2%2585%259E+x+14+%25E2%2585%259B+%2528Museo+Preistorico%252C+Rome%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyZfAXshyphenhyphenfAa_MlOZ_98XGFZut1g4GjnfnG-WQa45kG06uUcxILDsGlbL-lSj1WxnChbxHzQlYh5i84qVY7aN_zhgrsb6J_I8b3g13li3kSyG9MY-_36WYjirbL4CxO0yD_a6qHFsPOB4/s640/Power+Figure+-+Mangaaka%252C+19th+century%252C+wood%252C+iron%252C+resin%252C+cowrie+shell%252C+animal+hide+and+hair%252C+ceramic+textile+and+pigment%252C+44+%25E2%2585%259B+x+18+%25E2%2585%259E+x+14+%25E2%2585%259B+%2528Museo+Preistorico%252C+Rome%2529.jpg" width="424" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Power Figure - Mangaaka</i>, 19th century, wood, iron, resin, cowrie shell, animal hide and hair, ceramic textile and pigment, 44 ⅛ x 18 ⅞ x 14 ⅛ (Museo Preistorico, Rome).</td></tr>
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The power figures were a collaboration between artists who carved and adorned the figure, and priests (<i>ngango</i>) who invested them with sacred powers. The Mangaaka were relatively large, around four feet tall, and they aggressively lean forward as if prepared to confront challenges. (This can be seen better in the installation view above.) Their stomach cavities and hollows behind their eyes contained sacred materials which were activated by hammering a nail into the figure.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5j4BAn46VZ5t7_GrS3B0U-ucDi1cvUgQ_z3JI0-ToOfeABKXoA5-Q6P3VFbkSl_Ec5gRaj7ODaDDh1UhBffyBl4Z562KGpc6CHulm6P1HChT57scr6PXUPygBUdg7rkijJAEAx6jvYBI/s1600/Power+Figure%252C+19th+century%252C+wood%252C+iron%252C+resin%252C+cowrie+shell%252C+animal+hide+and+hair%252C+ceramic%252C+plant+fiber%252C+textile+and+pigment%252C+43+%25C2%25BE+x+15+%25E2%2585%259C+x+11+inches+%2528Dallas+Museum+of+Art%2529..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5j4BAn46VZ5t7_GrS3B0U-ucDi1cvUgQ_z3JI0-ToOfeABKXoA5-Q6P3VFbkSl_Ec5gRaj7ODaDDh1UhBffyBl4Z562KGpc6CHulm6P1HChT57scr6PXUPygBUdg7rkijJAEAx6jvYBI/s640/Power+Figure%252C+19th+century%252C+wood%252C+iron%252C+resin%252C+cowrie+shell%252C+animal+hide+and+hair%252C+ceramic%252C+plant+fiber%252C+textile+and+pigment%252C+43+%25C2%25BE+x+15+%25E2%2585%259C+x+11+inches+%2528Dallas+Museum+of+Art%2529..jpg" width="490" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Power Figure, 19th century, wood, iron, resin, cowrie shell, animal hide and hair, ceramic, plant fiber, textile and pigment, 43 ¾ x 15 ⅜ x 11 inches (Dallas Museum of Art).</td></tr>
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The colonial powers considered these figures so powerful that they would promptly seize them during military campaigns. But when possible, the <i>ngango</i> removed the sacred materials, as well as the beards and outer garments, before it was confiscated, thereby deactivating their powers.<br />
<i></i>Charles Kesslerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07068758792988742599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1522800471258383718.post-54019773265343756012015-10-07T22:50:00.001-04:002015-10-07T22:53:22.034-04:00Modern Dance, Reality & AuthenticityBy Charles Kessler<br />
<br />
I’ve been going to a lot of dance performances lately – about 20 of them in the last few months, and I've noticed that the performing arts, modern dance in particular, can deal with emotion in a way that's sincere and authentic – something the visual arts has struggled with for a long time now.<br />
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<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neo-expressionism">Neo-expressionism</a> of the 1980s was the last large popular visual arts movement that sincerely (i.e., without the pretext of irony) dealt with emotion.<br />
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4H1XntFBVbe5wduIIpkSUjfBvdzhXKcp__kFeEu_MF38JzyyXf6OSyi51rHT89hNRMvt94Jl1OnLkHiOOZSyKYn58P5SHP8jbLtYI6aep5nixa_-ikRXFyARHI_Z-2k2haL6c0imSld4/s1600/Jean-Michel+Basquiat%252C+Untitled%252C+1981%252C+acrylic+and+oilstick+on+canvas%252C+81+x+69+inches+%2528Eli+and+Edythe+L.+Broad+Collection%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4H1XntFBVbe5wduIIpkSUjfBvdzhXKcp__kFeEu_MF38JzyyXf6OSyi51rHT89hNRMvt94Jl1OnLkHiOOZSyKYn58P5SHP8jbLtYI6aep5nixa_-ikRXFyARHI_Z-2k2haL6c0imSld4/s640/Jean-Michel+Basquiat%252C+Untitled%252C+1981%252C+acrylic+and+oilstick+on+canvas%252C+81+x+69+inches+%2528Eli+and+Edythe+L.+Broad+Collection%2529.jpg" width="544" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Jean-Michel Basquiat, <i>Untitled</i>, 1981, acrylic and oilstick on canvas, 81 x 69 inches (Eli and Edythe L. Broad Collection, photo: Douglas M. Parker Studio, Los Angeles).</td></tr>
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<span class="s1">But beginning around 2000, Neo-expressionism </span>started to be regarded as overwrought and insincere; and it was felt the artists doing this type of work had lost their belief in it – their work had begun to be perceived as inauthentic. Ever since then emotion in art has been suspect, and the trend has been toward art that's intellectual, ironic, and impersonal. (Of course, there are many exceptions: <a href="http://leftbankartblog.blogspot.com/2011/03/charles-garabedian-retrospective.html">Charles Garabedian</a>, <a href="http://mattfreedman.org/">Matt Freedman</a> and <a href="http://www.brendagoodman.com/">Brenda Goodman</a> to name just three.)<br />
<br />
But several choreographers are creating work that produces real emotions in the dancers and, via empathy with the dancers, the audience; and because the emotions in these dances are genuine, not acted or faked for the performance, they are necessarily credible and sincere.<br />
<br />
<i>To Being</i>, choreographed by<a href="http://jeaninedurning.com/"> Jeanine Durning</a>, was among the most intense and visceral dances I saw.<br />
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd3E5UlxUGmynQ3YfqHqQeVGswOlyj0Pavyo-aNECT8sBMG1ptlChx4Hky9DmlyyP-F-Hq6XIrDZaqfvvHMln0ap7rMKa4_tLIEPQAdgNRccptkdAlbPDHhiRdrBiuGkgddF1VjnRJKdU/s1600/Screen+Shot+2015-10-05+at+Monday%252C+October+5%252C+2015+++++1.43.08+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd3E5UlxUGmynQ3YfqHqQeVGswOlyj0Pavyo-aNECT8sBMG1ptlChx4Hky9DmlyyP-F-Hq6XIrDZaqfvvHMln0ap7rMKa4_tLIEPQAdgNRccptkdAlbPDHhiRdrBiuGkgddF1VjnRJKdU/s640/Screen+Shot+2015-10-05+at+Monday%252C+October+5%252C+2015+++++1.43.08+PM.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><i>To Being</i>, Jeanine Durning, choreographer, on the left, and Molly Poerstel and Julian Barnett <span style="font-size: 12.8px;">in the back, September 9-26, The Chocolate Factory, Long Island City, Queens, New York (photo credit: Alex Escalante). </span><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">The Chocolate Factory’s </span><a href="http://www.chocolatefactorytheater.org/redesign/event/jeanine-durning-to-being-inging/" style="font-size: 12.8px;">website</a><span style="font-size: 12.8px;"> has a lot more photos.</span></td></tr>
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For about an hour, the dancers – Durning, Molly Poerstel and Julian Barnett – busily moved around without stopping, without even slowing down. They just kept vigorously doing things – running, jumping, swinging their arms, moving things around, interweaving bodies, climbing walls and hanging from the rafters (literally!).<br />
<div class="p1">
<br />
At first their movements seemed kind of jaunty as they scurried about, but the movements eventually came to seem compulsive and driven, then disturbing, and ultimately horrifying. After an hour or so in which they obsessively drove themselves, ignoring the audience (intensionally kept small) and treating each other as another object to move or wrap themselves around, they began to wear themselves out and slow down. At that point they interacted with each other in a gentler and more human way, and made verbal and eye contact with the audience. When I saw it, one of the dancers, Molly Poerstel, moved away from Julian Barnett's comforting embrace and quietly cried. It was as if they had to wear themselves out before they could slow down, make personal contact, and feel their feelings. </div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">The dance felt real in the way of </span>sixties performance art and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Happening">Happenings</a><span class="s1"> — something taking place in our real time and space. But this was</span> more artful and emotionally intense than any Happening. </div>
<div class="p2">
<b><br /></b>I saw several other performances that used feats of endurance to generate real feelings in the performers. There's something about exhaustion that brings out real emotions.<br />
<br />
Alessandro Sciarroni's dance <i><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/03/arts/dance/review-alessandro-sciarroni-offers-folk-dance-if-you-care-to-stay.html?ref=dance&_r=0">Folk-S, will you still love me tomorrow?</a> </i>at <a href="http://www.newyorklivearts.org/event/alessandro_sciarroni_folk-s">New York Live Arts</a> was a Schuhplattler, a Bavarian foot-stomping folk dance that would continue, as declared at the beginning, for as long as there was one audience member left, or one dancer. The first hour was frankly boring, but after that their exhaustion brought out the character of the individual dancers, their playfulness and creativity; and the audience (most stayed) laughed with them, and cheered them on.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/3Pclu0GHGoU/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/3Pclu0GHGoU?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Alessandro Sciarroni, <i>FOLK-S will you still love me tomorrow?</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
August 11, 2013, Kasino am Schwarzenbergplatz, Vienna.</div>
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<div class="p3">
<span class="s3">It reminded me of when Ragnar Kjartansson had the indie band The National perform </span>the same 3½ minute song over and over for six hours with awesome focus at PS1. (I saw parts of the large screen video of the concert at <a href="http://www.luhringaugustine.com/exhibitions/ragnar-kjartansson-and-the-national">Luhring Augustine's</a> Bushwick gallery, and wrote about it <a href="http://leftbankartblog.blogspot.com/2014/11/miscellaneous-october-events.html">here</a>.) They are solid, professional musicians, who have played together for 15 years. They interacted with the audience and each other, and subtly varied the sad song which begins:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Sorrow found me when I was young<br />
Sorrow waited, sorrow won<br />
Sorrow they put me on the pill<br />
<span class="s3">It's in my honey, it's in my milk. </span></blockquote>
<span class="s3">Toward the end of the six hours, when fatigue was over-taking them, and with the audience cheering them on, Matt Berninger, the lead singer, quietly wept as he sang. </span><br />
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<span class="s3">Patricia Hoffbauer’s <i><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/02/arts/dance/review-dances-for-intimate-spaces-offers-fun-and-intimacy.html?ref=dance">Dances for Intimate Spaces and Friendly People</a></i> at Gibney Dance was a dance about dance – the opposite of what I've been talking about – except for the reception at end</span>. The reception was happy and festive as we drank wine and congratulated the dancers (many of whom were beloved older dancers), but every so often a gong would ring and the dancers would return to dancing in character. At that point we became aware that the dancers were real people performing their roles, doing their jobs, as it were – just as they had been doing the whole time before, when we hadn't yet grasped it.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">The cast of Patricia Hoffbauer’s <i>Dances for Intimate Spaces and Friendly People</i> taking a bow and breaking into a dance, Gibney Dance, NY (photo credit: Scott Shaw/New York Times). </td></tr>
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<span class="s1"><span class="s3">It's significant that all these performances took place in small, intimate spaces. Grand spaces like the Koch Theater and the Met in Lincoln Center so remove you from the immediacy of the event that it feels to me like I'm watching it on TV.</span></span><br />
<span class="s1"><br /></span>Of course, no matter how "real" a work of art is, there are always conventions we consciously or unconsciously accept. Even with Durning's <i>To Being, </i>the dance takes place at a pre-arranged time and place, for a particular audience, and it's repeated for different audiences (although it changed each time). In addition, the dancers are skilled and highly conditioned, so their movements are necessarily more athletic and expressive than that of the average person, and of course, the dancers' actions serve no practical purpose.<br />
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Nevertheless, these dances were real enough to convince and captivate me, and it was refreshing and exhilarating to experience a work like <i>To Being</i> that could produce such strong feelings ... authentically.<br />
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBAmrhyphenhyphenu2mmCpMFtIyMeo4eBA3Q_jTOXyLHTrSg52XnHDCKzMmL2FpSSdrXzo5XoUCxMezD4SFQDpxG_j7G5IgRt_J-a51P6qRBrHRNlGqd0jojiKBZTHfYIQqvpJvQySNJS5j1bHZ2m0/s1600/Jeanine+Durning+-+To+Being+Sept.+9-26%252C+The+Chocholate+Factory.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBAmrhyphenhyphenu2mmCpMFtIyMeo4eBA3Q_jTOXyLHTrSg52XnHDCKzMmL2FpSSdrXzo5XoUCxMezD4SFQDpxG_j7G5IgRt_J-a51P6qRBrHRNlGqd0jojiKBZTHfYIQqvpJvQySNJS5j1bHZ2m0/s640/Jeanine+Durning+-+To+Being+Sept.+9-26%252C+The+Chocholate+Factory.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;"><i>To Being</i>, </span>Jeanine Durning, choreographer on the left and Molly Poerstel in the foreground, September 9-26, The Chocolate Factory, Long Island City, Queens, New York.</td></tr>
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Charles Kesslerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07068758792988742599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1522800471258383718.post-47085366584847551132015-09-20T13:05:00.000-04:002015-09-20T13:05:43.052-04:00Robert Ashley's opera "Perfect Lives"<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">By Charles Kessler</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Yesterday I attended Robert Ashley's 1980s opera "Perfect Lives" – a day-long event that took place in seven different venues spread out all over Jersey City. It was presented by <a href="http://www.convivomusic.org/">Con Vivo Music </a>and <a href="http://www.arthouseproductions.org/event/perfect-lives-jersey-city/">Art House Productions</a>, and enthusiastically performed by <a href="http://www.varispeedcollective.com/">Varispeed</a>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The opera was originally made as half-hour videos for television, but it was adapted and arranged by Verispeed for a live performance. As is typical of Ashley's operas, it was a rhythmically spoken-word score reminiscent of fifties beat poetry, with one or two narrators, a chorus occasionally interjecting, and the music more or less in the background. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It was a thrilling occasion – a pleasure that got better and better as the day went on. Here are some photos:</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiunx1ArzRgZQ7iNUu-6IoLj4b0i-iqmX80IbnGcgAz05Hf6PiCnSiNPv0HED03MgiHUNwMdMXiE17O-z1GAiGpzqIi_zdvneF7CYtcILa5f1Mwm2ZUxZatuW82hXBXILuMSc2LpgYdCAY/s1600/11am%252C+The+Park+%2528Bay+Street+at+Newark+Ave.%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiunx1ArzRgZQ7iNUu-6IoLj4b0i-iqmX80IbnGcgAz05Hf6PiCnSiNPv0HED03MgiHUNwMdMXiE17O-z1GAiGpzqIi_zdvneF7CYtcILa5f1Mwm2ZUxZatuW82hXBXILuMSc2LpgYdCAY/s640/11am%252C+The+Park+%2528Bay+Street+at+Newark+Ave.%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">11am, <i>The Park</i> (Bay Street at Newark Ave.).</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSGeFT8xFxUYkZaYO5tnHAvzRmflcDxMc8SDSMdseoA6q2yDhSj9yEzulCRRFEeSRjanptsYpv7Vg-kL4ngIeFbON3ob8vsUd5G95usZ7saZpmQUeJPVWRS0tneaZiyF7TFRv6qspz_Vo/s1600/1-30pm%252C+The+Bank+%2528Provident+Bank%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="460" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSGeFT8xFxUYkZaYO5tnHAvzRmflcDxMc8SDSMdseoA6q2yDhSj9yEzulCRRFEeSRjanptsYpv7Vg-kL4ngIeFbON3ob8vsUd5G95usZ7saZpmQUeJPVWRS0tneaZiyF7TFRv6qspz_Vo/s640/1-30pm%252C+The+Bank+%2528Provident+Bank%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">1:30pm, <i>The Bank </i>(Provident Bank).</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR-0Fk2OT12VlqDLTq98owFrjJ6BsPmnbu2OT-Y9H8NO_Mw6FfLh4zh8zvdtCMuq9GOA6HqP2kxGFOLPlDIlgqtQbZFTHgZOAa1BTAJGQPHAyf4i65YjBflgOw5OFb4JOQqbH2npE8yic/s1600/3pm%252C+The+Supermarket+%2528Key+Food%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR-0Fk2OT12VlqDLTq98owFrjJ6BsPmnbu2OT-Y9H8NO_Mw6FfLh4zh8zvdtCMuq9GOA6HqP2kxGFOLPlDIlgqtQbZFTHgZOAa1BTAJGQPHAyf4i65YjBflgOw5OFb4JOQqbH2npE8yic/s640/3pm%252C+The+Supermarket+%2528Key+Food%2529.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">3pm,<i> The Supermarket</i> (Key Food).</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKPnwt6Ud8m2V_A3JWeseuBfYW5keNI4F3jXcaUEuQh69qn1qhfYy87X6f4SeM-qNrznXlljDIRNHHDDy6e8HHPXC1Pv_jEek8KxIT-D-tumqSALuWN-9ZXE0zq1LDr1UoGn0gnIcmKO0/s1600/5pm%252C+The+Church+%2528St.+Paul+Lutheran%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKPnwt6Ud8m2V_A3JWeseuBfYW5keNI4F3jXcaUEuQh69qn1qhfYy87X6f4SeM-qNrznXlljDIRNHHDDy6e8HHPXC1Pv_jEek8KxIT-D-tumqSALuWN-9ZXE0zq1LDr1UoGn0gnIcmKO0/s640/5pm%252C+The+Church+%2528St.+Paul+Lutheran%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">5pm,<i> The Church</i> (St. Paul Lutheran).</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcGsqB2plAWX37isu-BhrrTnI8C3y1vJV9w1VMP-DE9TZaqs9HjoFigMmr2fnlAibpYJZjt0de7ixQDeFmqPHJCbglQZgNrFwNlOyuJtfGNj-BQBN9z8n3-j-vvOmM055xaL8LBSyd5vg/s1600/7pm%252C+The+Back+Yard+%2528Harsimus+Cemetery+-+Photo%252C+Neil+Glassman%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="634" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcGsqB2plAWX37isu-BhrrTnI8C3y1vJV9w1VMP-DE9TZaqs9HjoFigMmr2fnlAibpYJZjt0de7ixQDeFmqPHJCbglQZgNrFwNlOyuJtfGNj-BQBN9z8n3-j-vvOmM055xaL8LBSyd5vg/s640/7pm%252C+The+Back+Yard+%2528Harsimus+Cemetery+-+Photo%252C+Neil+Glassman%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">7pm, <i>The Back Yard</i> (Harsimus Cemetery - Photo: Neil Glassman).</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijs9pTEvknQPSURBuWiQoi-RViZpMO1J_OlJdWnyWbUo8L3Bg7Ulgn41y_7f3wPys7kxVWPR7NE-Ex14uW9BCqNYiQzvbO1GNtLTdP32WC3dq3QliKMyseeYsOKdvX4l2VD0eXbwOGA9g/s1600/9pm%252C+The+Living+Room+%2528Barrow+Mansion%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijs9pTEvknQPSURBuWiQoi-RViZpMO1J_OlJdWnyWbUo8L3Bg7Ulgn41y_7f3wPys7kxVWPR7NE-Ex14uW9BCqNYiQzvbO1GNtLTdP32WC3dq3QliKMyseeYsOKdvX4l2VD0eXbwOGA9g/s640/9pm%252C+The+Living+Room+%2528Barrow+Mansion%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">9pm, <i>The Living Room</i> (Barrow Mansion).</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlTw8BU_ixN9GJ6EQCUh1iTwwmFzLLW6glXEGfgpo9q5RDkyNXMNHsteItYTKNasga8lyJrAtPVaD1X37G0pR0E6NhSg51f2tNMQBZUOj5ittdb7u4L4c0uPX9kZNJd_5aPYB4NBfFRqE/s1600/11pm%252C+The+Bar+%2528Brightside+Tavern%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlTw8BU_ixN9GJ6EQCUh1iTwwmFzLLW6glXEGfgpo9q5RDkyNXMNHsteItYTKNasga8lyJrAtPVaD1X37G0pR0E6NhSg51f2tNMQBZUOj5ittdb7u4L4c0uPX9kZNJd_5aPYB4NBfFRqE/s640/11pm%252C+The+Bar+%2528Brightside+Tavern%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">11pm, <i>The Bar</i> (Brightside Tavern).</td></tr>
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Charles Kesslerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07068758792988742599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1522800471258383718.post-56933891599935378202015-09-10T15:43:00.001-04:002015-09-10T15:43:15.319-04:00Picasso Sculpture at MoMABy Charles Kessler<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-FWmsM4HvS0kTclC1nzn1cygj9KXsDGBnxzeFl9y3xpMp5ieorifGEL85JDCKIuEmit_TxkA3T-G0gcjSv9TQFLWUtnxzm8wyAFV6fqQSrn-cHy3Ahz2kF0QEVNquqePPfbFc7PbuYbk/s1600/Opening+Reception.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="410" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-FWmsM4HvS0kTclC1nzn1cygj9KXsDGBnxzeFl9y3xpMp5ieorifGEL85JDCKIuEmit_TxkA3T-G0gcjSv9TQFLWUtnxzm8wyAFV6fqQSrn-cHy3Ahz2kF0QEVNquqePPfbFc7PbuYbk/s640/Opening+Reception.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Opening Reception of Picasso Sculpture, Museum of Modern Art, NY. </td></tr>
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I was lucky enough to be invited to the opening reception of <a href="http://www.moma.org/visit/calendar/exhibitions/1559"><i>Picasso Sculpture</i></a> at the Museum of Modern Art (through February 7, 2016). Lucky because I'm sure the show will be a lot more crowded once it's open to the public, and I met a lot of interesting people and had some great discussions.<br />
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I was blown away! By my count there are 159 sculptures in the show and only about twenty could be considered minor works, however delightful (engraved pebbles, small figurines, torn napkins, etc.). It seemed like a group exhibition of a dozen great sculptors. The guy was a monster – some kind of freak.<br />
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Here, chronologically, are photos of the sculptures I liked most (no one stopped me, so I guess it was okay) plus some of the more unusual ones (as if they all aren't). Unfortunately, the checklist does not contain the size of the works, so I'm approximating their height from memory.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgojGAYTPKm-sx6XVVsrmSB0VcEe2NyY3CNWQXEYR0Na6PnZmB0pWfIccaEdwlIIsGTrifsUeeLavz0sO32MfO7evRsMM1iME4TlVDtgKd04mr5edkqpXpETtq0Bo1ldJv6h49mpPpiHtE/s1600/Head+of+a+Picador+with+a+Broken+Nose%252C+1903%252C+bronze+%2528Baltimore+Museum+of+Art%2529..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="381" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgojGAYTPKm-sx6XVVsrmSB0VcEe2NyY3CNWQXEYR0Na6PnZmB0pWfIccaEdwlIIsGTrifsUeeLavz0sO32MfO7evRsMM1iME4TlVDtgKd04mr5edkqpXpETtq0Bo1ldJv6h49mpPpiHtE/s400/Head+of+a+Picador+with+a+Broken+Nose%252C+1903%252C+bronze+%2528Baltimore+Museum+of+Art%2529..jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Head of a Picador with a Broken Nose</i>, 1903, bronze (Baltimore Museum of Art). About 9 inches high.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_tYzARrq-y5Xvb7HfgGmcwadZZswmwh3PMi61N2hQceL2U5pGudHiY3CB78EwcaJKQV4U01RdQZprUNaa1efKmxRiQmTVhfKz3YzewFyiRJTyaz-7Y6LsRFuHDjq89JE7OGoWv3TqLhU/s1600/Figure%252C+1908%252C+oak+with+painted+accents+%2528Muse%25CC%2581e+national+Picasso%252C+Paris%2529..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_tYzARrq-y5Xvb7HfgGmcwadZZswmwh3PMi61N2hQceL2U5pGudHiY3CB78EwcaJKQV4U01RdQZprUNaa1efKmxRiQmTVhfKz3YzewFyiRJTyaz-7Y6LsRFuHDjq89JE7OGoWv3TqLhU/s640/Figure%252C+1908%252C+oak+with+painted+accents+%2528Muse%25CC%2581e+national+Picasso%252C+Paris%2529..jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Figure</i>, 1908, oak with painted accents (Musée national Picasso, Paris). About 3 feet high. It seems right out of Gauguin. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF6aDasRhuqLlv-9O7SVnJQp2GaVJD0l4z2ftiUx3d8DMve4xMp4OtHfCsZI9tzNIJhioy0hbgOIuLhzJRFLeNt7_dl8KxJt9aWdpuw5lFVW1iRvFxGCLwGaZS9vuzkbs-CVv_XBm3HWI/s1600/Apple%252C+1909%252C+plaster+%2528Muse%25CC%2581e+national+Picasso%252C+Paris%2529.+%25E2%2580%2593+Version+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF6aDasRhuqLlv-9O7SVnJQp2GaVJD0l4z2ftiUx3d8DMve4xMp4OtHfCsZI9tzNIJhioy0hbgOIuLhzJRFLeNt7_dl8KxJt9aWdpuw5lFVW1iRvFxGCLwGaZS9vuzkbs-CVv_XBm3HWI/s320/Apple%252C+1909%252C+plaster+%2528Muse%25CC%2581e+national+Picasso%252C+Paris%2529.+%25E2%2580%2593+Version+2.jpg" width="295" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Apple</i>, 1909, plaster (Musée national Picasso, Paris). About 6 inches high.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif71nrycexJiezyND8Kq1oQcr_QRdP5_aO-ybFsmhdIqig5k2mZkAfpqg07DKvEXOxBPzsElI2OwiOf6X815acXjXhiKUc1na_nJqb8IRUUIrpXWe58hCPb0Pt1Sal1Phj9BmHa50zQb8/s1600/Still+Life%252C+1914%252C+painted+pine+and+poplar%252C+nails%252C+and+upholstery+fringe+%2528Tate%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif71nrycexJiezyND8Kq1oQcr_QRdP5_aO-ybFsmhdIqig5k2mZkAfpqg07DKvEXOxBPzsElI2OwiOf6X815acXjXhiKUc1na_nJqb8IRUUIrpXWe58hCPb0Pt1Sal1Phj9BmHa50zQb8/s640/Still+Life%252C+1914%252C+painted+pine+and+poplar%252C+nails%252C+and+upholstery+fringe+%2528Tate%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Still Life</i>, 1914, painted pine and poplar, nails, and upholstery fringe (Tate). About 12 inches high. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjJfFWGWDDjmSNvfIQiw5AY9DRFaIh5Tc720Nzr15krypFp15LeutX0fKBITULWzdAb3D3rL-IzH09pogKiECo_ZJeJANUX5GuORgji6g05i5M41d-lWF_Q31R7PAe3VgccfUgD4XSDcg/s1600/Violin+and+Bottle+on+a+Table%252C+1915%252C+painted+fir%252C+string%252C+nails%252C+and+charcoal+%2528Muse%25CC%2581e+national+Picasso%252C+Paris%2529..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjJfFWGWDDjmSNvfIQiw5AY9DRFaIh5Tc720Nzr15krypFp15LeutX0fKBITULWzdAb3D3rL-IzH09pogKiECo_ZJeJANUX5GuORgji6g05i5M41d-lWF_Q31R7PAe3VgccfUgD4XSDcg/s640/Violin+and+Bottle+on+a+Table%252C+1915%252C+painted+fir%252C+string%252C+nails%252C+and+charcoal+%2528Muse%25CC%2581e+national+Picasso%252C+Paris%2529..jpg" width="506" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Violin and Bottle on a Table,</i> 1915, painted fir, string, nails, and charcoal (Musée national Picasso, Paris). About 15 inches high. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: left;">
I love the back views of Picasso's sculptures. About half the time he ignored the back and half the time he made some attempt to do something with it. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLZY_IqIsnJeOkGGwVo9uF7CW6jQuz8wt1cEoZ1ngjx4FoIPUWkrDDobwyh92CHgWuoCRnBPughKDszWP3JLmKj3LEjfgGtblbWnB7Pe9sr7psRZs1QAYYB41S98exn5AUxo8RICBgqJg/s1600/Back+view%252C+Violin+and+Bottle+on+a+Table%252C+1915%252C+painted+fir%252C+string%252C+nails%252C+and+charcoal+%2528Muse%25CC%2581e+national+Picasso%252C+Paris%2529..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLZY_IqIsnJeOkGGwVo9uF7CW6jQuz8wt1cEoZ1ngjx4FoIPUWkrDDobwyh92CHgWuoCRnBPughKDszWP3JLmKj3LEjfgGtblbWnB7Pe9sr7psRZs1QAYYB41S98exn5AUxo8RICBgqJg/s640/Back+view%252C+Violin+and+Bottle+on+a+Table%252C+1915%252C+painted+fir%252C+string%252C+nails%252C+and+charcoal+%2528Muse%25CC%2581e+national+Picasso%252C+Paris%2529..jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Back view of <i>Violin and Bottle on a Table</i>. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWpB9JjjNTiq5P_2YSyYXTQGQwrzkmAVpT2ZXzqo2-mwufPLyVDLU-dTOO6AWHSIZLrwN745UppzB-aJc55d58uI9kmMd2uQses05VSRqvhouFAMwQ9XYvbHrV4ujWWD5XLCkKhFpw59g/s1600/Seated+Woman%252C+1929%252C+bronze+Violin+and+Bottle+on+a+Table%252C+1915%252C+painted+fir%252C+string%252C+nails%252C+and+charcoal+%2528Muse%25CC%2581e+national+Picasso%252C+Paris%2529..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWpB9JjjNTiq5P_2YSyYXTQGQwrzkmAVpT2ZXzqo2-mwufPLyVDLU-dTOO6AWHSIZLrwN745UppzB-aJc55d58uI9kmMd2uQses05VSRqvhouFAMwQ9XYvbHrV4ujWWD5XLCkKhFpw59g/s640/Seated+Woman%252C+1929%252C+bronze+Violin+and+Bottle+on+a+Table%252C+1915%252C+painted+fir%252C+string%252C+nails%252C+and+charcoal+%2528Muse%25CC%2581e+national+Picasso%252C+Paris%2529..jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Seated Woman,</i> 1929, bronze (Musée national Picasso, Paris). About 3 feet high. This is about as close to Matisse as Picasso gets in this exhibition. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Then there are these two disturbing small reliefs that seem to have come out of nowhere:</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWtIry-JRaE1j2LjLQn_TWBVeGMeDKlLtUDAaKdiuEHMK4Lbzf2n9gl0vqbJLFX59e9IY9G41-elTOpUAdp2KyQbDY17Iny7SCh0M5X3DmYHmIe3tJ5GBixhPH4mhoQbbiLyctsh91peo/s1600/Screen+Shot+2015-09-10+at+Thursday%252C+September+10%252C+2015+++++2.24.13+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWtIry-JRaE1j2LjLQn_TWBVeGMeDKlLtUDAaKdiuEHMK4Lbzf2n9gl0vqbJLFX59e9IY9G41-elTOpUAdp2KyQbDY17Iny7SCh0M5X3DmYHmIe3tJ5GBixhPH4mhoQbbiLyctsh91peo/s640/Screen+Shot+2015-09-10+at+Thursday%252C+September+10%252C+2015+++++2.24.13+PM.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On the left, <i>Composition with Palm Leaf</i>, 1930, cardboard, plants, nails and objects sewn and glued to back of canvas and stretcher and coated with sand; sand partially painted (Musée national Picasso, Paris); on the right, <i>Composition with Glove</i>, 1930, glove, cardboard, and plants sewn and glued to back of canvas and stretcher and coated with sand; sand partially painted (Musée national Picasso, Paris). Each about 10 inches high.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1hW0I57JrZH0gSugxXpFewGSezMptOdCjAEl6aAOBWK2YMQZMOtoVzcpHOIjq6ebbB5iX2ia3I-cvXGimZrHdOy4EB33kdPydxFx84mws8ZZSRez59v12HH-8FY1ZV2Uvm0B6U3dpb5U/s1600/Bird%252C+1931-32%252C+plaster+%2528private+collection%2529..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="306" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1hW0I57JrZH0gSugxXpFewGSezMptOdCjAEl6aAOBWK2YMQZMOtoVzcpHOIjq6ebbB5iX2ia3I-cvXGimZrHdOy4EB33kdPydxFx84mws8ZZSRez59v12HH-8FY1ZV2Uvm0B6U3dpb5U/s400/Bird%252C+1931-32%252C+plaster+%2528private+collection%2529..jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Bird</i>, 1931-32, plaster (private collection). About 8 inches high. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn_aUGx6h-PVYqz6zO7yxOwZzdkBKiG4OmeTcEDtV0CArl6s7usn8kBue11YcZnmkda2SqVuDgpFe8DnQkQ-DitfsukQaAiDzlnGDxap2_qO5IkLkQ8FMhps-Bsnw5987nDQc6lIpWmu4/s1600/Crumpled+Paper%252C+1934%252C+plaster+%2528Muse%25CC%2581e+national+Picasso%252C+Paris%2529..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="313" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn_aUGx6h-PVYqz6zO7yxOwZzdkBKiG4OmeTcEDtV0CArl6s7usn8kBue11YcZnmkda2SqVuDgpFe8DnQkQ-DitfsukQaAiDzlnGDxap2_qO5IkLkQ8FMhps-Bsnw5987nDQc6lIpWmu4/s400/Crumpled+Paper%252C+1934%252C+plaster+%2528Muse%25CC%2581e+national+Picasso%252C+Paris%2529..jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Crumpled Paper</i>, 1934, plaster (Musée national Picasso, Paris). About 6 inches high.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjetT_1r7FnO_2zZwdRNj5bdAwra_OMjTo96vOn5VaFtLitFQZLCYDoUKQExT6hFvq-B4hs_Z7GADQM9nXKaCDTfCxi-7mzLBUkthSTaRpmJ5EcoCug5wj-0I4vkN9BXn9XPPxLdaaoW5g/s1600/Woman+with+a+Vase%252C+1933%252C+bronze+%2528Museo+Nacional+Centro+de+Arte%252C+Reina+Sofia%252C+Madrid%2529..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjetT_1r7FnO_2zZwdRNj5bdAwra_OMjTo96vOn5VaFtLitFQZLCYDoUKQExT6hFvq-B4hs_Z7GADQM9nXKaCDTfCxi-7mzLBUkthSTaRpmJ5EcoCug5wj-0I4vkN9BXn9XPPxLdaaoW5g/s640/Woman+with+a+Vase%252C+1933%252C+bronze+%2528Museo+Nacional+Centro+de+Arte%252C+Reina+Sofia%252C+Madrid%2529..jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Woman with a Vase</i>, 1933, bronze (Museo Nacional Centro de Arte, Reina Sofia, Madrid). About 8 feet high. This reminds me of Jeff Koons for some reason.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO32zrrxmZ5EmIOS-vOt3eL-pibEDTrXFn21vpuhU3vrAW-vMtPhX7ofaMmdluTwAhfG2wqI906vXuolPIxYwqxSu5x7XLmFqgm3qzavJUCeBpaYXu3r_0inYqMwlXTE8qLCc3tQs349E/s1600/The+Orator%252C+1933-34%252C+plaster%252C+stone%252C+and+metal+dowel+%2528Fine+Arts+Museums+of+San+Francisco%2529..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO32zrrxmZ5EmIOS-vOt3eL-pibEDTrXFn21vpuhU3vrAW-vMtPhX7ofaMmdluTwAhfG2wqI906vXuolPIxYwqxSu5x7XLmFqgm3qzavJUCeBpaYXu3r_0inYqMwlXTE8qLCc3tQs349E/s640/The+Orator%252C+1933-34%252C+plaster%252C+stone%252C+and+metal+dowel+%2528Fine+Arts+Museums+of+San+Francisco%2529..jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The Orator,</i> 1933-34, plaster, stone, and metal dowel (Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco). About 5 feet high.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: left;">
This sculpture, more than most, needs to be seen close up to appreciate the textures.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ-k4ibDYc-Hu60Bv6WfOG_QwZGOdzvcijnu2tpywohidiE93tNxW4Eq7Dmtikf-YtMkonIzBhH0czcL_C3IGEMFTvQMYsvMMyKiCC8yO55ES58mGyaHMk6SWz1ckkqxFJc4FTpu_1YTU/s1600/detail%252C+The+Orator%252C+1933-34%252C+plaster%252C+stone%252C+and+metal+dowel+%2528Fine+Arts+Museums+of+San+Francisco%2529..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ-k4ibDYc-Hu60Bv6WfOG_QwZGOdzvcijnu2tpywohidiE93tNxW4Eq7Dmtikf-YtMkonIzBhH0czcL_C3IGEMFTvQMYsvMMyKiCC8yO55ES58mGyaHMk6SWz1ckkqxFJc4FTpu_1YTU/s640/detail%252C+The+Orator%252C+1933-34%252C+plaster%252C+stone%252C+and+metal+dowel+%2528Fine+Arts+Museums+of+San+Francisco%2529..jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Detail: <i>The Orator</i>, 1933-34. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIhWRcSYVCLSTvYwyIE7-oEcIbAab2nMOcPUXhyphenhyphend5eVTxDFyIgIHMVA70TrIgp8OluSQJCu3tlDR_IPV1AVYKjVS0FhWfExFV9EU_LTGgLXv9LyszruQI6AeIZr5DlOgRH6mpxfw2V4A4/s1600/Death%2527s+Head%252C+c.1941%252C+bronze+%2528private+collection%2529..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIhWRcSYVCLSTvYwyIE7-oEcIbAab2nMOcPUXhyphenhyphend5eVTxDFyIgIHMVA70TrIgp8OluSQJCu3tlDR_IPV1AVYKjVS0FhWfExFV9EU_LTGgLXv9LyszruQI6AeIZr5DlOgRH6mpxfw2V4A4/s400/Death%2527s+Head%252C+c.1941%252C+bronze+%2528private+collection%2529..jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Death's Head,</i> c.1941, bronze (private collection). About 9 inches high. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-n738j4OQ0UDdpH-bORGMw0fCBWu9I8p3uHJgA_AvFrHCRSLhnTIL1bYJWuruhckGVac_ApI4FiTMXkwvh6lUW1ulyUPDTSlTbxQ7aZpIE8U1jmhjosjGtF4opMJUWaXMpy1-WKQtcvM/s1600/Flowery+Watering+Can%252C+1951-52%252C+plaster+with+watering+can%252C+metal+parts%252C+nails+and+wood+%2528Muse%25CC%2581e+national+Picasso%252C+Paris%2529..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-n738j4OQ0UDdpH-bORGMw0fCBWu9I8p3uHJgA_AvFrHCRSLhnTIL1bYJWuruhckGVac_ApI4FiTMXkwvh6lUW1ulyUPDTSlTbxQ7aZpIE8U1jmhjosjGtF4opMJUWaXMpy1-WKQtcvM/s640/Flowery+Watering+Can%252C+1951-52%252C+plaster+with+watering+can%252C+metal+parts%252C+nails+and+wood+%2528Muse%25CC%2581e+national+Picasso%252C+Paris%2529..jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Flowery Watering Can</i>, 1951-52, plaster with watering can, metal parts, nails and wood (Musée national Picasso, Paris). About 3 feet high.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Again, this sculpture needs to be seen close up.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoEjj0y_ZJ76qQT1ODLfcLyjC7fnXwinGtC3dirU_6J6aloVfZaGeoj4DTv2z1mvAZOpVXtUIY2SIRhhXFdrjVM8alUKEaWA-s92VoQZu4It5rHj6aWCbw4BouaCpDO7sTOjYnnw0bE5s/s1600/Detail%252C+Flowery+Watering+Can%252C+1951-52%252C+plaster+with+watering+can%252C+metal+parts%252C+nails+and+wood+%2528Muse%25CC%2581e+national+Picasso%252C+Paris%2529..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoEjj0y_ZJ76qQT1ODLfcLyjC7fnXwinGtC3dirU_6J6aloVfZaGeoj4DTv2z1mvAZOpVXtUIY2SIRhhXFdrjVM8alUKEaWA-s92VoQZu4It5rHj6aWCbw4BouaCpDO7sTOjYnnw0bE5s/s640/Detail%252C+Flowery+Watering+Can%252C+1951-52%252C+plaster+with+watering+can%252C+metal+parts%252C+nails+and+wood+%2528Muse%25CC%2581e+national+Picasso%252C+Paris%2529..jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Detail: <i>Flowery Watering Can</i>, 1951-52.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSnD08CkSktJHRMDg47ZqBjpLuJrYXCwlKYrFrAjtTCIagvbPNiVccrta2dmzukHLsNvnX9TPTiJp9WqIeVpBfodXtg_5Eq18Kt9yYboAqfkTg81YzHECDLVDrWVwVQBGEUV2LqDQV8xc/s1600/Screen+Shot+2015-09-10+at+Thursday%252C+September+10%252C+2015+++++3.01.15+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="406" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSnD08CkSktJHRMDg47ZqBjpLuJrYXCwlKYrFrAjtTCIagvbPNiVccrta2dmzukHLsNvnX9TPTiJp9WqIeVpBfodXtg_5Eq18Kt9yYboAqfkTg81YzHECDLVDrWVwVQBGEUV2LqDQV8xc/s640/Screen+Shot+2015-09-10+at+Thursday%252C+September+10%252C+2015+++++3.01.15+PM.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Front and side view of <i>Little Owl</i>, 1951-52, painted bronze, 10 1/4 X 7 3/8 X 5 3/4 inches (Hirshhorn Museum, Washington, D.C.). </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Two very large, strange bronze sculptures were in the last room.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMQVi4MUoRPYZhyyv4kgjWDkkFzDGw78FEMoglkF6JZhC3UUBGD9aANzlfNS1TPO8SVTprO6DhoF7BJPWEc3652itGMY4rQlDpVAoCZGIspdMQL0K76k2c1k7pDtlnal8csTsirKsPyck/s1600/Screen+Shot+2015-09-10+at+Thursday%252C+September+10%252C+2015+++++3.14.11+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="410" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMQVi4MUoRPYZhyyv4kgjWDkkFzDGw78FEMoglkF6JZhC3UUBGD9aANzlfNS1TPO8SVTprO6DhoF7BJPWEc3652itGMY4rQlDpVAoCZGIspdMQL0K76k2c1k7pDtlnal8csTsirKsPyck/s640/Screen+Shot+2015-09-10+at+Thursday%252C+September+10%252C+2015+++++3.14.11+PM.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On the left: <i>Little Girl Jumping Rope</i>, 1950-54, bronze (private collection). O<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">n the right:</span><span style="font-size: 12.8px;"> </span><i style="font-size: 12.8px;">Woman with a Baby Carriage</i><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">, 1950-54, bronze (Musée national Picasso, Paris).</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: left;">
And finally, a set of late, fairly flat and frontal wood sculptures all titled <i>The Bathers</i> and made in 1956:</div>
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Charles Kesslerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07068758792988742599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1522800471258383718.post-75503014971325745592015-08-24T17:26:00.000-04:002015-08-24T17:26:22.760-04:00Charles Garabedian Update<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinqDStT3dShwUj4O0oTJuCh9sMP6iDFLqiTcHe9hPMUGrpS16DhZip0PvkWeIfp85tRZxLsEqy-fWeDVKBfYxlpTuBYrdFTuV1fpwYYd9oHIlejS77fXlqCBk04AIfkRbu2SelaIhGO5U/s1600/Charles+Garabedian+in+his+studio%252C+August+24%252C+2012..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="472" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinqDStT3dShwUj4O0oTJuCh9sMP6iDFLqiTcHe9hPMUGrpS16DhZip0PvkWeIfp85tRZxLsEqy-fWeDVKBfYxlpTuBYrdFTuV1fpwYYd9oHIlejS77fXlqCBk04AIfkRbu2SelaIhGO5U/s640/Charles+Garabedian+in+his+studio%252C+August+24%252C+2012..jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Charles Garabedian in his studio, August 24, 2012.</td></tr>
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At 91, Charles Garabedian remains one of the most vital living artists. I've known him since the 1970s and, as I wrote in a <a href="http://leftbankartblog.blogspot.com/2011/03/charles-garabedian-retrospective.html">post about his 2011 retrospective</a>: "He was one of the few people I ever met who could always keep me completely off balance. I could never predict what he was going to say, and it was usually something clever, deep and so many levels above anything I, a beginning artist still in my twenties, could conceive of." I should also add, he's one of the quickest and funniest people I've ever met. Every interview with him is at least interesting, including <a href="http://hyperallergic.com/231386/beer-with-a-painter-la-edition-charles-garabedian/">this new one</a> the prolific and wide-ranging art blog <i>Hyperallergic</i> has just published. If it whets your appetite, you might want to check out <a href="http://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/interviews/oral-history-interview-charles-garabedian-12734">this very extensive one</a> conducted by Anne Ayres in 2003 for the Archives of American Art.<br />
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He'll be having an exhibition from October 8th- November 7th at the <a href="http://www.lalouver.com/html/artist.cfm?tArtist_id=40&tArtistExhibitionGroup_id=82">L. A. Louver Gallery</a> in Venice California. And here are a few images from his <a href="http://www.bettycuninghamgallery.com/exhibitions/charles-garabedian">recent exhibition</a> at the Betty Cuningham Gallery. Note how big they are.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="" class="enlarge" data-enlarge="https://s3.amazonaws.com/files.collageplatform.com.prod/image_cache/enlarge/54ee2ef607a72c654cd274a6/4d7d6fd84af5422a778bff0981d7909c.jpeg" data-href="/exhibitions/charles-garabedian/selected-works?view=enlarge" data-slide="1" data-src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/files.collageplatform.com.prod/image_cache/1010x580_fit/54ee2ef607a72c654cd274a6/4d7d6fd84af5422a778bff0981d7909c.jpeg" height="488" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/files.collageplatform.com.prod/image_cache/1010x580_fit/54ee2ef607a72c654cd274a6/4d7d6fd84af5422a778bff0981d7909c.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="640" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Sisyphus</i>, 2007, Acrylic on paper, 35 1/4 x 44 1/4 inches.</td></tr>
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<tr><td><img alt="" data-enlarge="https://s3.amazonaws.com/files.collageplatform.com.prod/image_cache/enlarge/54ee2ef607a72c654cd274a6/ca2bf700945e4c76ed6b59cc89046b72.jpeg" data-slide="4" data-src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/files.collageplatform.com.prod/image_cache/enlarge/54ee2ef607a72c654cd274a6/ca2bf700945e4c76ed6b59cc89046b72.jpeg" height="236" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/files.collageplatform.com.prod/image_cache/enlarge/54ee2ef607a72c654cd274a6/ca2bf700945e4c76ed6b59cc89046b72.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="640" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;"><i>Now She Can't Curse Us</i>, 2014, acrylic on paper, 15 3/4 x 48 inches.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6IccQPOUcDd3y-_jCCUbum5MPQEim07QeDgqp9Kq_2r97-07ivFFZ06Ig0e3p_Hzg7Jc4UirI-gzjhm3U6QHau-rKD0nEzIkIg4LGin_Ysqh8e-cGE7kBi3dFVR4KITpp1O6bgKaxaLs/s1600/Outside+the+Gates%252C+2013%252C+acrylic+on+paper%252C+57+x+138+inches.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="286" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6IccQPOUcDd3y-_jCCUbum5MPQEim07QeDgqp9Kq_2r97-07ivFFZ06Ig0e3p_Hzg7Jc4UirI-gzjhm3U6QHau-rKD0nEzIkIg4LGin_Ysqh8e-cGE7kBi3dFVR4KITpp1O6bgKaxaLs/s640/Outside+the+Gates%252C+2013%252C+acrylic+on+paper%252C+57+x+138+inches.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Outside the Gates</i>, 2013, acrylic on paper, 57 x 138 inches.</td></tr>
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Charles Kesslerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07068758792988742599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1522800471258383718.post-69091524109329986592015-08-07T14:59:00.002-04:002015-08-11T11:20:53.569-04:00Yasuo Kuniyoshi at the Smithsonian Museum of American ArtBy Charles Kessler<br>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivqj40sWy2B3yek0MpMp93X_Pn0v_IPqGeZv6Td298pOdZhj9c9yY1KJieZGqF1VGPD11VXTo5tQgN1LM4HZtRM316JhnMyJZOsFxH_c6Gzw0WKdw6cmWI_jPqq6SEatvB-Py_6_y8c1I/s1600/Yasuo+Kuniyoshi%252C+Self-Portrait+as+a+Photographer%252C+1924%252C+Oil+on+canvas%252C+20+%25C2%25BD+x+30+%25C2%25BC+inches+%2528The+Metropolitan+Museum+of+Art%252C+New+York%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivqj40sWy2B3yek0MpMp93X_Pn0v_IPqGeZv6Td298pOdZhj9c9yY1KJieZGqF1VGPD11VXTo5tQgN1LM4HZtRM316JhnMyJZOsFxH_c6Gzw0WKdw6cmWI_jPqq6SEatvB-Py_6_y8c1I/s640/Yasuo+Kuniyoshi%252C+Self-Portrait+as+a+Photographer%252C+1924%252C+Oil+on+canvas%252C+20+%25C2%25BD+x+30+%25C2%25BC+inches+%2528The+Metropolitan+Museum+of+Art%252C+New+York%2529.jpg" width="640"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yasuo Kuniyoshi,<i> Self-Portrait as a Photographer</i>, 1924, oil on canvas, 20 ½ x 30 ¼ inches (The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York). In the 1920s Kuniyoshi supported himself photographing art. </td></tr>
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Tom Wolf, one of my oldest and best friends (he introduced my wife and me 47+ years ago), curated a major exhibition of the Japanese-American painter <a href="http://americanart.si.edu/exhibitions/online/kuniyoshi/">Yasuo Kuniyoshi (1889-1953) at the Smithsonian Museum of American Art</a> (through August 30th) and wrote a definitive <a href="http://americanart.si.edu/visit/stores/online/books/?id=394">catalog</a> essay about the work. It is a major exhibition, indeed — 66 paintings and drawings covering his entire career; and it's the first comprehensive exhibition of his work in the United States in more than sixty years. This show is a revelation – Kuniyoshi should be more well-known.<br>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNvlWayepo0emmdFoEfzIbrkDjcz5tS9xPH7a2VTQtIk0fiib56PK0ifWedBu1VxGeQsjm4dgiJrON5uy5q78xurmNc19trUYBMLDvZHISECDPb_HjqH3tFXzuCZMBnTqwCLwlgEY-oQg/s1600/yasuo+kuniyoshi+Fish+Kite.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="382" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNvlWayepo0emmdFoEfzIbrkDjcz5tS9xPH7a2VTQtIk0fiib56PK0ifWedBu1VxGeQsjm4dgiJrON5uy5q78xurmNc19trUYBMLDvZHISECDPb_HjqH3tFXzuCZMBnTqwCLwlgEY-oQg/s640/yasuo+kuniyoshi+Fish+Kite.jpg" width="640"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yasuo Kuniyoshi, <i>Fish Kite,</i> 1950, oil on canvas, 30 x 49 2/5 inches (Fukutake Collection, Okayama, Japan).</td></tr>
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I had prepared a tirade about New York provincialism because the exhibition, which opened more than three months ago, had been ignored except for one <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/museums/yasuo-kuniyoshi-retrospective-a-testament-to-artists-vision/2015/04/03/1747006c-da2e-11e4-8103-fa84725dbf9d_story.html">review</a> in the <i>Washington Post</i>. But recently excellent reviews by <a href="http://hyperallergic.com/220340/yasuo-kuniyoshi-retrospective-places-the-painter-at-the-center-of-modern-art-in-the-us/?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Yasuo+Kuniyoshi+Retrospective+Places+the+Painter+at+the+Center+of+Modern+Art+in+the+US&utm_content=Yasuo+Kuniyoshi+Retrospective+Places+the+Painter+at+the+Center+of+Modern+Art+in+the+US+CID_05007c20cc61aeab30f4f760e9823cb8&utm_source=HyperallergicNewsletter&utm_term=Yasuo%20Kuniyoshi%20Retrospective%20Places%20the%20Painter%20at%20the%20Center%20of%20Modern%20Art%20in%20the%20US">Allison Meier in <i>Hyperallergic</i></a> and the consistently perceptive <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/24/arts/design/yasuo-kuniyoshi-a-modernist-often-overlooked-gets-a-smithsonian-retrospective.html?_r=0">Roberta Smith in the <i>New York Times</i></a> have been published.<br>
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Few people know of Yasuo Kuniyoshi even though he was among the most popular American artists in the 1920s, 30s and 40s. In 1929 the Museum of Modern Art included him in <i>19 American Artists </i>(the second exhibition they ever did)<i>;</i> in 1948 the Whitney Museum of American Art gave him a retrospective (their first for a living artist); and, in 1952, Kuniyoshi represented the United States at the Venice Biennale (along with Alexander Calder, Stuart Davis, and Edward Hopper). In addition he was popular among his artist peers and was elected president of several artist organizations, including in 1946 when 400 artists, meeting at the Museum of Modern Art, elected him the first president of the newly-formed <a href="http://www.anny.org/2/orgs/0033/003p0033.htm">Artists Equity</a>.<br>
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It’s ironic that at the peak of his fame as an artist, Kuniyoshi was discriminated against by the country he emigrated to when he was only sixteen years old. Now, when Japanese-Americans experience relatively little discrimination, and the United States and Japan are great allies, Kuniyoshi is widely popular in Japan, but is hardly known here.<br>
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He sought United States citizenship his entire life but he was continually rejected because of the 1924 Asian Exclusion Act's restrictions on Japanese immigration, and, shamefully, his wife had to give up her United States citizenship when they married. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, he was classified an “enemy alien” and his bank account was frozen, and he had to observe a curfew. This even though he left Japan because he hated their militarism, and, during the war, he worked with the Office of War Information creating posters about Japanese atrocities.<br>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfB5todwbSkR4-FUk84Ab-H2wBfkySJak269sFhQrjnZWgXscjybpFUxOdGl7FcOUDe1bmxg0gxTiHfWR3DD1TrNvXGKKnfkAx3V0C03UpY-mDOaVPJ09-CJBgJnor2aGMpx6HBTgh-jE/s1600/Screen+Shot+2015-07-31+at+Friday%252C+July+31%252C+2015+++++1.58.08+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="390" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfB5todwbSkR4-FUk84Ab-H2wBfkySJak269sFhQrjnZWgXscjybpFUxOdGl7FcOUDe1bmxg0gxTiHfWR3DD1TrNvXGKKnfkAx3V0C03UpY-mDOaVPJ09-CJBgJnor2aGMpx6HBTgh-jE/s640/Screen+Shot+2015-07-31+at+Friday%252C+July+31%252C+2015+++++1.58.08+PM.png" width="640"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Left: Yasuo Kuniyoshi,<i> Killer, or Chinese woman praying</i> (Study for War Poster), 1942, pencil on paper, 16 ⅘ x 13 7⁄10 inches (Fukutake Collection, Okayama, Japan Art © Estate of Yasuo Kuniyoshi-Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY); Right: Yasuo Kuniyoshi, <i>Hanged</i> (Study for War Poster), 1943, pencil on paper, 16 ⅗ x 13 7⁄10 inches (Fukutake Collection, Okayama, Japan, Art © Estate of Yasuo Kuniyoshi/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY).</td></tr>
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Kuniyoshi's art was original, but not radically so; nor was his work particularly influential. Radical innovation and international influence didn't occur in the United States until the advent of Abstract Expressionism in the late 1940s. But the art of other American artist of that era (Marsden Hartley, Edward Hopper, Joseph Stella, Elie Nadelman, Thomas Hart Benton, Stuart Davis, and Ben Shahn, to name a few) wasn't any more original or influential, yet they remain well-known.<br>
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I think the time might be ripe for a revival. For many years now, art history has been going through a sweeping process of re-evaluating the canon of twentieth-century American art. There's been greater receptiveness to what Roberta Smith referred to as the "vitally mongrel nature of American modernism," and few artists of this era fit this new canon better than Kuniyoshi who drew from the Old Masters, Asian art, early European Modernism and American folk art.<br>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwYWFHGpe3IahuTaflal6L4wzu9GFs2Rr2TUDjLTQMMvq024qSjm925-jZ9BzHg2FjMMNO6-2Nw8ZQUFo2q15Jc-0j6fReS-OayfItkXgBNc_QhD2jjEFoSwSPiTIssd8XAwZnG8XhpGY/s1600/Yasuo+Kuniyoshi%252C+Child+Frightened+by+Water%252C+1924%252C+oil+on+canvas%252C+30+%25E2%2585%259B+x+24+1%25E2%2581%258416+inches%252C+%2528Hirshhorn+Museum+and+Sculpture+Garden%252C+Smithsonian+Institution%252C+Washington%252C+DC%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwYWFHGpe3IahuTaflal6L4wzu9GFs2Rr2TUDjLTQMMvq024qSjm925-jZ9BzHg2FjMMNO6-2Nw8ZQUFo2q15Jc-0j6fReS-OayfItkXgBNc_QhD2jjEFoSwSPiTIssd8XAwZnG8XhpGY/s640/Yasuo+Kuniyoshi%252C+Child+Frightened+by+Water%252C+1924%252C+oil+on+canvas%252C+30+%25E2%2585%259B+x+24+1%25E2%2581%258416+inches%252C+%2528Hirshhorn+Museum+and+Sculpture+Garden%252C+Smithsonian+Institution%252C+Washington%252C+DC%2529.jpg" width="510"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yasuo Kuniyoshi, <i>Child Frightened by Water</i>, 1924, oil on canvas, 30 ⅛ x 24 1⁄16 inches (Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC).</td></tr>
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Nevertheless, I’m concerned that Kuniyoshi will not be given his due. I'm worried that the Smithsonian, however prestigious, is the only venue for this show. This is a show that should have travelled – it would have been perfect for <a href="http://www.lacma.org/">LACMA</a>, or the <a href="http://whitney.org/">Whitney</a>. (The Whitney sadly seems to have given up showing earlier American art – I wonder what their art history-oriented curator <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbara_Haskell">Barbara Haskell</a> is doing with her time now?)<br>
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I can't help feeling there would be more interest in Kuniyoshi if this show travelled to a major New York museum as it should have. The New York art world can be very provincial and insular at times, or perhaps I'm being provincial thinking a New York venue would make a difference. Here's a selection of work from the exhibition; judge for yourselves how deserving of a revival it is.<br>
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<b>Early Work:</b><br>
Like many American Modernist painters of this era, Kuniyoshi drew inspiration from American folk art.<br>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix-WiedrhDsSqNVYLrN4Lds6eUeePwUzK3UpjV5fowzbvhn5nsT4ZCDAx1fgxmf0xY_mGa1_d4RKc5J7cpBbKsRYnIzoXKJi9KfnrMHBZHOGhcRWcesleZDnlVvxejjWm-wnBA1Jb6xxg/s1600/Arnold+Newman%252C+Portrait+of+the+Japanese+painter+Yasuo+Kuniyoshi%252C+September+6%252C+1941+in+New+York+City.%2528watermark+-+Getty+Images%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="330" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix-WiedrhDsSqNVYLrN4Lds6eUeePwUzK3UpjV5fowzbvhn5nsT4ZCDAx1fgxmf0xY_mGa1_d4RKc5J7cpBbKsRYnIzoXKJi9KfnrMHBZHOGhcRWcesleZDnlVvxejjWm-wnBA1Jb6xxg/s400/Arnold+Newman%252C+Portrait+of+the+Japanese+painter+Yasuo+Kuniyoshi%252C+September+6%252C+1941+in+New+York+City.%2528watermark+-+Getty+Images%2529.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Arnold Newman, <i>Photo Portrait of the Japanese painter Yasuo Kuniyoshi, September 6, 1941 in New York City </i><i> </i>(watermark - Getty Images). <i style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;"> </i><span style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Kuniyoshi is surrounded by the folk art he collected in Ogunquit, Maine, a place where many of his fellow American Modernists spent their summers and hunted for folk art. </span></td></tr>
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His early work has the flat frontality, simple shapes, tilted up space and clunky proportions that American Modernists so loved about folk art. (Kuniyoshi's work is in the current exhibition <i><a href="http://folkartmuseum.org/exhibitions/folk-art-and-american-modernism">Folk Art and American Modernism</a></i> at the American Folk Art Museum in New York – through September 27th.) On first sight, the art of this period has the light, comical charm of folk art, but there's usually a disconcerting undercurrent to it. <br>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiHny09c2O0bSfZ3iRWir_A0oSH0M9mXCTqxzuD6uYD3EJp-ggH9k50N_GOee9GQa6TZktlKJnMfoaNng4fWLR0f-JzDWI9LSdBNLeSkUydKKilhbWoVh94chTg8I6pvez4VYO-Z9cKOw/s1600/Yasuo+Kuniyoshi%252C+Strong+Woman+with+Child%252C+1925%252C+oil+on+canvas%252C+57+%25C2%25BC+x+44+%25E2%2585%259E+inches+%2528Smithsonian+American+Art+Museum%252C+Gift+of+the+Sara+Roby+Foundation%252C+1986.6.50+Art+%25C2%25A9+Estate+of+Yasuo+Kuniyoshi-Licensed+by+VAGA%252C+New+York%252C+NY%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiHny09c2O0bSfZ3iRWir_A0oSH0M9mXCTqxzuD6uYD3EJp-ggH9k50N_GOee9GQa6TZktlKJnMfoaNng4fWLR0f-JzDWI9LSdBNLeSkUydKKilhbWoVh94chTg8I6pvez4VYO-Z9cKOw/s640/Yasuo+Kuniyoshi%252C+Strong+Woman+with+Child%252C+1925%252C+oil+on+canvas%252C+57+%25C2%25BC+x+44+%25E2%2585%259E+inches+%2528Smithsonian+American+Art+Museum%252C+Gift+of+the+Sara+Roby+Foundation%252C+1986.6.50+Art+%25C2%25A9+Estate+of+Yasuo+Kuniyoshi-Licensed+by+VAGA%252C+New+York%252C+NY%2529.jpg" width="502"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yasuo Kuniyoshi, <i>Strong Woman with Child</i>, 1925, oil on canvas, 57 ¼ x 44 ⅞ inches (Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Sara Roby Foundation, 1986.6.50 Art © Estate of Yasuo Kuniyoshi-Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY).</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnx2rHUFSEz9K_Iy0gEUytC05dVH5d6tX_tqTsLoViPrwrQ7vFVVn-5ifKJx9I8gPR83yzkN5rG3rrJl9C9OQBR_KnBPdQdGP6HcBE0JwGg4xwD2UwaANQtOqIACQAVFh6vmhMo2WFBQU/s1600/Yasuo+Kuniyoshi%252C+The+Swimmer%252C+1924%252C+oil+on+canvas%252C+20+%25C2%25BD+x+30+%25C2%25BD+inches+%2528Columbus+Museum+of+Art%252C+Ohio%253B+Gift+of+Ferdinand+Howald%253B+Art+%25C2%25A9+Estate+of+Yasuo+Kuniyoshi%253ALicensed+by+VAGA%252C+New+York%252C+NY%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="422" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnx2rHUFSEz9K_Iy0gEUytC05dVH5d6tX_tqTsLoViPrwrQ7vFVVn-5ifKJx9I8gPR83yzkN5rG3rrJl9C9OQBR_KnBPdQdGP6HcBE0JwGg4xwD2UwaANQtOqIACQAVFh6vmhMo2WFBQU/s640/Yasuo+Kuniyoshi%252C+The+Swimmer%252C+1924%252C+oil+on+canvas%252C+20+%25C2%25BD+x+30+%25C2%25BD+inches+%2528Columbus+Museum+of+Art%252C+Ohio%253B+Gift+of+Ferdinand+Howald%253B+Art+%25C2%25A9+Estate+of+Yasuo+Kuniyoshi%253ALicensed+by+VAGA%252C+New+York%252C+NY%2529.jpg" width="640"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yasuo Kuniyoshi, <i>The Swimmer,</i> 1924, oil on canvas, 20 ½ x 30 ½ inches (Columbus Museum of Art, Ohio; Gift of Ferdinand Howald, Art © Estate of Yasuo Kuniyoshi/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY).</td></tr>
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<b>War Years:</b><br>
As I described above, these years were especially difficult for Kuniyoshi. Even the surface charm of his early paintings is gone, replaced by tragic subjects such as the desolate landscape with starving dogs (below).<br>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwYrbittZ6Q1g4LynFbQhgA4_RQW5Yu93UowwwzFdb8yxvpJUPwItZRd3vW6dDDvBCA7hO8A3v56XSkcUiQdKpAiXV7BA6i5hkoKH02M2_cr63O645A5K9GNs4CJ8z7seBgSTqKbiZIFg/s1600/Yasuo+Kuniyoshi%252C+Landscape+with+Two+Dogs%252C+1945%252C+oil+on+canvas%252C+10+%25E2%2585%259D+x+18+%25C2%25BD+inches+%2528Fukutake+Collection%252C+Okayama%252C+Japan%252C+Art+%25C2%25A9+Estate+of+Yasuo+Kuniyoshi%253ALicensed+by+VAGA%252C+New+York%252C+NY%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="366" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwYrbittZ6Q1g4LynFbQhgA4_RQW5Yu93UowwwzFdb8yxvpJUPwItZRd3vW6dDDvBCA7hO8A3v56XSkcUiQdKpAiXV7BA6i5hkoKH02M2_cr63O645A5K9GNs4CJ8z7seBgSTqKbiZIFg/s640/Yasuo+Kuniyoshi%252C+Landscape+with+Two+Dogs%252C+1945%252C+oil+on+canvas%252C+10+%25E2%2585%259D+x+18+%25C2%25BD+inches+%2528Fukutake+Collection%252C+Okayama%252C+Japan%252C+Art+%25C2%25A9+Estate+of+Yasuo+Kuniyoshi%253ALicensed+by+VAGA%252C+New+York%252C+NY%2529.jpg" width="640"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yasuo Kuniyoshi, <i>Landscape with Two Dogs</i>, 1945, oil on canvas, 10 ⅝ x 18 ½ inches (Fukutake Collection, Okayama, Japan, Art © Estate of Yasuo Kuniyoshi/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY).</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCvpLMecVOMfzuINP1Qtutjk4gHcLZ3ZghyyGZE3GzwBPW5MwMGLgV-jW6ro5LP8Q0nNNoVx54MmuP9Y45vGyhQcF9iriAvNgC5DuIpZqa6zLESdQtUdwoExZ7JvDbRgttbe8oNjFjoTk/s1600/Yasuo+Kuniyoshi%252C+Mother+and+Daughter%252C+1945%252C+oil+on+canvas%252C+40+%25C2%25BC+x+30+%25C2%25BC+inches+%2528Carnegie+Museum+of+Art%252C+Pittsburgh%253B+Patrons+Art+Fund%253B+Art+%25C2%25A9+Estate+of+Yasuo+Kuniyoshi%253ALicensed+by+VAGA%252C+New+York%252C+NY%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCvpLMecVOMfzuINP1Qtutjk4gHcLZ3ZghyyGZE3GzwBPW5MwMGLgV-jW6ro5LP8Q0nNNoVx54MmuP9Y45vGyhQcF9iriAvNgC5DuIpZqa6zLESdQtUdwoExZ7JvDbRgttbe8oNjFjoTk/s640/Yasuo+Kuniyoshi%252C+Mother+and+Daughter%252C+1945%252C+oil+on+canvas%252C+40+%25C2%25BC+x+30+%25C2%25BC+inches+%2528Carnegie+Museum+of+Art%252C+Pittsburgh%253B+Patrons+Art+Fund%253B+Art+%25C2%25A9+Estate+of+Yasuo+Kuniyoshi%253ALicensed+by+VAGA%252C+New+York%252C+NY%2529.jpg" width="470"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yasuo Kuniyoshi, <i>Mother and Daughter</i>, 1945, oil on canvas, 40 ¼ x 30 ¼ inches (Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, Patrons Art Fund, Art © Estate of Yasuo Kuniyoshi/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY).</td></tr>
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<b>Late work – post war:</b><br>
Kuniyoshi must have been tormented after the war – pleased the war ended and democracy was saved, but horrified by the death and destruction, especially the horrors of the atomic bombs exploded over Japan. In addition, there was the rise of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McCarthyism">McCarthyism</a> when conservative congressmen ridiculed his art and accused him of Communist sympathies. On top of it all, he was losing his popularity and his avant garde legitimacy to the Abstract Expressionists, and was sick from the cancer that eventually killed him. Perhaps because of all this, Kuniyoshi produced what I believe is his best, most expressive and intense art. And Kuniyoshi's artistic range during these years is astounding.<br>
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He made several dark, violent and despairing paintings like <i>Festivities Ended, </i>1947 below (which I assume refers to the war, and to Picasso's <i>Guernica </i>– which he undoubtably saw at the Museum of Modern Art).<br>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCH4eOyNm7q2fAwacefs12SOZYAo5Q7-tnmmr3tqAfMuQCs2g5Yvm3D54R1OlSoeiiqKu51TFIp4LZ3Z0rWvN4fpNoRDOZ_-UclxZ9Siu66dw__Ah16jTeFMQEFfCoKKzNYRWWCvqIu2o/s1600/Yasuo+Kuniyoshi%252C+Festivities+Ended%252C+1947%252C+oil+on+canvas%252C+39+3%25E2%2581%258410+x+69+%25E2%2585%2595+inches+%2528Okayama+Prefectural+Museum+of+Art%252C+Japan+Art+%25C2%25A9+Estate+of+Yasuo+Kuniyoshi-Licensed+by+VAGA%252C+New+York%252C+NY%2529..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCH4eOyNm7q2fAwacefs12SOZYAo5Q7-tnmmr3tqAfMuQCs2g5Yvm3D54R1OlSoeiiqKu51TFIp4LZ3Z0rWvN4fpNoRDOZ_-UclxZ9Siu66dw__Ah16jTeFMQEFfCoKKzNYRWWCvqIu2o/s640/Yasuo+Kuniyoshi%252C+Festivities+Ended%252C+1947%252C+oil+on+canvas%252C+39+3%25E2%2581%258410+x+69+%25E2%2585%2595+inches+%2528Okayama+Prefectural+Museum+of+Art%252C+Japan+Art+%25C2%25A9+Estate+of+Yasuo+Kuniyoshi-Licensed+by+VAGA%252C+New+York%252C+NY%2529..jpg" width="640"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yasuo Kuniyoshi, <i>Festivities Ended,</i> 1947, oil on canvas, 39 3⁄10 x 69 ⅕ inches (Okayama Prefectural Museum of Art, Japan Art © Estate of Yasuo Kuniyoshi-Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY).</td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
And he also made paintings that employed bright cheerful colors; but, like his earlier, ostensibly charming folk-like paintings, these works are superficially appealing but ultimately creepy, even horrifying.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2S3IYScgC2m-wzytDcNeOYIYVGpTqEj7xwsxL61nRrNvLdPNtL_eV15f_ZZpnvBrQPjVlBIJwkDE7k4vpd-v73WQk1WmxaxZWhoHo3m3cGLVZhfhrpqDkDLMVBPv3zL-37_dGsmHbcr8/s1600/Yasuo+Kuniyoshi%252C+Fakirs%252C+1951%252C+oil+on+canvas%252C+50+%25C2%25BC+in+x+32+%25C2%25BC+inches+%2528Smithsonian+American+Art+Museum%252C+Gift+of+the+Sara+Roby+Foundation%252C+1986.6.93+Art+%25C2%25A9+Estate+of+Yasuo+Kuniyoshi-Licensed+by+VAGA%252C+New+York%252C+NY%2529..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2S3IYScgC2m-wzytDcNeOYIYVGpTqEj7xwsxL61nRrNvLdPNtL_eV15f_ZZpnvBrQPjVlBIJwkDE7k4vpd-v73WQk1WmxaxZWhoHo3m3cGLVZhfhrpqDkDLMVBPv3zL-37_dGsmHbcr8/s640/Yasuo+Kuniyoshi%252C+Fakirs%252C+1951%252C+oil+on+canvas%252C+50+%25C2%25BC+in+x+32+%25C2%25BC+inches+%2528Smithsonian+American+Art+Museum%252C+Gift+of+the+Sara+Roby+Foundation%252C+1986.6.93+Art+%25C2%25A9+Estate+of+Yasuo+Kuniyoshi-Licensed+by+VAGA%252C+New+York%252C+NY%2529..jpg" width="406"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yasuo Kuniyoshi, <i>Fakirs</i>, 1951, oil on canvas, 50 ¼ in x 32 ¼ inches (Smithsonian American Art Museum, gift of the Sara Roby Foundation, 1986.6.93 Art © Estate of Yasuo Kuniyoshi-Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY).</td></tr>
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My favorite Kuniyoshi paintings, and I think his most original, are his late sumi ink paintings where he applied the ink very thick and scratched into it to create highlights. Compared with his earlier ink paintings from the 1920s, and compared with traditional Japanese art, this work is less decorative and a lot rougher, and has tremendous physical presence even though it's small and on paper. And the subject matter is horrifying.<br>
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Unfortunately, the power of these paintings can't be captured in reproduction – too bad the show didn't travel.<br>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBu3vNM_IbKpTqFL-rYcPvUofYxMP0-nNR7smjvfmt0oWCnJmjcaIn16nTjiFJS0179x-B1fLQ0Wd0XfWrlLmcYIaftGgblUojJ1sJnCHKOoEm_zDRJ5S5giZSo5vM9XSk6-TxTrFyqig/s1600/Yasuo+Kuniyoshi%252C+Work+at+Dawn%252C+1952%252C+pen+and+ink+and+brush+and+ink+on+paper%252C+18+%25C2%25BD+x+28+%25C2%25BC+inches+%2528Whitney+Museum+of+American+Art%252C+New+York%253B+Gift+of+Sara+Mazo+Kuniyoshi+in+honor+of+Lloyd+Goodrich+Art+%25C2%25A9+Estate+of+Yasuo+Kuniyoshi-Licensed+by+VAGA%252C+New+Y.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="412" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBu3vNM_IbKpTqFL-rYcPvUofYxMP0-nNR7smjvfmt0oWCnJmjcaIn16nTjiFJS0179x-B1fLQ0Wd0XfWrlLmcYIaftGgblUojJ1sJnCHKOoEm_zDRJ5S5giZSo5vM9XSk6-TxTrFyqig/s640/Yasuo+Kuniyoshi%252C+Work+at+Dawn%252C+1952%252C+pen+and+ink+and+brush+and+ink+on+paper%252C+18+%25C2%25BD+x+28+%25C2%25BC+inches+%2528Whitney+Museum+of+American+Art%252C+New+York%253B+Gift+of+Sara+Mazo+Kuniyoshi+in+honor+of+Lloyd+Goodrich+Art+%25C2%25A9+Estate+of+Yasuo+Kuniyoshi-Licensed+by+VAGA%252C+New+Y.jpg" width="640"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yasuo Kuniyoshi, <i>Work at Dawn,</i> 1952, pen and ink and brush and ink on paper, 18 ½ x 28 ¼ inches (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, gift of Sara Mazo Kuniyoshi in honor of Lloyd Goodrich Art © Estate of Yasuo Kuniyoshi-Licensed by VAGA, New York). <span style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">This is difficult to see in reproduction, but it's an ant carrying a dead praying mantis.</span><span style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;"> </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZL7qVOq-YLoJ4wGtIPDidazTBoOMbq83TUx6R0zCNtpGylb1vgOTA4h0K8bEKqoCkIWtsmDpYN9727mAx039YMODBSHJ0EPz8SJUbMLnYS0cOKd5PqAV6msRSSRUwB5JAayE4IDOuwUo/s1600/Yasuo+Kuniyoshi%252C+Fish+Head%252C+1952%252C+ink+and+wash+on+paper%252C+22+x+28+inches+%2528Art+%25C2%25A9+Estate+of+Yasuo+Kuniyoshi%253ALicensed+by+VAGA%252C+New+York%252C+NY%252C+Image+copyright+%25C2%25A9+The+Metropolitan+Museum+of+Art%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="510" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZL7qVOq-YLoJ4wGtIPDidazTBoOMbq83TUx6R0zCNtpGylb1vgOTA4h0K8bEKqoCkIWtsmDpYN9727mAx039YMODBSHJ0EPz8SJUbMLnYS0cOKd5PqAV6msRSSRUwB5JAayE4IDOuwUo/s640/Yasuo+Kuniyoshi%252C+Fish+Head%252C+1952%252C+ink+and+wash+on+paper%252C+22+x+28+inches+%2528Art+%25C2%25A9+Estate+of+Yasuo+Kuniyoshi%253ALicensed+by+VAGA%252C+New+York%252C+NY%252C+Image+copyright+%25C2%25A9+The+Metropolitan+Museum+of+Art%2529.jpg" width="640"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Yasuo Kuniyoshi, <i>Fish Head</i>, 1952, ink and wash on paper, 22 x 28 inches (Art © Estate of Yasuo Kuniyoshi/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY, Image copyright © The Metropolitan Museum of Art).</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrwMMJXbvq-spMwMXp0dRGqiqtoy_xcXPJd3QCyWE_0si_ckMmT4HvaeRauRjwj7KDTuBtxlNMf9WNymKxT8UXDD6Jm2dtNQZbNzJdWgwGJj5kRiThW4gruFrBUA-_co7eKxw7-NiQfHQ/s1600/1953-oldtree.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrwMMJXbvq-spMwMXp0dRGqiqtoy_xcXPJd3QCyWE_0si_ckMmT4HvaeRauRjwj7KDTuBtxlNMf9WNymKxT8UXDD6Jm2dtNQZbNzJdWgwGJj5kRiThW4gruFrBUA-_co7eKxw7-NiQfHQ/s640/1953-oldtree.jpg" width="504"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yasuo Kuniyoshi, <i>Old Tree</i>, c. 1953, ink on paper, 28 ½ x 22 ⅝ inches (Delaware Art Museum, Wilmington, Special Purchase Fund, 1953, Art © Estate of Yasuo Kuniyoshi/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY).</td></tr>
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Charles Kesslerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07068758792988742599noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1522800471258383718.post-538035664662397862015-06-23T15:54:00.001-04:002015-06-23T15:54:34.877-04:00The New Whitney MuseumBy Charles Kessler<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq3ecOKEOCfr9kr9_cGf-KW1936CRpOGl535TnIC-pNaZ2oPRTFo7jxEScGqS6ZJ42w-8OLtuUXaSIIB7gfpVTNr_-2r8GgR3jo5SfqTUnYyc6-OLOMMG3vcUKB-hXU7_Ys0n4lCfLzSg/s1600/Photo%252C+Nic+Lehoux+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="560" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq3ecOKEOCfr9kr9_cGf-KW1936CRpOGl535TnIC-pNaZ2oPRTFo7jxEScGqS6ZJ42w-8OLtuUXaSIIB7gfpVTNr_-2r8GgR3jo5SfqTUnYyc6-OLOMMG3vcUKB-hXU7_Ys0n4lCfLzSg/s640/Photo%252C+Nic+Lehoux+.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Seventh floor terrace of the New Whitney Museum (<a href="http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2015/jun/25/new-whitney-museum/">New York Review of Books</a>, image by Nic Lehoux).</td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
I hate the museum that Renzo Piano designed for <a href="http://leftbankartblog.blogspot.com/2015/01/the-new-harvard-art-museums-day-1.html">Harvard</a>, a ponderous bunker of a building, and his addition to the <a href="http://leftbankartblog.blogspot.com/2012/04/renzo-pianos-addition-to-isabella.html">Gardner Museum</a> rudely dominates the original museum (see below); so I was suspicious of all the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/02/arts/design/new-whitney-museum-signifies-a-changing-new-york-art-scene.html?_r=0">acclaim</a> his design for the new <a href="http://whitney.org/">Whitney Museum</a> was getting.</div>
<div class="p2">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig4m_n0KJAgbtMDNgE8HJge8g53JIb9bz9JiCIy9pzWpZwxVserFxPlXblHS3ncoAgu4Se-LAKtyoeQdWszztR4eRpr0Cb7PkyDZaSHETiic-8PpbsgijZvbPOvwhdspyFQNHkoC3C6Eo/s1600/Screen+Shot+2015-06-18+at+Thursday%252C+June+18%252C+2015+++++11.14.43+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="166" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig4m_n0KJAgbtMDNgE8HJge8g53JIb9bz9JiCIy9pzWpZwxVserFxPlXblHS3ncoAgu4Se-LAKtyoeQdWszztR4eRpr0Cb7PkyDZaSHETiic-8PpbsgijZvbPOvwhdspyFQNHkoC3C6Eo/s640/Screen+Shot+2015-06-18+at+Thursday%252C+June+18%252C+2015+++++11.14.43+AM.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On the left: Renzo Piano's new Harvard Museums, view from Prescott Street; on the right: Renzo Piano’s addition to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum with the original Venetian-style palazzo on the right.</td></tr>
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</div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">I'm not going to take back anything I said about his other museums (<a href="http://leftbankartblog.blogspot.com/2015/01/the-new-harvard-art-museums-day-1.html">here</a> and <a href="http://leftbankartblog.blogspot.com/2012/04/renzo-pianos-addition-to-isabella.html%20]">here</a>), but the Whitney is the best new museum I know of since the Getty Center in 1997 and the <a href="http://leftbankartblog.blogspot.com/2013/02/yales-new-art-museum.html">Yale Gallery</a> in 2012-13. A</span>nd in some ways it’s even better because the new Whitney is unique among museums in that it succeeds in creating a welcoming and convivial atmosphere.<br />
<span class="s1"><br /></span><span class="s1">The new entrance to the Brooklyn Museum aspires to be a welcoming space, but it's so uncomfortable, awkward and discordant that it </span>almost feels hostile.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPx7OwOC04D0MQDhwn9QwVAOo8mD76Nmz3xNIg4AYpWb8NKy4vuFidyymkLFYP1FrYMmUdA1LD60DbHztYeoZxO1gSlYDdGQ4gnYVhxoF5RMdCrl_1xubqjRh02k-NVJMbsRlmrvEt_I8/s1600/brooklyn-museum-02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPx7OwOC04D0MQDhwn9QwVAOo8mD76Nmz3xNIg4AYpWb8NKy4vuFidyymkLFYP1FrYMmUdA1LD60DbHztYeoZxO1gSlYDdGQ4gnYVhxoF5RMdCrl_1xubqjRh02k-NVJMbsRlmrvEt_I8/s640/brooklyn-museum-02.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Rubin Pavilion entrance to the Brooklyn Museum. </td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1">And the new <a href="http://www.moma.org/about/building">proposal</a> for yet another MoMA expansion, this one by Diller Scofidio + Renfro, is also trying to be "</span><a href="http://www.moma.org/about/building">engaging and welcoming,</a>" but it looks more like a department store, and it has been universally <a href="http://www.vulture.com/2014/01/saltz-the-new-moma-expansion-is-a-mess.html">panned</a> for its "<a href="http://www.newrepublic.com/article/116203/momas-expansion-plan-disaster">market-driven populism</a>."<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj-G2NpmK9MsVKyvt9vGg9M4eVpVAhThHVMqXq20zRqlXp3KiPnoQg3p6t4BEbZ8S6AgCr7iei4sBlGij2Gqrmun0WESuv9MadcMMP5BHW6eVkJmekXH-F5p8-JFW1gyXHJtRutpicJrU/s1600/ywest8svoa6pt23o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="380" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj-G2NpmK9MsVKyvt9vGg9M4eVpVAhThHVMqXq20zRqlXp3KiPnoQg3p6t4BEbZ8S6AgCr7iei4sBlGij2Gqrmun0WESuv9MadcMMP5BHW6eVkJmekXH-F5p8-JFW1gyXHJtRutpicJrU/s640/ywest8svoa6pt23o.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> Diller Scofidio + Renfro's proposed new entrance to the Museum of Modern Art in New York. </td></tr>
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(A better way for MoMA to be engaging and welcoming would be for them to remove that obnoxious wall on 54th Street that blocks the view of their sculpture garden.)</div>
</div>
<div class="p2">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiDLuXiu2f6ockZjECxd5LVscCwb_XJC0BmPmt6iy9yS01ZLeO7n9u8slfgFZ-SsCvNIfghL9ApIM4JaqR_j7tENBn9EXYaumraQQyaFSWgVBxs0CwiGgf8UH9i1VR_E1FxTSsOSWABiw/s1600/Wall+along+54th+Street+blocking+the+view+of+MoMA%2527s+sculpture+Garden.+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiDLuXiu2f6ockZjECxd5LVscCwb_XJC0BmPmt6iy9yS01ZLeO7n9u8slfgFZ-SsCvNIfghL9ApIM4JaqR_j7tENBn9EXYaumraQQyaFSWgVBxs0CwiGgf8UH9i1VR_E1FxTSsOSWABiw/s640/Wall+along+54th+Street+blocking+the+view+of+MoMA%2527s+sculpture+Garden.+.jpg" width="474" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wall along 54th Street blocking the view of MoMA's sculpture Garden. </td></tr>
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<span class="s1"></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span>With colorful outside seats and tables, and food trucks nearby, the new Whitney entrance is as festive and leisurely as an Italian Piazza.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLSyiFnzuYvHgQkUOaMIlevbSdim0dnpdyxvQrWybYwjWEkxSGBcLPat_0-fW86I7StH6Fktt1_SyoWSEhVWXmNbC51BC_PVn9foC5n_lQO8l8A9-vnXlkzF667Tg6WtzGq9d-jLhxTbU/s1600/Outside+the+Whitney.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLSyiFnzuYvHgQkUOaMIlevbSdim0dnpdyxvQrWybYwjWEkxSGBcLPat_0-fW86I7StH6Fktt1_SyoWSEhVWXmNbC51BC_PVn9foC5n_lQO8l8A9-vnXlkzF667Tg6WtzGq9d-jLhxTbU/s640/Outside+the+Whitney.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Plaza outside the Whitney entrance.</td></tr>
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</div>
<div class="p2">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
The Whitney has this same gracious and inviting air on the inside too.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4ARMMxV23jLk_uTlb4nHC92ze2xPBJezrJs9Vu6__pv-weANRq3mTV4lPETD9kRERPOXa1Gd0ZX7o2XwXzDJqIVntJSXMlxV3zaAS3SPFjENKZlj_FxrOIQ73Ec5HRdeIJLnhodOUH3s/s1600/Eighth+floor+cafe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4ARMMxV23jLk_uTlb4nHC92ze2xPBJezrJs9Vu6__pv-weANRq3mTV4lPETD9kRERPOXa1Gd0ZX7o2XwXzDJqIVntJSXMlxV3zaAS3SPFjENKZlj_FxrOIQ73Ec5HRdeIJLnhodOUH3s/s640/Eighth+floor+cafe.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cafe on the eighth floor deck</td></tr>
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I don't know if it was a matter of having a better client, or Piano just got better as an architect, but the Whitney is about as different from the Harvard Museums as it could possibly be. The Harvard building, with its solid, blank wall, is obnoxiously hostile to the street and its neighbors.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRxWDbfaiYb6HT1aWbjax9lDJn37b_c3PeQPHjG3kTqH8WqHbOSHGhfkNjSaiUbJxtnkHLZs5-Ek5s4vwQD-75RhlPaWVKL8BBnQSI3Xa-8uAQ1Fjusa0e4Xzy9T-DFTFyDazub8gAy60/s1600/The+exterior+of+Harvard+Art+Museums.+Photography+by+Peter+Vanderwarker..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="388" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRxWDbfaiYb6HT1aWbjax9lDJn37b_c3PeQPHjG3kTqH8WqHbOSHGhfkNjSaiUbJxtnkHLZs5-Ek5s4vwQD-75RhlPaWVKL8BBnQSI3Xa-8uAQ1Fjusa0e4Xzy9T-DFTFyDazub8gAy60/s640/The+exterior+of+Harvard+Art+Museums.+Photography+by+Peter+Vanderwarker..jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The exterior of Harvard Art Museums. <a href="http://www.interiordesign.net/articles/detail/36010-renzo-pianos-surprise-material-for-harvard-art-museums/">Photography</a> by Peter Vanderwarker.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td><div class="p2">
<div style="text-align: left;">
But the decks and exterior stairwells of the new Whitney visually open the building up to its surroundings and integrate it with the nearby High Line. From the street below, the people climbing the outside stairways and looking out from the decks of the Whitney seem to be the vertical equivalent of the people promenading along the High Line. </div>
</div>
<div class="p2">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0PtSa_TBIdUn6aC2G3eTwh8PyBiocheC0EOKtR8p80YF7W_pWgGUh896BmBA-Whx24OM0JQ5tgR6lG1sV5mLtCfZRnUwgvLfxoMlIhV_yKg-qeHd0NX1kmTcWJrjrV8owDU-muJgW3kc/s1600/Attachment-1.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0PtSa_TBIdUn6aC2G3eTwh8PyBiocheC0EOKtR8p80YF7W_pWgGUh896BmBA-Whx24OM0JQ5tgR6lG1sV5mLtCfZRnUwgvLfxoMlIhV_yKg-qeHd0NX1kmTcWJrjrV8owDU-muJgW3kc/s640/Attachment-1.jpeg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">I wasn't able to take a good photograph myself; however, I got this excellent one from <a href="https://photographybykent.wordpress.com/page/2/">photographybykent</a>.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
The entrance to the Harvard Museums is so insignificant I thought I'd mistakenly come in through a side entrance, whereas the Whitney's entire ground floor is glass and visually open to the street. As if this isn't enough, Whitney employees give you a warm welcome when you enter. </div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMJodbeByHrwa-AHdnIIbKcsv9KSbi3bl3UBI2pmlXVkmPTp1eFPIf3yYlR71ORuIIHarXdxwkl-81lIoIFjlbKUXtPreM7vpJzpD2FSN4VY3talsVkD5oT-yAb8VwJDEK5k9J-jyOhvw/s1600/Entrance.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMJodbeByHrwa-AHdnIIbKcsv9KSbi3bl3UBI2pmlXVkmPTp1eFPIf3yYlR71ORuIIHarXdxwkl-81lIoIFjlbKUXtPreM7vpJzpD2FSN4VY3talsVkD5oT-yAb8VwJDEK5k9J-jyOhvw/s640/Entrance.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Ground floor entry of the new Whitney Museum. </td></tr>
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</div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Piano's signature interior stairways, which look so corporate and cold at the Harvard Museums, are lively and fun here, </span>mainly because of Felix Gonzalez-Torres's witty stairwell installation.</div>
<div class="p2">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQgqYSKJF_RJgDflzVo1xmVike2Wvj7DhEoxn0pSSHJax6y7tGgvQ2XclmuAAgR64BfEeAbGczXn_JSnVVvlSgWmdVf1gYF_n5ie56vzK-V3LuLTrZphPQ1r5ErkT3Zz2FreGOSFcVOow/s1600/Felix+Gonzalez-Torres%252C+Untitled%252C+1994+-+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQgqYSKJF_RJgDflzVo1xmVike2Wvj7DhEoxn0pSSHJax6y7tGgvQ2XclmuAAgR64BfEeAbGczXn_JSnVVvlSgWmdVf1gYF_n5ie56vzK-V3LuLTrZphPQ1r5ErkT3Zz2FreGOSFcVOow/s640/Felix+Gonzalez-Torres%252C+Untitled%252C+1994+-+2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Untitled, 1994.</td></tr>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXO43Sci0PpW0xiFGRkpUx9S5Xcwi2AV7LQeS3HjozcOmTEI2-bR9obEjEVTFTsPwsChmCj6l5bW9oUtyiZHNokdS3S25n2pzGCFep25ZtUVorcyqB_OStMbT9B16-U_qePA_4LFm1c5o/s1600/Outside+stairways+and+decks.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXO43Sci0PpW0xiFGRkpUx9S5Xcwi2AV7LQeS3HjozcOmTEI2-bR9obEjEVTFTsPwsChmCj6l5bW9oUtyiZHNokdS3S25n2pzGCFep25ZtUVorcyqB_OStMbT9B16-U_qePA_4LFm1c5o/s640/Outside+stairways+and+decks.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px; text-align: center;">Outside stairways and decks.</td></tr>
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At the Harvard Museums a lot of space is wasted with a disproportionately grandiose five-story atrium – something that unfortunately has become obligatory for new museums. I'm pleased to report that there's no wasteful atrium here. This was undoubtably the decision of the Whitney board who chose not to have a gigantic ostentatious space for fundraising galas, but instead to use more space for the display of art. They will probably have their galas in the galleries, a more appropriate space for a museum anyway. </div>
<div class="p1">
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<div class="p2">
And what beautiful galleries they are! Art looks fresh and alive in them. The rooms are high and light, and, since the walls and lights can be moved, different size galleries and configurations of the space are possible. Whatever the size of the galleries, they still feel intimate, and they don't distract from the art in any way.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6pTuB3vPILp43G1a75cL55ZLwz0Tg2PI-zcz1lOOZJhZxJJlP8MIWWpTPdugQpWIn1e_ZFOf-lDH3KC5FX-kDBe07GS334oNs2i_ZhA1ePziEwjXbvsL6IDok9mJIcJdu0Teg0xJxvxo/s1600/Seventh+Floor+gallery.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6pTuB3vPILp43G1a75cL55ZLwz0Tg2PI-zcz1lOOZJhZxJJlP8MIWWpTPdugQpWIn1e_ZFOf-lDH3KC5FX-kDBe07GS334oNs2i_ZhA1ePziEwjXbvsL6IDok9mJIcJdu0Teg0xJxvxo/s640/Seventh+Floor+gallery.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px; text-align: left;">Seventh Floor gallery.</span></td></tr>
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<div class="p2">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvFC2XNfBbsIViNOgdhOLePtOv2HlvDWiTEwhoCISA12drCmNsT8ajjlSx91wzywZQnN8l2A3UbEQSyh7aPEJh9xW4qIWSfhAhvpWCeBBossR6BF5SBuGFZmtBA1ZIXpwKAEDXyXi3ADU/s1600/Eighth+floor+gallery.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvFC2XNfBbsIViNOgdhOLePtOv2HlvDWiTEwhoCISA12drCmNsT8ajjlSx91wzywZQnN8l2A3UbEQSyh7aPEJh9xW4qIWSfhAhvpWCeBBossR6BF5SBuGFZmtBA1ZIXpwKAEDXyXi3ADU/s640/Eighth+floor+gallery.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Eighth floor gallery</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii2gfuB9DLmwQ-ZTbC5y8NIzhQwtUR76cxuXyNpFXjyhd_5-XOv52Sbux9qKrqShZcDK24VNHgQrCrH5X_14kN3RyU9rYAQcxyRQe-fXDKYW70qoYAU0J1nz2Y20lMAb9F_1R1VRff-Fo/s1600/Fifth+Floor+Gallery.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii2gfuB9DLmwQ-ZTbC5y8NIzhQwtUR76cxuXyNpFXjyhd_5-XOv52Sbux9qKrqShZcDK24VNHgQrCrH5X_14kN3RyU9rYAQcxyRQe-fXDKYW70qoYAU0J1nz2Y20lMAb9F_1R1VRff-Fo/s640/Fifth+Floor+Gallery.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fifth Floor Gallery</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTh0_0Jj3tPcO9PZUOgfQwbBKVNAKgkGlJhDGxCdEeBuhipphwYyp4M-946C7yPNeQ-c2FuO2hNiKZiCMQAIkfZeGNkI57j0r3wEEGfAlkISIxeDy7lR2OjBOwNQDw8gRxAuuOGBb7Ev0/s1600/Seventh+Floor+gallery%252C+Alexander+Calder%2527s+Circus%252C+1926-31.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTh0_0Jj3tPcO9PZUOgfQwbBKVNAKgkGlJhDGxCdEeBuhipphwYyp4M-946C7yPNeQ-c2FuO2hNiKZiCMQAIkfZeGNkI57j0r3wEEGfAlkISIxeDy7lR2OjBOwNQDw8gRxAuuOGBb7Ev0/s640/Seventh+Floor+gallery%252C+Alexander+Calder%2527s+Circus%252C+1926-31.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Seventh Floor gallery, Alexander Calder's Circus, 1926-31.</td></tr>
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The Whitney also has an all-purpose 170-seat black box theater (a neutral theater space with a movable seating area, a movable stage, and a flexible lighting system), and it's a beauty. They've had music and <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/23/arts/dance/review-merce-cunninghams-crises-opens-dance-at-the-new-whitney.html?ref=dance&_r=0">dance concerts</a> there already. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVvtkNnfh0N63erz-coxItzLjl8AQT2RGE1mnYPr5iY0HoXgbIgReaHV-7naIkF6rmHqc6vWrsqha5I_8rTjb1atxPtnAdP0i3sH-qYDrmTrnu-p6oWPx9a3Twv3AUhIE0g0OJeblReZQ/s1600/Black+box+theater.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVvtkNnfh0N63erz-coxItzLjl8AQT2RGE1mnYPr5iY0HoXgbIgReaHV-7naIkF6rmHqc6vWrsqha5I_8rTjb1atxPtnAdP0i3sH-qYDrmTrnu-p6oWPx9a3Twv3AUhIE0g0OJeblReZQ/s640/Black+box+theater.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px; text-align: left;">The Susan and John Hess Family Theater. </span></td></tr>
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</div>
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<span class="s1">And finally, one small but telling thing: at a time when museums are taking away seats to make more room to push crowds through, they considerately provide several pleasant places to sit and enjoy the view, or watch the parade of people, or to just rest up. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSstVIi3grOu1AAJT3EoNqyzMFzzEfGAvPfjOGqLM8DZuVvWQjIETGJlT089RD1kMBcP9K88cMrBuTVd_b4alM3vcmlVcixjv7Ctafot6lLH9QronzOJ7eIQajrH1TPNptRQ0wrlZg_NE/s1600/Mary+Heilmann+Chairs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSstVIi3grOu1AAJT3EoNqyzMFzzEfGAvPfjOGqLM8DZuVvWQjIETGJlT089RD1kMBcP9K88cMrBuTVd_b4alM3vcmlVcixjv7Ctafot6lLH9QronzOJ7eIQajrH1TPNptRQ0wrlZg_NE/s640/Mary+Heilmann+Chairs.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chairs were designed by Mary Heilmann to "encourage visitors to interact with one another and the cityscape beyond."</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif-6ujCBn7YeIJdaGfXG0jXRGMvFhXpOmFx6dInd3qd1aAFqE01n61Lta7JcTghEXgfES83x3lXXDCq1-M9ikCfEmAImkdnuniL05v3Tw7KFm0kjdIMQzclgxDz2ez25DDmqXPWeGucrY/s1600/Seating+area+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif-6ujCBn7YeIJdaGfXG0jXRGMvFhXpOmFx6dInd3qd1aAFqE01n61Lta7JcTghEXgfES83x3lXXDCq1-M9ikCfEmAImkdnuniL05v3Tw7KFm0kjdIMQzclgxDz2ez25DDmqXPWeGucrY/s640/Seating+area+2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Seating area overlooking the High Line.</td></tr>
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</div>
Charles Kesslerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07068758792988742599noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1522800471258383718.post-63129824670443263342015-06-02T14:47:00.001-04:002015-06-04T21:15:37.832-04:00Retrospective ReflectionsBy Charles Kessler<br>
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As I wrote in the previous <a href="http://leftbankartblog.blogspot.com/2015/05/why-i-quit-painting.html">post</a>, I quit painting about eight years ago and was about to throw away all the art I had in storage when I was offered a retrospective. I've been reluctant to write about the work itself because, while it isn't unethical to write about one's own work, there's something about it that makes me uncomfortable. But it's easier to write about it knowing I'm not doing it to advance my career (I quit, remember), and I'm not making any money on the show (100% goes to Art House Productions). Besides, the insights I got from seeing 30 years of my paintings in one space might be of interest.<br>
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Some things were a complete revelation, but mostly I was surprised at the extent to which certain themes appear in my work. Here is a representative sampling of the works in my retrospective supplemented with other work that, for various reasons, was not included, and some brief commentary about what I learned.<br>
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One thing that should have been obvious but was a revelation to me: my work started out large (the oldest painting in the show is 74 x 160 inches) and generally got smaller and smaller until I was finally making work that was only about 2 or 3 inches. </div>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0PB2CFXlny793laT07IISLmOoM2F1itAeicJw2inaqd2R7vNbmCrxGoIsOIL8FL-_pmuyMMQFV2zI_PiuCOEF86_35gbuzXuL3frx8RE1HU0FyEEuBVt_qAMaggJOY_hjFsSeILjJ7G8/s1600/Indian+Forest+Backdrop%252C+1979-80-A.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="436" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0PB2CFXlny793laT07IISLmOoM2F1itAeicJw2inaqd2R7vNbmCrxGoIsOIL8FL-_pmuyMMQFV2zI_PiuCOEF86_35gbuzXuL3frx8RE1HU0FyEEuBVt_qAMaggJOY_hjFsSeILjJ7G8/s640/Indian+Forest+Backdrop%252C+1979-80-A.jpg" width="640"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;"><i>Indian Forest Backdrop</i>, 1979-80, acrylic on paper, 74 x 160 inches.</td></tr>
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As large as <i>Indian Forest Backdrop</i> is, it was part of an even larger tableau:<br>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB2kN8xgx8LAgYkXDMwSWcUc4RkLojNjOmY56AyuuLlGkEk3qjNM66tlFD5NJd68mCehJ-q6v-UDU3A4FPGyOt2ElgZzBzyNnHP2QNIuUAa5pxbATg8mY8TxvykMeOL4LlXleczDkaNlM/s1600/Indian+Forest+Tableau%252C+1979-80+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="432" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB2kN8xgx8LAgYkXDMwSWcUc4RkLojNjOmY56AyuuLlGkEk3qjNM66tlFD5NJd68mCehJ-q6v-UDU3A4FPGyOt2ElgZzBzyNnHP2QNIuUAa5pxbATg8mY8TxvykMeOL4LlXleczDkaNlM/s640/Indian+Forest+Tableau%252C+1979-80+copy.jpg" width="640"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;"><i>Indian Forest Tableau,</i> 1979-80, room size, 22 x 24 feet, Jan Baum Gallery, Los Angeles. I was heavily influenced here by an exhibition I saw of very theatrical Northwest Coast Native American art. </td></tr>
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Below are paintings from 2000-2004 that vary in height. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqhTTyt-oQcZNtVvcLPwBXxAdR0f8IhmwgkKp21ZIDeuSka3vbvwItf7XSTOKFGOiOMBenfpuynvoybZCD1kzbrEo_aGB-l4FQJAkLdrxNjkh9xp_2szlRGJxIihHI0Vpm4XE4k4ziYNg/s1600/Screen+Shot+2015-06-01+at+Monday%252C+June+1%252C+2015+++++1.41.47+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqhTTyt-oQcZNtVvcLPwBXxAdR0f8IhmwgkKp21ZIDeuSka3vbvwItf7XSTOKFGOiOMBenfpuynvoybZCD1kzbrEo_aGB-l4FQJAkLdrxNjkh9xp_2szlRGJxIihHI0Vpm4XE4k4ziYNg/s640/Screen+Shot+2015-06-01+at+Monday%252C+June+1%252C+2015+++++1.41.47+PM.png" width="640"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From the left: 9 inches, 10 inches and 3 inches high.</td></tr>
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Toward the end of this post I discuss the last work I ever made. They're called "Pocket Paintings," and are even smaller, 2 - 3 inches.<br>
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My work also became simpler, more elemental and more abstract.<br>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6QJuMW2qkalKjRjzTfnRBRFHZ142ZCP7Hba06TPbbOW3mPgYRFBLb1jcIR_E2tDWFKQX6hCPasAQ79Y217Xq4Rk_W7dmJRYB1S8BY7sJBleV1i_LnJZgrLwj3oIamEENSVip_CT8RYT4/s1600/Traniscape%252C+1988%252C+acrylic+on+jute%252C+55+%25C2%25BD+x+36+inches..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6QJuMW2qkalKjRjzTfnRBRFHZ142ZCP7Hba06TPbbOW3mPgYRFBLb1jcIR_E2tDWFKQX6hCPasAQ79Y217Xq4Rk_W7dmJRYB1S8BY7sJBleV1i_LnJZgrLwj3oIamEENSVip_CT8RYT4/s640/Traniscape%252C+1988%252C+acrylic+on+jute%252C+55+%25C2%25BD+x+36+inches..jpg" width="427"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Trainscape</i>, 1988, acrylic on jute, 55 ½ x 36 inches (Photo: Vincent Romaniello). This is one of the first works in which I cut out the shapes and glued them to the surface, butted up to each other like a puzzle. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3eT3OEecSHBuCuCW9WfpTRm5M3GHlynYn9pkmmxdIxKbFx42rct5YRY9VpGpW8WJ1Zrr2totv2m5jsahreCdP-s3ikXZs1uoLeokVyfXNibSIGo0rLi2taUxkXxHZJZ9e6drsuTrDEOs/s1600/Screen+Shot+2015-06-01+at+Monday%252C+June+1%252C+2015+++++3.20.48+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="628" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3eT3OEecSHBuCuCW9WfpTRm5M3GHlynYn9pkmmxdIxKbFx42rct5YRY9VpGpW8WJ1Zrr2totv2m5jsahreCdP-s3ikXZs1uoLeokVyfXNibSIGo0rLi2taUxkXxHZJZ9e6drsuTrDEOs/s640/Screen+Shot+2015-06-01+at+Monday%252C+June+1%252C+2015+++++3.20.48+PM.png" width="640"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From the left: <i>1992-N,</i> 1992, acrylic on wood, 30 ¾ x 7 inches, 1993-J, 1993, alkyd on linen, 35 x 6 x 3 ½ inches, and 1993-G, alkyd on wood, 36 x 6 x 4 ½ inches.</td></tr>
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I always knew I was influenced by two very different artist that I was friends with in Los Angeles, <a href="http://irondavis.com/">Ron Davis</a> and <a href="http://leftbankartblog.blogspot.com/2011/03/charles-garabedian-retrospective.html">Charles Garabedian</a>, but I was surprised by how pervasive their influence was. From Davis I derived three-dimensional illusions of geometric objects and a vivid color sensibility. </div>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPMlLnG5y1Zb0cr3Ws5BCvTrV_R47CUylqjjhFO8vdCusOYttOQj7YAf2s7PBzZGl9CxYaLdzqjYyvtD5nXXVBO6BDSW2njb91BzNKao5ButEReoQbt6lHhWRJV_O4cHCFx6buAmMNxFY/s1600/1989-C%252C+1989%252C+acrylic+and+grit+on+wood%252C+7+x+90+inches.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="51" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPMlLnG5y1Zb0cr3Ws5BCvTrV_R47CUylqjjhFO8vdCusOYttOQj7YAf2s7PBzZGl9CxYaLdzqjYyvtD5nXXVBO6BDSW2njb91BzNKao5ButEReoQbt6lHhWRJV_O4cHCFx6buAmMNxFY/s640/1989-C%252C+1989%252C+acrylic+and+grit+on+wood%252C+7+x+90+inches.jpg" width="640"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;"><i>1989-C,</i> 1989, acrylic and grit on wood, 7 x 90 inches. Over the years I’ve made quite a few wide skinny paintings like this one. I like that they can be installed in unusual spaces like above doors and windows.</td></tr>
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I love rich, bright color, and I'm especially pleased when the colors brighten and enliven each other.<br>
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I was influenced by Garabedian's muscular, aggressive drawing, and, even more important for my work, the raw physical way he uses materials. </div>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwRzE9UrBrc2FGKCrIMIDN7m1Nancy4weykzVFEsME1sExi5xrsz98_UtWJDvdRbOkZGVWnGzTTRCWuuC7h1_j4tQ8UGwPqHB983qReANbMpe1ibcpE56g9tP9w7DZ81GJa4qNZ_aiYpo/s1600/IMG_2280.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwRzE9UrBrc2FGKCrIMIDN7m1Nancy4weykzVFEsME1sExi5xrsz98_UtWJDvdRbOkZGVWnGzTTRCWuuC7h1_j4tQ8UGwPqHB983qReANbMpe1ibcpE56g9tP9w7DZ81GJa4qNZ_aiYpo/s640/IMG_2280.jpg" width="477"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;"><i>Untitled</i>, 1984, acrylic, glitter, grit on bamboo shade, 64 x 48 inches. </td></tr>
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My interest in the physical, tactile qualities of painting has been there from the beginning, and became more and more prominent, even in my abstract works.</div>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoaJBdPu0wEGpZLdWLx01n-RXBigIK_1Ju5hLliWHgre9bfJjtIqiWDyN4hWkb_fvGZ41DNtH4WMvxBeH9hDD8qncL7Wf27ZZuZpmsQqLVTwcSmWuCQeus50CTd5WUtkA3FRAvOxf5rqY/s1600/IMG_2396.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoaJBdPu0wEGpZLdWLx01n-RXBigIK_1Ju5hLliWHgre9bfJjtIqiWDyN4hWkb_fvGZ41DNtH4WMvxBeH9hDD8qncL7Wf27ZZuZpmsQqLVTwcSmWuCQeus50CTd5WUtkA3FRAvOxf5rqY/s400/IMG_2396.JPG" width="400"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;"><i>Color Slabs</i>, 1980, acrylic on styrofoam, 17 x 30 x 7 inches. Styrofoam is easy to cut and shape, and, best of all, it looks as if the color goes all the way through – as if it's a slab of solid color. </td></tr>
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I knew there was a playful quality to my art, but I didn’t realize that it's in almost everything I did. </div>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1h3EXljtLujvAc8hOAP0fGwkGghQZSbv8S5EgWvd-BkHM8jBaCKOQUaE4FTYG0swMwYmpTvYSFRqWf4bOZDoAX7sk_Dwjj_FqGrn6SfRGzLYwJFWNn-jBnyqfh-LWtyf1afU-I7SaKVY/s1600/Puzzle+Painting%252C+1990%252C+acrylic+and+oil+pastel+on+wood%252C+12+x+12+inches+%2528photo+by+Stephanie+Romano+courtesy+of+JCI%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1h3EXljtLujvAc8hOAP0fGwkGghQZSbv8S5EgWvd-BkHM8jBaCKOQUaE4FTYG0swMwYmpTvYSFRqWf4bOZDoAX7sk_Dwjj_FqGrn6SfRGzLYwJFWNn-jBnyqfh-LWtyf1afU-I7SaKVY/s640/Puzzle+Painting%252C+1990%252C+acrylic+and+oil+pastel+on+wood%252C+12+x+12+inches+%2528photo+by+Stephanie+Romano+courtesy+of+JCI%2529.JPG" width="640"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;"><i>Puzzle Painting</i>, 1990, acrylic and oil pastel on wood, 12 x 12 inches (photo by Stephanie Romano courtesy of <a href="http://www.jerseycityindependent.com/">JCI</a>). Each puzzle-like piece can be removed and can function as a separate, stand alone painting, like individuals in a not too dysfunctional group. </td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
I've always been concerned with how art is displayed, but this retrospective made me realized that it has actually been one of the main subjects of my work.</div>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5mWQVRRaj0xxY1HYvElR_s6iI2hn1t0CvQ-gRsh91FR_xSOc_OiqzdEpdmWXUCdPYGkwR6LWf6oJN3G4-bAtlpQZnOR2iELbn4kM3iPAtjehxF_c4wfYmVU4PG_YamYCy-NckjFNkto4/s1600/1993-G%252C+alkyd+on+wood%252C+36+x+6+x+4+%25C2%25BD+inches.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5mWQVRRaj0xxY1HYvElR_s6iI2hn1t0CvQ-gRsh91FR_xSOc_OiqzdEpdmWXUCdPYGkwR6LWf6oJN3G4-bAtlpQZnOR2iELbn4kM3iPAtjehxF_c4wfYmVU4PG_YamYCy-NckjFNkto4/s640/1993-G%252C+alkyd+on+wood%252C+36+x+6+x+4+%25C2%25BD+inches.jpg" width="430"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;"><i>1993-G</i>, alkyd on wood, 36 x 6 x 4 ½ inches. </td></tr>
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About these paintings, Janet Koplos, in <i>Art in America</i> (May, 1994) wrote<span style="text-align: center;"> “Turning commodity art upside down, Charles Kessler presents the individual brushstroke as a displayable and purchasable thing. ... Clearly, for him, paint is an easy sell – a wondrous substance of entrancing surface and glorious hue, no matter where it's found.” </span></div>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV3PArfIUG_eZnzukoJiZzWL8m5QRrfr2gcyHUsRxj3pS0U_XdLkMjq7KDH0kPOVcC9eKGA0oMjGO5kEPqrOg9UJlOkRkCbq8AMan0eOLABeBfaS1wCcohmLgzJvcOKCQ5HMOlEowrcgo/s1600/1994-L%252C+1994%252C+acrylic+on+linen%252C+38+x+18+inches+%25E2%2580%2593+Version+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV3PArfIUG_eZnzukoJiZzWL8m5QRrfr2gcyHUsRxj3pS0U_XdLkMjq7KDH0kPOVcC9eKGA0oMjGO5kEPqrOg9UJlOkRkCbq8AMan0eOLABeBfaS1wCcohmLgzJvcOKCQ5HMOlEowrcgo/s640/1994-L%252C+1994%252C+acrylic+on+linen%252C+38+x+18+inches+%25E2%2580%2593+Version+2.jpg" width="304"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;"><i> 1994-L</i>, 1994, acrylic on linen, 38 x 18 inches. </td></tr>
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The thing about abstract painting is it can seem pre-determined, like minimal abstraction, or random and arbitrary, like action painting. In both cases it doesn't seem as if the artist made a decision. (I'm not saying that's in fact the case — it's just experienced as if it were.) I wanted to make work that is experienced as a deliberate act. (I was influenced by <a href="http://leftbankartblog.blogspot.com/2012/05/clyfford-still-part-2-art.html">Clyfford Still's paintings</a> in that respect.) By cutting out the loosely painted colored configurations and laying them down side by side onto the surface, like a mosaic, as I did in <i>1994-L</i> (above) and many works like it, I make it apparent that a willful decision was made.</div>
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My main conscious concern had been to make paintings that are experienced over time, rather than taken in all at once like the art of the LA Cool School, or Frank Stella's black paintings. At first I went about it by making paintings that were large, dense, and complicated; later I evolved many simpler and clearer ways to that end.<br>
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In the painting reproduced below, <i>1988-C</i>, you can only see a little at a time as you scroll down, so it's actually a good way to experience it. </div>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZkELCGQly2uRx2-sS8uqFMSFiEUFNJSRaaqr-Qaf61ppM2BDMgy7mrInGO8UXOshw9t8vcbmXLkuhhSi6uI43ntYwxlmv4cH2zJM0C45TeMyAZ4DEPvLXYT8Hc2DHT2NL3KVxFLVtP68/s1600/P1010619r.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZkELCGQly2uRx2-sS8uqFMSFiEUFNJSRaaqr-Qaf61ppM2BDMgy7mrInGO8UXOshw9t8vcbmXLkuhhSi6uI43ntYwxlmv4cH2zJM0C45TeMyAZ4DEPvLXYT8Hc2DHT2NL3KVxFLVtP68/s1600/P1010619r.jpg"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">1<i>988-C,</i> 1988, acrylic on wood, 91 x 7 ½ inches (photo: Vincent Romaniello)<span style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">.</span></td></tr>
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I think of these paintings as abstract narratives — the experience changes as you scan over the different shapes, colors and textures, one image affecting the way another is experienced, like in music, or a Chinese hand scroll.<br>
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In a more literal way <i>Open Book</i>, 1998, is experienced over time. </div>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh86N_5SjxZpfJQ1Bb3I6Po-V9sLJOJAqpR7LNPdkcyKxTMmNQFltME_e_Sp4gLt2ofHmTjuDVGe-EAxtaMZEu0NoviYYGH3yrviTMLWHNaPpPJCcs-aVGSz3RQsZYIIyXViNTxwJDVRns/s1600/Book%252C+1998+-+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="438" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh86N_5SjxZpfJQ1Bb3I6Po-V9sLJOJAqpR7LNPdkcyKxTMmNQFltME_e_Sp4gLt2ofHmTjuDVGe-EAxtaMZEu0NoviYYGH3yrviTMLWHNaPpPJCcs-aVGSz3RQsZYIIyXViNTxwJDVRns/s640/Book%252C+1998+-+2.jpg" width="640"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;"><i>Open Book</i>, 1998, acrylic on canvas on wood, hardware, 42 x 74 x 29 inches. This is one painting made up of five moving panels.</td></tr>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsigc2ey01c8XYO6Yh1_IARNdwTF46bigYPeTNfMiIP1X1RjMjqArLRLHCX0S_-d3fOlpW4bswLhPIjZN88UpYnBpzpAmwy7A40UEm2zsy-d8aB7XzfjKC4nDyYUTw7WZ6Q0dS4c3UkV4/s1600/Book%252C+1998+-+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="432" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsigc2ey01c8XYO6Yh1_IARNdwTF46bigYPeTNfMiIP1X1RjMjqArLRLHCX0S_-d3fOlpW4bswLhPIjZN88UpYnBpzpAmwy7A40UEm2zsy-d8aB7XzfjKC4nDyYUTw7WZ6Q0dS4c3UkV4/s640/Book%252C+1998+-+3.jpg" width="640"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Another view of <i>Open Book</i>, 1998. Each of the central images on every panel has been cut out and inset into to the background. </td></tr>
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<div class="p2">
<b>Some work not included in the retrospective:</b><br>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ6C5AI_Uui8LeaN6_ze61QleXDqC5ZdnVqS2RoAnIRqZ81kwYadZ8CLbLJIpuxggnIqCRndDdP4lvKNEcRfgOt1VMHF9DGwNz28Gu-TtrVpBpHxtbpuvNRFUCYZ_Dejc8JvcWGjU2g84/s1600/Screen+Shot+2015-06-02+at+Tuesday%252C+June+2%252C+2015+++++9.47.27+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="176" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ6C5AI_Uui8LeaN6_ze61QleXDqC5ZdnVqS2RoAnIRqZ81kwYadZ8CLbLJIpuxggnIqCRndDdP4lvKNEcRfgOt1VMHF9DGwNz28Gu-TtrVpBpHxtbpuvNRFUCYZ_Dejc8JvcWGjU2g84/s640/Screen+Shot+2015-06-02+at+Tuesday%252C+June+2%252C+2015+++++9.47.27+AM.png" width="640"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Two sides of three separate <i>Pocket Paintings</i>, all 2006, acrylic on wood, approximately 1/2 x 2 or 3 inches <br>
(Photos: Jim Geist).</td></tr>
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<i>Pocket Paintings, </i>the last work I ever made,<i> </i>encapsulate almost everything I’ve tried to do in my art. They exist in our space – real, not illusionistic, space; they're tactile – you literally touch them; the experience changes over time as you turn them; and they're playful – instead of reading or playing with an iPhone while waiting in a line, or on the subway, you can take one out of your pocket and look at art. They weren't in the retrospective because I only made about 20 of them, and I don't want to part with the ones I have left.<br>
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<i>Dancing Wu Li</i>, 1980 (below) is another very large early painting. It was not included in the retrospective because in the early 1990s I gave it to Grace Church, a local church where I curated many art exhibitions. I don't know what ultimately happened to it, but for many years it was prominently exhibited behind the altar.<br>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpHTcJmKB2YXgMb4slWOaumXeP4rFgjb-HDgdI8AfM8uBhtzj3eb70WRHnf_YBR8y9sAaqpQ4HVxEQ549QiqFomH0SlXzNf3iE-jUCTzIvWideBbx59OxTno8Pm7F_JCVfa70Jgoy-tQg/s1600/Dancing+Wu+Li%252C+1980-B%252C+acrylic+on+styrofoam%252C+88+x+183+x+3+inches..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="430" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpHTcJmKB2YXgMb4slWOaumXeP4rFgjb-HDgdI8AfM8uBhtzj3eb70WRHnf_YBR8y9sAaqpQ4HVxEQ549QiqFomH0SlXzNf3iE-jUCTzIvWideBbx59OxTno8Pm7F_JCVfa70Jgoy-tQg/s640/Dancing+Wu+Li%252C+1980-B%252C+acrylic+on+styrofoam%252C+88+x+183+x+3+inches..jpg" width="640"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Dancing Wu Li,</i> 1980-B, acrylic on styrofoam, 88 x 183 x 3 inches.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrtuMiEyWHJccIrpJ4g5HcGB_AmzizW0iHoYq1REGaBfbe4q_glA8km0aoa3TNYMUnKSOpuktWHl5oNFXHBhDRfIe10UPD57GTVNEUYiQzz2bDGkm6_3b5Yd7Zl7xvNhdPwX0ViEuu1wk/s1600/Embedded+Painting%252C+1995-M.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="430" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrtuMiEyWHJccIrpJ4g5HcGB_AmzizW0iHoYq1REGaBfbe4q_glA8km0aoa3TNYMUnKSOpuktWHl5oNFXHBhDRfIe10UPD57GTVNEUYiQzz2bDGkm6_3b5Yd7Zl7xvNhdPwX0ViEuu1wk/s640/Embedded+Painting%252C+1995-M.jpg" width="640"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Embedded Painting, 1995, acrylic on wood, shelf standards, 48 x 96 inches. It's made up of twelve separate paintings that interact with each other. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO8Hd81DzPVQGMJmNG5xFmEw_Zrie2R1F3ZjqF2qUTmGsONe3rhZE0mqEst7WsjebW12g3NGtrpgZMxEtav-OR9GFAYFoLC18iI4NRZhI-3swbxi5oh6okfsWFhj1lNoKfrooVqFF8IsA/s1600/Detail%252C+Embedded+Painting%252C+1995-M+-+3+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="289" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO8Hd81DzPVQGMJmNG5xFmEw_Zrie2R1F3ZjqF2qUTmGsONe3rhZE0mqEst7WsjebW12g3NGtrpgZMxEtav-OR9GFAYFoLC18iI4NRZhI-3swbxi5oh6okfsWFhj1lNoKfrooVqFF8IsA/s640/Detail%252C+Embedded+Painting%252C+1995-M+-+3+%25281%2529.jpg" width="640"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Detail: Embedded Painting, 1995. <span style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">The colored configurations were painted on linen, cut out, and embedded into the slabs of wood.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="text-align: center;"><i>Embedded Painting</i> was in a </span>Bennington College<span style="text-align: center;"> exhibition that Saul Ostrow organized in </span>1996, but I never retrieved <span style="text-align: center;">it after the show.</span><br>
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And there are a few, like the "Pocket Paintings," that for one reason or another I just want to keep:<br>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0fl2pmkTb-gVecY7WizA_wa_resbksDU_TRyWs2i_zN0RsLLqVmduLQwD7jMm4vVIDlkkBTucJcGFXhC_T3Ys9TY7M3AgTQvm08S-NVXq8gPstus0i8N_lJCjVBmmbFudgZ07E17G1r4/s1600/1990-A.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0fl2pmkTb-gVecY7WizA_wa_resbksDU_TRyWs2i_zN0RsLLqVmduLQwD7jMm4vVIDlkkBTucJcGFXhC_T3Ys9TY7M3AgTQvm08S-NVXq8gPstus0i8N_lJCjVBmmbFudgZ07E17G1r4/s400/1990-A.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">1990-A, 1990, acrylic on wood, 10 x 15 inches.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4DkxApA554vEMLVlHGR7LflWwRWpQ2-VUE0WGK1LmLEWEfoSVz4Fh7nrRiV4A9Y9WSWIBsw9NyJgOlPgHGXnxSKj1N-5Kjn_4Me34ldNq4Q2Grna6QxgbFSGJzd_abDZxD-z-6PVJ3oE/s1600/Candide%252C+1988%252C+acrylic+on+wood%252C+27+x+11+inches.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4DkxApA554vEMLVlHGR7LflWwRWpQ2-VUE0WGK1LmLEWEfoSVz4Fh7nrRiV4A9Y9WSWIBsw9NyJgOlPgHGXnxSKj1N-5Kjn_4Me34ldNq4Q2Grna6QxgbFSGJzd_abDZxD-z-6PVJ3oE/s640/Candide%252C+1988%252C+acrylic+on+wood%252C+27+x+11+inches.jpg" width="430"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Candide</i>, 1988, acrylic on wood, 27 x 11 inches.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYEzcKzTFSIELVpQ7XoWmUIVL5_IestfKvmvXxvgLhymY1NKB24W392m_P64hEDEJrUgUcIyNo7YNIaNFEZGeRaikKwZshyphenhyphensrzWZpRKYELWL2OnES3sQZR7YOMbp2PYuQLQZd-WzMERE0/s1600/1994-N.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYEzcKzTFSIELVpQ7XoWmUIVL5_IestfKvmvXxvgLhymY1NKB24W392m_P64hEDEJrUgUcIyNo7YNIaNFEZGeRaikKwZshyphenhyphensrzWZpRKYELWL2OnES3sQZR7YOMbp2PYuQLQZd-WzMERE0/s320/1994-N.jpg" width="316"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">1994-K, 1994, acrylic on linen on wood, 12 x 12 inches.</td></tr>
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Charles Kesslerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07068758792988742599noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1522800471258383718.post-62603218053094699512015-05-26T09:37:00.001-04:002016-06-30T14:23:51.595-04:00Why I Quit Painting<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">By Charles Kessler</span><br />
<br />
For 12 years I divided my time between continuing my work as an artist and leading a campaign, as a volunteer citizen activist, to save and develop a ten-block area of historic warehouses in Downtown Jersey City where, at its peak, there were hundreds of artists.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq7pjwSanfh12f3j3vO9uQPe5_rKBhilSDmEGRbAFq2RXM6EX4LgbnMNZ1QNyRI8HUNMkJgX7l9_8DwVwiNIhN0M7_jld2VUTYwNktZLBsMtsf3gPKwLvZm5PvYA_H61tgdzXHbtB5fh8/s1600/Cooke2%252C+etc.+from+Morgan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq7pjwSanfh12f3j3vO9uQPe5_rKBhilSDmEGRbAFq2RXM6EX4LgbnMNZ1QNyRI8HUNMkJgX7l9_8DwVwiNIhN0M7_jld2VUTYwNktZLBsMtsf3gPKwLvZm5PvYA_H61tgdzXHbtB5fh8/s640/Cooke2%252C+etc.+from+Morgan.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A couple of blocks in The Powerhouse Arts District, Jersey City in 2002.</td></tr>
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It was named the Powerhouse Arts District, and it was succeeding better than I ever expected. An historic district was created to protect the buildings, several buildings were restored, and some infill buildings were constructed that were compatible with the old warehouses. All residential had to be live/work loft spaces, and 20% of all spaces was set aside for low-income artists. Even the developers were happy because they were making money since, they discovered, loft spaces are desirable (duh).<br />
<br />
Then a new mayor was elected who not only allowed these historic buildings to be demolished, but encouraged it by re-zoning the area for 60-story buildings. Most heartbreaking was the demolition of the Lorillard Tobacco Warehouse, 111 First Street, which, at its peak, housed 7 art galleries and had more than 200 artists working there. It was the center of activity for hundreds of other artists in the area, including me.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMuOiGtOKZsQTGpBlu6ADp52OSgq5Y1MVwDfBA6LKKrLdSPW_xbEPqeVvoNYrZRJVWvWgx_fSMGuEitPeOp2Lt-sVqRvu5AksCUR7G4S_1O3tx1247KRnA6erGonY_SUoOWzo7eykjTu4/s1600/111+%2526+Powerhouse.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMuOiGtOKZsQTGpBlu6ADp52OSgq5Y1MVwDfBA6LKKrLdSPW_xbEPqeVvoNYrZRJVWvWgx_fSMGuEitPeOp2Lt-sVqRvu5AksCUR7G4S_1O3tx1247KRnA6erGonY_SUoOWzo7eykjTu4/s640/111+%2526+Powerhouse.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">111 First Street, the Lorillard Tobacco Company, Jersey City, January 2002. </td></tr>
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When the dream died, I became angry and alienated, not only from Jersey City government, but also (unfairly) from the admirable and caring community of citizen activists working to make the city better. Even worse, I lost my art community and felt isolated as an artist. Without interaction and feedback from artists and other people I could relate to, I found making art lonely and boring. (That's probably the reason artists have always lived and worked near other artists.) To top it off, my gallery went out of business, having been priced out of what had become the trendy Meatpacking District. <br />
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I took pride in my identity as an artist, and I was reluctant to give it up. It wasn't until I found other things that I was able to let it go. My wife and I gradually became involved with the community created by <a href="http://www.arthouseproductions.org/home.html">Art House Productions</a>, a local performing and visual arts group that we had come to love. I also became more and more engaged in the supportive, open and collegial atmosphere of the Bushwick art scene. And, best of all, I started this blog.<br />
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<span class="s1">Until recently, I still felt bad about my art. I felt it was worthless, that it all had been a waste. I was about to get a dumpster and get rid of the art I had in storage when Robinson Holloway, the director of the <a href="http://villagewestgallery.com/">Village West Gallery</a> in Jersey City, proposed one last exhibition – a</span> retrospective. (She suggested I could make a big bonfire after the show<span class="s1">, if I still wanted to.) I liked the idea of a last hurrah, and I thought it would be fitting if 100% of all sales, if there were any, go to <a href="http://www.arthouseproductions.org/home.html">Art House Productions</a>. Robinson generously agreed.</span><br />
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM6Gzjd65fxsmunpqXZ8ZvEWdiAfcgwQV_8Ge9AImxVFEiyJreMCYbPgVByANapLdoKw-sIp8NLDr-o91oIgppq0t9pLyuChCjNi65cHk_-jmqsv9c_sG2TqiFXtw0eneO0s6tUnhSK-k/s1600/panorama2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="149" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM6Gzjd65fxsmunpqXZ8ZvEWdiAfcgwQV_8Ge9AImxVFEiyJreMCYbPgVByANapLdoKw-sIp8NLDr-o91oIgppq0t9pLyuChCjNi65cHk_-jmqsv9c_sG2TqiFXtw0eneO0s6tUnhSK-k/s640/panorama2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Installation view: <i>Charles Kessler: 30 Years of Painting</i>, <a href="http://villagewestgallery.com/">The Village West Gallery,</a> May 18, - June 5, 2015.</td></tr>
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<span class="s1">This retrospective stirred up a lot of these g</span>ood and bad feelings, attitudes, and memories, and it turned out to be the final stage of healing. For one thing, I am no longer soured about my art. After not painting for 8 years, I had forgotten I did some really good work. I now value it again; and I'm gratified to learn that other people also value it (a lot of work has already sold). My work is finding a home with people who care about it – so no bonfire.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjldWlAzMrgYyOcRn0q1OxEV6AmGKNyufhRWGtLXxj43A1fwcN-4uGEVBBaljqvCSroN3hy3WwjNc8-4KpeDdGBIt5gYe6taF-Qtw8bFjv9BNqrR7XH1-6OEZVLbEhpQGXGbnFYCiRBB44/s1600/kessler-14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjldWlAzMrgYyOcRn0q1OxEV6AmGKNyufhRWGtLXxj43A1fwcN-4uGEVBBaljqvCSroN3hy3WwjNc8-4KpeDdGBIt5gYe6taF-Qtw8bFjv9BNqrR7XH1-6OEZVLbEhpQGXGbnFYCiRBB44/s640/kessler-14.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Opening reception of </span><i style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Charles Kessler: 30 Years of Painting,</i><span style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;"> </span><a href="http://villagewestgallery.com/" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">The Village West Gallery,</a><span style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;"> May 18, 2015 (Photo: Jim Kafadar)</span></td></tr>
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Will I ever go back to making art? No. But when I quit writing forty years ago, I never thought I'd go back to it, and, forty years later, here I am. We'll see what the next forty years will bring. </div>
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Charles Kesslerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07068758792988742599noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1522800471258383718.post-73834146572807918742015-04-18T17:13:00.000-04:002015-04-18T17:13:25.435-04:00MagicBy Charles Kessler<br />
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<span class="s1">Readers of this blog know I hardly ever write about dance, even though I love it and go to at least one or two dance concerts every month; and I've never written about opera. But Norte Maar's dance concert <a href="http://nortemaar.org/projects/counterpoint3/">CounterPointe3</a> and <a href="http://www.loftopera.com/">LoftOpera's</a> production of <i>Lucrezia Borgia</i> have inspired me to stretch a bit. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitKsKoCaH2gYFiCGwOCxNJQmNAbiFHUj2WyqKjI1_q3dd1uRSz5NaT6d-3P9OHQd0Nd9Q5QU3AcrzNY9MHg0G4hKJ1wKElj5sY3Y72-toaD3lfLFkxn2pQn4vHfRterntR0n0xKg6sQMA/s1600/Standing+Ovation.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitKsKoCaH2gYFiCGwOCxNJQmNAbiFHUj2WyqKjI1_q3dd1uRSz5NaT6d-3P9OHQd0Nd9Q5QU3AcrzNY9MHg0G4hKJ1wKElj5sY3Y72-toaD3lfLFkxn2pQn4vHfRterntR0n0xKg6sQMA/s1600/Standing+Ovation.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Standing Ovation for LoftOpera's <i>Lucrezia Borgia.</i></td></tr>
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<span class="s1"><a href="http://www.loftopera.com/">LoftOpera</a> is a small company – small for an opera company, that is. Their recent production of Donizetti's <i>Lucrezia Borgia</i> had 20 performers including 6 in the chorus, a 24-member orchestra, and 16 people listed in the program under production, but I’m sure there were a lot more people involved that weren’t credited. And</span> tickets were only $30 to $50 (vs. $160 average for the Met). </div>
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<span class="s1">The company is young and enthusiastic, and it plays to a mostly young and enthusiastic audience. They have been staging full operas in various temporary spaces in Brooklyn for a couple of years now. (I saw their <i><a href="http://www.loftopera.com/il-barbiere-di-siviglia.html">Barber of Saville</a></i> last year.) </span>And they're great! They've gotten raves in the <i><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/07/arts/music/review-loftoperas-lucrezia-borgia-with-flying-bottles-of-beer-and-poison.html?_r=3">Times</a></i> and other places and have become so popular that all their productions not only immediately sell out, but people are actually scalping their tickets. </div>
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<span class="s1">A great deal of their popularity, aside from the first-rate music, is due to their casual, unpretentious and intimate presentations and settings — and that's probably why they appeal to a young audience. The spaces are large lofts that seat 200-300 people, usually in the round, so everyone is close to the singers. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixboelMOg0OD9ceWzXOolMm7ZIz_XExCBZ-6vysUhUHOWiA17YQlD5qBq9GLBrYdCUtzwnDLtGMxhCNP0yzmtxunsEo_m3I7f_wGQecDJfYQYt9bmDgFK6m5A2fYepQBgiPnd-7LuweQA/s1600/LoftOpera,+Lucrezia+Borgia+-+Gennaro+&+Lucrezia.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixboelMOg0OD9ceWzXOolMm7ZIz_XExCBZ-6vysUhUHOWiA17YQlD5qBq9GLBrYdCUtzwnDLtGMxhCNP0yzmtxunsEo_m3I7f_wGQecDJfYQYt9bmDgFK6m5A2fYepQBgiPnd-7LuweQA/s1600/LoftOpera,+Lucrezia+Borgia+-+Gennaro+&+Lucrezia.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nikhil Navkal as Gennaro and Joanna Parisi as Lucrezia Borgia.</td></tr>
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<span class="s1">The singers</span> moved in and out of the the audience. One time, had I not ducked, I would have been hit in the head by a large table when they moved it. (We were warned in advance.) And talk about casual – beer is served before and during the performance, and every once in a while you can hear a bottle roll on the floor. </div>
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<span class="s1">At this performance the audience was so exhilarated that at intermission they got up and excitedly talked to each other and the performers. I struck up a conversation with Cody Rowlands, one of the trumpet players, who told me that he thought the experience of this production was probably more like it was in Donizetti’s time. He has a point. </span>Donizetti operas played in large, opulent opera houses like the Met, but unlike the staid, hushed opera audience of today, his audience was raucous, loudly cheering and jeering the singers. While the LoftOpera audience didn't interrupt the performance, I imagine we had a sense of engagement similar to what the 19th-century audience experienced because of the intimate and casual setting of this production.</div>
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One little thing that I think exemplifies why it was so great: the hanging globes were occasionally lowered, and the singers every once in a while got smacked in the head by one, but that didn't phase them – nothing did. They were so focused, so intense and so all-out in their singing that you couldn't help being taken along for the emotional ride. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwUMcAQr-3MhWdqp2MhR1EWqg9E5-zgdLrbJsedILlpta6ugeeAvU7itIbPbiIX63KNOfF3f-5amPaPTaacaNjszBrbI8S-BWQv8YfEoEjQyYsSmOFP4sFqKaVGUDb4JilapgsLTj0C2c/s1600/LoftOpera,+Lucrezia+Borgia+Lucrizia+&+the+Duke+of+Ferrara.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwUMcAQr-3MhWdqp2MhR1EWqg9E5-zgdLrbJsedILlpta6ugeeAvU7itIbPbiIX63KNOfF3f-5amPaPTaacaNjszBrbI8S-BWQv8YfEoEjQyYsSmOFP4sFqKaVGUDb4JilapgsLTj0C2c/s1600/LoftOpera,+Lucrezia+Borgia+Lucrizia+&+the+Duke+of+Ferrara.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lucrezia Borgia (<span style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Joanne Parisi)</span><span style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;"> pleading with her fourth husband, the evil Duke of Ferrara (</span><span style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Matthew Anchel) </span><span style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">to save Gennaro (Nikhil Nevkal), who, unbeknownst to the Duke, is secretly her son</span><span style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">.</span></td></tr>
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<span class="s1"><i>Lucrezia Borgia</i> is a ridiculous melodrama with a particularly farfetched ending: Gennaro, who is poisoned (for the second time – don't ask), tries to stab Lucrezia because she caused him and his friends to be poisoned, but she stops him by revealing (spoiler alert) that she is his mother (gasp!)<i>.</i> </span>Lucrezia begs Gennaro to take the antidote (again) but he refuses, preferring to die with his friends. </div>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLIyRlF2prdqctLsxk6La6Stg_cF8kLci3xkDIGsWTOlcYNK0tYffiHeXvJBvhNx86iSTejsX2eAQbXXVisCJEi49vtR9YsU5dpL33T3k2FxPr542qeISlKoYyiJah1x2Y9t2Yi89FEW0/s1600/LoftOpera,+Lucrezia+Borgia.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLIyRlF2prdqctLsxk6La6Stg_cF8kLci3xkDIGsWTOlcYNK0tYffiHeXvJBvhNx86iSTejsX2eAQbXXVisCJEi49vtR9YsU5dpL33T3k2FxPr542qeISlKoYyiJah1x2Y9t2Yi89FEW0/s1600/LoftOpera,+Lucrezia+Borgia.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">The prologue</span><span style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;"> to LoftOpera's </span><i style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Lucrezia Borgia – </i>Joanne P<span style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">arisi as Lucrezia recognizing her long-lost son.</span></td></tr>
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But as ridiculous and unbelievable as the final scene is,<i> </i>Joanna Parisi, who starred as Lucrezia, sang it with such a frenzied passion that it brought some of us to tears. The closing aria is the famous and very demanding "Era desso il figlio mio." Donizetti’s star soprano insisted he write it for her in order to showcase her vocal agility. (Donizetti later removed it because he thought it made the ending unbelievable, as if that would make a difference.) Parisi was awesome (and I mean that literally). She put her all into it and sang with such bravura, it brought the audience to their feet. </div>
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And that's another thing about opera in general, but especially as experienced in a small, closeup environment like this: the sound coming out of the singers is uncanny — so powerful, and preternaturally beautiful it seems superhuman. I mean, real human beings aren't supposed to sound like that. It's magical. </div>
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<span class="s1"><b>CounterPointe3</b></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvnOP_u3xvnMyCp44I22sRYPv1lAptsOEf2qkZBnLNhfACfvnTgVORaL8MPDSFKpyEEptUjDtX4PIWBWsAXLkTdGbP8WI1AFuCBIJQt7VlLlbFe7QMyt9d8a16MP7GRA4IzCc-VqQtu0E/s1600/11146536_10155601899455105_5559850244261765151_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvnOP_u3xvnMyCp44I22sRYPv1lAptsOEf2qkZBnLNhfACfvnTgVORaL8MPDSFKpyEEptUjDtX4PIWBWsAXLkTdGbP8WI1AFuCBIJQt7VlLlbFe7QMyt9d8a16MP7GRA4IzCc-VqQtu0E/s1600/11146536_10155601899455105_5559850244261765151_n.jpg" height="640" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Intermezzo</i>, choreography by Julia K Gleich. Dancers: Izabela Szylinska, Łukasz Zięba, Ahmaud Culver. (Photo courtesy Gleich Dances and Norte Maar.)<br />
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<span class="s1"><a href="http://nortemaar.org/projects/counterpoint3/">CounterPointe3 </a>is the third annual series of dances choreographed by women for women en pointe – i.e., ballet. </span>Women invented modern dance – Isadora Duncan and Martha Graham in the United States and Mary Wigman in Germany, to name some of the main creators; and women still predominate in the field. Sadly, it's not so with ballet. It's not surprising, then, that most of the choreographers for CounterPointe3 had more experience with modern dance than ballet. As a happy result, the dances integrated of the power, angularity, weight and expressiveness of modern dance with the weightless grace of traditional ballet. </div>
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The dancer and choreographer Kayla Harley in her dance r<i>un-on sentences of I miss you … </i>is a case in pointe (sorry). She doesn’t have the typical willowy body of a ballerina, but her compact energy, speed, precision and ability to quickly snap into odd angular positions and hold them rock steady, brought to ballet the type of expression found more often in modern dance. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaQDbBNlHGUEPDkf9IUca4PG9yrC0gfhaBoIm3SZXTNHwGf2FxENBJ9V4dvhsu18xM1LluPqSklAifAn6NahA1R3ywMgfr0_NY6rkvEIIn8FsakanteJCR5MQ2AhMtHFeUK1O1zf3d_qg/s1600/Kayla+Harley+in+Run+On+....jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaQDbBNlHGUEPDkf9IUca4PG9yrC0gfhaBoIm3SZXTNHwGf2FxENBJ9V4dvhsu18xM1LluPqSklAifAn6NahA1R3ywMgfr0_NY6rkvEIIn8FsakanteJCR5MQ2AhMtHFeUK1O1zf3d_qg/s1600/Kayla+Harley+in+Run+On+....jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>run-on sentences of I miss you ... </i>(work in progress), choreographed and danced by Kayla Harley.</td></tr>
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<i>Quilll/t </i>by Julia K. Gleich, one of the organizers of CounterPointe3, incorporated a mesmerizing video projection by David Chang, showing the hand of a calligrapher writing the word "quill/t" multiple times; and the amplified sound of the pen on the paper contributed to the score. <i>Quilll/t</i> was a complicated dance with intricate patterns of movement that were clarified and pulled together by apt arrangements of arms and legs. My favorite move (and Kayla Harley was superlative at it) is when the dancers would quickly snap into a 90 degree bent-over position, with their backs arched and their elbows akimbo – not a move one would ordinarily see in a traditional ballet. This was a riveting dance that required, and rewarded, my full concentration.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9ReEPcbGy-w3cAHyX4Z78flPP58ZgX5sYYqh0mY5ftwexl4a0o9iVRQ1iwPaaNMeU9nd7sCogv4JBwAE2R1kY0_IxvdkPknaZBcK3WWtskkYMFIFF-EgbE509sZ1zj_HRtMSDqRYJdZk/s1600/Quill:t+with+Kayla+Harley.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9ReEPcbGy-w3cAHyX4Z78flPP58ZgX5sYYqh0mY5ftwexl4a0o9iVRQ1iwPaaNMeU9nd7sCogv4JBwAE2R1kY0_IxvdkPknaZBcK3WWtskkYMFIFF-EgbE509sZ1zj_HRtMSDqRYJdZk/s1600/Quill:t+with+Kayla+Harley.JPG" height="640" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Qull/t</i> choreographed by Julia Gleich and Lynn Parkerson with music by Ranjit Bhatnagar and video projection by David Chang. The dancers are Kayla Harley, Savannah Lee, Miku Kawamura and Christine Sawyer. </td></tr>
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Once again, a magical experience. Real people (okay, they're in better shape than normal) become weightless, fly, and move more quickly and with more grace than mere mortals. And they get into positions and postures that human beings just can't do. These are just some of the reasons I'm so awed by dance, and why I love it so much.<br />
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<b>Jersey City dance news:</b> this year Julia Gleich will be one of the curators for the fifth annual <i><a href="http://www.arthouseproductions.org/events2015/YourMoveSubmission.html">Your Move</a> </i>dance festival; and <a href="http://www.bam.org/dance/2015/nimbus-dance-works-ten-years">Nimbus Dance Works </a>will be appearing at BAM on May 8 - 9. I saw a rehearsal, and it is terrific. </div>
Charles Kesslerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07068758792988742599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1522800471258383718.post-39035120697655562622015-04-11T22:13:00.001-04:002015-04-12T09:51:50.383-04:00Four Days in Washington D. C.<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">By Charles Kessler</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhogNTck-Vds7j-c8SjPDZHHVUM-QQFV9_-F4ChC6mitTEB9z-8O7-EL30YP3uqAEAJDcQJ9-MtqghwBEAmP5EbQ8Ru750Sx9pdAdXRZP6Vuw79kMlzsk6MTmWMxfeMWcXDIoVY_9psGrU/s1600/Enid+A.+Haupt+Garden+behind+the+Smithsonian+Castle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhogNTck-Vds7j-c8SjPDZHHVUM-QQFV9_-F4ChC6mitTEB9z-8O7-EL30YP3uqAEAJDcQJ9-MtqghwBEAmP5EbQ8Ru750Sx9pdAdXRZP6Vuw79kMlzsk6MTmWMxfeMWcXDIoVY_9psGrU/s1600/Enid+A.+Haupt+Garden+behind+the+Smithsonian+Castle.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The Enid A. Haupt Garden behind the Smithsonian Castle.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">My </span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">friend Tom Wolf curated </span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">a major </span><a href="http://americanart.si.edu/exhibitions/archive/2015/kuniyoshi/" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Yasuo Kuniyoshi exhibition</a><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> at the Smithsonian Museum of American Art (through August 30th), and he </span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">also wrote a definitive essay for the exhibition catalog. So a gang of us went down</span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> to Washington D. C. for a few days to help celebrate the opening. </span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I will be writing about the show soon,</span> but in the meantime,<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/people/philip-kennicott" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">here’s</a><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> a rave review by Philip </span>Kennicott in the <i>Washington Post.</i> <span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">For now I want to briefly write about some of the other shows I saw while I was there. (I wrote a guide to the Washington art museums that you can download here if you’re interested.) </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>The Phillips Collection</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">It was not a good time to visit Washington. The Easter and Passover holidays resulted in droves of tourists</span> and their r<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">ambunctious kids descending on the museums. Least crowded was the Phillips Collection, probably because it’s in Dupont Circle, not near the Mall with the other museums. They had an exhaustive exhibition of the work of the Dada/Surrealist Man Ray from about</span> 1935-1950: <span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><a href="http://www.phillipscollection.org/events/2015-02-07-exhibition-man-ray-human-equations">Man Ray–Human Equations: A Journey from Mathematics to Shakespeare</a></i> (through May 10th). </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZZ5ScugfO_iwilI6HQ-PszimUXJiPDLq9FFI1PUguyEdYFNNOahj1yoUDJgpPO3oiLhfPHC0-GUonqax4vT7ivvhiWPQFpaQSXMj04SYUQmXuFeCTIzyCLQfshnsj8fmSiCOjug3wtj0/s1600/Man+Ray+in+his+Studio,+c.1948+(Photo%2B%C2%A9%2BArnold%2BNewman%2B%3A%2BLiason).%2BAgency..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZZ5ScugfO_iwilI6HQ-PszimUXJiPDLq9FFI1PUguyEdYFNNOahj1yoUDJgpPO3oiLhfPHC0-GUonqax4vT7ivvhiWPQFpaQSXMj04SYUQmXuFeCTIzyCLQfshnsj8fmSiCOjug3wtj0/s1600/Man+Ray+in+his+Studio,+c.1948+(Photo%2B%C2%A9%2BArnold%2BNewman%2B%3A%2BLiason).%2BAgency..jpg" height="400" width="310" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Man Ray in his Studio, ca. 1948 (Photo © Arnold Newman / Liason Agency).</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">In 1934, on the advice of his friend the artist Max Ernst, Man Ray went to see </span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">a </span>display of exquisite three-dimensional mathematical models at the Institut Henri Poincaré in Pa<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">ris. This prompted a 15-year exploration of the models in various mediums; and it's the subject of this exhibition. In addition to an impressive amount of Man Ray’s art from the period (70 photographs, 25 paintings, and eight assemblages), the exhibition includes 25 of the original three-dimensional plaster, wood, papier-mâché, and string mathematical models. (The Phillips didn't allow photography, even of the models, so below is a photo of three similar polished plaster ones from</span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> the website </span><a href="http://hyperbolic-crochet.blogspot.com/2011/04/mathematicians-in-paris-iv-mathematical.html" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">hyperbolic crochet</a><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">.)</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKMbxfGiCxWaygO4XujgHueou_ANuKDuW28Qj_ZStZnSjj6nAj8aCG6QyFoOcZv_EfSG8pd1M1nhWiX9SOmRYb4TGjDnQW48XLeS8c6PfZ7G4noy1ZE4Qno75n_oj1K9dtc0C4Qyumgs8/s1600/Paris+166a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKMbxfGiCxWaygO4XujgHueou_ANuKDuW28Qj_ZStZnSjj6nAj8aCG6QyFoOcZv_EfSG8pd1M1nhWiX9SOmRYb4TGjDnQW48XLeS8c6PfZ7G4noy1ZE4Qno75n_oj1K9dtc0C4Qyumgs8/s1600/Paris+166a.jpg" height="454" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mathematical models on display at the Institut Henri Poincaré in Paris.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">In the mid-1930s, Man Ray photographed these models for the avant-garde publication <i>Cahiers d’Art</i>, but rather than do straightforward documentation, he lighted them in dramatic ways to suggest human anatomy or futuristic mechanisms. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtnSyd1eZkUwa_OdlX8o9DuZj5l40ACVsRyJFbGaGpC1kPKyVuiOpB0A8yqHY6a9CarONsCqGJm-hCzO1FKZawdECgzlQA8xXCCOjfpSaNoSb9_p6KA1_uFiPbE_B-IBMNXYl4BsZyDyk/s1600/Man+Ray,+Mathematical+Object,+1934-35,+(Collection%2BL.%2BMalle%2B%C2%A9%2BMan%2BRay%2BTrust).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtnSyd1eZkUwa_OdlX8o9DuZj5l40ACVsRyJFbGaGpC1kPKyVuiOpB0A8yqHY6a9CarONsCqGJm-hCzO1FKZawdECgzlQA8xXCCOjfpSaNoSb9_p6KA1_uFiPbE_B-IBMNXYl4BsZyDyk/s1600/Man+Ray,+Mathematical+Object,+1934-35,+(Collection%2BL.%2BMalle%2B%C2%A9%2BMan%2BRay%2BTrust).jpg" height="488" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Man Ray, <i>Mathematical Object</i>, 1934-35, (Collection L. Malle <span style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">©</span> Man Ray Trust).</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">In 1947 these photographs inspired a group of paintings that he associated (tenuously, I believe) with titles of Shakespeare’s plays. (A somewhat skull-like painting, for example, he titled <i>Hamlet</i>.)</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMWN4ci517xF9Xs16vsoIcUx-uZLlIyjGhmI0tO0gH-M0KL8WFvrCaO0Wb07AJutZh9UXIhMuBexZt0RF-5wbl6sQBRiXQ7h280zEn0YU-xjcxtEphePallQiGQYQrd4BW6IjtKFDA6AA/s1600/Screen+Shot+2015-04-08+at+Wednesday,+April+8,+2015+++++9.07.03+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMWN4ci517xF9Xs16vsoIcUx-uZLlIyjGhmI0tO0gH-M0KL8WFvrCaO0Wb07AJutZh9UXIhMuBexZt0RF-5wbl6sQBRiXQ7h280zEn0YU-xjcxtEphePallQiGQYQrd4BW6IjtKFDA6AA/s1600/Screen+Shot+2015-04-08+at+Wednesday,+April+8,+2015+++++9.07.03+PM.png" height="254" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Left: Man Ray, <i>Objet Mathématique</i>, 1934-1936 (photo); right: Man Ray, <i>All's Well That Ends Well</i>, 1948 (painting).</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">And he also used these models to inspire surrealist assemblages.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSJFnefpHVSRKGg7E_aNwsYPAvFkkCdonpsx7bHMdLZ2jw7xsG9GY6CnPDZLia9rkqk_q2c8FMsL5juqcDtPLQGnbVWQn3AKCqlxYWQoQUfFpp_AZSxjcOSlIUC1n6_RFNXyohHvIB1vA/s1600/Man+Ray,+Main+Ray,+1935+(The%2BIsreal%2BMuseum).%2B.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSJFnefpHVSRKGg7E_aNwsYPAvFkkCdonpsx7bHMdLZ2jw7xsG9GY6CnPDZLia9rkqk_q2c8FMsL5juqcDtPLQGnbVWQn3AKCqlxYWQoQUfFpp_AZSxjcOSlIUC1n6_RFNXyohHvIB1vA/s1600/Man+Ray,+Main+Ray,+1935+(The%2BIsreal%2BMuseum).%2B.jpg" height="400" width="317" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Man Ray, <i>Main Ray</i>, 1935 (The Israel Museum). </td></tr>
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The thing that struck me was how simple and beautiful the original models are, and how fanciful, even arty, the work Man Ray derived from them is. Man Ray was not able, or willing, to restrain the sentimental and romantic nature of his art, unlike his more uncompromising friend, Marcel Duchamp.<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">
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<b style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Smithsonian Museum of American Art</b></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">It’s good to see museums are exhibiting folk and outsider art on a regular basis now. (I wrote about an outsider art exhibition at the Philadelphia Museum of Art <a href="http://leftbankartblog.blogspot.com/2013/06/the-bonovitz-collection-of-outsider-art.html">here</a>.) </span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">There was a lot of </span>powerful and <span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">striking work on display, including James Hampton’s </span><i style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The Throne of the Third Heaven of the Nations' Millennium General Assembly, </i><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">which</span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> wins the prize for flamboyance. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfwY0f6WMVrX128YnWceLhOwrhwl31OpU9AITcSMPvVxcxxZFTpf51y_UlM8i1JMQ6bAylm44IR1vPz1WPnGWrgtJpurGB77vQkb5EojEJWGShp7-nOpduEBk5r_Ng0C9iUMbE9OUBMqo/s1600/IMG_1960.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfwY0f6WMVrX128YnWceLhOwrhwl31OpU9AITcSMPvVxcxxZFTpf51y_UlM8i1JMQ6bAylm44IR1vPz1WPnGWrgtJpurGB77vQkb5EojEJWGShp7-nOpduEBk5r_Ng0C9iUMbE9OUBMqo/s1600/IMG_1960.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">James Hampton, <i>The Throne of the Third Heaven of the Nations’ Millennium General Assembly, </i> ca. 1950-1964, gold and silver aluminum foil over furniture, paperboard and glass, 180 pieces overall, 10 ½ x 27 x 14 feet.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">For fourteen years Hampton worked on what he considered a holy space that would welcome the return of Christ. He constructed it out of old furniture, wooden planks, cardboard, insulation board, light bulbs, jelly glasses, desk blotters, mirror fragments, electrical cables and other found objects; and he covered all this with metallic foils and purple paper (now faded to a yellow-tan color). </span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Only a small portion of the 180 components are currently on view. Seeing the complete in its original setting (a rented garage) must have been mind-boggling.</span><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> </span><br />
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I was awed by the bravado craftsmanship and exuberant expressionism of the ceramic vessels made by Navajo women:</span><br />
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGNy5_oHxqeHj4FVHEl5SH147bqAb8b109V7Y3KaFwUfLS4vfBuYGfdssdTKGmCXa5rFtcrlFURuM_0ZE1ubuZVAVV-9Uds75k-VQZmalFrJyKkA6G0fxA0G3gBocf0Ev7HMhjKadOtwI/s1600/Betty+Manygoats,+Wedding+Vase+with+Horned+Toad+Applique%CC%81s,+1988,+fired+clay+with+pin%CC%83on+pitch,+23+x+11+3:8+x+11+3:8+inches+(Smithsonian%2BAmerican%2BArt%2BMuseum%2C%2B1997.124.162)..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGNy5_oHxqeHj4FVHEl5SH147bqAb8b109V7Y3KaFwUfLS4vfBuYGfdssdTKGmCXa5rFtcrlFURuM_0ZE1ubuZVAVV-9Uds75k-VQZmalFrJyKkA6G0fxA0G3gBocf0Ev7HMhjKadOtwI/s1600/Betty+Manygoats,+Wedding+Vase+with+Horned+Toad+Applique%CC%81s,+1988,+fired+clay+with+pin%CC%83on+pitch,+23+x+11+3:8+x+11+3:8+inches+(Smithsonian%2BAmerican%2BArt%2BMuseum%2C%2B1997.124.162)..jpg" height="640" width="510" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption">Betty Manygoats, <i>Wedding Vase with Horned Toad Appliqués</i>, 1988, fired clay with piñon pitch, 23 x 11 3/8 x 11 3/8 inches (Smithsonian American Art Museum, 1997.124.162).</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx1e5qLUTwED33d4Ehajug3xEiP116mCeJVvB9KnEOsgiM80jO6aTlU5WWaOKM0RS70f-JbqIjPz47GZY9Saszzntk-BGIGBiyY_3AQQEcyln7r40qDnxi4ce9pqertvsJbFWBivocUAk/s1600/Christine+McHorse,+Wolves+Courting+at+Full+Moon,+1988,+fired+micaceous+clay+with+pin%CC%83on+pitch,+11+5:8+x+13+7:8+inches+(Smithsonian%2BAmerican%2BArt%2BMuseum%2C%2B1997.124.161)..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx1e5qLUTwED33d4Ehajug3xEiP116mCeJVvB9KnEOsgiM80jO6aTlU5WWaOKM0RS70f-JbqIjPz47GZY9Saszzntk-BGIGBiyY_3AQQEcyln7r40qDnxi4ce9pqertvsJbFWBivocUAk/s1600/Christine+McHorse,+Wolves+Courting+at+Full+Moon,+1988,+fired+micaceous+clay+with+pin%CC%83on+pitch,+11+5:8+x+13+7:8+inches+(Smithsonian%2BAmerican%2BArt%2BMuseum%2C%2B1997.124.161)..jpg" height="325" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Christine McHorse, <i>Wolves Courting at Full Moon,</i> 1988, fired micaceous clay with piñon pitch, 11 5/8 x 13 7/8 inches (Smithsonian American Art Museum, 1997.124.161).</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNZ228-84rRFadbO1LLCvlkOuUNCq4w06D5LUNtkNsFXWU7Z3Rm0-F_M-Bkvh8AvhH7ks3QGcqmBm0RIKY07ozn1Myn9h3ebLifU54VqJxuSqz4wFxYnIGRLKdXzf9j9mr67P7MAnEP0g/s1600/Louise+Goodman,+Bear,+1990,+fired+clay+with+pin%CC%83on+pitch,+22+x+11+x+11+inches,+(Smithsonian%2BAmerican%2BArt%2BMuseum%2C%2B1997.124.154).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNZ228-84rRFadbO1LLCvlkOuUNCq4w06D5LUNtkNsFXWU7Z3Rm0-F_M-Bkvh8AvhH7ks3QGcqmBm0RIKY07ozn1Myn9h3ebLifU54VqJxuSqz4wFxYnIGRLKdXzf9j9mr67P7MAnEP0g/s1600/Louise+Goodman,+Bear,+1990,+fired+clay+with+pin%CC%83on+pitch,+22+x+11+x+11+inches,+(Smithsonian%2BAmerican%2BArt%2BMuseum%2C%2B1997.124.154).jpg" height="640" width="496" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Louise Goodman, <i>Bear</i>, 1990, fired clay with piñon pitch, 22 x 11 x 11 inches (Smithsonian American Art Museum, 1997.124.154).</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">and the uncannily animate animal sculptures by Felipe Archuleta:</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCWl-CMcNWJG3N7EVnViTFmdno8-BnHtChmUcWHkI0lD3IXOxx9Pzy8_gqY01FjEI-pt9_x0x6cZ1-3xD5GXp9F8FlXJl-v71zw3XXSKiEvhLooiTLFOQYuEBSs2Bzc-L_RNgeg81fpdE/s1600/IMG_2003.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCWl-CMcNWJG3N7EVnViTFmdno8-BnHtChmUcWHkI0lD3IXOxx9Pzy8_gqY01FjEI-pt9_x0x6cZ1-3xD5GXp9F8FlXJl-v71zw3XXSKiEvhLooiTLFOQYuEBSs2Bzc-L_RNgeg81fpdE/s1600/IMG_2003.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Foreground, on the left: Felipe Archuleta, <i>Gorilla</i>, 1976, carved and painted cottonwood with glue and sawdust, 40 x 27 x 42 inches (Smithsonian American Art Museum, 1986.65.228); and on the right: Felipe Archuleta, <i>Baboon</i>, 1978, carved and painted cottonwood and pine, 69 x 42 x 16 inches (Smithsonian American Art Museum, 1986.65.227).</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">What is it with contemporary art museums? Why are the spaces so often </span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">too large,</span><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> too noisy, and </span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">too bright</span><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">? The Hirshhorn was by far the most chaotic of the museums I went to, especially since they had a <a href="http://www.hirshhorn.si.edu/collection/home/#collection=barbara-kruger">Barbara Kruger exhibition</a> that was </span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">a visual cacophony – </span><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">an assault to the senses</span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">. (Warning: so is the Hirshhorn website.) </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Fortunately the Hirshhorn has several small, quiet, and dark theaters in the basement devoted to video where I could escape and concentrate. The best of the videos, especially given the mood I was in (a </span><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Ryan Trecartin video, much as I ordinarily like them, would not have done)</span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">, was by </span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Ragnar Kjartansson – his <i><a href="http://www.hirshhorn.si.edu/collection/home/#collection=ragnar-kjartansson">S.S. Hangover</a></i>, 2013–14 (through April 19th).</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJu31YL_DX9I7674P6PYaWyL3Nk9MHSCurL5Pcf-BmSKr86FWWG8ORaCZXswLy9VrvPA7gQY_fJHj4xNEbeOFZyadrgAQLzC6Pt2IidjGIbBk-1IqupWU47agLEMqTaT40KGesTZ2pOVI/s1600/Still+from+Ragnar+Kjartansson%E2%80%99s+S.S.+Hangover,+2013%E2%80%9314.+%C2%A9+Ragnar+Kjartansson.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJu31YL_DX9I7674P6PYaWyL3Nk9MHSCurL5Pcf-BmSKr86FWWG8ORaCZXswLy9VrvPA7gQY_fJHj4xNEbeOFZyadrgAQLzC6Pt2IidjGIbBk-1IqupWU47agLEMqTaT40KGesTZ2pOVI/s1600/Still+from+Ragnar+Kjartansson%E2%80%99s+S.S.+Hangover,+2013%E2%80%9314.+%C2%A9+Ragnar+Kjartansson.jpg" height="184" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Still from Ragnar Kjartansson’s video, <i>S.S. Hangover</i>, 2013–14. © Ragnar Kjartansson.</td></tr>
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This was one of <span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Kjartansson's</span> typically gorgeous videos that's reminiscent of Vermeer with its soft golden light and jewel-like color<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">.</span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Basically the <i>S</i></span><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>.S. Hangover</i></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> video shows a small, wooden, old-fashioned looking boat, gliding in and out along a canal, picking up and dropping off members of a brass band who would join an on-board concert. A simple idea, but haunting and affecting. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjjxcJnAmBotK6iTRqtAQzNh1eYzZyMYzC3Pe5k-eJDOuyjhg4uREdj9kX9SR5yCr8aC-m87O2mtYEeXhl8xebBlKqFNMnGxdg5lWXVxxuUy_C0q_UuSMlobEgFj8kwx6kgakzyaLnKTQ/s1600/BB_Ragnar_Kjartansson_SS_Hangover_1270x630.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjjxcJnAmBotK6iTRqtAQzNh1eYzZyMYzC3Pe5k-eJDOuyjhg4uREdj9kX9SR5yCr8aC-m87O2mtYEeXhl8xebBlKqFNMnGxdg5lWXVxxuUy_C0q_UuSMlobEgFj8kwx6kgakzyaLnKTQ/s1600/BB_Ragnar_Kjartansson_SS_Hangover_1270x630.jpg" height="316" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Still from Ragnar Kjartansson’s video, <i>S.S. Hangover</i>, 2013–14. © Ragnar Kjartansson.</td></tr>
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<b style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Freer Gallery of Art</b><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">This is my favorite place to look at Asian art. </span><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">They will be closing for renovation from January 2016 until summer 2017, so enjoy it while you can. In two of the smaller galleries, there's a show of </span><a href="http://www.asia.si.edu/exhibitions/current/chinese-ceramics-13-14.asp" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Chinese Ceramics:13th–14th Century</a><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> (through January 3rd). </span>What sophisticated and exquisite work, especially the celadon-glazed ceramics from Longquan and the porcelain vessels decorated with cobalt pigment from Jingdezhen. Th<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">e two areas competed with each other for the international market, and the competition drove technical and expressive innovations. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRGLGJYA4zhLnK-Vd_sZWC6N_0lcXwJOFlEK3_2Kd7hpv_HyIbczdPFrVbugbbCl52hWIGBBf4Yqo2Ht9BKBpA69uLncCBQkMgeruk___ftbO3GjGdP-u5QDiHyqnxlJkEx2kgcYLQTPc/s1600/Bottle,+Jizhou+qare,+Yuan+dynasty,+14th+century,+stoneware+with+iron+glaze+splashed+with+ash+glaze,+13+x+8+inches.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRGLGJYA4zhLnK-Vd_sZWC6N_0lcXwJOFlEK3_2Kd7hpv_HyIbczdPFrVbugbbCl52hWIGBBf4Yqo2Ht9BKBpA69uLncCBQkMgeruk___ftbO3GjGdP-u5QDiHyqnxlJkEx2kgcYLQTPc/s1600/Bottle,+Jizhou+qare,+Yuan+dynasty,+14th+century,+stoneware+with+iron+glaze+splashed+with+ash+glaze,+13+x+8+inches.jpg" height="640" width="508" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bottle, Jizhou ware, Yuan dynasty, 14th century, stoneware with iron glaze splashed with ash glaze, 13 x 8 inches.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVy6Qf6azsdb5oo0fa40BF3-mVftTUmcv_3gM3Qd1U-BSbM6v4Hh6dwIfzdYTy0TfdmjqM348mkokRqApJOL7_Y3ZSLPTvypG_oGOr26asfvT9dBaGdtXY2NqE_sDvLC7GjAlopGDlgLE/s1600/IMG_2017.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVy6Qf6azsdb5oo0fa40BF3-mVftTUmcv_3gM3Qd1U-BSbM6v4Hh6dwIfzdYTy0TfdmjqM348mkokRqApJOL7_Y3ZSLPTvypG_oGOr26asfvT9dBaGdtXY2NqE_sDvLC7GjAlopGDlgLE/s1600/IMG_2017.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Longquan ware vase or bottle, Yuan dynasty, 14th century, stoneware with celadon glaze and reserved bisque panels, 11 x 7 inches. </td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">And as readers of this blog know, I have a visceral love for ancient Chinese bronzes; and there's always a selection of great ones at the Freer. Here's a group of particularly strange, aggressive and delightfully creepy ones:</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoqfuG43tV3myuuEh-wHbIYuxpx3rKszTYrlfDsCgcHAR9-q25xnDHKDjb5cS0xFhjGaZPz68W9Z7yBBgQjl7wTxLbL0zpubnrq7wYLjwG2o9nnqieUtc3AeoG1J_tD6j7XQQtHyPKmM0/s1600/Fittings+in+the+Form+of+Tigers,+Middle+Western+Zou+Dynasty,+ca.+900+B.C.E.,+bronze,+10+x+6+x+29+%C2%BD+inches.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoqfuG43tV3myuuEh-wHbIYuxpx3rKszTYrlfDsCgcHAR9-q25xnDHKDjb5cS0xFhjGaZPz68W9Z7yBBgQjl7wTxLbL0zpubnrq7wYLjwG2o9nnqieUtc3AeoG1J_tD6j7XQQtHyPKmM0/s1600/Fittings+in+the+Form+of+Tigers,+Middle+Western+Zou+Dynasty,+ca.+900+B.C.E.,+bronze,+10+x+6+x+29+%C2%BD+inches.jpg" height="416" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fitting in the form of a tiger<i>,</i> Middle Western Zou dynasty, ca. 900 B.C.E., bronze, 10 x 6 x 29 ½ inches</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLHQ9h6H7wwTyIdnxMAPMUnn4dXhqlmpgn3erbCwhQ7S3XRkSKMGvnQJutB3kqZ09IwsN_NT0oqoxYjs2_EDr6Mq6PpqzLqgswqwDupsF8iOf4MtVG8JI3WJiWKdLAvs_vDQ8nkOyVvwU/s1600/IMG_2034.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLHQ9h6H7wwTyIdnxMAPMUnn4dXhqlmpgn3erbCwhQ7S3XRkSKMGvnQJutB3kqZ09IwsN_NT0oqoxYjs2_EDr6Mq6PpqzLqgswqwDupsF8iOf4MtVG8JI3WJiWKdLAvs_vDQ8nkOyVvwU/s1600/IMG_2034.JPG" height="640" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lidded ritual ewer with dragons, birds, tigers, elephants, fish, snakes and humans, Shang dynasty, ca. 1600 B.C.E., bronze, 12 ½ x 12 ½ x 6 inches.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpxjSvTAgImDh71FVH7DmKXySJY4LaDToxd1OPsQLSDJ2MhUxNHytx0DfdNZt1DjEGzuQZggpaefyT6dZctb8wFqKoAldnaZSrhM4sBzx1cTdjOriZDSihV-C_7rkqX50VVaoVZScTT4c/s1600/IMG_2040.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpxjSvTAgImDh71FVH7DmKXySJY4LaDToxd1OPsQLSDJ2MhUxNHytx0DfdNZt1DjEGzuQZggpaefyT6dZctb8wFqKoAldnaZSrhM4sBzx1cTdjOriZDSihV-C_7rkqX50VVaoVZScTT4c/s1600/IMG_2040.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On the left: ritual grain server with spikes, ribs, and dragons, Western Zhou dynasty, ca. 1050 B.C.E., bronze, 9 x 15 inches; and on the right: l<span style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">idded ritual wine container with birds</span><span style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">, Western Zhou dynasty, ca. 1050 B.C.E., bronze, 20 x 14 x 11 inches.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>National Gallery of Art</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="http://www.nga.gov/content/ngaweb/exhibitions/2015/piero-di-cosimo.html?from=home-page">Piero di Cosimo: The Poetry of Painting in Renaissance Florence</a> (through May 3rd).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">As can be seen in his painting </span><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>The Visitation with Saint Nicholas and Saint Anthony Abbot,</i> ca. 1489-1490, </span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Piero di Cosimo was among the most technically proficient of early Renaissance painters. His work was influenced by Flemish art and has the same highly realistic detail. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsLA7C9avYl-ssgai_iXw8NgfSZZUOl4abhhWaDyTeiiE9FplrXDDTjBfeAP73whIVvv6fJUhDus7nF-gb5XMnLGQ1fBQivqTHUStmzuxnpz8hYSHlYbSGUKEOgpbBgzFn8n568NCn4tc/s1600/Piero+di+Cosimo,+The+Visitation+with+Saint+Nicholas+and+Saint+Anthony+Abbot,+c.+1489:1490,+oil+on+panel,+72+1:2+x+74+inches,+(National%2BGallery%2Bof%2BArt%2C%2B1939.1.361)..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsLA7C9avYl-ssgai_iXw8NgfSZZUOl4abhhWaDyTeiiE9FplrXDDTjBfeAP73whIVvv6fJUhDus7nF-gb5XMnLGQ1fBQivqTHUStmzuxnpz8hYSHlYbSGUKEOgpbBgzFn8n568NCn4tc/s1600/Piero+di+Cosimo,+The+Visitation+with+Saint+Nicholas+and+Saint+Anthony+Abbot,+c.+1489:1490,+oil+on+panel,+72+1:2+x+74+inches,+(National%2BGallery%2Bof%2BArt%2C%2B1939.1.361)..jpg" height="614" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Piero di Cosimo, <i>The Visitation with Saint Nicholas and Saint Anthony Abbot</i>, c. 1489-1490, oil on panel, 72 1/2 x 74 inches (National Gallery of Art, 1939.1.361).</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Yet there's something primitive (in a good way) about Piero's art. Like some outsider and folk artists, he had an obsessive concern with wildly imaginative details that he would cram into his larger paintings (see detail below).</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOFqAfCSd14ldW6e0KITp7UvnzxuXiqwyamE7IPMdyP_HwweZ-5V9lz9tyCylcle5G1kL3J0OJVpb3seZIAS-s3_fSPn1QLFtDrIS3XQubD7XMjZDRGEYCSZpgGlmefuEQQUPurchhcKI/s1600/detail,+Piero+di+Cosimo,+The+Visitation+with+Saint+Nicholas+and+Saint+Anthony+Abbot,.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOFqAfCSd14ldW6e0KITp7UvnzxuXiqwyamE7IPMdyP_HwweZ-5V9lz9tyCylcle5G1kL3J0OJVpb3seZIAS-s3_fSPn1QLFtDrIS3XQubD7XMjZDRGEYCSZpgGlmefuEQQUPurchhcKI/s1600/detail,+Piero+di+Cosimo,+The+Visitation+with+Saint+Nicholas+and+Saint+Anthony+Abbot,.png" height="640" width="579" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Close-up detail of the right side showing "The Annunciation" in the background and "The Massacre of the Innocents" in the foreground. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNFitvFblMujVwnbmGqTd2vHLcx5tUBJOpNzILvvVvaGLlo1atByNEuk6a-40E5YtG0iBlKwy3tJLMH7CeIoavEhw7peVNBg8FwrRs0jXLifdLoeIO42zVet9hbgL1jKnjIcvt76u8Lu4/s1600/Piero+di+Cosimo,+Liberation+of+Andromeda,+c.+1510%E2%80%931513,+oil+on+panel,+Galleria+degli+Uffizi,+Florence.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNFitvFblMujVwnbmGqTd2vHLcx5tUBJOpNzILvvVvaGLlo1atByNEuk6a-40E5YtG0iBlKwy3tJLMH7CeIoavEhw7peVNBg8FwrRs0jXLifdLoeIO42zVet9hbgL1jKnjIcvt76u8Lu4/s1600/Piero+di+Cosimo,+Liberation+of+Andromeda,+c.+1510%E2%80%931513,+oil+on+panel,+Galleria+degli+Uffizi,+Florence.jpg" height="362" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Piero di Cosimo, <i>Liberation of Andromeda</i>, c. 1510–1513, oil on panel (Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence).</td></tr>
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Or this one (above) about Ovid's legend of the beautiful princess Andromeda (on the left, provocatively bare-breasted and tied to a tree) who was sacrificed to a horrible sea monster (or, in this case, a goofy sea monster) and saved by Perseus, flying in on winged feet.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixKKJDaPUiPzX-9EZBXB12po90MRQ91YgBQ9xEhxhAIKzc4naF0OTeR3JWXeRmgxRDpFrpAX55raN4qiUDZCPWRsjgP96e-YnNJ0YMmf2k9RZq9Awqh2l638Mr1mhO_aGsI-FsxpB7xJ4/s1600/Detail+of+the+sea+monster+in+Piero+di+Cosimo,+Liberation+of+Andromeda,+c.+1510%E2%80%931513,+oil+on+panel,+Galleria+degli+Uffizi,+Florence.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixKKJDaPUiPzX-9EZBXB12po90MRQ91YgBQ9xEhxhAIKzc4naF0OTeR3JWXeRmgxRDpFrpAX55raN4qiUDZCPWRsjgP96e-YnNJ0YMmf2k9RZq9Awqh2l638Mr1mhO_aGsI-FsxpB7xJ4/s1600/Detail+of+the+sea+monster+in+Piero+di+Cosimo,+Liberation+of+Andromeda,+c.+1510%E2%80%931513,+oil+on+panel,+Galleria+degli+Uffizi,+Florence.jpg" height="441" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Close-up d</span>etail of Perseus slaying the sea monster.</td></tr>
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Piero's portraits and smaller devotional paintings, on the other hand, aren't as whimsical as his large paintings, and fit in well with more typical Italian Renaissance painting.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBsbDXPpY0lgYA3xZfAEURgzv4k_IX5Cx9wfBTt_zSnU-Pbra0shyJQqBqaRBwROJ9ueHsU8WRZ3Ya7vNCAQuZXnXhVEPsBFRFH_oFp3S8aeW-aomnL-nRsIr2NPOZyscMp8_KwvSgRLg/s1600/Screen+Shot+2015-04-10+at+Friday,+April+10,+2015+++++5.17.42+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBsbDXPpY0lgYA3xZfAEURgzv4k_IX5Cx9wfBTt_zSnU-Pbra0shyJQqBqaRBwROJ9ueHsU8WRZ3Ya7vNCAQuZXnXhVEPsBFRFH_oFp3S8aeW-aomnL-nRsIr2NPOZyscMp8_KwvSgRLg/s1600/Screen+Shot+2015-04-10+at+Friday,+April+10,+2015+++++5.17.42+PM.png" height="448" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On the left: Piero di Cosimo, <i>Madonna and Child with a Dove</i>, ca. 1490, oil on poplar wood, 33 x 23 inches (Musée du Louvre); and on the right: Piero di Cosimo, <i>Saint Mary Magdalene</i>, 1490s, tempera on panel, 28 ½ x 30 inches (Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica, palazzo barberini, Rome).</td></tr>
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<i><a href="http://mobia.org/exhibitions/sculpture-in-the-age-of-donatello#slideshow1">Sculpture in the Age of Donatello</a></i> is at the Museum of Biblical Art (1865 Broadway at 61st Street, through June 14th). All the work in this exhibition was made in the first decades of the fifteenth century for the Cathedral of Florence ("The Duomo"); and it's all on loan from the Museo dell’Opera del Duomo (the Duomo Museum) while it undergoes renovation and expansion. The exhibition consists of twenty-three sculptures by the early Renaissance artists Brunelleschi, Nanni di Banco, Luca della Robbia, and, most impressively, by Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi, a.k.a. Donatello.<br>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Museum of Biblical Art.</td></tr>
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This is a rare opportunity for Americans to see Donatello's sculpture – the only one in the country I know of is <i><a href="http://www.mfa.org/collections/object/madonna-of-the-clouds-58904">Madonna of the Clouds</a></i>, ca. 1425-35, a small relief in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.<br>
The Museum of Biblical Art is not exactly on the art world map – I would pass it sometimes when I went to Lincoln Center, or to a movie in the area, but I never went in. So it's surprising that this small, little-known museum is not only a venue for this blockbuster, but the sole venue. It was the only institution that could accommodate the time schedule of the Museo dell’Opera del Duomo. There's something wrong when our art institutions are so inflexible that they have to pass on a major exhibition of early Florentine Renaissance sculpture as extraordinary as this.<br>
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The museum's exhibition space is relatively small, but the installers managed to keep the space from feeling crowded or claustrophobic. Because the sculpture stands are the same warm white color as the walls, things don't feel busy; and because semi-transparent scrim curtains are employed to define separate areas, viewers can focus on one or two works at a time and still feel a sense of openness.<br>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;"><span style="font-size: small;">Installation view of the exhibition <i>Sculpture in the Age of Donatello </i>at the Museum of Biblical Art</span><span style="font-size: small;">.</span><span style="font-size: small;"> In the foreground is Brunelleschi's model for the top of the Duomo. </span></td></tr>
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Let's start with the greatest work in the exhibition, and one of the greatest sculptures of all time: Donatello's<i> Prophet, </i>know by its nickname “The Zuccone” (meaning pumpkin head or bald head)<i>. </i><br>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU4Vmm_o_G0mVg5rUIJuE1nzOXNYRNCm59dfP8CXcJAeipEgqjDTfmPJ3umeq-LRLqIwiBfb6q-qseJ3QrKvk1279Nrr8ZO0ID6DPhwcY4tlUhZlU6e3dlPYJCBX-rAN_penwv0OK91H8/s1600/Donatello,+Prophet+(known%2Bas%2Bthe%2BZuccone)%2C%2B1435-36%2C%2Bmarble%2B-%2B2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU4Vmm_o_G0mVg5rUIJuE1nzOXNYRNCm59dfP8CXcJAeipEgqjDTfmPJ3umeq-LRLqIwiBfb6q-qseJ3QrKvk1279Nrr8ZO0ID6DPhwcY4tlUhZlU6e3dlPYJCBX-rAN_penwv0OK91H8/s1600/Donatello,+Prophet+(known%2Bas%2Bthe%2BZuccone)%2C%2B1435-36%2C%2Bmarble%2B-%2B2.jpg" height="640" width="480"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Donatello, <i>Prophet (The Zuccone)</i>, 1423–1425, marble, 77 inches high.</span></td></tr>
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I find it awe-inspiring and mysterious that a large hunk of carved stone can have such a powerful emotional impact. I guess it has something to do with our empathizing with the sculpture as if it were a real person – a person in this case who is a gaunt 7-footer, with a bald head, sinewy limbs, and who wears voluminous heavy drapery – a person with the stern, ascetic presence and uncompromising nature of the Old Testament prophet he was.<br>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibYj8t_jFCE9CRcimwg0CdwVFk9UY3pledpMrWovdmOAkz2b0at3ctONUxogXEdIOux6taALkVLIaGy5Cmxg2ZwVgdLMeCkwbIqHSth5tjGF8xU-al2Lgw-xu88tRdwuMFNJNbTpi6MZ0/s1600/Donatello,+Prophet+(known%2Bas%2Bthe%2BZuccone)%2C%2B1435-36%2C%2Bmarble%2B-%2B7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibYj8t_jFCE9CRcimwg0CdwVFk9UY3pledpMrWovdmOAkz2b0at3ctONUxogXEdIOux6taALkVLIaGy5Cmxg2ZwVgdLMeCkwbIqHSth5tjGF8xU-al2Lgw-xu88tRdwuMFNJNbTpi6MZ0/s1600/Donatello,+Prophet+(known%2Bas%2Bthe%2BZuccone)%2C%2B1435-36%2C%2Bmarble%2B-%2B7.jpg" height="640" width="480"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Detail: Donatello, <i>Prophet</i> (known as <i>The Zuccone</i>), 1435-36, marble.</span></td></tr>
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And it's not only the person depicted that produces this emotional impact; it's abstract elements as well. The rough-hewn quality of the stone imparts a sense of solidity and heaviness, and the sweeping, soaring curves of the drapery add to the exhilarating drama.<br>
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<i>The Zuccone</i> was originally placed in the Duomo bell tower 70 feet up in the air. In order to keep the sculpture looking monumental and formidable from that distance, Donatello elongated and narrowed the body, making it seem even taller than it actually is. And the head is small relative to the body, making it appear even further away from the viewer. (See the photo below which I took from as low as I could manage.) This elongation is reinforced by the vertical lines of the drapery whose folds converge like railroad tracks to create the illusion of even more distance.<br>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeZg-Q32Y08Ct03Bk9swWdIg0zBzFEaj8Vx535hZ-uTv2LT4CTliBuhrLqlveJfB2Cn3l-CQXXCO-2lkOkr_tvjLXtHVBBOguM6trurOvTOhQeCmKbT0ApkZVSF3SzwKbqpbTaq14GsUE/s1600/Donatello,+Prophet+(known%2Bas%2Bthe%2BZuccone)%2C%2B1435-36%2C%2Bmarble%2B-%2B1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeZg-Q32Y08Ct03Bk9swWdIg0zBzFEaj8Vx535hZ-uTv2LT4CTliBuhrLqlveJfB2Cn3l-CQXXCO-2lkOkr_tvjLXtHVBBOguM6trurOvTOhQeCmKbT0ApkZVSF3SzwKbqpbTaq14GsUE/s1600/Donatello,+Prophet+(known%2Bas%2Bthe%2BZuccone)%2C%2B1435-36%2C%2Bmarble%2B-%2B1.jpg" height="640" width="480"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Low view of Donatello's <i>The Zuccone</i>, 1435-36, marble.</td></tr>
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While <i>The Zuccone</i> and other sculptures in this exhibition are very big, they're not colossal. The figures are big enough to be extraordinary, but not so big that they couldn't be credible as real people.<br>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiALkdpYSADA7MTLClFVsCY_UC-e-9FRjlMupiYH31DdOJDqTyfeaI7X0uDIjmbbN9A6FfjqxnHbxnpbo3ekw4bjNbJtHaGkLNSD2heaF8Zixtf-qFwCYkExfuxUcbx_ffzeHMR-NWnx18/s1600/Attributed+to+Giovanni+d'Ambrogio%2C%2BThe%2BAnnunciation%3B%2Bleft%2C%2BArchangel%2BGabriel%3B%2Bright%2C%2BVirgin%2BMary%2C%2Blate%2B14th%2Bcentury%2C%2Bmarble.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiALkdpYSADA7MTLClFVsCY_UC-e-9FRjlMupiYH31DdOJDqTyfeaI7X0uDIjmbbN9A6FfjqxnHbxnpbo3ekw4bjNbJtHaGkLNSD2heaF8Zixtf-qFwCYkExfuxUcbx_ffzeHMR-NWnx18/s1600/Attributed+to+Giovanni+d'Ambrogio%2C%2BThe%2BAnnunciation%3B%2Bleft%2C%2BArchangel%2BGabriel%3B%2Bright%2C%2BVirgin%2BMary%2C%2Blate%2B14th%2Bcentury%2C%2Bmarble.jpg" height="480" width="640"></a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Attributed to Giovanni d'Ambrogio, <i>The Annunciation;</i> left, Virgin Mary; right, Archangel Gabriel, late 14th century, marble (about 5 or 6 feet high).</span></div>
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This charming pair of sculptures illustrates <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annunciation" style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">The Annunciation</a><b style="font-style: italic;"> – </b>the announcement by the angel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary that she would give birth to Jesus. Mary looks as if she's saying, "Oh, go on!" and the angel Gabriel is saying, "Hold on a minute while I explain." That we're able to read human emotion in these figures is a radical departure from the otherworldly art of the medieval period, and it's the main change brought by the Renaissance.<br>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr0bSy_FsNQPWgyR9wQh-MaSthsOAGYLJFEGZ2GY-vziEvzay6AsjXhSRhI9QoAiRvMttbWPyV9O_wxst5jGn9sTBXLMRT206gzqbv4YbXrxT8xajMcgaB8z_Mo1wZnSSJG-RrjzfhPKg/s1600/Donatello+and+Rosso,+The+Sacrifice+of+Issac,+1421,+marble,+75+inches+high..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr0bSy_FsNQPWgyR9wQh-MaSthsOAGYLJFEGZ2GY-vziEvzay6AsjXhSRhI9QoAiRvMttbWPyV9O_wxst5jGn9sTBXLMRT206gzqbv4YbXrxT8xajMcgaB8z_Mo1wZnSSJG-RrjzfhPKg/s1600/Donatello+and+Rosso,+The+Sacrifice+of+Issac,+1421,+marble,+75+inches+high..jpg" height="640" width="480"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Donatello with the assistance of Nanni di Bartolo, <i>The Sacrifice of Isaac,</i> 1421, marble, 75 inches high.</span></td></tr>
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<i><b><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binding_of_Isaac">The Sacrifice of Isaac</a></b></i><b style="font-style: italic;"> </b> (also known as <i>The Binding of Isaac</i>)<b> i</b>s, of course, the story in Genesis in which God tests the Patriarch Abraham by commanding him to sacrifice his only son, Isaac. At the last minute, an angel stops the sacrifice and tells Abraham, "Now I know you fear God."<i> </i>Most artists before and after Donatello chose the moment when the angel of God stopped Abraham from killing his only son; Donatello chose a less dramatic a moment – after the angel interceded and Abraham withdrew his knife. Perhaps Donatello chose this moment to put more emphasis on Isaac, whom he portrays without anguish or fear, calmly accepting his fate – a reference to Jesus accepting His fate.<br>
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[There's an interesting discussion <a href="http://www.uri.edu/students/szunjic/philos/human2.htm">here</a> (halfway down the page) about Kierkegaard and Sartre's perspectives on this story. Some of the questions the two philosophers posed are: Does Abraham have a free will to decide what to do? How could Abraham be sure it was a real angel? How did he know the command really came from God and not the devil? And why didn't it occur to Abraham that he might be going crazy?]<br>
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Can you spot an anachronism in Donatello's representation of Isaac?<br>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi052IpCgWDWltEachDhBoE1AXf4u18WsrPlhGvJUGGk_nHP_HmxtRTYglEx7QFI9eIGfKhbkF6YibXAgssMYZr0z0ZPsFEA9Z0Uya_9t6ykXnYFexiubITEM4qkw_DCQDxvMjGlZuXb68/s1600/Nanni+di+Banco,+St.+Luke+the+Evangelist,+1408-13,+marble'%2BDonatello%2C%2BSt.%2BJohn%2Bthe%2BEvangelist%2C%2B1408-15%2C%2Bmarble.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi052IpCgWDWltEachDhBoE1AXf4u18WsrPlhGvJUGGk_nHP_HmxtRTYglEx7QFI9eIGfKhbkF6YibXAgssMYZr0z0ZPsFEA9Z0Uya_9t6ykXnYFexiubITEM4qkw_DCQDxvMjGlZuXb68/s1600/Nanni+di+Banco,+St.+Luke+the+Evangelist,+1408-13,+marble'%2BDonatello%2C%2BSt.%2BJohn%2Bthe%2BEvangelist%2C%2B1408-15%2C%2Bmarble.jpg" height="480" width="640"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;"><span style="font-size: small;">Installation view, left: Nanni di Banco, <i>St. Luke the Evangelist</i>, 1408-15, marble, 82 inches high; right: Donatello, <i>St. John the Evangelist</i>, 1410-11, marble, 82 ⅔ inches high.</span></td></tr>
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An "Evangelist" in this context (with a capital "E") is an author of a Christian gospel, not someone who proselytizes. Both figures are formidable and monumental (seven feet seated!), and both figures seem lost in thought, perhaps listening to the word of God. But Nanni di Banco's <i>St. Luke</i> is more serene and classical (note St. Luke's Roman-like hair and beard), whereas <span style="text-align: center;">Donatello's </span><i style="text-align: center;">St. John</i><span style="text-align: center;"> is dramatically expressive down to his </span>toes.<br>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUpXKdfNqCKERNoTX8Tt1B-XP0enULB0QbptDg_Z9Pbnocx7YdHDfhOQfkER44o5P2mnqH596Sim2MF_mvitBXPDEttV0uNYib8ZRt4Yfs9F3QfcYspBJGeTnuWjJXguLBTgANKZbf5wI/s1600/Donatello,+St.+John+the+Evangelist,+1408-15,+marble+-+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUpXKdfNqCKERNoTX8Tt1B-XP0enULB0QbptDg_Z9Pbnocx7YdHDfhOQfkER44o5P2mnqH596Sim2MF_mvitBXPDEttV0uNYib8ZRt4Yfs9F3QfcYspBJGeTnuWjJXguLBTgANKZbf5wI/s1600/Donatello,+St.+John+the+Evangelist,+1408-15,+marble+-+3.jpg" height="480" width="640"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;"><span style="font-size: small;">Detail: Donatello, <i>St. John the Evangelist</i>, 1410-11.</span></td></tr>
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Originally, Donatello's <i>St. John the Evangelist</i> was prominently placed to the right of the main portal of the Cathedral of Florence where, one hundred years later, Michelangelo would have seen it every time he passed by; it no doubt influenced his Moses.<br>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjBeRNKtqrDp9HrDC4LBg55tkn1RWsZrrzAtXAcH6VkZhiYDMcw0y4DBqy6RV49dfxK3LtIwgypIPwW2FFhHrgJ92608zOFzsywjSMW-pIDVyOHykAN8Fvn_ORRSFE959OTaexLeCPwUM/s1600/Screen+Shot+2015-03-29+at+Sunday,+March+29,+2015+++++2.48.28+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjBeRNKtqrDp9HrDC4LBg55tkn1RWsZrrzAtXAcH6VkZhiYDMcw0y4DBqy6RV49dfxK3LtIwgypIPwW2FFhHrgJ92608zOFzsywjSMW-pIDVyOHykAN8Fvn_ORRSFE959OTaexLeCPwUM/s1600/Screen+Shot+2015-03-29+at+Sunday,+March+29,+2015+++++2.48.28+PM.png" height="446" width="640"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On the left: Donatello, <i>St. John the Evangelist,</i> 1410-11, marble, 82 ⅔ inches high. On the right: Michelangelo, <i>Moses</i>, c. <a href="tel:1513-1515" x-apple-data-detectors="true" x-apple-data-detectors-type="telephone" x-apple-data-detectors-result="1">1513-1515</a>, marble, 92 inches (San Pietro in Vincoli, Rome). </td></tr>
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As if <i>Sculpture in the Age of Donatello</i> isn't reason enough to make a trip to the Upper West Side, there are two other important exhibitions within a few blocks of the Museum of Biblical Arts. The <a href="http://folkartmuseum.org/">American Folk Art Museum</a> has a show of multi-media art by folk and outsider artists that Roberta Smith favorably reviewed <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/27/arts/design/review-a-strange-and-wonderful-view-of-outsider-art.html">here</a>; and the <a href="http://madmuseum.org/exhibition/richard-estes">Museum of Art and Design</a> has an excellent Richard Estes exhibition. </div>
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Charles Kesslerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07068758792988742599noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1522800471258383718.post-9302877492900223692015-03-23T14:36:00.000-04:002015-03-23T14:49:19.719-04:00Bushwick Galleries – A Photo EssayBy Charles Kessler<br />
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There have been a lot of good shows in Bushwick lately. Here are one or two images each from some of my favorites, and links to more images and information.</div>
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<a href="http://www.studio10bogart.com/pages/images_page.php?page=87"><b>Fred Valentine</b></a>: <i>Toward Grandfather Mountain</i> (closed March 8th)<br />
Studio 10 Gallery, 56 Bogart<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW6c-d61lt8fQiwbii8jfP2agJ0EGsjJQAzoNLjdAs3K2D-fzuuHJ-uQQAw-Pd53aDtxUID4cA0xxz-3SymSLU7H0u4JhByE2WCfwDKgWw_yDZ8dDdhgk-VRO1soKFzpD9PWomE0YfAdE/s1600/IMG_1736.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW6c-d61lt8fQiwbii8jfP2agJ0EGsjJQAzoNLjdAs3K2D-fzuuHJ-uQQAw-Pd53aDtxUID4cA0xxz-3SymSLU7H0u4JhByE2WCfwDKgWw_yDZ8dDdhgk-VRO1soKFzpD9PWomE0YfAdE/s1600/IMG_1736.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Installation view, Fred Valentine, Studio 10 Gallery.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3AUeM8aWUvbhcspLJMphgfHH6pt1FC6zCr-5h4Sl02iPb03lEdOaFmw8zx9d__S4oSeByvCxV5H9sBzMbnjkuHKvRccAY36zeB-NQfbwBDODd9F4LoGj280SqPOb1ndK8gdYKPgTQl9M/s1600/IMG_1724.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3AUeM8aWUvbhcspLJMphgfHH6pt1FC6zCr-5h4Sl02iPb03lEdOaFmw8zx9d__S4oSeByvCxV5H9sBzMbnjkuHKvRccAY36zeB-NQfbwBDODd9F4LoGj280SqPOb1ndK8gdYKPgTQl9M/s1600/IMG_1724.jpg" height="400" width="296" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fred Valentine, <i>Untitled Abstract Picture #26</i>, 2012, oil on canvas, 9 x 12 inches.</td></tr>
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<b><a href="http://www.blackandwhiteartgallery.com/currentexhibition">Henry Khudyakov</a></b>: <i>Final Brain Storm</i> (through May 8th)<br />
Black & White Gallery, 56 Bogart<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoF9Pho_QuXya1V9ysMnfmiYOhez4BQGt0aQJqDO9towJJb_QOX7JlLVp_OIWpGozI0GapXtU0uaxWKEL3Ud-Hv5Owo1vLOywqEEG93tuZ6HjWEDMBlfpqtekCrH4ei9uE05Un0Kkx-sA/s1600/IMG_1747.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoF9Pho_QuXya1V9ysMnfmiYOhez4BQGt0aQJqDO9towJJb_QOX7JlLVp_OIWpGozI0GapXtU0uaxWKEL3Ud-Hv5Owo1vLOywqEEG93tuZ6HjWEDMBlfpqtekCrH4ei9uE05Un0Kkx-sA/s1600/IMG_1747.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Installation view, Henry Khudyakov, Black & White Gallery.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCh5LnRailGcckzUjgkZzf1O8DLJpyosKkmcVMPMD9kWArfVnaxb23Rc6FeHk9d9Y3gh1hmFToD_7K9CTXIAKvVZqrnxeYitzHXlWNcuGnaIzksJ3R00PHWrpyUUMBcJA80VFZ_JY1vUU/s1600/Henry+Khudyakov,+Avengers,+1985-1996,+collage+on+canvas,+40+x+30+inches+(Image%2Bcourtesy%2Bof%2Bthe%2Bartist%2Band%2BBlack%2B%26%2BWhile%2BGallery%2B%3A%2BProject%2BSpace)..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCh5LnRailGcckzUjgkZzf1O8DLJpyosKkmcVMPMD9kWArfVnaxb23Rc6FeHk9d9Y3gh1hmFToD_7K9CTXIAKvVZqrnxeYitzHXlWNcuGnaIzksJ3R00PHWrpyUUMBcJA80VFZ_JY1vUU/s1600/Henry+Khudyakov,+Avengers,+1985-1996,+collage+on+canvas,+40+x+30+inches+(Image%2Bcourtesy%2Bof%2Bthe%2Bartist%2Band%2BBlack%2B%26%2BWhile%2BGallery%2B%3A%2BProject%2BSpace)..jpg" height="414" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Front and back of Henry Khudyakov, <i>Avengers</i>, 1985-1996, collage on canvas, 40 x 30 inches. (Image courtesy of the artist and Black & While Gallery / Project Space.)</td></tr>
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<b><a href="http://www.slaggallery.com/exhibitions/66">Tim Kent</a></b>:<i> A World After Its Own Image </i>(Closed March 18th)<br />
Slag Gallery, 56 Bogart<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghHnW2qYh7KXjWrtkrI5DdQ02GzBq0U4Sc9xZauB1LeGhYnkq7KXzP9W7NkGl-78mbQodhsjt9qb2Zggh0i5T_vvYhFZ1LSEphD750G3tMyG-cLZqK12Yy1ri6aKMiSPSnRGoV2MqAbd0/s1600/IMG_1754.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghHnW2qYh7KXjWrtkrI5DdQ02GzBq0U4Sc9xZauB1LeGhYnkq7KXzP9W7NkGl-78mbQodhsjt9qb2Zggh0i5T_vvYhFZ1LSEphD750G3tMyG-cLZqK12Yy1ri6aKMiSPSnRGoV2MqAbd0/s1600/IMG_1754.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Installation view, Tim Kent: <i>A World After Its Own Image</i>, Slag Gallery.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRr9iBEz17aC3E0kihGh132ijJDsLC51EYylPp-iVNHlkoQVYDpJBz_mQhyphenhyphenWnf1MruJRHDEjosqJhFf1CwcB3MipWchWyVTXIDe9SDbCqv-o921XJTGJogWVF9sAHGGWIFTGCHrUuje_g/s1600/Tim+Kent.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRr9iBEz17aC3E0kihGh132ijJDsLC51EYylPp-iVNHlkoQVYDpJBz_mQhyphenhyphenWnf1MruJRHDEjosqJhFf1CwcB3MipWchWyVTXIDe9SDbCqv-o921XJTGJogWVF9sAHGGWIFTGCHrUuje_g/s1600/Tim+Kent.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Closeup detail: Tim Kent, <i>The City Upon A Hill</i>, 2015, oil on linen, 80 x 120 inches.</td></tr>
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<b><a href="http://www.theodoreart.com/">Jack Davidson</a></b>: <i>love, mistake, promise, auto crackup, color, petal </i>(through April 12th)<br />
THEODORE:Art Gallery, 56 Bogart<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAA-mbIW-z_-SXAYVsKLVui8IGmsSksJNnv37PwZRl-vFO16mSO6LeoOAOgZLfO64gzh-0p4wGsONku6k-0xnn3y0z6VGycWNjHCNU-md1ZyY-hMyUSjMi3JkXvx4PLwXZUvgARTTIxss/s1600/IMG_1761.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAA-mbIW-z_-SXAYVsKLVui8IGmsSksJNnv37PwZRl-vFO16mSO6LeoOAOgZLfO64gzh-0p4wGsONku6k-0xnn3y0z6VGycWNjHCNU-md1ZyY-hMyUSjMi3JkXvx4PLwXZUvgARTTIxss/s1600/IMG_1761.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Installation view, Jack Davidson, THEODORE:Art Gallery.</td></tr>
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<b><a href="http://www.luhringaugustine.com/exhibitions/philip-taaffe_1">Philip Taaffe </a></b>(through April 26th)<br />
Luhring Augustine Gallery, 25 Knickerbocker Avenue</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHNdMK4J2L6XRCNOSn5vvtU26I49b04KCAj2ABSGzNTZZnEsxpIgdQlt_Cc6Dm6hp74lXrS9x9Bx8fKgVQGsitjJr_bNJp6LvD3pH3jd0Qky_2fZKDD33l3H89CANNC-SZVu299m4rQDo/s1600/IMG_1767.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHNdMK4J2L6XRCNOSn5vvtU26I49b04KCAj2ABSGzNTZZnEsxpIgdQlt_Cc6Dm6hp74lXrS9x9Bx8fKgVQGsitjJr_bNJp6LvD3pH3jd0Qky_2fZKDD33l3H89CANNC-SZVu299m4rQDo/s1600/IMG_1767.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Installation view, Phillip Taaffe, Luhring Augustine Gallery.</td></tr>
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<b><a href="http://www.microscopegallery.com/?page_id=15274">James Fotopoulos</a></b>: <i>The Given</i> (through March 23rd)<br />
Microscope Gallery, 1329 Willoughby Avenue, #2B<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXFvJUTdlRW4Pp76ytVH7SxN4gzHO0Hy6OD7hb3H6sg2KP3peM5_lfrtBKQTAQNnVsNGHvOBjAWWkoOBfHdBhyphenhyphenLrIE302wSAhjrfkWaANuXMLaWarsWx_nWBqFvWBVKoqNCyEpwv7BmMk/s1600/IMG_1769.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXFvJUTdlRW4Pp76ytVH7SxN4gzHO0Hy6OD7hb3H6sg2KP3peM5_lfrtBKQTAQNnVsNGHvOBjAWWkoOBfHdBhyphenhyphenLrIE302wSAhjrfkWaANuXMLaWarsWx_nWBqFvWBVKoqNCyEpwv7BmMk/s1600/IMG_1769.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Installation view, James Fotopoulos, 75-minute video featuring Sophie Traub as the lead, Microscope Gallery.</td></tr>
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<b><a href="http://newyork.tigerstrikesasteroid.com/tagged/generative-processes">Alex Paik & Debra Ramsay</a></b>: <i>Generative Processes</i><br />
TSA Gallery, 1329 Willoughby Avenue #2A<br />
Carl Belz wrote about this show <a href="http://leftbankartblog.blogspot.com/2015/02/debra-ramsay-and-alex-paik-letting-ego.html">here</a>.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmefOuTMpKJM4gJskCkSiUif1s73Cq8NLh6fjuFKpyomYyN5WVUFbZ8YBYcD7pQ5l1L3kd1H2IV8cDjHojyb5Cn6T0jdepNyQnWsSwp7wqFNsESX0owf2ePSsmpd1eQpa05f42iUwbpJg/s1600/IMG_1771.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmefOuTMpKJM4gJskCkSiUif1s73Cq8NLh6fjuFKpyomYyN5WVUFbZ8YBYcD7pQ5l1L3kd1H2IV8cDjHojyb5Cn6T0jdepNyQnWsSwp7wqFNsESX0owf2ePSsmpd1eQpa05f42iUwbpJg/s1600/IMG_1771.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Installation view, Alex Paik & Debra Ramsay, TSA Gallery.</td></tr>
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<a href="http://www.outletbk.com/exhibitions/loominosity">LOOMINOSITY: Recent Work Made on a Loom</a> (through March 29th)</div>
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Outlet Gallery, 253 Wilson Avenue</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg15DgkUwBhWTI-IcyY6Xjyn4xHa37opiXE3mbNUOshRTIH1hrPrjIoBEBjFTB6KbCX7IRCo2TUROJ-blVh8CWi8sRgOGrhITe8RXX158lMyMeHeyXcbd6W2kO_TPyIA-b5Z62Ql4yagE0/s1600/Installation+view,+Loominosity,+on+the+left+glass+beads,+thread+and+rope+panel+by+Steven+and+William+Ladd;+and+on+the+right+Jacquard+woven+cotton+by+Phillip+Stearns.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg15DgkUwBhWTI-IcyY6Xjyn4xHa37opiXE3mbNUOshRTIH1hrPrjIoBEBjFTB6KbCX7IRCo2TUROJ-blVh8CWi8sRgOGrhITe8RXX158lMyMeHeyXcbd6W2kO_TPyIA-b5Z62Ql4yagE0/s1600/Installation+view,+Loominosity,+on+the+left+glass+beads,+thread+and+rope+panel+by+Steven+and+William+Ladd;+and+on+the+right+Jacquard+woven+cotton+by+Phillip+Stearns.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Installation view. On the left: glass beads, thread and rope panel by Steven and William Ladd; and on the right: Jacquard woven cotton hanging by Phillip Stearns, Outlet Gallery.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiTetWGmlmk0QZ6tiLC2_jTYtQZJhUIYt4622XtLVOye3Yt5kvDVNxpCg6MlUvmjztsP69H6A4WU_cdWsjo6NvGGR51RFEvrxsoZD3UfjCwO-Ok3-oSwCSUS1Pww_eE3KErkPhM_ssh1o/s1600/Screen+Shot+2015-03-22+at+Sunday,+March+22,+2015+++++6.52.09+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiTetWGmlmk0QZ6tiLC2_jTYtQZJhUIYt4622XtLVOye3Yt5kvDVNxpCg6MlUvmjztsP69H6A4WU_cdWsjo6NvGGR51RFEvrxsoZD3UfjCwO-Ok3-oSwCSUS1Pww_eE3KErkPhM_ssh1o/s1600/Screen+Shot+2015-03-22+at+Sunday,+March+22,+2015+++++6.52.09+PM.png" height="394" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Two views of Samantha Bittman, <i>Untitled (028)</i>, 2015 acrylic on handwoven textile, 25 x 20 inches.</td></tr>
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<b><a href="http://www.roberthenrycontemporary.com/exhibitions/20150313-robert-strati-layers">Robert Strati</a></b>: <i>Layers</i> (through April 19th)<br />
Robert Henry Gallery, 56 Bogart<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ1ro_QoIWl1f4k3GgbV4aqXPViwEfuJtFnIlfKu1Llp8EX6FgjGQWCqDLMyieIJ_WIMDmERuQ-dgRHJh2Gjx8WMAFtJaXC3j6Qaockf5tSzOS2TW_L3_b55ILCGkl61bcbvSWqZwQqdo/s1600/IMG_1792.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ1ro_QoIWl1f4k3GgbV4aqXPViwEfuJtFnIlfKu1Llp8EX6FgjGQWCqDLMyieIJ_WIMDmERuQ-dgRHJh2Gjx8WMAFtJaXC3j6Qaockf5tSzOS2TW_L3_b55ILCGkl61bcbvSWqZwQqdo/s1600/IMG_1792.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Installation view, Robert Strati, <i>Layers</i>, packing tape and wire, Robert Henry Gallery.</td></tr>
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<b><a href="http://www.studio10bogart.com/pages/exhibitions_current.php">Tim Spelios and Matt Freedman</a></b>: <i>Once Upon A Broken Time </i>(performances every Friday at 8pm and Sunday at 5pm through April 5th)</div>
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Studio 10, 56 Bogart</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAmKUGlDVqHY1WAJmxo71rsqhsPxNbEmpRRo4TEATj5LQz12pKkcdXIgY3EIn43ZIvhTuS0o8-9TFTyJCOYCZSmpeDNYji3e8IjDywTwYHwTIi4M28GMveRHgSMVQoabFUvsEi3RyNDb8/s1600/IMG_1813.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAmKUGlDVqHY1WAJmxo71rsqhsPxNbEmpRRo4TEATj5LQz12pKkcdXIgY3EIn43ZIvhTuS0o8-9TFTyJCOYCZSmpeDNYji3e8IjDywTwYHwTIi4M28GMveRHgSMVQoabFUvsEi3RyNDb8/s1600/IMG_1813.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tim Spelios (on drums), <span style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Matt Freedman (drawing and telling a story), Studio 10 Gallery.</span></td></tr>
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<b>BONUS:</b><br />
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<a href="http://nortemaar.org/2015/02/nm-announces-major-exhibition-pattern-repetition-motif/" style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">between a place and candy: new works in pattern + repetition + motif</a> (through June 12th)</div>
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Curated by Jason Andrew and organized by Norte Maar</div>
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1285 Avenue of the Americas Art Gallery (between 51st and 52nd Street, Manhattan). </div>
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I included this large group exhibition because it is curated by a Bushwick organization, and many of the artists are associated with Bushwick galleries. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDyPvlv5b0ZkddDdjSJaQRA7RnOKnOxTAIDp3vi92eus9aXqPNRgzmXX0T9eG5ekQjggMOSwIpQZ79gAG2eyo8zJv01FKpU5nRyXl0KscgLwupC3qhfsmSRrc8BVVWbc7TxT_7363hnGQ/s1600/IMG_1851.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDyPvlv5b0ZkddDdjSJaQRA7RnOKnOxTAIDp3vi92eus9aXqPNRgzmXX0T9eG5ekQjggMOSwIpQZ79gAG2eyo8zJv01FKpU5nRyXl0KscgLwupC3qhfsmSRrc8BVVWbc7TxT_7363hnGQ/s1600/IMG_1851.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Opening reception, <i>between a place and candy - new works in pattern + repetition + motif.</i> </td></tr>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6eyXOyDW6YkckCORdIDm0-9GwU81UBKXwplm3ZWTPu9WC4kBJiLM5sKkSAWNjwCvOcjv1qoZ9Di4bYQfBpA_D6VgLC8TbCoGmjDa0j51sIcjWxoikZ9My5bWZnW2044l7PiVFZa0fkzw/s1600/IMG_1830.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6eyXOyDW6YkckCORdIDm0-9GwU81UBKXwplm3ZWTPu9WC4kBJiLM5sKkSAWNjwCvOcjv1qoZ9Di4bYQfBpA_D6VgLC8TbCoGmjDa0j51sIcjWxoikZ9My5bWZnW2044l7PiVFZa0fkzw/s1600/IMG_1830.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Installation view, Julia K. Gleich, <i>Combinations - a study of infinite or countable discreet structures,</i> 2015, video.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiESdLGJCF7RCnEo-q3TKz4N2YrqN8_P-aVJjrsEEurdOcDnGZJQkbaNW3mntaQg6iSgbtI8l1DJzSGeC_y3yP78uC7_5TfuUAPkJccgOjdCNqtFyHAIgA_ARJj4XT4W5ro7djhQfPRPzE/s1600/Niki+Lederer,+Northside+Gyre,+2015,+found+re-purposed+plastic,+machine+screws,+hex+nuts,+steel+pipe,+plywood,+acrylic+paint..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiESdLGJCF7RCnEo-q3TKz4N2YrqN8_P-aVJjrsEEurdOcDnGZJQkbaNW3mntaQg6iSgbtI8l1DJzSGeC_y3yP78uC7_5TfuUAPkJccgOjdCNqtFyHAIgA_ARJj4XT4W5ro7djhQfPRPzE/s1600/Niki+Lederer,+Northside+Gyre,+2015,+found+re-purposed+plastic,+machine+screws,+hex+nuts,+steel+pipe,+plywood,+acrylic+paint..jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Installation view, Niki Lederer, <i>Northside Gyre</i>, 2015, found re-purposed plastic, machine screws, hex nuts, steel pipe, plywood and acrylic paint.</td></tr>
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Charles Kesslerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07068758792988742599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1522800471258383718.post-26760115390675305512015-03-12T17:08:00.000-04:002015-03-12T17:08:16.162-04:00Small Shows Currently at the MetBy Charles Kessler<br />
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I love the Met for the small shows they do. These shows are hardly ever reviewed or even publicized, so you have to find out about them either on the <a href="http://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/current-exhibitions">Met's website</a>, spot them on the list of current exhibitions given out at the entrance, or, best of all, happen upon them as you walk around the museum. Usually these shows focus on a major work loaned to the Met for a short period, augmented by work from the permanent collection. Some of the most memorable have been <a href="http://leftbankartblog.blogspot.com/2012/04/miscellaneous-art-notes.html" style="font-style: italic;">Rembrandt at Work, The Great Self-Portrait from Kenwood House</a>, from a few years ago; <i><a href="http://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2013/velazquez">Velázquez's Portrait of Duke Francesco I d’Este: A Masterpiece from the Galleria Estense, Modena</a></i>; and last year’s <i><a href="http://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2014/goya">Goya and the Altamira Family</a></i>.<br />
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One such small show currently at the Met is <a href="http://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2014/innovation-and-spectacle"><i>Innovation and Spectacle: Chinese Ritual Bronzes</i></a> (through March 22nd).<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhFQxbsDgkTo8X50YFBxAluwUzzJ5PGx0KeO0erEkZL97vYO6nuzAFT62DnayhNhyphenhyphenczOZbu2LQlqucGJjxFSvdb8UQDaMJjo17UU-fmOGmmevnGDC63xUwvqQZkptWpuzfTL640Q74arg/s1600/Asian+Art+Gallery+207.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhFQxbsDgkTo8X50YFBxAluwUzzJ5PGx0KeO0erEkZL97vYO6nuzAFT62DnayhNhyphenhyphenczOZbu2LQlqucGJjxFSvdb8UQDaMJjo17UU-fmOGmmevnGDC63xUwvqQZkptWpuzfTL640Q74arg/s1600/Asian+Art+Gallery+207.jpg" height="310" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Second Floor, Asian Art, Gallery 207. </td></tr>
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It includes some of the rarest, best preserved, most dramatic, and fantastic (in all senses of the word) Chinese bronzes you'll ever see, including three fifth-century B. C. bronzes, lent by the Shanghai Museum, that have never been seen outside of China.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYQ2zTQoOZuL3UHMCpN3EmCJ8RbOWPE6-6kKKgaVYn1ift09r-vJLOAtc4qRMjh4YOH9Xwaz7lTYooPN3668wnUtbwNcOHvrSNqjoXLQsXE2eNTqOZQXbjNlp56ishYFeGyLlJKwnGm74/s1600/Ritual+Wine+Container+in+the+Shape+of+a+Buffalo,+early+fifth+century+B.+C.,+Eastern+Zhou+dynasty,+bronze+(Shanghai%2BMuseum).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYQ2zTQoOZuL3UHMCpN3EmCJ8RbOWPE6-6kKKgaVYn1ift09r-vJLOAtc4qRMjh4YOH9Xwaz7lTYooPN3668wnUtbwNcOHvrSNqjoXLQsXE2eNTqOZQXbjNlp56ishYFeGyLlJKwnGm74/s1600/Ritual+Wine+Container+in+the+Shape+of+a+Buffalo,+early+fifth+century+B.+C.,+Eastern+Zhou+dynasty,+bronze+(Shanghai%2BMuseum).jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Ritual Wine Container in the Shape of a Buffalo</i>, early fifth century B. C., Eastern Zhou dynasty, bronze (Shanghai Museum).</td></tr>
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The relief patterns on the bronzes are stylized eyes, ears, snouts, fangs, wings, horns, etc. of animals such as tigers, buffalo, owls, birds, and dragons and other mythological animals. As you can see from this closeup detail (below), the technical virtuosity of the bronze relief is astounding, especially given how old they are.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1QSvrsf-TnTModwI3eDzOGZgu32nXm-VgqJ9Sps4ciGzdTjjGtjGzHHefR24axPzTtA8Ve1044caZnJ-ZrAA2ZLqh_Fu5NI2Xzb8yngmNjdLXbY_vVO32BgdgcC7G-zAzzCHo5ifl8UI/s1600/Detail,+Ritual+Wine+Container+in+the+Shape+of+a+Buffalo,+early+fifth+century+B.+C.,+Eastern+Zhou+dynasty,+bronze+(Shanghai%2BMuseum).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1QSvrsf-TnTModwI3eDzOGZgu32nXm-VgqJ9Sps4ciGzdTjjGtjGzHHefR24axPzTtA8Ve1044caZnJ-ZrAA2ZLqh_Fu5NI2Xzb8yngmNjdLXbY_vVO32BgdgcC7G-zAzzCHo5ifl8UI/s1600/Detail,+Ritual+Wine+Container+in+the+Shape+of+a+Buffalo,+early+fifth+century+B.+C.,+Eastern+Zhou+dynasty,+bronze+(Shanghai%2BMuseum).jpg" height="640" width="544" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Detail: <i>Ritual Wine Container in the Shape of a Buffalo</i>, early fifth century B. C., Eastern Zhou dynasty, bronze (Shanghai Museum).</td></tr>
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The Met augmented the work from the Shanghai Museum with even older bronzes from their own outstanding collection.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIABN1uNkgX4vW3vqHPZrFHv_0q7jsL34NZ-bCHOYE1pB2HPq4kiBm_ck7IlwXNbBdPqpFUm4LDd9ctiG_Cg3PoSe7Lg7Jrlqed0A5gNqtTftJJ29rGhFBtEeOE1pCrnUWl3TUp18WORk/s1600/Altar+Set,+Shang+and+Western+Zhou+dynasties,+late+11th+century+B.+C.,+Bronze,+table+is+7+%E2%85%9B+x+35+%E2%85%9C+x+18+%C2%BC+inches..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIABN1uNkgX4vW3vqHPZrFHv_0q7jsL34NZ-bCHOYE1pB2HPq4kiBm_ck7IlwXNbBdPqpFUm4LDd9ctiG_Cg3PoSe7Lg7Jrlqed0A5gNqtTftJJ29rGhFBtEeOE1pCrnUWl3TUp18WORk/s1600/Altar+Set,+Shang+and+Western+Zhou+dynasties,+late+11th+century+B.+C.,+Bronze,+table+is+7+%E2%85%9B+x+35+%E2%85%9C+x+18+%C2%BC+inches..jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Altar Set</i>, Shang and Western Zhou dynasties, late 11th century B. C., bronze, table is 7 ⅛ x 35 ⅜ x 18 ¼ inches.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinQ4mRwA0HQl5-6odiRaU_W-2tbtjSLFu3lxJEjiisRdrTMO9lhUehSJhiM3iOqdmvF17jMGsZiGRnZbVeKpl94OXH2yejMCaOD1M2XrZMEpqD8j6mZAzsmu3YMVF4FEmz8PBjrWmzxMI/s1600/Spouted+ritual+wine+vessel+(guang)%2C%2BShang%2Bdynasty%2C%2Bearly%2BAnyang%2Bperiod%2B(ca.%2B1300%E2%80%931050%2Bb.c.)%2C%2BBronze%2C%2B13%2Binches%2Bwide.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinQ4mRwA0HQl5-6odiRaU_W-2tbtjSLFu3lxJEjiisRdrTMO9lhUehSJhiM3iOqdmvF17jMGsZiGRnZbVeKpl94OXH2yejMCaOD1M2XrZMEpqD8j6mZAzsmu3YMVF4FEmz8PBjrWmzxMI/s1600/Spouted+ritual+wine+vessel+(guang)%2C%2BShang%2Bdynasty%2C%2Bearly%2BAnyang%2Bperiod%2B(ca.%2B1300%E2%80%931050%2Bb.c.)%2C%2BBronze%2C%2B13%2Binches%2Bwide.jpg" height="507" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Spouted ritual wine vessel (guang)</i>, Shang dynasty, early Anyang period (ca. 1300–1050 b.c.), bronze, 13 inches wide.</td></tr>
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The bronzes were used in ritual offerings of food and drink for ancestors, so while they have the vitality and animation of a real animal, they are also abstract, symbolic and timeless.<br />
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<a href="http://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2015/painting-music-age-of-caravaggio"><i>Painting Music in the Age of Caravaggio</i></a> (through April 5th).<br />
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKBk21CwHNFp0-zGlRgSLjYf21NfG_EWaG4SBK5rhb9xYhVVeuICbKxY3Ph3_FYLTpPRW9j1z6vWDgO6Xyv9cu88AsN5tW2qomWbdsWck00y8cWN5n5uz7nTObE7fn_dDDC7IW8E3h9ZE/s1600/Painting+Music+in+the+Age+of+Caravaggio.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKBk21CwHNFp0-zGlRgSLjYf21NfG_EWaG4SBK5rhb9xYhVVeuICbKxY3Ph3_FYLTpPRW9j1z6vWDgO6Xyv9cu88AsN5tW2qomWbdsWck00y8cWN5n5uz7nTObE7fn_dDDC7IW8E3h9ZE/s1600/Painting+Music+in+the+Age+of+Caravaggio.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;"><i>Painting Music in the Age of Caravaggio,</i> Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2nd floor, gallery 624.</td></tr>
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The subject of this small show, completely drawn from the Met's collection, is the status of music from the late 16th century through the 17th century in Italy. To this end, Caravaggio’s <i>The Musicians </i>is installed along with two other gorgeous paintings from the period that also have music as a subject: <a href="http://www.metmuseum.org/collection/the-collection-online/search/439933">Valentin de Boulogne’s <i>The Lute Player,</i></a> 1626; and <a href="http://www.metmuseum.org/collection/the-collection-online/search/436836">Laurent de La Hyre’s <i>Allegory of Music</i></a>, 1649. In addition, instruments like the ones depicted in the paintings are on display. Best of all, piped into the gallery is a recording of music from the period that was played on these instruments.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6-t_pcFjzsBBlYxG4pHB1d607JQqRDve9xijKd9fqvTHn9EQyqdlS7FvJeo50mItuScQ_mT8fhihPEXis3WS6M9WbmBmGIyQKs5phg7ZHBYTwvRAbX39olDfr-1Tx0_ejp9V84Kcm1Vk/s1600/Caravaggio,+The+Musicians,+1595,+oil+on+canvas,+36+x+46+%C2%BD+inches+(52.81).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6-t_pcFjzsBBlYxG4pHB1d607JQqRDve9xijKd9fqvTHn9EQyqdlS7FvJeo50mItuScQ_mT8fhihPEXis3WS6M9WbmBmGIyQKs5phg7ZHBYTwvRAbX39olDfr-1Tx0_ejp9V84Kcm1Vk/s1600/Caravaggio,+The+Musicians,+1595,+oil+on+canvas,+36+x+46+%C2%BD+inches+(52.81).jpg" height="494" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Caravaggio, <i>The Musicians</i>, 1595, oil on canvas, 36 x 46 ½ inches (52.81).</td></tr>
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Music was experiencing its own renaissance during this time. There was a growing demand for professional musicians, especially solo singers; and opera as an art form was just emerging. It was also a time when many new musical instruments were invented. (If you want to learn more about these instruments, check <a href="http://www.metmuseum.org/about-the-museum/museum-departments/curatorial-departments/musical-instruments/of-note/2015/listening-to-paintings">here</a>.) The music depicted in Caravaggio's <i>The Musicians</i> (it was originally legible) was chosen by his patron, Cardinal Francesco Maria del Monte, who was passionate about music.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTJM4kFiheMKDflDOoY2yIAL8jRhzuL9SEpRLvC-lZbdiXrMGq4EHBM4ma0xshL_G_qhE3RK7lctwxmVF7lpWl_vMhBEOj1XZTvIl7jCG3alZCLFl00ia5j0gl2hq1T64NSM6oePSYquQ/s1600/Detail,+Caravaggio,+Musicians.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTJM4kFiheMKDflDOoY2yIAL8jRhzuL9SEpRLvC-lZbdiXrMGq4EHBM4ma0xshL_G_qhE3RK7lctwxmVF7lpWl_vMhBEOj1XZTvIl7jCG3alZCLFl00ia5j0gl2hq1T64NSM6oePSYquQ/s1600/Detail,+Caravaggio,+Musicians.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Detail: Caravaggio, <i>The Musicians</i>, 1595.</td></tr>
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Caravaggio’s <i>The Musicians</i>, the focal point of the show, is an allegory about how music goes together with love (Cupid, sporting wings, is in the back left), and wine (Cupid is holding grapes). But even though there's a pagan god with wings and they're wearing classical drapery, this is not a typical High Renaissance allegory. Caravaggio's painting is more realistic, less idealized, than High Renaissance allegories. Caravaggio painted real musicians (including Caravaggio himself in the right background); and the scene includes music and instruments casually scattered about, and the drapery they're wearing is all bunched up. Also, the composition of the painting isn’t hierarchical in the High Renaissance manner; it isn’t ordered with higher ranking people given prominence. Instead it’s an all-over composition with everyone given similar attention. The god Cupid is, if anything, given less prominence.<br />
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Another small show is <a href="http://www.metmuseum.org/about-the-museum/press-room/exhibitions/2014/hans-hofmann"><i>Hans Hofmann: Selected Paintings</i></a> (through July 5th). Like many of the other small shows, this is an opportunity to see work that's usually in storage. The Metropolitan Museum owns a lot of work by Hofmann – 15 paintings and 29 works on paper, but only one or two of them are usually on display.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglxnOaeKvovGlK8Dvk0cbzqRGZyBJ8iJsutZAf9braOG-4HVbwyfK3RXPV3lTGhavunIw_PKd_zhsTCFE6R4JAJuePEUHtuA0eVyYU13yYquGh-kFRoQHbC95q-IxiWD2Rm9oF2JlOSu8/s1600/Hans+Hofmann+%E2%80%93+Selected+Paintings+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglxnOaeKvovGlK8Dvk0cbzqRGZyBJ8iJsutZAf9braOG-4HVbwyfK3RXPV3lTGhavunIw_PKd_zhsTCFE6R4JAJuePEUHtuA0eVyYU13yYquGh-kFRoQHbC95q-IxiWD2Rm9oF2JlOSu8/s1600/Hans+Hofmann+%E2%80%93+Selected+Paintings+.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Hans Hofmann: Selected Paintings</i>, 2nd floor, gallery 918.</td></tr>
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Four of the paintings in this show are from a series of nine paintings Hofmann made in 1965 as a tribute to his wife, Renate. This is work done at the peak of his mature phase. The masterful painting (below), for example, is pure joy. It just keeps coming at you with color, light and movement.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglwmqfosjDSO_M4l0WTpDfPIKjF5XepLEdDie26LiXZx10oXBjtigGOugUyIpR5IdldshZOoFEM3f6iI3ByQXGJfUb6e5maNx0fyV8Ayti2svTlR77fSPPjlxA53ZHb7bHjvfi_ker8KI/s1600/Hans+Hofmann,+Renate's%2BNantucket%2C%2B1965%2C%2Boil%2Bon%2Bcanvas%2C%2B60%2Bx%2B72%2Binches%2B(1996.440.4).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglwmqfosjDSO_M4l0WTpDfPIKjF5XepLEdDie26LiXZx10oXBjtigGOugUyIpR5IdldshZOoFEM3f6iI3ByQXGJfUb6e5maNx0fyV8Ayti2svTlR77fSPPjlxA53ZHb7bHjvfi_ker8KI/s1600/Hans+Hofmann,+Renate's%2BNantucket%2C%2B1965%2C%2Boil%2Bon%2Bcanvas%2C%2B60%2Bx%2B72%2Binches%2B(1996.440.4).jpg" height="530" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hans Hofmann, <i>Renate's Nantucket</i>, 1965, oil on canvas, 60 x 72 inches (1996.440.4).</td></tr>
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Hofmann was know for his teaching, and the main thing he taught was what he called "push/pull." To over-simplify, "push/pull" is a way of creating the sense of depth by using the natural properties of color instead of the traditional methods of perspective or tonal gradation (modeling volume) which Hofmann felt did not acknowledge the essential flatness of the painting surface. So, for example, warm colors (red, orange) tend to advance (push) and cool colors (blue, green) recede (pull). Hofmann acknowledged Cézanne's influence in this. In <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Search-Real-Other-Essays-Hofmann/dp/026258008X"><i>Search for the Real</i></a>, Hofmann wrote "... Cézanne understood color as a force of push and pull. In his pictures he created an enormous sense of volume, breathing, pulsating, expanding, contracting through his use of colors."<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Detail: Hans Hofmann, <i>Renate's Nantucket,</i> 1965. (This detail is redder than the painting.)</td></tr>
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And just like Cézanne, in order to simultaneously keep things flat and frontal (i.e."real"), everything is tied together, butted up to each other like a mosaic or puzzle. (See especially the right and top edge of the red/purple rectangle.) </div>
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Hofmann was a master of riffs and had a large bag of tricks he used and taught. One of my favorites can be seen in the detail above. The red small brushwork at the top of the rectangle looks like it's going underneath and making the purple rectangle seem redder; and the blue on the left looks like it also floats underneath, making the red more purple. Among other things, this keeps the rectangle from becoming solid, opaque and clogged up. Instead, it breaths and glows.</div>
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<a href="http://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2014/warriors-and-mothers"><i>Warriors and Mothers: Epic Mbembe Art</i> </a>(through September 7th).<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGowwLhR30xZ-yZv_uCx-PvdofB5r9HTyojWG6BBLgsHxG-Gb6nvuhl6IEqROfWEz5ppuSG1o74so2Xba3UiXi7JgLqUupYcb1XJOpXKj6MOZ_A7XQQoSm9_z35CBC7VPKUGUDKlDnR-0/s1600/Warriors+and+Mothers+%E2%80%93+Epic+Mbembe+Art.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGowwLhR30xZ-yZv_uCx-PvdofB5r9HTyojWG6BBLgsHxG-Gb6nvuhl6IEqROfWEz5ppuSG1o74so2Xba3UiXi7JgLqUupYcb1XJOpXKj6MOZ_A7XQQoSm9_z35CBC7VPKUGUDKlDnR-0/s1600/Warriors+and+Mothers+%E2%80%93+Epic+Mbembe+Art.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Installation view, <i>Warriors and Mothers: Epic Mbembe Art</i>, 1st floor, gallery 359.</td></tr>
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This is a more typically curated show in that all the art is borrowed. But it’s not a large show, and it hasn't been publicized as far as I know, so, to that extent, it fits in with the other small shows.<br />
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These sculptures are almost three hundred years old, and because they were kept outside for most of that time, they are very eroded. They are the oldest wooden figures from Sub-Saharan Africa, and they're among the largest too (almost life-size).<br />
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivKmNHqJHc8-PKRpgSg_iq1vzhIPvQV2wab_WfkmZt2L4bolBZ87rlCYXYTzyG45CXmJi2dk-fAQFSPIWdpH4_NA9R0m9NvDbxOTOdCyeM4I63BC681zwdVzcu8AgRbmkIAHYIGILoSfI/s1600/Mbembe+peoples,+Seated+Mother+and+Child,+17th-18th+century,+wood,+35+x+23+%C2%BD+x+29+inches+(Private%2BCollection)..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivKmNHqJHc8-PKRpgSg_iq1vzhIPvQV2wab_WfkmZt2L4bolBZ87rlCYXYTzyG45CXmJi2dk-fAQFSPIWdpH4_NA9R0m9NvDbxOTOdCyeM4I63BC681zwdVzcu8AgRbmkIAHYIGILoSfI/s1600/Mbembe+peoples,+Seated+Mother+and+Child,+17th-18th+century,+wood,+35+x+23+%C2%BD+x+29+inches+(Private%2BCollection)..jpg" height="640" width="466" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Mbembe peoples, <i>Seated Mother and Child</i>, 17th-18th century, wood, 35 x 23 ½ x 29 inches (private collection).</td></tr>
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The subjects of the sculptures are nurturing mothers and defending warriors – both protective, but in different ways. Originally the figures were painted and covered with ornaments, and their eyes were mirrors. They were positioned on either side of a carved drum made from enormous hollow logs. When the drum was played it could be heard from 12 miles away. Looking at these striking figures while listening to that great drum must have been a thrilling experience.Charles Kesslerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07068758792988742599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1522800471258383718.post-55210281436416450732015-03-04T12:15:00.002-05:002015-03-04T12:15:16.279-05:00Oldies But Goodies in ChelseaBy Charles Kessler<br />
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Except for older art, and new art by older artists, I wasn't impressed with anything I saw in Chelsea last week. This is not a reflection on contemporary art in general, or Chelsea in particular, because these are the art and artists that have lasted and are of interest today. As I remember, there was a lot of bad art in the sixties and seventies too.<br />
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My favorite show was <a href="http://www.sundaramtagore.com/exhibitions/2015-02-26_edith-schloss/">Edith Schloss, <i>Still Life, Myths and Mountains, A Retrospective</i> at Sundaram Tagore Gallery</a>, 547 W. 27th Street (through March 28th).<br />
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2wqEep-pELxO-LLx7wu4lsjfmlP7lIVFfkPxaKWi4Ud9nQBBlp8303HRI2sFHBN-6ezyLDgcMD23GTLB49qx7iXCfeb4LMWR8L0V9XAtRgcAI2LyG3SGfhGSO2vE8Bisb0kt52ZffH_A/s1600/Edith+Schloss,+Mont+Amiata,+1965,+watercolor+on+paper,15+x+19+inches+framed+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2wqEep-pELxO-LLx7wu4lsjfmlP7lIVFfkPxaKWi4Ud9nQBBlp8303HRI2sFHBN-6ezyLDgcMD23GTLB49qx7iXCfeb4LMWR8L0V9XAtRgcAI2LyG3SGfhGSO2vE8Bisb0kt52ZffH_A/s1600/Edith+Schloss,+Mont+Amiata,+1965,+watercolor+on+paper,15+x+19+inches+framed+.jpg" height="291" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Edith Schloss, <i>Mont Amiata</i>, 1965, watercolor on paper, 15 x 19 inches framed. </td></tr>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1bGkQRuZ9TYf2Ehe05Rs1_mObr0OgTlROvyO0KZuwhGf0VNS0E0j4bPfixOkgJmtomg_4xc_OF7ap34lNy2R2MUDbhAn2OrZdJHOYQ6vxzycyJPxbWxrxYp-_ybCvFAtHP5gBArnKsdw/s1600/Edith+Schloss,+Isola+del+Tino,+1966,+oil+on+canvas,+19.7+x+23.6+inches.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1bGkQRuZ9TYf2Ehe05Rs1_mObr0OgTlROvyO0KZuwhGf0VNS0E0j4bPfixOkgJmtomg_4xc_OF7ap34lNy2R2MUDbhAn2OrZdJHOYQ6vxzycyJPxbWxrxYp-_ybCvFAtHP5gBArnKsdw/s1600/Edith+Schloss,+Isola+del+Tino,+1966,+oil+on+canvas,+19.7+x+23.6+inches.jpg" height="524" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Edith Schloss,<i> <span style="background-color: white; color: #7e7e7e; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 22px; text-align: left;">Isola del Tino</span></i><span style="background-color: white; color: #7e7e7e; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 22px; text-align: left;">, 1966, oil on canvas, 19 3/4 x 23 2/3 inches.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQfAM7VRon8fHyuDkC0wUTY0mOq4PiG8sB45vlRH7yJONgLTXWkolCt1-SvRBVJQ435m5-qMQoDBVENV-kvUJLDUEM2CFuJHmn0BYRm0oUPBec4ogovSQR89p7nJClGLhCKE9xUKNRkuY/s1600/Edith+Schloss,+Agon,+2000,+oil+on+canvas,+27.5+x+23.6+inches.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQfAM7VRon8fHyuDkC0wUTY0mOq4PiG8sB45vlRH7yJONgLTXWkolCt1-SvRBVJQ435m5-qMQoDBVENV-kvUJLDUEM2CFuJHmn0BYRm0oUPBec4ogovSQR89p7nJClGLhCKE9xUKNRkuY/s1600/Edith+Schloss,+Agon,+2000,+oil+on+canvas,+27.5+x+23.6+inches.jpg" height="640" width="548" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Edith Schloss, <i>Agon</i>, 2000, oil on canvas, 27 1/2 x 23 2/3 inches.</td></tr>
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It was curated by my friend Jason Andrew, the dynamic co-founder and director of <a href="http://nortemaar.org/">Norte Maar</a>; but that's not why I liked it so much. I liked it because I got to find out about an excellent artist who was unknown to me and to see a comprehensive selection of her art from her still lifes of the 1950s through to the mythological abstractions she painted until her death in 2011.<br />
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Schloss was under-recognized even though she was married to the photographer Rudy Burckhardt and was friends with many artists who played an important role in the post-war art world, including Will Barnet, Willem de Kooning, Rackstraw Downes, Alberto Giacometti, Mimi Gross, Robert Moskowitz, Philip Pearlstein, Robert Rauschenberg, Larry Rivers and Cy Twombly.<br />
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Which brings me to another reason why this is such a good show: art by these artists and others from her circle is on display with her work, placing Schloss's paintings in the context of her milieu. Moreover it's humble work by Schloss's friends, the kind given as gifts, traded or bought from the artist – work she might have been surrounded by. And for even further context, there's a glass case of letters, photographs, diaries and other memorabilia. (You can see a selection of Schloss's correspondence with many artists <a href="http://granarybooks.com/collections/schloss/index">here</a>.)<br />
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So why, in spite of doing good work and having important friends in the art world, was she not discovered? I can speculate on several possibilities. She was active at a time women's art was scorned; she made relatively small, delicate paintings when only large, macho paintings were prized; and in 1962 she separated from her husband and moved to Rome, so her work wasn't seen in the United States.<br />
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Here are the other OBGs:<br />
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<a href="http://www.matthewmarks.com/new-york/exhibitions/2015-02-06_tony-smith/">Tony Smith at Matthew Marks Gallery</a>, 523 W. 24th Street (until April 18th).<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaZYK5BmcDyz7j53ZrlEqMeRETKjvsFH29ksCr-mVkeLyOa2LGu11z7x16vUzu-n0mr813S1Cpk05FP-Wb6LjST9n9wrishqz80GnjIyg3ea9ToZihu4CwP-lKSWDhH-soOnvSHlJ4AbI/s1600/Smith_2015_NYC_Installs_024.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaZYK5BmcDyz7j53ZrlEqMeRETKjvsFH29ksCr-mVkeLyOa2LGu11z7x16vUzu-n0mr813S1Cpk05FP-Wb6LjST9n9wrishqz80GnjIyg3ea9ToZihu4CwP-lKSWDhH-soOnvSHlJ4AbI/s1600/Smith_2015_NYC_Installs_024.jpg" height="374" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Installation view of three 1960s Tony Smith <span style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">steel </span><span style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">sculptures </span><span style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">painted black</span><span style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">.</span></td></tr>
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Smith spent most of his career as an architect, and the way these sculptures define architectural space and mass is indicative of how it influenced his sculpture – it as if the work was made for this space.<br />
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<a href="http://www.dcmooregallery.com/exhibitions/2015-02-19_duane-michals-the-portraitist">Duane Michals <i>The Portraitist</i> at D. C. Moore Gallery</a>, 535 W. 22nd Street (through March 21st).<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_BUGJoxHS6LXpW03T_lcCGiCIq0Isv1pNrN4j-NTJNawW3b0vgUE5oBbgv1hbYXXQxGYL6WvDP_oRYXohS8FWZGZmY2z_agCUveAszbZhQajOJOQy9vXMLEolOA8aWVbGnLQKVjnp-Pc/s1600/Michals_2015_inst_141.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_BUGJoxHS6LXpW03T_lcCGiCIq0Isv1pNrN4j-NTJNawW3b0vgUE5oBbgv1hbYXXQxGYL6WvDP_oRYXohS8FWZGZmY2z_agCUveAszbZhQajOJOQy9vXMLEolOA8aWVbGnLQKVjnp-Pc/s1600/Michals_2015_inst_141.jpg" height="332" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Installation view: Duane Michals,<i> The Portraitist</i> at D. C. Moore Gallery.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2EX_tmIC3lyLy4w_Jbswxs3K32zvdC330LjPTyewLeTRgQv6FQwImq9-7Hc5UZBkgaLFVUP2ASejqnooqm0NR0wf2sXHL_wZrkOeyF7jgGcBT7rpowWS-Jstx0A-3pP5txoZxBN8n2Zg/s1600/Duane+Michals,+Johnny+Cash,+c.+1960s:2015,+Gelatin+silver+print+with+hand-applied+text,+8+x+12+inches+Edition+1:5.+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2EX_tmIC3lyLy4w_Jbswxs3K32zvdC330LjPTyewLeTRgQv6FQwImq9-7Hc5UZBkgaLFVUP2ASejqnooqm0NR0wf2sXHL_wZrkOeyF7jgGcBT7rpowWS-Jstx0A-3pP5txoZxBN8n2Zg/s1600/Duane+Michals,+Johnny+Cash,+c.+1960s:2015,+Gelatin+silver+print+with+hand-applied+text,+8+x+12+inches+Edition+1:5.+.jpg" height="312" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Duane Michals, <i>Johnny Cash</i>, c. 1960s/2015, gelatin silver print with hand-applied text, 8 x 12 inches, edition 1/5. The two dates are when they were originally taken (in the 1960s), and when they were first printed (2014 and 2015). </td></tr>
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I remember learning about Michals's photographs in 1982 at my first job when I moved to New York. It was at a tiny store in Soho called Untitled that, like museum stores, sold postcards of art – but they got them from many different sources all over the world. I loved the job because it was a common stop for artists (although I never met Duane Michals), dancers (Pina Bausch was a highlight), and actors (I got to say "nee" to John Cleese – he kindly laughed). They carried a large selection of Michals's postcards, which were popular because they were of famous people in addition to being interesting as photos.<br />
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Michals tries to make each photograph unique to the person he's photographing, and that stimulates a great deal of invention in his photography. He also hand-writes his impressions of the person on the photograph (in the photo above he wrote: "Johnny Cash was hotter than a pepper sprout"). That can sometimes get cute, but it can also be profound.<br />
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<a href="http://www.pacegallery.com/newyork/exhibitions/12728/isamu-noguchi-variations">Isamu Noguchi, <i>Variations</i> at PACE Gallery</a> 508-510 W. 25th (through March 21st).<br />
The PACE Gallery's typically poor website (easier to navigate now, but still bad) has only one reproduction, but fortunately I took a couple of decent installation photographs.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizEiheh-j9wQ5BHGc7Nm-qZFuOiJQwZfIMb-6sy1NsL4P9FS1nRHZN1dF9Y4r5uzbv-MAZfBjWPL3Y-5wKNfDMbUmO2IRAbt4qN77JzR9FPthY-mPfDhS3MExfDgLxMPo-qW0V4cHA_8Y/s1600/IMG_1621.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizEiheh-j9wQ5BHGc7Nm-qZFuOiJQwZfIMb-6sy1NsL4P9FS1nRHZN1dF9Y4r5uzbv-MAZfBjWPL3Y-5wKNfDMbUmO2IRAbt4qN77JzR9FPthY-mPfDhS3MExfDgLxMPo-qW0V4cHA_8Y/s1600/IMG_1621.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Installation view: Isamu Noguchi, left to right, sculpture made in 1958, 1970 and 1968</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC1kmGrA6weA4MgRG7YypNg2Uc8FMOkiRe0WsTbLSUoD5ebyoojPiQpL9-qr9rfsGtwu0l479O8oS8YLUBnLfQwwVJyc6ONN6da43FFBklRrZqVTR6yZm_5avJOhcHealM0DXD7we_i9k/s1600/IMG_1619.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC1kmGrA6weA4MgRG7YypNg2Uc8FMOkiRe0WsTbLSUoD5ebyoojPiQpL9-qr9rfsGtwu0l479O8oS8YLUBnLfQwwVJyc6ONN6da43FFBklRrZqVTR6yZm_5avJOhcHealM0DXD7we_i9k/s1600/IMG_1619.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Installation view: Isamu Noguchi, a selection of his paper lamps. </td></tr>
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PACE produced this exhibition in collaboration with <a href="http://www.noguchi.org/">The Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum</a> in Long Island City. It's a big exhibition which, in the case of Noguchi, is a good thing since his work looks better in the context of his other works. Seen separately, his sculpture can seem over-refined and empty, but seen in quantity you get an idea of how playful the work is, and how inventive. </div>
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Noguchi's sculptures work best in small rooms (like the one pictured above) where the work can play off of clean white walls. Unfortunately the work in this exhibition is mostly installed in large rooms and tend to get lost.</div>
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<a href="http://www.jamescohan.com/exhibitions/2015-01-01_nam-june-paik">Nam June Paik at James Cohan Gallery</a>, 533 W. 26th Street (through March 14th).<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nam June Paik, <i>M200/Video Wall</i>, 1991, 118 x 378 x 19 ½ inches (Cha Zoo Yong Photography Copyright POMA / fazi, inc.)</td></tr>
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The title of the above video installation,<i> M200/Video Wall</i>, refers to the 200th anniversary of Mozart's death, and the soundtrack includes Mozart's music as well as John Cage's, and some pop tunes. Parts of this video (videos?) were quite moving, especially, not surprisingly, the parts with Mozart's music.<br />
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The center monitors often combine to form single images, while the outside monitors play other images. I tried to figure out what was happening on the smaller TV monitors along the outside but finally decided they acted like a decorative frame to the main images with no particular content as far as I could tell. The shear quantity of visual information seems like a chaotic visual attack, which I guess is the point.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5TS1iI_qnqycy5lN-k2sgjJ-jWTyP4VUoXRdcrJQrG0WVX0-trpr-XH3x-09jDcYQ-kpQQImw8UHBwYP8EbnI4wnUaEyQQ5dvYXI2aQQ4EKdWmykv847ceMmoARZA6LFNoYjgxabKiPY/s1600/PAIK_Beuys_Voice_1990_JCG4131_small0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5TS1iI_qnqycy5lN-k2sgjJ-jWTyP4VUoXRdcrJQrG0WVX0-trpr-XH3x-09jDcYQ-kpQQImw8UHBwYP8EbnI4wnUaEyQQ5dvYXI2aQQ4EKdWmykv847ceMmoARZA6LFNoYjgxabKiPY/s1600/PAIK_Beuys_Voice_1990_JCG4131_small0.jpg" height="640" width="424" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Installation view: Nam June Paik, <i>Beuys Voice</i>, 1990 two channel color video on laser discs, antique television cabinets, felt, mixed media sculpture, 104 x 74 x 37 inches. </td></tr>
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This title refers to Paik's friend, the German Fluxus artist <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Beuys">Joseph Beuys</a>, and includes Beuys's signature gray fedora. <br />
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I saw two other oldies in Chelsea, but I'm not a fan of either of them.<br />
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<a href="http://www.pacegallery.com/artists/327/louise-nevelson">Louise Nevelson</a> is at PACE Gallery, 534 W. 25th, (ended February 28th).<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7zHrtNmZw9lVJCqOAHoqAIkJBrtg02X2AHhmUiP42er6piAZMbbMGvuo_cp8_uxBX35ersIVAHbP5xCC2iTmN53IbKsPYWrcjQCb4UB55t-H071-oBYeTfNzBojEcbT-BsF4YpJoioqU/s1600/Louise+Nevelson,+Untitled+,+1964.+wood+painted+black,+100+x+132+x+19+inches.+.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7zHrtNmZw9lVJCqOAHoqAIkJBrtg02X2AHhmUiP42er6piAZMbbMGvuo_cp8_uxBX35ersIVAHbP5xCC2iTmN53IbKsPYWrcjQCb4UB55t-H071-oBYeTfNzBojEcbT-BsF4YpJoioqU/s1600/Louise+Nevelson,+Untitled+,+1964.+wood+painted+black,+100+x+132+x+19+inches.+.png" height="488" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Louise Nevelson, <i>Untitled</i> , 1964. wood painted black, 100 x 132 x 19 inches. </td></tr>
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I find her wood assemblages and reliefs arbitrary and easy – all black, a grid ... can't miss. Compare Nevelson's work with Edith Schloss's, and you can easily predict which of the two would find acceptance in the sixties and seventies.<br />
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If you're interested in Nevelson, read Roberta Smith's <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/27/arts/design/louise-nevelson-collage-and-assemblage.html?_r=0">review</a> in the <i>Times</i>. <br />
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<a href="http://www.cheimread.com/exhibitions/sean-scully-landline">Sean Scully</a> at Cheim & Read, 547 W. 25th Street (through April 4th).<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqwleqQxEpTQrBMqs9FtqqCbo2pH1Op_5PLP0A8olB2R9Tm6FmJdTyW3bxtXG-p7J74XvP6P4Wit_yL2HgHyBZfQWmZppe9thj3X6EfQa_iiwqrLUbLnprRd35lEcfh15DplmKwcYZzPM/s1600/Screen+Shot+2015-03-01+at+Sunday,+March+1,+2015+++++2.31.36+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqwleqQxEpTQrBMqs9FtqqCbo2pH1Op_5PLP0A8olB2R9Tm6FmJdTyW3bxtXG-p7J74XvP6P4Wit_yL2HgHyBZfQWmZppe9thj3X6EfQa_iiwqrLUbLnprRd35lEcfh15DplmKwcYZzPM/s1600/Screen+Shot+2015-03-01+at+Sunday,+March+1,+2015+++++2.31.36+PM.png" height="640" width="510" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sean Scully,<i> Landline Blue Brown</i>, 2015, oil on aluminum, 98 ⅜ x 78 ¾ inches.</td></tr>
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Scully is an oldie – if you count 70 as old. He's been doing basically the same painting for at least thirty years. He takes no chances with color – everything is close in value and usually dark. This work was slightly different in that it was painted with large, luscious, loose brushwork – you have to love it, but it's a shallow, cheap, kind of love. </div>
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Charles Kesslerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07068758792988742599noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1522800471258383718.post-30665264203838974192015-02-25T18:39:00.002-05:002023-09-11T17:44:12.638-04:00Cézanne's Portraits of Madame Cézanne at the MetBy Charles Kessler<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiekNQhh7Hoiqxhkuz6935yMyznsNfjtQ2hJAdcRkbl9ldPOwboA_i7dvgS-F00hoMrbNVbsuU8z983Rd00tU3OL1azaWG5lybwAPUNKhCJxyF8xuPKivL22MAcKgA62I0Wp03tSrF0kzA/s1600/Detail+-+Paul+Ce%CC%81zanne,+Portrait+of+the+Artist,+n.d.,++graphite+on+paper,+13+%C2%BD+x+11+%C2%BC+(Metropolitan%2BMuseum%2BOf%2BArt)%2B.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiekNQhh7Hoiqxhkuz6935yMyznsNfjtQ2hJAdcRkbl9ldPOwboA_i7dvgS-F00hoMrbNVbsuU8z983Rd00tU3OL1azaWG5lybwAPUNKhCJxyF8xuPKivL22MAcKgA62I0Wp03tSrF0kzA/s1600/Detail+-+Paul+Ce%CC%81zanne,+Portrait+of+the+Artist,+n.d.,++graphite+on+paper,+13+%C2%BD+x+11+%C2%BC+(Metropolitan%2BMuseum%2BOf%2BArt)%2B.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Detail: Paul Cézanne, <i>Portrait of the Artist</i>, n.d., graphite on paper, 13 ½ x 11 ¼ inches (Metropolitan Museum Of Art).</td></tr>
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Cézanne often painted the same subject over and over, including his wife, Hortense Fiquet. Given the large number of works Cézanne made of her, it's surprising that the Metropolitan Museum of Art's exhibition <a href="http://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2014/madame-cezanne" style="font-style: italic;">Madame Cézanne</a> (until March 15th) is the first time that there has been an exhibition devoted to them. The show brings together 24 of the 29 portraits, made over a 20-year period, plus many drawings and watercolor studies.<br />
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Accompanying <i>Madame Cézanne</i> is a jewel of a side exhibition of other Cézanne drawings and watercolors from the Met's collection (including the self-portrait above).<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3uad8ldVyuHS2hsqYBsp8LmwStBqntn64yid_HNj4XpNQVsRSt9AAMQikXGAXuGXyCoBmQpgEP18gQInJ5ASGJQLohodoov35ksGN0QZfbfziqQTDNtyd2mlCtJ-HTkbgokHwtFYCSw8/s1600/IMG_1019.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3uad8ldVyuHS2hsqYBsp8LmwStBqntn64yid_HNj4XpNQVsRSt9AAMQikXGAXuGXyCoBmQpgEP18gQInJ5ASGJQLohodoov35ksGN0QZfbfziqQTDNtyd2mlCtJ-HTkbgokHwtFYCSw8/s1600/IMG_1019.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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The personality of the long-suffering Hortense seems to be the main topic of discussion in reviews (<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/12/arts/design/madame-czanne-at-the-metropolitan-museum.html?ref=design">here</a> and <a href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/art-review-facing-hortense-fiquet-on-madame-cezanne-at-the-metropolitan-museum-of-art-1418861729">here</a> for example) and in the exhibition catalog: "Her expression in the painted portraits has been variously described as remote, inscrutable, dismissive, and even surly." She may in fact have been all these things, but I don't think capturing her personality, or the personality of any other of his sitters for that matter, was Cézanne's concern, any more than capturing the personality of an apple or a landscape was.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Paul Cézanne,<i> Portrait of Madame Cézanne</i>, ca. 1886-87, oil on canvas, 18 ⅜ x 15 ⅜ inches (Philadelphia Museum of Art).</td></tr>
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Everyone Cézanne painted, including himself, looks dour, probably because of the demands Cézanne placed on them. They were required to sit unmoving for many hours. He's <a href="https://en.m.wikiquote.org/wiki/Paul_C%C3%A9zanne#1860_-_1880)">quoted</a> as complaining to Ambroise Vollard, his art dealer who he was painting: "You wretch! You've spoiled the pose. Do I have to tell you again you must sit like an apple? Does an apple move?"<br />
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Furthermore, I disagree with the common description of Cézanne's art as composed of massive, rounded, solid forms. I know about his famous <a href="https://en.m.wikiquote.org/wiki/Paul_C%C3%A9zanne#1860_-_1880">advice for his friend</a> the writer Émile Bernhard: “... deal with nature by means of the cylinder, the sphere and the cone … .” This is an oft repeated quote, and one of the few that's nonsense – or perhaps it was "do what I say, not what I do" type of advice. In any case, I defy anyone to find cylinders, spheres or cones in Cézanne's art.<br />
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Instead of massive, rounded and solid, I perceive Cézanne's work as elusive, evanescent, and unstable. (I discussed this in an <a href="http://leftbankartblog.blogspot.com/2014/07/cezanne-at-barnes.html">earlier post</a>.) Cézanne's compositions are always a little off – slightly (and sometimes not so slightly) out of balance. They can be asymmetrical, elongated, broken up, tipsy, uncentered; and forms fluctuate back and forth between inhabiting three-dimensional space and lying flat on the surface. This is what gives Cézanne's art energy and dynamism, and its expressive, if often disconcerting, power. The mind seeks harmony and balance, and when it's not there, there's tension. (These tensions were <a href="http://www.amazon.com/C%C3%A9zannes-Composition-Analysis-Diagrams-Photographs/dp/B000VVFVKC/ref=sr_1_fkmr1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1424116931&sr=8-2-fkmr1&keywords=Earle+loran%2C+C%C3%A9zanne%27s+composition">described by Erle Loran</a> as early as the 1940’s; I don't know why they now seem to be disregarded.)<br />
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One of the most unstable portraits in the show is this one:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvCNacid5-XuAy3EdRqoavfj10EdwUnVCbstsU_H8BEuvh8Bg0WN1p57LypGIffE_0R0K9kb8QR5E-HWqY6Xa1hJvqouMXmSC2_WSzIhc4dV-oe3SG1WAVgDCImHop_QSrDEBO87j00P0/s1600/Paul+Ce%CC%81zanne,+Madame+Ce%CC%81zanne+in+a+Red+Dress,1888-90,+oil+on+canvas,+45+%E2%85%9E+x+35+%C2%BC+inches,+(Met)%2B.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvCNacid5-XuAy3EdRqoavfj10EdwUnVCbstsU_H8BEuvh8Bg0WN1p57LypGIffE_0R0K9kb8QR5E-HWqY6Xa1hJvqouMXmSC2_WSzIhc4dV-oe3SG1WAVgDCImHop_QSrDEBO87j00P0/s1600/Paul+Ce%CC%81zanne,+Madame+Ce%CC%81zanne+in+a+Red+Dress,1888-90,+oil+on+canvas,+45+%E2%85%9E+x+35+%C2%BC+inches,+(Met)%2B.jpg" height="640" width="490" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Paul Cézanne, <i>Madame Cézanne in a Red Dress</i>, 1888-90, oil on canvas, 45 ⅞ x 35 ¼ inches (Metropolitan Museum of Art). </td></tr>
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Madame Cézanne looks like she's ready to fall over, not so much because she's tilted precariously (although she's actually fairly vertical), but because she's not tied into the space compositionally. Instead she floats in a shifting, ambiguous space. The drapery and orange rectangular shape on the left form a frame pushing everything back, but her dress goes to the bottom edge, thrusting her bottom half forward. The wall behind her tilts in different directions, and she seems to be floating on her chair. Even her body doesn't stay still. Her left arm is lower than her right, and the two form a shifting play of curves with her torso. Her head and hair are also asymmetrical and jiggle around in space.<br />
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And Cézanne's forms aren't solid; I see them as colored light so gaseous it feels as though I could put my finger through them. (See close-up below.)<br />
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdSk3_Ux8XXhvewZsqkpFSSkzQ-ttdF01duahr7PxDCEPlQSoERPxFwCChBD7DrV7s53RC4zicJccC4YhOcWLXost4UXF6BLfFxU_Na2reSw4b6bb5Xn5NaWHEGbWzthR34sjTVwRwE3Y/s1600/IMG_1078.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdSk3_Ux8XXhvewZsqkpFSSkzQ-ttdF01duahr7PxDCEPlQSoERPxFwCChBD7DrV7s53RC4zicJccC4YhOcWLXost4UXF6BLfFxU_Na2reSw4b6bb5Xn5NaWHEGbWzthR34sjTVwRwE3Y/s1600/IMG_1078.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Detail of above: Paul Cézanne, <i>Madame Cézanne in a Red Dress</i>, 1888-90, oil on canvas, 45 ⅞ x 35 ¼ inches (Metropolitan Museum of Art). </td></tr>
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There is also tension in Cézanne's color which is ephemeral and seems to glow. This is because Cézanne typically employs <a href="http://www.webexhibits.org/colorart/contrast.html">simultaneous effects</a> (also called simultaneous contrasts) – the phenomenon whereby colors, especially contrasting, or nearly contrasting, colors, appear to change depending on the colors they are near. This can be seen even in reproduction, as in the detail above. The blue shadows and highlights of Madame Cézanne's hands look blue/green because of the surrounding reds and oranges. And not only does the blue look greenish, but it's a glowing, brighter, more elusive color than can come out of a tube. The same is true of the yellow/orange. It glows because it's adjacent to blue, its near complement.<br />
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Simultaneous effects are especially strong under natural light, so it’s fortunate the Met installed this show in the Lehman wing.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoDPnC_s-MXaqAk0MPje7pHTah2lUGP9QkrYYdiBZZVQpODaC-1gdTS-xW_buVNORI9kcs1e8KxZM3UEVG0pfNd_VmdPB_oZfPnovaCNDeRurpZLdkZpFjeymI-4LN_3bcFAHmZaxg1Ss/s1600/IMG_1040.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoDPnC_s-MXaqAk0MPje7pHTah2lUGP9QkrYYdiBZZVQpODaC-1gdTS-xW_buVNORI9kcs1e8KxZM3UEVG0pfNd_VmdPB_oZfPnovaCNDeRurpZLdkZpFjeymI-4LN_3bcFAHmZaxg1Ss/s1600/IMG_1040.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
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I think Cézanne's more subtle asymmetries are more successful because they kind of creep up on you. What appears on first sight to be a solid, tight composition starts to become animated, wobble, and shift in and out of space. This little beauty is a good example – a small, stark, unusually simple and abstract portrait, but nevertheless elusive, glowing and subtly but ultimately disconcertingly unstable.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2MDZhP5spfl_hQ5ZfEaKnHnJ_xmu2CpV_RySYRQ54Ox3Uv9LjQ_n_dRQJ32zYxMMOHpTEcPr9fyl6Y4eApDgEXrmJy-ScKHQS2t7Z5RaIHGYtjGVj6LLL0CHwDgTqNi8VdeP6Kw8tIOY/s1600/IMG_1086.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2MDZhP5spfl_hQ5ZfEaKnHnJ_xmu2CpV_RySYRQ54Ox3Uv9LjQ_n_dRQJ32zYxMMOHpTEcPr9fyl6Y4eApDgEXrmJy-ScKHQS2t7Z5RaIHGYtjGVj6LLL0CHwDgTqNi8VdeP6Kw8tIOY/s1600/IMG_1086.jpg" height="561" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Paul Cézanne, <i>Portrait of Madame Cézanne,</i> ca.1877, oil on canvas, 10 ¼ x 12 ¼ inches (private collection).</td></tr>
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The basic pose is pyramidal, which ordinarily is very stable except she's off-center, so that throws everything out of kilter. She's sitting on a stuffed chair that looks "massive, rounded and solid," but the right side dissolves into flat brushstrokes when it touches the unpainted edge on the right. The same goes for the stripes of her dress – they attach themselves to the unpainted strip on the bottom and are forced forward, flat onto the picture plane.<br />
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As you keep looking you'll find even more. The part in her hair is a little off-vertical, and her hair is bigger on the right than the left, and slightly higher. Her face sometimes looks turned a bit clockwise and other times looks frontal, and her right eye is slightly lower than her left. Also note that the red/green simultaneous effects on her face make her face glow and dissolve its solidity, weight and palpability. All these things animate and enliven the composition.</div>
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Here are some other works from the show.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN6F3QcU4fkiXF379Nm8k9SeOBdhHFmzY4b5W9ZBmbfUSWM7tZL0CR5I81he_bpLcIn5_vGGtsAeyOxM2hqDGMVM5rgaGmhHLAaRs7VFmEIden_a6AksnnU2HRVXnigYxYTxMXUI-9b8c/s1600/Paul+Ce%CC%81zanne,+Madame+Ce%CC%81zanne+Sewing,+ca.+1880,+graphite+on+laid+paper+(Courtauld%2BInstitute%2Bof%2BArt)..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN6F3QcU4fkiXF379Nm8k9SeOBdhHFmzY4b5W9ZBmbfUSWM7tZL0CR5I81he_bpLcIn5_vGGtsAeyOxM2hqDGMVM5rgaGmhHLAaRs7VFmEIden_a6AksnnU2HRVXnigYxYTxMXUI-9b8c/s1600/Paul+Ce%CC%81zanne,+Madame+Ce%CC%81zanne+Sewing,+ca.+1880,+graphite+on+laid+paper+(Courtauld%2BInstitute%2Bof%2BArt)..jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Paul Cézanne, <i>Madame Cézanne Sewing</i>, ca. 1880, graphite on laid paper (Courtauld Institute of Art).</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOVCQLij0uRxwUzNywUXsVIpQ_uBOvkd9t5UKo69qfU3jOrbMd84XEdMWo4SAr_G9C8uFaT56exxsOwYhbqK10S93ZQbf1FTH8_VBHfKg6JwiY173Ws3GtYNulQ8TWwlqidCkqPQY0U6w/s1600/Paul+Ce%CC%81zanne,+Seated+Woman+(Madame%2BCe%CC%81zanne)%2C%2Bca%2B1902-4%2C%2Bgraphite%2Band%2Bwatercolor%2Bon%2Bwove%2Bpaper%2B(Steinhardt%2BCollection%2C%2BNY)..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOVCQLij0uRxwUzNywUXsVIpQ_uBOvkd9t5UKo69qfU3jOrbMd84XEdMWo4SAr_G9C8uFaT56exxsOwYhbqK10S93ZQbf1FTH8_VBHfKg6JwiY173Ws3GtYNulQ8TWwlqidCkqPQY0U6w/s1600/Paul+Ce%CC%81zanne,+Seated+Woman+(Madame%2BCe%CC%81zanne)%2C%2Bca%2B1902-4%2C%2Bgraphite%2Band%2Bwatercolor%2Bon%2Bwove%2Bpaper%2B(Steinhardt%2BCollection%2C%2BNY)..jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Paul Cézanne, S<i>eated Woman (Madame Cézanne)</i>, ca 1902-4, graphite and watercolor on wove paper (Steinhardt Collection, NY).</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkXtQcTGYfsb-EeX6wsxc1aHUEEDxPT_K4qYTG9QO3G6lP6iBcr709JVmwJcj42oKHPkXVRBg2B31LQPqCvCzGac_S08opbyQy-vRqDzOoWv21dhFh5-EtCM05xEAxc7sHW0AAkPLx6kA/s1600/Paul+Ce%CC%81zanne,+Madame+Ce%CC%81zanne+in+a+Yellow+Chair,+ca.+1888-90,+oil+on+canvas+(Art%2BInstitute%2Bof%2BChicago).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkXtQcTGYfsb-EeX6wsxc1aHUEEDxPT_K4qYTG9QO3G6lP6iBcr709JVmwJcj42oKHPkXVRBg2B31LQPqCvCzGac_S08opbyQy-vRqDzOoWv21dhFh5-EtCM05xEAxc7sHW0AAkPLx6kA/s1600/Paul+Ce%CC%81zanne,+Madame+Ce%CC%81zanne+in+a+Yellow+Chair,+ca.+1888-90,+oil+on+canvas+(Art%2BInstitute%2Bof%2BChicago).jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Paul Cézanne, <i>Madame Cézanne in a Yellow Chair,</i> ca. 1888-90, oil on canvas (Art Institute of Chicago).<span style="text-align: left;"> </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhelvYICF8EWFN4wrhACR8ByMyvVWzzEEjgOXRXVTm8lcRqqV91usXVX3DbqXhz3Wlg5sC_iJWxl7yE0HdL_IXptV-IMfYG6YJzr1NPt9w5tbIhKemveBhmvsOHX8hAxbJXCl2AvVJIVcg/s1600/Paul+Ce%CC%81zanne,+Madame+Ce%CC%81zanne+in+a+Yellow+Chair,+ca.+1888-90,+oil+on+canvas+(Foundation%2BBeyeler%2C%2BBasel)..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhelvYICF8EWFN4wrhACR8ByMyvVWzzEEjgOXRXVTm8lcRqqV91usXVX3DbqXhz3Wlg5sC_iJWxl7yE0HdL_IXptV-IMfYG6YJzr1NPt9w5tbIhKemveBhmvsOHX8hAxbJXCl2AvVJIVcg/s1600/Paul+Ce%CC%81zanne,+Madame+Ce%CC%81zanne+in+a+Yellow+Chair,+ca.+1888-90,+oil+on+canvas+(Foundation%2BBeyeler%2C%2BBasel)..jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Paul Cézanne, <i>Madame Cézanne in a Yellow Chair</i>, ca. 1888-90, oil on canvas (Foundation Beyeler, Basel).</td></tr>
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Charles Kesslerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07068758792988742599noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1522800471258383718.post-64550586790252368272015-02-19T11:51:00.000-05:002015-02-19T11:51:44.696-05:00Debra Ramsay and Alex Paik: Letting (e)Go<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">by Carl Belz</span></div>
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<span class="s1">(Author's note: Facebook friends <a href="http://debraramsay.com/">Debra Ramsay</a> and <a href="http://www.alexpaik.com/">Alex Paik</a> </span>have teamed up for an exhibition titled <a href="http://newyork.tigerstrikesasteroid.com/tagged/generative-processes">"Generative Processes,"</a> for which they invited me to contribute the following essay. The exhibition will be at <a href="http://newyork.tigerstrikesasteroid.com/tagged/two-states-ww">TSA Gallery</a> in Bushwick--1329 Willoughby Ave, #2A--from February 20 to March 29, 2015 with an opening on February 20th from 6 to 9 pm.)</div>
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<span class="s1"><i>In reality every reader is, when he reads, the reader of his own self. The work of the writer is just a kind of optical instrument that is offered to the reader to permit him to discern that which, without the book in question, he could not have seen within himself. </i></span></div>
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<span class="s1">In referring to their pairing for this exhibition, Debra Ramsay mentioned her and Alex Paik’s mutual interest in creating an “ego-less” art. An ego-less art: a surprising yet intriguing ambition, even a radical ambition at a time when individual empowerment and expression are everywhere promoted in our culture – in the countless blogs and commentary flooding the internet, in the unprecedented financial rewards associated with entrepreneurial achievement, in the plethora of memoirs on our bookshelves, and not least in our art world’s boundless appetite for star-studded spectacle and entertainment. Against such excess Debra Ramsay sounds an alternative note in describing herself as a meditative agency, “a conduit for the arrangement of shape and the placement of color” in her abstract pictures, while Alex Paik in the same spirit modestly likens himself to a country songwriter needing “only three chords and the truth” to write a good country song. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXy2-9Nncc1LAZDzBK1tVy2QqDg5e4q7CB-MTTcHa77QJ3sSo30KAJaxGlAbRZAaMX337x6vF6sujeoSuNYyr9Z1oIZtRj3yBI0zClmGB6CbMPrAV_DX57ncYTLRXokcYhRs00VN1_m28/s1600/Debra+Ramsay,+Color+Changes+in+the+forest,+during+one+year,+at+the+same+location,+2015,+acrylic+on+Juan+silk,+6+inches+x+12+feet+9+inches..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXy2-9Nncc1LAZDzBK1tVy2QqDg5e4q7CB-MTTcHa77QJ3sSo30KAJaxGlAbRZAaMX337x6vF6sujeoSuNYyr9Z1oIZtRj3yBI0zClmGB6CbMPrAV_DX57ncYTLRXokcYhRs00VN1_m28/s1600/Debra+Ramsay,+Color+Changes+in+the+forest,+during+one+year,+at+the+same+location,+2015,+acrylic+on+Juan+silk,+6+inches+x+12+feet+9+inches..jpg" height="424" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Debra Ramsay, <i>Color Changes in the forest, during one year, at the same location,</i> 2015, acrylic on Juan silk, 6 inches x 153 inches.</td></tr>
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What ego-less can be said to mean in the face of these artists’ art is signaled in the arts’ unassuming physical properties. Debra Ramsay regularly works with acrylic on unframed museum board, paper, mylar and related materials that connote cultural ephemera but at the same time facilitate the kind of close handling and interaction we associate not with signature artworks destined for exhibition but with private studies and drawings and with problem solving explorations meant not first of all to delight but to aid in resolving the job at hand – that is, with artistic process not product, let alone with branded commodities. Nor is the work driven in terms of size and scale; on the contrary, we’ve no trouble imagining an ample Debra Ramsay exhibition being fully delivered in a briefcase or artist’s portfolio. And here, too, the artists are in accord, for Alex Paik also works with paper, cutting and folding and creasing and coating it with gouache and colored pencil and thereby shaping abstract painting/sculpture hybrids he accurately describes as possessing a toy-sized scale, his method embodying “a lo-fi and straightforward approach to art making, hoping to reveal some truth about my materials or process and create work that is sincere, graceful, and intimate.” Ego-less such art may be said to be, but that’s in no way to say it isn’t personal.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgubuuA6YblPo3T8KC_qMi9V8K1Dri5Y6dJfmhXrmPHg-fNzSxANFkp90O4LXpzTJrOU57xc5tSKFzuRChoksgaOZ3KgEmHcjtdU8GX527qv0vwIdVxEzQk4-e1Y8YGWSUiNZ_rJduJWaU/s1600/Alex+Paik,+Folded+Square+(Hanging%2BYellow)%2C%2B2014%2C%2Bgouache%2C%2Bcolored%2Bpencil%2C%2Bpaper%2C%2B40%2Bx%2B13%2Bx%2B3.5%2Binches..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgubuuA6YblPo3T8KC_qMi9V8K1Dri5Y6dJfmhXrmPHg-fNzSxANFkp90O4LXpzTJrOU57xc5tSKFzuRChoksgaOZ3KgEmHcjtdU8GX527qv0vwIdVxEzQk4-e1Y8YGWSUiNZ_rJduJWaU/s1600/Alex+Paik,+Folded+Square+(Hanging%2BYellow)%2C%2B2014%2C%2Bgouache%2C%2Bcolored%2Bpencil%2C%2Bpaper%2C%2B40%2Bx%2B13%2Bx%2B3.5%2Binches..jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Alex Paik, <i>Folded Square (Hanging Yellow)</i>, 2014, gouache, colored pencil, paper, 40 x 13 x 3 <span style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">½</span> inches.</td></tr>
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Both of these artists employ a conceptual system of one kind or another to generate and guide their work and – especially significant in the context of their urge toward an ego-less art – to rein in and structure the decisions affecting the work’s spectrum of thought and feeling, which in turn determine its character. In doing so they manifest the conviction that meaningful artistic freedom is secured only within limitations – as in life, so in art – and without them would be, and would be perceived, as merely personal and arbitrary. The artists’ aim in approaching systematically the creative process is not to annihilate the authorial ego, but to acknowledge its humanity. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqPjuKv2XjWXhZyaohWNAv33Uq_LnrK-u0pzjMFha64kR7Sl6jOiQCLxJohM64t7onaMSP2iZ9SHGsGqugIU7FUKgRZXOvIVATFh5E_NxKeSfpdJXSTfNXhZuVDR7LEoDk8wSdI0X1hH4/s1600/Debra+Ramsay,+Seeing+Through+%E2%80%94+Landscape+As+Time,+2014,+acrylic+on+Juan+silk,+90+x+48+inches.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqPjuKv2XjWXhZyaohWNAv33Uq_LnrK-u0pzjMFha64kR7Sl6jOiQCLxJohM64t7onaMSP2iZ9SHGsGqugIU7FUKgRZXOvIVATFh5E_NxKeSfpdJXSTfNXhZuVDR7LEoDk8wSdI0X1hH4/s1600/Debra+Ramsay,+Seeing+Through+%E2%80%94+Landscape+As+Time,+2014,+acrylic+on+Juan+silk,+90+x+48+inches.jpeg" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Debra Ramsay, <i>Seeing Through :: Landscape As Time,</i> 2014, acrylic on Juan silk, 90 x 48 inches.</td></tr>
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<span class="s1">Debra Ramsay’s approach is fully present to us in<i> Landscape as Time,</i> an ambitious and visually absorbing project begun in the spring of 2013 while she was participating in a Golden Family Foundation residency in the town of New Berlin in upstate New York. It entailed routinely walking a selected trail on the site, photographing the landscape 18 times at intervals of 100 paces on at least four occasions through the seasons of a calendar year, and returning to the studio after each visit to translate and mix colors from the photographs into the pigments she wanted via a computer application. The paintings that followed focus upon and document seasonal color changes and lengthening or shortening daylight. They are wholly abstract – the artist herself regards them as “pure landscapes reduced to actual found colors” – and they are formally configured into clusters of vertical stripes or stacks of horizontal bands, but they are at the same time regularly ordered, less noticeably but no less importantly, by top-to-bottom and left-to-right compositional symmetry, which in each case is where the artist’s taste – which is central to the artist’s ego – becomes curbed and the systematic framing of the pictures’ genesis is registered. And thus do stasis and change come to resonate and inform one another throughout the series, allowing us better to know each by measuring each against the other, their interaction allowing us to gauge the color changing and thereby glimpse time passing and time paused, feel the coupling of art and nature – and quietly savor the abundantly satisfying pleasures of both. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpAYnLvTwaid_PvfVn3MM26FTEEmdpJOb5xWUHRQIeX63BHXjERVUT1S77a2k-bPy2ocfCHwxTvMXtOHdkIJsu39t38sGim2KnsJsrfRvmT8ys2lLoXQO2lF2GmOcRmYGWoOsBT6SPhuI/s1600/Alex+Paik,+Parallelogram+(Offset%2BLayers)%2C%2Bgouache%2C%2Bcolored%2Bpencil%2C%2Bpaper%2C%2B2014%2C%2B21%2Bx%2B26.5%2Bx%2B1%2Binches.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpAYnLvTwaid_PvfVn3MM26FTEEmdpJOb5xWUHRQIeX63BHXjERVUT1S77a2k-bPy2ocfCHwxTvMXtOHdkIJsu39t38sGim2KnsJsrfRvmT8ys2lLoXQO2lF2GmOcRmYGWoOsBT6SPhuI/s1600/Alex+Paik,+Parallelogram+(Offset%2BLayers)%2C%2Bgouache%2C%2Bcolored%2Bpencil%2C%2Bpaper%2C%2B2014%2C%2B21%2Bx%2B26.5%2Bx%2B1%2Binches.jpg" height="331" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Alex Paik, <i>Parallelogram (Offset Layers)</i>, gouache, colored pencil, paper, 2014, 21 x 26 <span style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">½</span> x 1 inches.</td></tr>
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Alex Paik’s pictorial abstractions are deeply indebted to the classical music abstractions he learned while growing up and playing the violin. Individual works generally begin with a single geometric figure – some version of a triangle, parallelogram, or trapezoid, and so on – that is treated like a musical theme or fragment and in turn becomes the engine generating and guiding the work’s shape, character, and identity. “The work reflects my love of contrapuntal music, imitating the way the theme of a fugue is repeated, turned upside-down, transposed, and folded upon itself. My working process is essentially doing a lot of improvisational sessions and then cutting, pasting, and editing those sessions into some sort of coherent whole, much like Miles Davis’s <i>Bitch’s Brew </i>was composed.” Thus does jazz spontaneity become wed to classical discipline in informing and shaping the work’s structurally complex but intuitively buoyant effect; thus, in becoming visible, do the fugue-like manipulations of its making add music’s defining dimension of time to the work’s content; and thus does the artist’s creative process come to be felt less as an expression of the artist’s ego than as an engagement with the job at hand yielding truth about his approach to art making. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzsvPopojWPY51DHq_mWaZnTQ_k6NOSd7OA0t3LrAEKcRAgWpRpRAALeX9j8sZHJ76D7i75zdJM_bUhbC1Nv-VqdrtfvLYaUidJ8EUEhG_I9MDj5oe2auvi12-fUYlIrboMWZRq7E8Zlo/s1600/Alex+Paik,+Radial+(Open)%2C%2B2014%2B%2C%2Bgouache%2C%2Bcolored%2Bpencil%2C%2Bpaper%2C%2B21%2Bx%2B21%2Bx%2B2.5%2Binches..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzsvPopojWPY51DHq_mWaZnTQ_k6NOSd7OA0t3LrAEKcRAgWpRpRAALeX9j8sZHJ76D7i75zdJM_bUhbC1Nv-VqdrtfvLYaUidJ8EUEhG_I9MDj5oe2auvi12-fUYlIrboMWZRq7E8Zlo/s1600/Alex+Paik,+Radial+(Open)%2C%2B2014%2B%2C%2Bgouache%2C%2Bcolored%2Bpencil%2C%2Bpaper%2C%2B21%2Bx%2B21%2Bx%2B2.5%2Binches..jpg" height="400" width="357" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Alex Paik, <i>Radial (Open)</i>, 2014 , gouache, colored pencil, paper, 21 x 21 x 2 <span style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">½</span> inches.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ-bTZUbbAtQbk4OmOEi1GOcXjNrF0CTeji9-YxdW2eS0AeFd573huL3BQEfZdprYLlrehtI07OCUUP5Lphiz0xOx3Fo77c3EZG44GX40M8YnhxZXDkOXJ00KYlcwmLN9QgmHBp395q0w/s1600/Debra+Ramsay,+The+Days+Grow+Longer+in+the+Spring,+2014,+acrylic+on+Dura-Lar,+20+x+61+inches..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ-bTZUbbAtQbk4OmOEi1GOcXjNrF0CTeji9-YxdW2eS0AeFd573huL3BQEfZdprYLlrehtI07OCUUP5Lphiz0xOx3Fo77c3EZG44GX40M8YnhxZXDkOXJ00KYlcwmLN9QgmHBp395q0w/s1600/Debra+Ramsay,+The+Days+Grow+Longer+in+the+Spring,+2014,+acrylic+on+Dura-Lar,+20+x+61+inches..jpg" height="230" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Debra Ramsay, <i>The Days Grow Longer in the Spring</i>, 2014, acrylic on Dura-Lar, 20 x 61 inches..</td></tr>
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The history of modernist abstraction hovers around these artists, as they surely know. Debra Ramsay’s vertical clusters and horizontal stacks recall color field paintings from the 1960s by Gene Davis and Kenneth Noland, while Alex Paik’s banded geometries have been likened to Frank Stella’s shaped and striped paintings from that same decade. The comparisons are suggestive, not in revealing meaningful stylistic influences or wry tongue-in-cheek appropriations, but in demonstrating how what goes around comes around – in this case, artists thinking about art making, then and now. For what Davis and Noland and Stella were thinking about then was that gestural abstraction had become excessive and mannered, that composing had too often become arbitrary and merely personal, and that the deck had to be cleared in favor of a simpler, more straightforward and objective approach to art making, an approach that would be less about the artist per se and more about what the artist knows, more like the artist as a conduit. All of which Debra Ramsay and Alex Paik and their generational colleagues very well know, for they know the history of abstract art, yet they harbor no nostalgia for a return to it, preferring instead to be present in the artistic world of their own making, a world respectful of the past but not confined by it; a world in which they assume responsibility for its freedoms and its limits; a world, according to Debra Ramsay, wherein “artistic science” operates and, according to Alex Paik, “formalism is more interested in serendipity and invention than in unified systems of thought” – in other words, the world that’s generously offered in their pictures, the one they call ego-less in which less ego essentially means more creative space for each of us, for you and me and the others. </div>
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<span class="s1">Carl Belz is Director Emeritus of the Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University</span></div>
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