The first week of February I went on a discovery visit at the Seattle Art Museum (SAM). I am sure many are surprised I waited several weeks after my move to Seattle before making it to the museum; however as an unemployed college student free entrance on the first Thursday of every month proved a good reason to wait. Now with my volunteer badge in hand I plan on making the visit as often as I can.

Seattle Art Museum - south entrance

That being said, for my first visit I was not disappointed. Ultimately I found many new “friends” on the walls and was very excited about the upcoming shows and events that the SAM hosts. Starting in the American Art gallery I played the “name that artist” and was impressed by how many I knew, or at least was kicking myself that I could not place the name, yet knew who it was. I believe Professor Todd would be a little disappointed in my accuracy; however she knows that I did have trouble identifying which were Church, Cole and Bierstadt on my exams.  To my credit, I did get Sargent and Sullivian right away, both which are more my area of interest and study.

Léon Delafosse, ca. 1895 - 98 John Singer Sargent Copyright (c) 2011 Seattle Art Museum.

The gallery included Church’s Niagara from 1856 which made me a little home sick for its big brother, but I loved the stained glass piece by John La Farge. The mix of furniture and silver pieces included in the gallery was great and ultimately I was delighted by the representation of early American art on display.

The next gallery I looked at was the Native Art of the Americas; an experience which made it very clear to me is that when I am back in D.C. this fall I need to visit the National Museum of the American Indian – anyone interested in joining me? Of the pieces on display I found the the Soul Catcher very interesting and I loved all the Argillite pieces.

My favorite piece in the gallery was The First People by Susan Point. Susan is a Coast Salish artist from Musqueam, a First Nation in Vancouver, British Columbia. This piece was created in 2008 for SAM and I believe does a really wonderful job of being modern and traditional. The inclusion of active artists within an area of the museum that many would think of as only holding artifacts forced me to readjust my view point.

I also loved Leaves by Gloria Petyarre, which was included in an exhibit of Australian Aboriginal art. The gallery had several wonderfully patterned pieces and walking through it after looking at the Native American art had me considering all the post-colonialist art essays that I have read. The wall text even mentioned the word “modern” to describe pieces and I could hear my methods classmate’s comments in my head. It was comforting that other visitors were heard making comments along these lines, to me it means that people are thinking about more than the physical aesthetic and the actual creative process behind the works on display. I do not envy the curator who organizes these exhibits, finding the correct balance and placement so that the works are read as part of a continual culture. It is handled quite well I believe with the traditional, “old” soul catcher placed with a modern interpretation by a native artist in one instance.

It has been a very long year and I find it hard to believe that during the last days of 2010 I was visiting the National Gallery of Art with my husband and his friends. I had blogged about the visit in March but as I have been working on my painting dates and visual analysis I have started to and reflect on the art we saw. One of the more interesting pieces that I had discovered during that visit is almost not something that I would typically call a “piece of art” at all, Multiverse.

Technically Mutliverse is a light sculpture.  Created by American artist Leo Villareal, this LED experience connects the East and West buildings underground. At 200 feet long the light experience is made of 41,000 computer-programmed light-emitting diode nodes. They flash on and off, chasing each other along the wall of the tunnel. Given the size it is not a surprise that Multiverse was created especially for the space, starting in 2005.

Light is an interesting medium to work with, some examples I have seen recently are Inopportune: Stage One by Cai Guo-Qiang at the Seattle Art Museum and Electronic Superhighway: Continental U.S., Alaska, Hawaii at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Both of these examples however are less interactive – you do not physically move through the work as you do with Villareal’s piece. I wish that I had video to share because the changing and moving of the light is what really make the experience, but then again since I don’t you will just have to go and experience it for yourself.

Links:

• More of Villareal’s Work

Yarn bombing?
I was very surprised to find out that this really cool art I had been seeing online had a name. When I started to see work online by Magda Sayeg I thought the knit pieces were just performance art meets environmental art. An evolution or new version of the work of Christo and Jeanne-Claude do, and in some ways it is.

Guerilla Suit and Knitta Please present: #Williebomb

As it turns out yarn bombing was started by Magda Sayeg (tried to post some of her work – but honestly just look at her site), a creative knitter who hated to look outside her shop and see all the concrete and steel. She started small, knitting a cover for her door knob then the stop sign pole across the street. Now she is knitting pieces to cover statues and cars. Her idea has caught on and the number of yarn bombers is unknown, but projects have been popping up all over the world.

This art has been compared to graffiti, due to the spontaneous knitted coverings appearing over night and the individuals who created them being unknown. This is covering public property and in most all cases no one is getting permission before they knit colorful patchworks around city trees. There is something very different about yarn bombing from the graffiti tags covering bridges and signs. Yarn bombing is all about adding some color, and let’s be honest it is a lot easier to remove a knit wrapping around a tree trunk than spray paint from a billboard. How awesome is a pink crochet covered tank?

Also, it is a lot easier to bring that tank back to its boring-ness than if it had been spray painted. (I am not against all graffiti, just far too often it comes across as destructive rather than artistic.) Aside from the whimsy, I love this movement because it is taking crafting to a new level. I love crafting and hate that it is so often pushed aside as being a lower art form.  With yarn bombing different people are paying attention and taking part. There is even a book Knit the City, with the tag line “Prepare to meet your friendly neighbourhood guerrilla knitters, whose prime objective is to enliven the dull city streets with a riot of colour – one stitch at a time.”

As someone who has been known to knit, some of these bombings represent a serious commitment of time and planning. This past June celebrated the first official yarn bombing day, with colorful decorations appearing all over the world. I may have to find out how to participate this year because it just feels like it would be a lot of fun.  This is a complete movement or a mission maybe — a mission to bring craft, graffiti and art all together. What is there not to love?

Seattle Yarn Bombing photograph courtesy of Suzanne Tidwell via yarnbombing.com

Links:

• Yarnbombing Blog
• Guardian Article
• Yarn Bombs

Eva Hesse is an American sculptor often discussed in relation to Minimalism and Postminimalism. I discovered her while reading Art Talk. Her biography gets a lot of attention and it is not a surprise that many writers have focused on how this chain of life events played a role in the work she produced.

Eva was born in Germany in 1936, at the age of two she fled to the Netherlands with her sister, later moving on to England before reuniting with her parents. The family eventually moved to the United States. Her parents would divorce and when Eva was ten her mother committed suicide. At the age of 33 Eva was diagnosed with a brain tumor, which would lead to her death in 1970.

Repetition Nineteen III © The Estate of Eva Hesse. Hauser & Wirth Zürich London

What really interested me about Hesse was not her biography, or her work. I have never had much interest in modern art; sculpture is something I am beginning to become interested in and am drawn to color, something that is almost non-existent in much of Eva’s work. Reading her interview she spoke with ease about her life, at ease with what had happened and where she was. In all honesty I was inspired by her. The relaxed nature she presented in the interview drew me to her. She discussed how she worked, how her creative process did not start with a final idea in mind. Eva’s work is not about the final piece of art, rather she talked about finding out what the medium she is working with could become.

All artists have a process, Eva’s process is recorded for us to see because she experimented with media. A process which created many test sculptures as she learned what the material could do.

In the early 1960s after studying art at both Cooper Union and Yale University she married sculptor Tom Doyle. A marriage which would end in divorce, however the couple spent a year working at a studio in Germany. It was during this period that Eva started to experiment with different materials she found including electrical wire and masonite. These art works out started as reliefs and evolved into sculptural objects with the use of papier mache, nets and string.

The assortment of materials she would use grew.  She used tubing and metal in her sculptures, then latex, fiberglass, wax and plastic upon her return to the United States.  Each material was an experiment, in the case of latex she selected it because she did not know how to work with it and she knew that it would deteriorate over time. These changes have occurred in the latex, the deterioration and discoloration of the material means that the work can never be completed. Her works today are different than they were  when she originally created them. This was something that Hesse accepted would happen when she was creating the work.

Sans II © The Estate of Eva Hesse - Image from SFMOMA

Due to Eva’s very short artistic career her test sculptures and experiments have come to be displayed, studied and understood much the same as her “finished” pieces. Briony Fer discusses how these pieces came to be part of Hesse’s oeuvre in the book Eva Hesse Studiowork. In truth, if she had not designated them as experiments or the molds for final works we may never know the difference. They have been displayed in cases, a manner which has been compared to works by Duchamp and Oldenberg.

Untitled, 1967–68 The LeWitt Collection, Chester, Connecticut © The Estate of Eva Hesse. Hauser & Wirth Zürich London

The idea the Fer stresses is that we as viewers are looking to find the final, that we are not comfortable with the idea of there being a test without a resolution. However Hesse would have never thought of art in that way. Starting something does not mean that there is an defined end, this was the message Hesse had shared with Nemser in Art Talk.

Maybe that is the best take away message, the best thing to think about as we start a new year.  So often we focus on goals, the idea of reaching an end point. We are focused on completing something, accomplishing something that we have created in our mind as the thing we want. More often it that idea of what we want is just that, an idea not a real thing. Maybe this year I will experiment with French and look at new ways to understand the art around me, rather than setting goals.

Links

• The Jewish Museum

Last semester was crazy to say the least; I had two fairly hard classes, a lot going on at work, my family in Vermont was hit hard by Irene, my grandfather’s health has been getting worse and all along there was a possibly of a move to Seattle, a life changing event which did occur this month. STRESS. To say I do not deal well with stress is an understatement, as a result very little other than what had to be done, got done. This can be seen very clearly by looking the fact that were no blog posts.

A couple really great things did happen, one I was part of a study group which I LOVED and two my class started to organize group trips to museums. Since I am taking this spring off from school I will miss out on the trips, but I am going to try to help my study group from afar. I have (they are currently in storage) two brand new art history text books and my flash card set ready for emails and Facebook postings, but why wait? I have my first two flash cards ready.

The two I have selected are Winslow Homer’s Breezing Up (A Fair Wind) and Mary Cassatt’s Boating Party. These two paintings have several things in common; both are part of the permanent collection at the National Gallery of Art, they feature a small sail boat and were painted by American artists at the end of the 19^th Century. Each also uses the canvas edge to cut the sail, a cropping style which shows the influence of photography and the idea of capturing a precise instant in time.

Starting with Breezing Up, painted in 1873 to 1876 Homer has depicted a bright sunny day.  The wind fills the sails of the Gloucester, pushing the small boat through the water. A gentle balance is at play along the horizon line, wind risks toppling the boat and silhouetting the young boys against the sky. Against the background, entering from the opposite frame edge is a large sail boat.

Breezing Up (A Fair Wind) © National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC

The cropping of the boats sail creates a sharp diagonal line guiding the eye to the boats riders. This focus on the riders, who are both relaxed and at the mercy of the water and wind is a great representation of Homer’s work. The painting is about man’s interaction with nature and a representation of what was distinctly American. Painted at a time when America was looking to form its own artistic identity Homer’s work can only be American.

He does use light and create an image of a single moment of time, both influences of impressionism, yet he was never an impressionist painter. Mary Cassatt on the other hand was part of the Paris art world, connected with the impressionist painters.

The Boating Party painted in 1893 to 1984 illustrates two key elements of Cassatt’s oeuvre, relationships between mother and child and the influence of Japanese prints. Scholars have discussed at length the reasons why Cassatt painted so many mother and child paintings, given that she never was a mother herself. To me the most logical reason that has been presented is that as a proper woman it was one of the few subject matters which she had access to. Unlike her contemporary male painters she did not have access to the brothels and bars of Paris for inspiration.

Boating Party © National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC

Many of the painters during this period were influenced by Japanese woodblock prints, and Japanese art in general. Cassatt shows this influence in her flat areas of color. These segments show brush strokes and slight variations in color, but ultimately are seen as a blue block of the water, a yellow flat shape of the boat and the black clothing of the rower. Aside from the dark clothing of the male figure, the vibrant colors express the mode of the boating party members. While the male figures relationship to the mother and child is not clear, the mother and child’s gaze would suggest that there is a close relationship between the three.

Much as the positioning of the horizon in Homer’s Breezing Up drew attention to the young boys and the vast world they were exploring, Cassatt’s barely visible horizon places the viewer close into a private moment. The lines created by the sail, the boats curved hull and the rower all focus the eye on the child. While Homer was expressing the relationship of man with nature, Cassatt is showing the joyous relationship between individuals. It is a painting of human interaction.

So – what did I miss my art history friends?

It was pretty cool to have this article passed on to me. As I posted about I had visited one of my sister’s Alley of Art shows when I was in Vermont.   The Burlington Paper has caught on to the artist community that exists and even featured some photos of her painting. As a big sister I always feels great to see that people know her art and appreciate her as an artist.

I have been working on crossing a few museums of my places to visit list this year. I already visited Montreal and my birthday is always a great excuse to visit some place new.

So in honor of my birthday my wonderful friend Kimberly and I drove to Baltimore for a few hours and wandered around The Walters Musuem of Art. It was a museum that I happened to stumble upon and knew nothing about. I am really glad that we went because I really loved it, there was the feeling of being in a small, intimate museum, but the work on display was what you would expect from one of the massive museums. On display is art ranging from pre-dynastic Egypt to the 20th Century, some beautiful scultpure and even a few Fabergé eggs. Personally wanted to take home with all the wonderful Lalique jewelry and a few vases as well.

Since modern art is not my preferred categories, the exclusion did not bother me. On the other hand the closed or unable to find Asian Art win bothered me slightly. That stems from the fact that there is always some area of a museum closed when I visit – the Prado, Musée d’Orsay, Montreal Museum of Fine Art – I am beginning to think it is me.

Level two covered the Ancient World, with examples of Egyptian, Greek, Etruscan and Roman art. Since I just finished reading the summary of Greek art a few days before I went in a little excited. Here I was able to look at what I had been reading about in person. As can be tricky with any museums layout, how the visitor to flows through this area was a little tricky. We started with the Egyptians, but ended with the early Greeks. To be honest, they have tried to position Egypt is a part all in its own, but it does lead into the ancient near east, or at least that is how I found it. In doing so I walked back through time, leaving Egypt via the Roman empire and ending in the early Greeks. I probably would not have even noticed, other than the fact that I am trying to learn to notice these things.

From there we walked through the Sculpture Court and the 17th and 18th century European art rooms which surrounded it. The museum impressed me with their Chamber of Wonders. It was not so much for the assortment displayed – which was great – but the idea of presenting this style of museum display. There was one very small special exhibit on display, The Art of the Writing Instrument from Paris to Persia. It was interesting, I actually would  have liked to see more items and the 19th century art was great, but it is always my favorite. Having never seen Titian’s “Venus of Urbino” being able to see Ingres’ copy the “Reclining Venus” hanging on one wall was a surprise to me. It is probably the closest I will ever get to the scandalous masterpiece.

As we were leaving we walked past the Conservation Window, which I think was the best part of the visit. So far I have learned nothing along the lines of art conservation, here they had one of the museum conservators showing a project they were working on and talking about it. The staff member we listened to worked on paper and prints, so she was showing a watercolor on floor paper that she was working on. It was very interesting to here what issues she was facing in the conversation process. I had read during my poster research some of the challenges of exhibiting works on paper. In this case the stability was a major issue and I was able to see how the paper sagged in areas and pulled at its tacking.

One piece that was very interesting that I now need to add to my list of things to learn more about was The Young Girl of Bou-Saadaby Ernest Barrias. So far all I have found is that this sculpture also appears on the tomb of Gustave Guillaumet in Montmartre in Paris.

Yesterday I watched Milton Glaser: To Inform & Delight a movie by Arthouse Films directed by Wendy Keys.

Starting it I had no expectations about the movie. As a graphic designer studying art history I really want to learn more about the designers who have made an impression on the art world – Glaser is definitely one. Two of his most famous contributions are the iconic Bob Dylan poster

and

In truth I do not believe their is a person in the modern world who can say they have not seen his influence.

Watching him work, directing others on what he wants designed on a computer screen it reminds me that he comes from a time before computer design. A time I honestly wish I had the chance to experience and it makes me cheer to see someone who believes that a computer can never fully replace the artist and his pencil. For all the technological advancements there is something very powerful that one gains from stepping away from the computer screen and approaching design with only your hands.

Glaser’s work is known around the world and influenced more than poster design and the movie shows the many areas he has explored including restaurant design. So many moments during the movie I wanted to write down what he was saying, there is an enormous amount of wisdom which he shares of the design, art and the world. At one point he talks about the importance of travel and opening your self to the world that you cannot see the works of Gaudi and not be effected. I love this, so often travel and exploration is seen as frivolous and something that people “try” to fit into their lives rather than make part of their lives. Think of all the great things that could happen if everyone actually did experience the world more, all the inventions and changes in attitude of other culture. I think the answers to everything lay in that thought.

If you don’t have a chance to watch the movie (Netflix has it on watch it now), the next best thing is to just read Ten Things I Have Learned. I wanted to applaud the man with each point he made – pure brilliance and true creativity.

Links:

• milton glaser
• designboom article

Even though I am not taking any classes this summer I have been trying to keep a balance in my reading, mainly working my way through a copy of  Janson’s History of Art which a friend has lent me. Reading this has pointed out that I have a lot of catching up to do. When I took Art History – or more accurately History of Western Art I and II – in 1997 we were assigned A History of Western Art by Laurie Schneider Adams, a perfectly fine book which I have kept since then. I really thought nothing about the quality of the information until I spent the last few weeks struggling to get through the Ancient Greeks in the Janson’s book. Finally reaching the last page of the chapter today I decided to look at my old text book and try to understand why I felt so lost, was it just that I had forgotten everything?

Yes I have forgotten things, but it really it more than that. I was not an art history major as an undergrad and the textbook reflects that. Jason covers the Greeks in 55 pages, Adams in 32. The number of pages should matter very little when you consider both do involve a large number of images, the Adams book however takes the first four pages to discuss the Government, Culture and defining the Greek Gods. The chart of Gods is very useful, but it does not help me understand the periods of Greek art and the different defining characteristics of them at all. The most striking difference between the two is that one book claims that there were two groups of Greeks and the other lists three. True I do not intend on Greek art being my area of study, it does point out that there is a lot of education that I missed out on. I am jumping in at the deep end. For the most part everyone in my Transatlantic Encounters class last semester had the same amount of understanding of Latin American art, something under represented in art history education, it will be very different in my Renaissance art class this fall. Hopefully I will get to that section in Jason’s before the end of the summer.

I am sure it is not a surprise that I found something I love on Flavorwire. Once again I have been catching up on the feed and found the photography of Jason Powell. Combining old photographs and current locations is something that I would love to try and add to his work the fact that many of the landmarks I have been to and I am in love.

Looking Into the Past: Newsies, US Capitol. Original image taken by Lewis Wickes Hine in April of 1912, courtesy of the Library of Congress. Jason E. Powell

Jason has included the history of the places and events captured (it is educational) making this more than just a simple what can I do with my camera page.  Honestly, check out his webpage, very cool stuff.