A Modern Promise of Hope.

Inspired by Thomas L. Dumm's essay titled "Resignation" comes the traveling exhibition entitled "Damaged Romanticism: A Mirror of Modern Emotion" which cleverly comments on the pragmatism often considered to be alien to the Romantics of the 19th-century. This confrontation between the classic Romantics and contemporary realists is expressed through painting, sculpture, photography, film, and mixed media.  It is interesting that the curators and artists chose to discuss and present emotion through the eyes of disappointment and resignation.  This exhibition revolves around the simple thesis that profound, powerful, positive artwork comes from deep disappointment, achieved by placing contradictory sentiments, such as rebellion, disillusion, and defiance side by side.  The artists who make up this exhibition do not belong to a style or school in the typical sense that we categorize art, but rather, the artists aim to uplift the spirits of the public during the current period.  Similar to previous Romantics, these artists are impacted by the damage created by the forces of modernity and the escape from the natural world.  Where these current artists differ is that they do not loose sight of hope, regardless of the circumstances.  Undoubtedly, the works presented have strong roots in suffering, however, through tough-minded optimism, they reject resignation certain that the future promises to be better by learning and growing from the things that have gone awry.  The beautiful aspect of this exhibit is that it provides aspects of all realms of life, allowing viewers to identify and gain hope themselves.

It is not uncommon for artists to capture emotion in their works, in fact, that is what art aims to do.  However, it seems that this exhibition is more straight forward, brilliantly captivating the "plausible beginning, rather than a certain ending" in which Dumm so strongly casts in his essay.  The continuous progression of modern art draws questions as to whether previous artists felt the need to accommodate the viewer's feelings seeing as art occurring in the present seems to be as outrageous and outspoken as possible, though not necessarily negative, as proved here.  Throughout art history, just until the modern era erupted, the works created seem to be pleasant enough so that the viewer is not harmed, that is, they do not deliberately stir up controversial emotions.  The aforethought dubious nature of art today often allows the conclusion that the astonished reaction from the viewers is the purpose of modern art.  It is continuously discussed that art has come to a halt because artists have run out of new mediums and styles to produce work through.  Because of that, are artists left to simply shock their audience?  I hope not.  That makes a mockery out of the talent many possess.

The Crisis Continues.

The current economy has saddened the art world.  A multitude of museums are looking to close their galleries in hopes of relieving their financial burdens, such as many university museums have looked to do recently.  On a larger scale, however, the Metropolitan Museum of Art has closed many of it's satellite shops around the nation, announcing that seven more will close within the near future, rounding the number of closed shops to fifteen.  Amid the financial downturn, the Las Vegas Museum has had a decreased amount of donations, causing their doors to be closed as well this upcoming Saturday.

On a brighter note, an ominous bill was introduced this past monday by the House Appropriations Committee that includes ten million dollars each for the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities.  It brings hope that in the crisis our nation is involved in, there is still a passion to support the arts and humanities.  It seems as though this nation is trying to use the arts to reestablish national optimism, similar to what FDR did when he established the alphabet agencies.  Providing national unity through art hopes to bring the economy back together.

Will art become prosperous in attempts to aid a nation? Or will art become the scape goat, and slowly diminish due to this crisis? Which side will outweigh the other?

SUPPORT.

Slight digression from visual art, but nonetheless, still deserves the recognition.

They're worth the time to check out.

This Shall Be My New Home.

This is why I am moving to New York.

Cezanne and Beyond.

Friday night I had the delight of attending the opening for the Cezanne and Beyond exhibit, currently at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.  As an accolade to the artist,  Cezanne's works stood next to artists he has influenced since his time of existence.  It was a pleasure to be able to identify the reference to Cezanne so directly, seeing as the similarities could be drawn by the common viewer.  Among the Cezanne influenced artists were Pablo Picasso, Jasper Johns, and Henri Matisse.  Undoubtedly Cezanne was a monumental father of postimpressionistic and modern artwork, however, it was until now unclear to me that he made such an impact on others style.  Artists find themselves using Cezanne's odd sense of space to help their expression; artists use Cezanne as a starting point for he has shaped art so drastically.  My favorite aspect was the positioning of a Matisse, Picasso, and Cezanne piece to the left, to the right, and directly in front of you, respectively.  The center piece is of Cezanne's wife, pictured in a red chair, arms casually folded.  Seeing as it was eminent to Cezanne that his subjects sit for hours so that he could capture the right attitude through his style, we recognize the expression on his wife as familiar, recognizing it from other of his works.  Matisse and Picasso's paintings both depict a woman in a red chair, but providing us with an expression evident to their art style.  The highly axiomatic connection with Cezanne's wife is an astonishing contrast the Matisse's and Picasso's personal styles; it is interesting to see the similarities and differences after an apparent inspiration.  I found that the most satisfying thing about the exhibit was that all of the works displayed were not oil paintings, which was Cezanne's primary medium.  A lot of artists reaction to Cezanne has jumped mediums, falling into drawings, sculpture, and mixed media works, allowing the modern movement to explode further into progression.

After the exhibit I had the joy of meeting photographer, art historian, and professor Susan Arthur Whitson, who teaches at the University of the Arts and the School for the Visual Arts.  Whitson's photography is mesmerizing, with each image displaying a glow-like quality.  This may have to do with her preference of altering the camera effects during shooting and not during development.  She often projects her charismatic personality and wild imagination into her photographs, allowing the viewer to easily identify with the dream-like quality she presents.  To read more about the artist, and view her complete portfolio, follow this link.

Allure of Language from the Shadows.

Currently Yale University Art Gallery is holding an art exhibition titled "Picasso and the Allure of Language" which displays a chronological personal documentation that the influence of language had upon the artist.  The exhibition also includes works by Gertrude and Leo Stein, who were friends and contemporaries of Picasso.  According to the show's curator, Susan Greenberg Fisher, this chronology conveys the relationship between Picasso and the world around him.  The exhibition also includes make-believe characters that Picasso created, an examination in the change of Picasso's work, and the explosion of creativity that hit Picasso in the years immediately following World War II.

The aspect of art history that fascinates me is discovering the story behind a work of art, and the influences the environment, culture, and society had upon the artist.  This show is mesmerizing because this type of documentation is not often offered for monumental artists such as Picasso.  The fact that the chronological documentation comes from the hands of Picasso makes it that much more phenomenal.  The pieces also don't elevate Picasso the way that most works of Picasso's do.  It is nice to see him as an equal artist, for lack of a better phrase.  This allows us to put the admiration for his work aside and primarily focus on his thinking process.

To learn more about the exhibit, follow this link.

No Safe Haven for Art.

Due to the devastating economic crisis, a plethora of universities are toying with the idea of selling their renown art filled galleries.  The calamity that comes with the possible closing of university museums is that these museums stand different than others.  Their collections aim to be instruments of instruction for students and scholars, a hands-on method of teaching.  Also, because the collections are so specialized that they cannot find a home other than the university museums.  In other words, if these museums did not house these collections, the exhibitions would not happen, and the world would be at a loss.  It seems to have become embedded in the minds of many that university galleries are expendable.  The current university debating whether or not to close their gallery is Brandeis University, who's Rose Art Museum has been a staple in collegiate art studies.  The decision is based on the financial crisis that faces the university.  Efforts have been mounting to sell the postwar works that the museum owns, and close the galleries for good, selling works from Andy Warhol and Jasper Johns, hopefully relieving the financial weight.  To accompany thousands of people opposing the closing of the Rose Art Museum, follow this link and add your signature to the petition.  To read more regarding the closing of university museums, follow this link, or specifically about the Rose Art Museum, following this link.

Glamorous Reverie One Step Further.

Each piece of Marchesa's fall 2009 collection looks like a beautifully sculpted piece of origami.  Designed by Georgina Chapman, Marchesa's collection is full of delicate frothed and frilled gowns, adorned with sculpted bows and intricate embroidery, capturing the entity of decadence, a line about fairy-tales.  The only disappointment that struck me was the fact that very few pieces seemed entirely wearable; the fanciful effect that Chapman strived to achieve was without a doubt actualized, but I would be fearful to destruct the phenomenal construction of the attire.  Below is my favorite piece from the collection.  To see the complete line, follow this link.

Time Itself.

Tehching Hsieh spent a year in a self made cage, from September 1978 through September 1979, located in his personal studio, left alone to deal with his thoughts, and his thoughts alone.  Hsieh created a series of one year performance pieces following "Cage Piece," eliminating different aspects of life in each piece.  Stripping down life to its most basic conditions creates life to be a single, obdurate form.  Over each year, the deterioration of the basic conditions of life seemed to conclude that Hsieh was eliminating art itself and that time for himself, and in turn the public, was being drastically altered.  Black and white photographic documentation of the year Hsieh spent in his cell is currently on display at the Museum of Modern Art, as well as the cell he built and lived in.  Often people find these performance art pieces a response or continuation to "The Fountain," which Marcel Duchamp created as a statement that his life is his art.  However, the difference with Hsieh seems to be that it is not his life that his art.  Rather, Hsieh expanded his art until it fully engulfed his life.  Viewing the series of photograph flanked by cage allows us to comprehend the work instantaneously, but when the viewer thinks the entire process and conception of the piece, it expands the mind; "Cage Piece" leaves an unforgettable impression.  To read more about the work, follow this link.

No Fear for Art.

With the entire economy bleeding jobs and and money, people generate the rightful assumption that art is declining.  Holland Cotter, who wrote the article "The Boom is Over: Long Live Art!" for The New York Times, does not agree with that assessment.  Cotter has no argument against the veracity that the economy is not a suitable place for any aspect of the world to flourish, that is, he says, if you think through a business filter.  Similarly in the 60s, 70s, and 80s, art had troubled times, forcing artists to move around, rooting new home grounds every decade.  With each falter that artists experienced in the past, they seemed to use their passion as a fuel to create regardless of the economic conditions; Cotter thinks that current artists can and should do just that.  Previously artists have used materials they have found in their environment, such as dirty, wood, scraps, etc., to create works of art we are proud to acknowledge.  They held shows in bathrooms, cars, subway platforms, or any area in which artists could transform into a gallery.  Their bootleg system became a monumental aspect of art history.  Cotter asks that contemporary artists use the same system to further surge the art world in a dismal time.  Not only this, but he feels that art should not solely be rooted in studio creations, but rather, should be interjected with social sciences and humanities, allowing artists to prosper through conjunction.  Cotter follows this by saying that critics alike should expand their knowledge in response to the change in art execution.

It is nice to hear that some have hope for the art world.  It just leaves the matter of following through with the idea to see if art can continue to thrive.

To read the full article, follow this link.

Diane von Furstenburg, Fall 2009.

Disclaimer: I was donned the nickname gypsy due to the multitude of layers and abundance of patterns that I choose to wear year round.  So, keep that in mind when understanding my trepidation with Diane von Furstenburg's Fall 2009 line.  The collection is full of chunky coats, oversized tops, slim bottoms, and enough texture and pattern to last me through September.  With all that Diane von Furstenburg includes in each outfit, it's astonishing that she still manages to keep the ladies looking feminine and well figured, an aspect of Diane's clothes that established her in the fashion realm in the first place.  This collection is something worth emulating for this season.  View the rest of the collection here.

Leapt From The Pages.

Spending hours mesmerized by the fashion photography that graces the pages of my favorite magazines, such as Nylon and NEET Magazine has finally ended.  Well, no, it hasn't.  But rather, someone is finally giving us the pleasure of admiring such beautiful artwork outside of our monthly periodical indulgence.  New York's International Center of Photography is launching a "year of fashion" which consists of three exhibits, rotating throughout the current year, having opened with the first exhibit on January 16th.  The exhibitions aim to display different aspects and styles of fashion photography (contemporary, classic, street, etc.) in a more respectable surrounding.  It goes without saying that I will be visiting this exhibition at least once.

While some find fashion photography to be a stretch from the real artistic nature, I find it to be just opposite.  It captures multiple aspects of art in an art form itself.  People often loose the respect for this art because it's often associated with celebrity culture and gossip rags.  Do you see these photographs? Absolutely stunning.  There is no way this is not art.  It embodies the same form, content, and context that goes into creating other styles of photography, paintings, and sculptures.  These photographers are pure geniuses.

NYFW '09.

NEW YORK FASHION WEEK HAS BEGUN.

That is all.

Surrealist Fashion.

Andrew Matusik's revisits the surrealist movement, often associated with the artist Renee Margritte, in a recent fashion spread he photographed for Genlux Magazine.  Each photograph is based off of a painting by Margaritte, but twisting it enough for contemporary viewers.  I find it to be the perfect blend of fashion and art, that is, if you understand the surrealist citation.  Regardless, consider me pleased.

Rebirth of Duchamp: Greed.

The entity of perfection has finally been created.  Italian artist Francesco Vezzoli has created a work of art based on Marcel Duchamp's Belle Haleine: Eau de Voillete, created in 1921.  Vezzoli's work consists of a video trailer, faux commercial, bottle design, and print campaign.  Vezzoli stems his idea from Duchamp's mockery of the mass market, isolating and imitating the puffery of promotion.  As Vezzoli's latest piece, Greed adds to the "ongoing preoccupation with the fundamental ambiguity of truth, the seductive powers of language, and the instability of the human persona in a series of works that explore the undisputed power of contemporary media culture" that has been designed to mirror the society which idolizes the concept of celebrity.  Without the red carpet, there is nothing worthy for the media to cover, and this is what Vezzoli's art responds to.  Nothing is more brilliant than this right here.  Granted, I am entirely biased because I find Duchamp to be one of the most monumental artists of the modern era.  It's absolutely hysterical though, the mockery which exudes from this piece.  This, without a doubt, is a top ten contemporary work in my mind.  Absolutely ace.  To see more images and stills from the piece, visit this site.

Tiny Treasures.

I just stumbled across these tiny works by an artist by the name of Vanessa Irzyk and immediately felt the need to share these with others.  Each portrait is 2"x2", and they're all mesmerizing.  She captures so much vitality and candor in each work. It makes me wonder, though, if an art critic of noteworthy stature will consider this to be art.  It is not large, and areas aren't even covered.  But each work seems to hold more veracity than some works I have seen in renowned museums.  Maybe it's just me.

At Others Expense.

This has absolutely nothing to do with art, but rather, it comments on modern cultures affinity for pain.  Regardless of what it can be associated with, it's terribly humorous.

F*CK MY LIFE.

Who Killed Barack Obama?

Last year artist Peter Fuss created a controversial billboard depicting Barack Obama as deceased.  His piece was part of an exhibit entitled Out of Sth.  The exhibition statement reads as followed:

"The first exhibition in Poland which presents the works of twenty leading European and Polish artist whose art derives from broadly understood urban art.  Different attitudes, various ways, similar origins.  Classical or political graffiti was a significant point for the development of each invited guest.  The fact of interfering into urban atmosphere with egocentric tag or graphics taken from the patter influenced the way the artists think, act, create and share with their mature and personal art.  Those attitudes which derive from counter cultural and alternative acts of urban activism, seize new areas of social operation and mass culture such as graffiti, street performances, tattoos, cartoon, typography, photography, illustration or person creation.  The exhibition does not literally transfer street art into sterile space of the gallery but is rather an attempt to change stereotyped way of its perception, it is the attempt to show that the barrier between high art and marginal urban art is weak.  It aims to present the inspirations, philosophy and social dimension, crucial for this art,  which reflect contemporary, democratic tendencies to participate in culture.  The violent mixture is created by the attempt to equal working in studio and working in urban space.  This mixture will govern BWA Wroclaw and the streets of Wroclaw for a month."

The issue this piece presented (pictured above) was that it did not ask if Barack Obama had died, but rather who had killed Obama, insinuating that he was already deceased.  Not only this, but the work plays off of the viewers perception of reality, reading anything as fact.  Furthermore, it causes the same dilemma that the Axis of Evil: The Secret History of Sin exhibition created in 2002, after President Bush declared Iraq, Iran, and North Korea as the "Axis of Evil."  One specific piece within the Axis of Evil exhibit, entitled the Patriot Act, was banned at a point during it's tour of the nation.  It was feared that the image of President Bush with a gun to his head promoted too much violence in an already murderousness society.  Also, it seemed to advocate harm against the leader of a nation, which Fuss's piece seems to do as well.  Both pieces generate a lucid way of looking at politics.  To read more about the Axis of Evil exhibit, and view more of the pieces included, follow this link.

What often stirs the art community with controversial pieces, similar to these two, is the censorship that the public feels needs to be applied.  Often, it comes to a general consensus that people hold a duty to protect the viewer from experiencing uncomfortable and unsettling feelings in regards to work.  Granted, there are definitely works that have been created and displayed that stir emotion, such as The Night Cafe in the Place Lamartine in Arles by Vincent Van Gogh.  The difference though is that paintings such as Van Gogh's create emotion of mental uncertainty, a internal questioning.  The images of Out of Sth and Axis of Evil, however, create emotion dealing with national uncertainty, an external questioning, which could develop into a tangible uncertainty.  It is understandable the censorship executed in this context, and this is coming from an artist.  What I have yet to understand is why they accepted the exhibition in the first place, knowing what was going to be displayed?  This further stirs up what is acceptable to be censored, and when it should be executed.  Any thoughts?

The Innocence of Art.

I find that among art contemporaries, the most preferred artwork is that which suggests a childlike quality to the piece and artist.  These works have simple lines, and often very few colors.  If not a minimal, the colors are often muted, allowing the viewer to focus primarily on the simple subject matter that the artist chose to capture.  For most part, the childlike pieces are portraits of everyday people.

To interject for a moment, when I reference contemporaries, I mean it in the sense that artists and art critics ranging from twenty to thirty years of age.  I have been curious about this affinity that young adults have for such credulous pieces that older art viewers have omitted from their aesthetic acceptance.  What I can best understand is that the association with art appreciation is linked primarily with the classical 

nature of academic paintings and early modern works.  Younger critics, as a general proposition, have a wider visual appreciation for works of art.  With these pieces, specifically, younger critics associate these childlike pieces with the innocence of younger days, and the mesmerizing affect that art develops and all the possibilities that are available for creation.

At least it has that effect on me.

Childlike may be the wrong word, and simple may be more suiting.  The basic nature of the works of art do not overwhelm the viewer, but rather leave their mind free to think more about why the artist created the work and what intentions they had when others saw it.  It seems that classical works focus so much on glasslike surfaces, leaving the viewer feeling a need to be proper when viewing it.  If the work is not to an academic style, the motion of the brushstrokes cause the viewer to focus on just the technique executed.  While there is no doubt that this is a primary aspect of artwork, the viewer should be allowed to take more from the piece.

Artists worth checking out:

rina miriam drescher. corcoise. matthew gray gubler. yoshimoto nara.

The Watermark Project.

The Watermarks Project is a public art project innovated by Chris Bodle.  Located in Bristol, England, the project consists of a series of large-scale projections at sites across the city.  It address the question regarding rising water levels and the effect that it will have on social and cultural aspects of living in addition to the adaptions that will need to be made with the environmental changes bound to occur.

It is easy to forget the deterioration that occurs to the environment because it is out of sight, therefor, out of mind.  It is a genius thought that Bodle developed, throwing the terrorizing aspects that we should acknowledge, but fear to, in our faces.  The most innovative thing is that he casually intwines it within everyday living, allowing the idea to not be abrasive to viewers.

The installation ran from February 6th through February 12th of the current year. You can learn more about the work and artist by following this link.

The Quintessential Introduction.

This is a compilation of ideas regarding art, fashion, and modern media.  I find myself collecting snippets of printed media, utilizing an unsavory method of storage.  My computer is suffocated with the mass amount of megabits I pump into its system, consisting of interesting artists I have come across, fashion I find to be fascinating, and other aspects of the contemporary artist.

Here I plan to collect my ideas and reactions in regards to the treasures I find. Here I plan to argue, dispute, and potentially agree with assertions of contemporaries.  Here I plan to successfully organize my thoughts of a world I am so deeply involved in.

Welcome to my art verve.