MFA SHOW............

I just checked out the MFA show in the gallery and in general I thought it was an overall good exhibition. When viewing the show, I focused on the setup and placement of the work more than the works themselves. I felt that the groupings and the arrangements of the show weakened the presentation. There just wasn't a good agreement and fluidity between the pieces. For an example, the room in the back right off of the main room, the hanging sculptures, the sculpture and the paintings were all individually very strong and well executed. However, the grouping of them seem to not complement or create a dialog. I felt that the hanging sculptures needed more space and room to breathe. In contrast, the first room off to the left from the main room, was well put together and seem to be a very strong selection of pieces. Now this could be because they were all be the same artist and the fit the space well. Another thing that I had bittersweet feelings about were the temporary walls set up in the main room. The walls were awesome. They created more wall space for work to be shown and filled up some of the emptiness I always experienced in the past shows I have seen. But.... the fact that one artist was on all on one side and another person on the other side just seem awkward. I felt the walls weren't being used to their fullest use. It was hard to take in the artist full body of work because you saw a few but then had to turn the corner to see the rest. There was no possible way of seeing the whole series of work at once. This exhibition was good to see because there were some amazing pieces, but the physical setup and the groupings of works made it harsh to view. But for that point alone, it was an important show to see in relation to the thesis class. It made some valid points that should be considered when we start to plan our own exhibitions in the spring.

Frank Stella...

The Spirit-Spout, 1988
Oil and enamel on aluminum, fiberglass, corrugated aluminum, wood, and metal fixtures, 125 x 110 x 43 in. (317.5 x 279.4 x 109.22 cm)

"Hacilar aceramica", 2001
epoxy and spray paint on cast aluminum


“Severinda” (1995)
mixed media on Fiberglas
is part of “Frank Stella: Painting Into Architecture,” at the Met.


"The Pequod meets the Bachelor", 1988
Mixed media on etched magnesium and aluminum
126.7 x 125 x 33.7 inches

--I choose to include more images of Frank Stella's work because they also relate to my work for multiple reasons. First, the sculptural elements are interesting and similar to my work. I don't work with the same materials (i mostly work with foam because I am still feeling out working in reliefs), but I am concentrating on the relief elements of these pieces. Seeing that most of these are mounted to the wall, I looking at how their compositions maybe somehow relate to being shown on a wall. Plus, its educational of how so someone established approaches the stacking and layering of panels and objects. Second, his color palette in these intrigued me. I like how its bold and vibrant in some pieces and others are more muted but still exudes vibrancy. Third, these pieces also give me examples of patterns and shapes in an organized/clean way and also in a loose/painterly way. As i mentioned before, I am interested in perhaps moving away from the flat solid shapes and moving to a more fluid/loose/painterly depiction of shapes.

Santi Moix

Santi Moix
Untitled, 2008
crayon and oil on paper
55 1/4 x 68 inches
140.3 x 172.7 cm


Santi Moix
Untitled, 2008
crayon and oil on paper
55 x 66 inches; 139.7 x 167.6 cm
framed: 60 1/2 x 71 1/4 x 2 1/4 inches; 153.7 x 181 x 5.7 cm


Santi Moix
Untitled, 2008
crayon and oil on paper
53 3/4 x 68 inches; 136.5 x 172.7 cm
framed: 60 1/2 x 73 1/4 x 2 1/4 inches; 153.7 x 186.1 x 5.7 cm

-Santi Moix shows at the Paul Kasmin gallery. The medium is different than what I usually use in my work, but I found the composition and shapes used in these works to be very interesting and relevant to my work. The shapes are very organic and there's a sense of space. What I found interested about the composition is that the placement of the "image" adds a certain weight to the piece. Also, I like how everything springs out from the center, which creates some massive sense of depth there. The concept of placement and composition in these pieces is something I might want to apply when construction my work because my work is flat shapes and flat colors and sometimes I feel like it needs some depth to it. Also, I was debating last week about maybe moving away from the flat, solid colors and moving to something a bit more painterly. So this seems like a good example of what my work could look like if I started working wet into wet paint when creating the shapes in my paintings.

---I tried to read up on this artist and couldn't find much besides that he has a fellowship to the Guggenheim museum. Any suggestions of where I can find more info on this artist?

Hitting a Brick Wall....

As our thesis proposal due date approaches, I have seem to hit a nice solid wall of uncertainty, panic and confusion. I know where I want my art to go and a few artists I really get influenced by... BUT.... i really don't know what I should be researching for my thesis proposal. How do I find more artists that have relevancy to my work? Do I have to talk about nothing but artists and specific genres of art in my proposal? What if I draw inspiration from random things? like how my shoes laces fall and composed themselves on the floor after I took my shoes off? Or what if I create the composition of a painting from a the feeling I get from a James Brown song? Those are just some of the werid things that factor into my art. Should I be talking about this in my proposal as well? Can anyone suggest artist I should look at? Is there certain types of articles I should be looking at more than others like interviews more than reviews or biographies or show catalogs? I just need a little guidance and help here... I understand we are seniors and no one is going to hold my hand through thesis. I'm not expecting anyone to do so. What I need though is for someone to give me some pointers, suggestions and guidelines to help direct me into the right path.

Research for thesis: Elizabeth Murray

Artchive: Greg Masters' interview with and article about Elizabeth Murray...

"Her major accomplishment has been to find a way to express her emotional responses to an object, letting her passions go in abstract painting and, at the same time, fusing that rawness within a finely tuned precision, the shaped canvas. Though the boundaries of her canvas are often a bit eccentric, they restrain and give a form to the explosion of impulses. She's made a happy marriage between the exhilarating freedom to express of the action painters and the clean basics of the minimalists."-G. Masters about Murray's work

"She repeatedly opens herself up for examination, maintaining the vulnerability necessary for probing the self. The playful decorativeness, aggressive colors, large biomorphic shapes, are infused with an intense honesty and integrity in the process of relating the personal reaction to the geographic environment."-G. Masters

"That's a specific formal idea to have those shapes up there. In the beginning it feels like time breaks through the formal stuff and you get paint on it so that you begin to have ideas and it begins to get very emotional. That color feels like what you are at that particular day, particular moment, like what color feels like the right container for all those feelings."- E.Murray talking about how she starts a painting.
- It's interesting to me that she starts with an idea, but, once the paint gets flowing, she feels it all out and begins to depict emotions.

GM: When you started making shaped canvases?
EM: Yeh, it started with some very small paintings. I was reading books about Gestalt therapy and I was reading a lot about Zen at the time. Very briefly, I got very involved in Japanese Buddhism and Za-Zen. That was the spiritual thing in a way that was an influence to it but it was also very much from just looking at the Minimalists. What I needed was something, an underpinning for all my emotions, I really needed something to settle me down and some kind of a plate to put this stuff on. Then I began to understand what that was. It gave it some boundaries. I have a real desire for structure and for order. But also the chaos of the feelings feels like the thing that has to be in there. I think it's totally emotional. For the emotions to be seen you have to have a format.

GM: When you started making shaped canvases?
EM: Yeh, it started with some very small paintings. I was reading books about Gestalt therapy and I was reading a lot about Zen at the time. Very briefly, I got very involved in Japanese Buddhism and Za-Zen. That was the spiritual thing in a way that was an influence to it but it was also very much from just looking at the Minimalists. What I needed was something, an underpinning for all my emotions, I really needed something to settle me down and some kind of a plate to put this stuff on. Then I began to understand what that was. It gave it some boundaries. I have a real desire for structure and for order. But also the chaos of the feelings feels like the thing that has to be in there. I think it's totally emotional. For the emotions to be seen you have to have a format.

"I think it probably develops and evolves. I'm sure it does. I could be wrong about this. Who knows artistically what is right or wrong. You just do it. I change and things change and one thing seems to lead to another. For me that seems to be what happens in my work." - E. Murray talking about her work developing, changing and evolving over the years. I found her opinion to be rather comforting to me because this is how I feel most of the time about my work. I see all my peers having a set style and the work just progressing, but my mind frame changes and it's illustrated in my next pieces.

GM: Does the artist have a political responsibility?
EM: Yeah. I think so. More than ever. People say well, your work isn't specifically political. But I think that art is political. Being an artist is taking a kind of stand in relationship to the world. What I want my art to do is really make people feel things differently. Slow down and take a look and be provoked in almost any kind of a way. To see a kind of foreign object that maybe has some meaning that is jolting in some sense. It's not that I think I necessarily succeed or don't succeed. That's not what you're asking really. That's what I would want. I think that art does it in very different ways. I think that is political. The ultimate value in this society has always been money and art has always been the thing that's gone against that. I think the irony for me right now, that I have not come to terms with, is that I'm in this position where these are objects and as objects they're expensive. But to make them I have to make a certain amount of money. So I'm in this kind of bind where they have to sell. I want Paula to sell them. I don't mind that, I mean, I don't want them [laughs]. After I've done them I've gotten what I want out of it so it's fine with me that they sell. I think that the disturbing part is that the people who can afford to buy them are fewer and fewer. Most of the people who buy them are people that, politically, are totally on the other side of the fence than I am. Completely. I don't kid myself that their lives will necessarily be changed by having them.

~ I found this interview to be very helpful in understanding an artist I have idealized for so long. I already understood and knew that alot of "feminine" icons/symbols can be found from her work which could be because she draws influence from her everyday life. What I found interesting were her answers and how plainly spoken they were. I felt that in some ways my our process, inspiration and composition is very similar to Murray's. For example, how she emphasized painting being more about the emotions or emotional state. Most my work isn't commenting on global warming or our political/economic state, instead is focusing on the my emotions or thoughts that are occurring and influencing the decision in the piece I am working on the current moment. I guess it was just comforting to find out that I'm not working the 'wrong" way and that established and revolutionary artists like Elizabeth Murray shared some of the view points as me.

Ian Davenport

Ian Davenport shows at the Paul Kasmin Gallery, which I saw. The minute i saw his paintings i was awe-struck. Davenport's palette is incredible and pure heaven to my eyes. I did some research on his work and found some interesting things out. He creates his work by use of drips and gravity, similar to early abstract expressionist like Pollock. He uses house paint in syringes, ejects the paint onto the canvas(which is mounted vertically on a wall to amplify the gravity effect) and then manipulates the pools of paint at the bottom of each piece by tilting the fiber board in different directions. Davenport is an artist i am looking at because of his palette and his style of dripping paint is something i am considering incorporating sparsely in future work(to break up the organic shapes and geometric patterns)

Erik Parker

Erik Parker shows at the Paul Kasmin Gallery in Chelsea. He seems to be an influential artist to me because of similar style, palette and subjects inspiration is drawn from. I love how intricate his forms are and how the build up to form a larger subject. I like his playful and creative use of words. One thing that I have learned out of looking at his work is a better understanding of how to create depth and mass by use of color combination. I researched him a little bit( so far a quick google search, but i plan on doing more) and there wasn't too much info out about him. But from what i read so far... he draws inspiration from all over the place like music, life, people he knows, famous people and places. This seems to something similar to me because i draw inspiration from all over. When i looked at his earlier work to his present work, i noticed the progression of development and intricacy of his forms and works. This gives me hope that my work can progress the same way because sometimes i feel that i kinda pigeon hole myself with my style.

Revsions...

I elaborated farther on my gallery review of the Frank Stella Show in Chelsea I went to go see.....

Gallery Visti to the Zimmerli Museum with Hannah!!!!

Sorry about the lateness... all the homeworks I had to do this week for this class and other classes... this was the one thing that slipped my mind.... sorry!!!
I did accomplish something productive on my birthday by going to the Zimmerli Museum with Hannah.. haha. We showed our I.Ds and got down to business in the museum. The first room we were both not so impressed. In the second room though, we were both intrigued by similar works. I am guessing because our work and palettes are similar. Well, Karen Kunc's were interesting. I really was drawn to her work for mostly her palette. I did some work in printing making, but Hannah was more interested in the process than I was. I loved her choice of colors and sparked some ideas for my own work. I really enjoyed the yellows, blues and purples. I also was interested by the over laying aspect because alot of my work is an overlaying of patterns and colors.. So it was interesting to look at how someone else approached the topic. The next thing on my list of likes was Dan Walsh.... his work totally reminded me of Hannah's but i was completely infatuated with his color use. Walsh's use of color was insane!!!! the colors seem so vibrant and that is one goal I always try to achieve in my work. I love making my colors pop to the extent that people viewing it are like "whoa!!" His soft edges give a good argument of different way to my work, since I usually use sharp edges in all of my work.

Top Picks For Graduate School

My Top Picks for Graduate Schools:

• Hunter College of the City University of New York- M.F.A. in painting from the Art Department
• The University of the Art (Philadelphia)- M.F.A. in painting.
• School of Art Institute of Chicago- M.F.A in painting.
• University of California(Los Angeles)- M.F.A. in painting from art department
• California Institute of the Arts- M.F.A. for painting in Art Program
  

Chapter 3- The Fair

• Pg. 81, second paragraph. I found the description of the administration/counsel of the fair to be rather fascinating. It was interesting that all the power and decisions didn't just rest with the director, Samuel Keller, but instead was divided up amongst his counsel, "ambassadors". I thought that basically the director would make all the decisions about who gets what stand and who gets in, but instead there is a whole counsel of people who choose. This, I guess, makes it more fair to the galleries wanting admission, but it makes it harder because you will have to get everyone's approval.
• Pg. 81-2. the description of the building was interesting because they really thought of every aspect, or factor, of what was needed for a perfect exhibiting conditions. Such as the layout so everyone is crammed altogether, "...each[floor of gallery stands] arranged in two easy-to-navigate concentric squares." The fair was split to have the "blue chip", more expensive galleries, on one floor and the other galleries on another floor. This catetered to the interests of the collectors and dealers, but, also, gave the galleries the fair/proper competition. The structure of the exhibition space was considered with high ceilings so they don't interfere with the view of the art work. Even the lighting conditions were considered to enable the work to be shown at it's very best with "... the expensive, artificial lighting being clean and white." I just found it interesting that all of these conditions were considered because I just assumed they used a building that was presentable and able to hold the proper amount of people.
  
• Pg. 82-3. I found the "characters" the Rubells to be rather interesting because of their contradiction to the assumed stereotype given to art collectors. The Rubells are very wealthy, but you wouldn't guess that unless you were told, I guess. They even said, at one point, "Sometimes I'm embarrassed to identify myself as a collector. It's about being rich, privileged, and powerful." Whereas the stereotype is that art collectors are dress expensively, stuck up and act superior. You can also tell that the Rubells were wise, experience collectors because of the way they spoke about collecting art, what art they are interested in and how private of a process it was to purchase art.
  
• Pg. 85, second paragraph. "The trick is to find a space for everything, so each work has a chance to breathe. It means hanging less and thinking about thematic connections and the sight lines." I thought this was an important quote because it is something everyone should keep in mind while hanging work in a public space, studio or so forth. I also think it is something we should keep in mind when we get closer to arranging work for a thesis exhibition.
  
• Pg. 84-91. I found the descriptions of all the different gallery stands and owners to be an intriguing comparison. You had your very involved, enthusiastic gallery owner, such as Gladstone. Gladstone was present for the whole fair, wanted to be there, very confident and personable with somewhat commercial and graphic style art. But, I guess that suits the personality of a woman that use to be a stay at home mom. However, in contrast, you have Victoria Miro who doesn't like the fair and only shows up for the required time she needs to be there. What I found interesting about her, wasn't her lack of involvement, but was the fact that there wasn't prices or any kind of indicator on the works. I liked this idea and how it made the buyers start a conversation, clever idea. Thinking more about it, I guess the "not pricing the pieces" seems logical because most of the works were more of museum collecting than personal collecting. On the whole other end of the spectrum, you have the Lisson Gallery and Nicholas Logsdail. This gallery showed sculptures and minimalism work. The difference with Logsdail was the fact he actually went to art school and that he doesn't flaunt his wealth. So far there wasn't any mention of the gallery owners having a academic art background.
• Pg. 91, first paragraph. "Many successful gallerists see themselves as mavericks. Some are artist-oriented dealers-they generally go to art school and give up being an artist when they discover they have an aptitude for organizing exhibitions. Others are collector-focused dealers- they tend to apprentice at Sotheby's or Christie's and often start out as collectors themselves. A third set might be called curators' dealers- they study art history and excel at scholarly justifications of their artists' work. In any case, there is no set training or certification. Anyone can call himself or herself a dealer or gallerist."- Logdail. I just found this to be a very interesting insight and explanation to what one of the motif questions of this chapter, the definition of a dealer. It slightly gives me hope that you don't have to be wealthy to be a dealer and maybe I could achieve being one. (haha)
• Pg. 94, third paragraph. "Artists tend to view art fairs with mixture of horror, alienation, and amusement. They feel uneasy when all the hard work of the studio is reduced to supplying the voracious demand, and they wince at the sight of so much art accompanied by so little substantive conversation." This point is relivant because the whole time I read this chapter I was wondering why none of the artists were there. So my question was answered. I think this quote doesn't just apply to artists at fairs but just in general of artist being around when people are looking at their work. Ok, well at least for me. I go through a whole wave of emotions when I have to present my work for crit or have it in a show or show it to my friends. It's a vulnerable place to be for many reasons.
  

A little Frank Stella & Elizabeth Murray

Two of the most influential artist on my work. I remember seeing Murray's retrospective a few years back and falling in love with her work. Frank Stella had me at the black paintings.

Elizabeth Murray







Frank Stella

Jullian Beever...sick nasty street artist

Julian Beever does these insane pavement drawings all over Europe. He has skills in rendering old masters and techniques to make is original work seem 3-D at a certain perspective. This guy is amazing. I was looking through some photos and Beever's drawings are so realistic that people walked around to avoid the hole he drew once somewhere. He work seems to be alot of fun and games mixed with massive perspective mastery. here are some pics of his work

FRANK STELLA GALLERY EXHIBITION

The Paul Kasmin Gallery (293 10th Ave. which is really the corner of 27th and 10th) is exhibiting Frank Stella "Polychrome Relief". This exhibit consisted of twelve relief sculptures made out of stainless steel, springs, coils, lattice varitation and metal tubing/piping. Vibrant spray painting, that resembled the glossiness of car paint, was used to bring attention to the fluidity of the compositions. The twelve pieces curved, twisted, jumped and ducked through themselves creating an illusion of a completely different piece from every perspective it was viewed from. I already admire Stella's work and draw some inspiration from his years of work. So to see these new works in person was a pleasure. The size of them is so impressive and even the pieces that were simply all white were quite stunning.

Chapter 6- The Studio Visit

• Pg.187 "I like to think that I have a more honest relationship with our artists than some other dealers, but I don't want to be anyone's shrink."
• Pg. 188 "Murakami is a stickler for documenting every layer of a painting, so he can follow the process even when he is out of town and look back on the layers to reproduce similar effects in future work." - I thought this was an interesting idea and maybe I would like to start doing because maybe it would help with remember colors or things i did to get a certain effect.
  
• Pg.191 " Murakami is unusual among artists in acknowledging the collective labor inscribed in his work." - I thought it was interesting that all artists do not give credit to the people that help create it. Also, it was interesting that, a little further in the paragraph, Murakami helps get his assistants careers going, but what i found interesting is that this was also a unique thing.
• Pg. 193 "... T-shirts, posters, post cards, pillows, plastic figurines, stickers, stuffed monsters, mugs, mouse pads, key chains, catalogues, cell-phone covers, badges, tote bags, handkerchiefs, decorative tins, notepads, and pencils." - This automatically made me think of Hello Kitty and Ed Hardy and how they have every single kind of merchandise out there. However, its also impressive that Murakami is that commercialized.
• Pg. 197 " Murakami's work starts out as a paintbrush drawing on paper, which his assistants then scan into the computer using the live-trace tool of Adobe Illustrator CS2, then they fine-tune the curves and zigzags with different techniques." - the process seems never-ending but it shows a well developed process and explains why so many different studios are necessary, I guess.
• Pg. 198 "An artist is someone who understands the border between this world and that one. ... I change my direction or continue in the same direction by seeing people's reaction. ... But I work by trail and error to be popular."
  
• Pg. 199 Third Paragraph. This is an interesting comparison between Murakami and Andy Warhol. The way that Murakami looked at Warhol's work and refused to do it Warhol's way. But later, Murakami took on silk screening to expand his knowledge of processes and used Warhol's use of silk screening by means of mass reproduction . However, Murakami made the process his own and very different than his influence, Andy Warhol.
• Pg.199 " A studio is supposed to be a site of intense contemplation."
• Pg.200-01 Murakami's bedroom seems to resemble what most of our studios are. The smaller details and nic-nacks give hints to who we are and where our inspriation could potentially coming from. In Murakami's bedroom there is a Hello Kitty, figurines from paintings and a collection of animation. These small things provide an insight of what his personal interests are and makes connections to some aspects of his work.
  
• Pg. 206 " it's a privilege to see incomplete work."
• Pg. 209 "When I go into a studio, I look at absolutely everything." "Supplemental information is incredibly important. If there is a truth there, it's not just in the work but in how they work, how they act , who they are..."
• At first I couldn't really understand why this artist Murakami would have so many studios. Then once I read about his process in creating work, how many people work for him in creating these pieces, his international status and commercialization, it seems completely appropriate for him to have all this space.
  

Some of my more recent work

This painting is from the same series just earlier on. The painting was done in acrylic and latex house paint on a panel of MDF board thats roughly 5x4 feet.

Some of my more recent work

These two paintings were part of series. They are both done in acrylic on 9 inch circular pre-stretched canvases.

Chapter 2- The Crit

• the description of the classroom reminds me of every classroom I have had crits in. "... a windowless classroom with cement walls in which long-life fluorescent lights cast a gray glow."
• "... situation in which everyone focuses on the student's work with a mandate to understand it as deeply as possible. Crits can also be painful rituals that resemble cross-examinations in which artists are forced to rationalize their work and defend themselves from a flurry of half-baked opinions that leave them feeling torn apart." This is exactly what a crit feels like to me. More than often the second part. I hate getting up there and having to explain my work. I rather just sit and listen to what people actually think because most of my work is created non-objectively. So its hard for me to come up with an explanation other than "it just felt right".
  
• I wish I could bring my pet in with me to my crits. I am sure crits would be a lot better and easier on everyone.
  
• "art students need to understand their motivations deeply, because in grad school it's imperative to discover which parts of their practice are expendable."
• "Then they talk about Asher. 'He certainly gives you enough rope to hang yourself,' says one." This reminds me of one of my painting professors. He always just let you do what you wanted to do. But... when it came to crit... that's when he kicked the chair out from underneath you and told you where you went wrong. Although it was harsh, it the best way to learn when you are a young student and think you know everything.
• "Most teachers believe that creativity is a very personal process that cannot be taught. As a result, students are expected to have it when they arrive..." I think this is very true. However, most students do not know where to pull their creativity from when they are first entering art school. Sometimes they may find something that will intrigue or inspire them for a short period of time, but it will not sustain or drive a respectable body of work. It's like the creativity source of freshman art students is a trend. It comes and goes. It may be cool for a little while, but then you get bored of it.
  
• 
  

Chelsea and fast cars...

Bruce Silverstein Gallery- 535 West 24th Street
Todd Hido is showing large scale color photographs. The exhibition is titled "A Road Divided". The photographs vary from extreme close up to medium shot. The photographs were of car accidents, more like car wrecks. The close up shots abstracted the subject, the crunched car hood, and it took me to minute to realize what I was looking at. I really like the twelve photographs that documented the deployment of an air bag. Overall, I thought the exhibit was interesting subject matter and had a slight morbid quality. However, I had a slight knot in my stomach because it reminded me of my recent car accident.

Pace Wildenstein Gallery-545 West 22nd Street
Maya Lin is exhibiting "Three Ways of Looking at the Earth". The exhibit consists of three large scale installations. The first installation is in view as you first enter the gallery. Its quite overwhelming in scale and construction. Its titled "2x4 Landscape". The landscape is built out of 2x4 small blocks of wood, stacked and layer to achieve height. This was insanely cool and gives new ideas how to build something large scale. The second installation is titled "Waterline". This installation was constructed out of wire and referenced the ocean floor. The third installation is titled "Blue Lake". The installation was separated into squares of layered particle boards with jagged tops and set up in a grid pattern. It represented the elevation map of a mountain range. Overall this show was really well put to together and completely amazing. At first the scale is overwhelming and slows your realization of what you are looking at. Then, slowly, the simplicity of the materials leads you to the understanding of what you are actually looking at.

Andrea Rosen Gallery-525 West 24th Street
Josiah McElheny exhibited "Proposals for a Chromatic Modernism". This exhibit consists of photographs and sculptures. The main concept of is future architecture using primary color glass windows. The photographs are colored in to show where the primary colors would go on the windows. This exhibit was hard for me to understand because I lack the understanding of architecture but the "proposals" were visually pleasing. I really did not understand how the monochromatic shelves with glassware fit into the exhibit.

Winston Wachter Fine Art-530 West 25th Street
Ed Cohen was exhibiting "The Nothing That Is Not Here". This gallery I just stumbled into while walking down the street. The paintings consisted of solid black or white backgrounds and there were either wavy lines or circles. The lines and circles were created out of drips of paint that resemble marble. The Pollock influence is completely apparent. I just generally like these paintings. They seem to project a happy feeling. They seem to focus more on an intangible than a tangible subject matter.

Pace Wildenstein Gallery- 534 West 25th Street
James Turrell's exhibit was titled "Large Holograms". Well... basically it was holograms. I thought I was pretty interesting because it seem to deal with optical mixing and perception. I was interested in walking around and figuring out how the holograms were made with the projection of the lights.

Lehmann Maupin Gallery-540 West 26th Street
Juergen Teller showed his exhibit titled "Paradis". The exhibited consisted of large scale color photographs. The photgraphs were taken in some sort of museum. Some contained two female nude models and others were just of the interior of the museum. I did not really enjoy this show. The photographs seem a little pixelated and made it seem amateur. I wondered if that was on purpose?

Andrea Meislin Gallery-526 West 26th Street
Jed Fielding exhibited "Look at Me: Photographs from Mexico City". The show exhibited all the same size black and white photographs. The photographs were matted, framed and hung about eye level. The subjects of these photographs were blind children. The photographs gave a sense of uneasiness because it is social norm not to stare at a person's disability. However, this show forces you to look at them directly and enables you to stare at them without being yelled at.

Robert MIller Gallery-547 West 27th Street
I am pretty sure I saw the wrong show at this gallery. The show that I saw was titled "Sundaram Tagore Presents The Space Around Us, New York" by Joan Vennum. The show consisted of multiple panel paintings that resemebled sunraises and sun sets. However at the same time, they had a abstract quality to them.

Kelly & Kelli Interview

(above) Kelli King's more recent works.

THE INTERVIEW.....

Kelly O: Kelli, you are interested in animation and thesis. Do you find yourself
focusing more one than the other?

Kelli K: Recently It's been a little bit difficult
to start painting. i've had quite a bit of time off from it. So i could say
that I've found myself focusing on animation a little bit more than
painting. I don't think I'm focusing more on animation than painting. It
more I hadn't decided what I'd really like to paint, and a lack of time to
paint. I interned at an animation studio this summer and that, as well as
working, took up a lot of my time. But I will say that I've had a bit of
difficulty getting back into painting.


Kelly O: Will you be using painting or animation for your work for the thesis
exhibition? How did you decide?

Kelli K: I'll be using painting for my thesis. It wasn't really a difficult decision,
more of a practical one. Our school doesn't have an animation program, so it
might be a little bit harder to be graded on it. Also I won't have very much
experience with the program, so I won't be able to as effectively make a
project with the 3D software as I could paint it. Haha not that it's just
practical reasons. I really like to paint, Just haven't had a really good
idea to paint.


Kelly O:What inspires your past and current work? Has your inspiration changed
as your work has developed?

Kelly K:The things that inspire my past and current work are narratives. I really
like to work based on some kind of story line, or else my pieces tend to
seem sort of random. I've done work based on reading peter pan. I also like
to do work based on ordinary themes, since I like art that people can relate
to. So I've also done scenes of places i've been. For my thesis I think that
I'm set on a theme based on transportation and different people's points of
view as they go from place to place. I'm kind of partial to the name "It
gets me where I'm going" as a title for the collection


Kelly O: Who are some artists that you look to for influence? What qualities
about these artists do you look at? Formal? Conceptual?

Kelli K: Artists... well I really like realist artists, but it's not very me. I have
looked for influe nce in artists like Hopper. I really admire his use of
light and the spaces that he paints. I also really identify with the
subjects he usually paints. Pretty normal houses, people, spaces, but there
usually seems to be some kind of story behind then. I've also Always liked
Degas. I love to draw people in motion, so the dancers were something I
immediately identified with. I also enjoy the idea of representing a short
moment in time the way he does, and many other impressionists do.


KellyO: Are there other things outside of the art world that inspire or
influence you?

Kelli K: I think there's plenty outside the world of art that inspires me. I'm
absolutely in love with looking at things. I believe that the world is full
of some pretty fantastic things when you take a moment to notice them. Like
spider webs in windows, or oil rainbows in parking lots, to be cliche. I
once took a picture of a little kid who got away from his mother in the
city. Best photo I ever shot, and if I hadn't been paying attention I would
have missed it.


Kelly O: What do you want the viewer or audience to get out of or feel from your
work?

Kelli K: I want the viewer to identify with my work. I want a person to look at
something I've painted and think of something in their own world. Example, I
painted a picture of the old side of the hoboken train station. For me,
hoboken's a city I like to take time to sit in myself, my parents met there,
friends have lived there, it's a nice place to be. I sold the painting to a
little old lady, who said she was giving it to a "little boy who loved
trains". She's like... 90 something, so i didn't realize that when she said
"little boy" she might mean young by comparison to her, but by no means
little. Turns out she bought it from me as a gift for her grandson, who was
happy to receive it because the very first apartment he had on his own was
in hoboken and he frequently took the train to work. And he put a lot of his
time and money into fixing the place up. So it was something he had a
personal memory to attach to, and I was very glad to hear it. Granted it
won't always be that direct, but it'd be nice if i can make people find some
connection to the work. I'll attach a picture of it


Kelly O:Is there a common theme or motif to your work?

Kelli K: common themes or motifs... hmmm... narratives... i seem to like to paint
scenes from the insides of cars, which isn't that surprising, i do a lot of
driving. all my paintings are kind of dark tone wise, because my favorite
color is french ultramarine... which turns everything black. But what I hear
most often is that I think narratively.


Kelly O: What will your thesis work be like? Do you think it will be similar to
your current work? Will you be exploring or developing some new or
different styles, concepts or mediums?

Kelli K: My thesis wasn't coming to me for weeks and I was getting worried, I knew I
was going to paint, but what. then one day, on the train, on the way to
chelsea, it hit me. I wanted to do something that has to do with my personal
believe that everyone sees differently. Seeing being as obvious as the fact
that i wear glasses and other people don't, or as abstract as a person's
beliefs affecting how they react to everyday situations. I wasn't sure how
to portray it, when it would be different brush work, or different colors,
different attention to detail. I thought I might paint one place and create
characters who interact with it differently. but I wasn't sure.
Then i thought what about when we're going from place to place. how often
are you in a friend's car and you notice little things like the radio
stations they keep, or that they keep lotion in the car, whether they play
cd's or tapes or plug in an ipod, hangers from the mirror, bumper stickers,
decals, whether they keep clothes in the car. lots of little things that
tell you about them. How often do you sometimes have that awkward moment at
a stop light where you meet gazes with the person in the car next to you,
what do you think of them, and them of you? I could go on and on and i
thought about extending it to trains, subways, busses, stops and stations...
everywhere people get together for the sole purpose of going somewhere else.
and i thought of what i always say about my car to my parents "it gets me
where i'm going". so i can create my characters and describe them by how
they present themselves, what they keep with them when they're on the move.
I've done a few paintings that have that kind of subject, so it'll be
interesting to take it further...


Kelli K: Tell me a little bit about yourself, and does anything in
your life effect the work that you do, or how you interact with artwork. as
you can see my life effects my work. It's always interesting to see how
other people bring themselves into their work.

Kelly O:Well I come from a white trash town and a family that doesn't belong to
live there. I am always trying to escape and explore new areas that I have
never been before. I have spent a good portion of my life in hospitals,
doctor's offices, specialist's conferences and clinics. I had five
reconstructive surgeries to fix my cleft palette. I would say this
reflects alot into my artwork because I find the organic shapes always
seem to resemble micro-organisms or some parts of cells. I discover new
towns and cities all the time and that seems to keep my ideas fresh.



Kelli K: What inspires your past and current work? Has your inspiration changed
as your work has developed?

Kelly O:You know what? Seriously the most random and simple things trigger
inspiration for me.I get ideas from a dream I had, a conversation I heard,
lyrics or rhythm from a song, graffiti, commercials or even a mood I am
in. It's blows my mind and assumes my friends greatly.


Kelli K: Who are some artists that you look to for influence? What qualities
about these artists do you look at? Formal? Conceptual?

Kelly O: I look at Klimp, Elizabeth Murray, Ellsworth Kelly, Hans Arp, Frank
Stella, Erik Parker, Tribal Art of African and Eskimo communities or
tribes. I look at all these artists for numerous reasons like the
structural aspects of Hans Arp, Frank Stella and Elizabeth Murray. I look
at Klimp and African and Eskimo tribes for patterns influence. I look at
Ellsworth Kelly for his color, concepts and shapes. I look at Elizabeth
Murray also for subject matter and concept.


Kelli K: Are there other things outside of the art world that inspire or
influence you?

Kelly O: Like I told you earlier, I draw influence from everywhere and at anytime.
The simplest way to explain it is like this; i look at a scene or fragment
of anything, simplify it to just shapes and add intricate organic shapes
or patterns by reducing the the colors to planes. It like a challenge I
give myself to occupy my brain, because I always seem to need to be
thinking, by picking something and then trying to disguise it by
simplifying everything beyond recognition.


Kelli K:What do you want the viewer or audience to get out of or feel from your
work?

Kelly O:I don't really expect the viewer or audience to get or feel anything from
my work in particular. I mean, how do I honestly know if what one person
is telling me is exactly what they got or felt the instant they saw my
piece. I wonder if our brains could really organize and store a thought
that quickly. However, if I was able to decide what people would get or
feel from my works, I would want a person to view my work and be reminded
of a memory, good or bad. I would satisfied with that because that is
exactly what happens to me when I look at my own work.


Kelli K: Is there a common theme or motif to your work?

Kelly O:I would have to say vibrant colors, geometric patterns and organic shapes
are reoccurring themes and motifs, depending on the series.


Kelli K:What will your thesis work be like? Do you think it will be similar to
your current work? Will you be exploring or developing some new or
different styles, concepts or mediums?

Kelly O: I basically want to push my current work to the extremes. I want push my
color theory to such a measure that your eyes hurt because they are so
madly confused by the color interaction. I want to develop my organic
shapes so they are beautifully intricate like lace. I want to explore
making my works on multiple panels and push them into low or high relief.
I want my thesis to maybe even give the viewer a glimpse into what exactly
birthed this inspiration. I want this body of work to some up exactly what
i have been trying to express for the last five years

Bucket of Blood

The film A Bucket of Blood was depicting the California Beat scene in the 1950s. It was a dark comedy about a busboy when struggles to become an artist. The busboy eventually gets his fame as an artist and respect from peers in the night club. He achieves his fame first by comically murdering his pet cat and covering in clay. His process then spirals out of control as he starts murdering people and,also, covering them in clay. He is later discovered and caught for his murderous ways. There is also an underlying love story between the busboy and the lead female in the film.

The film overall was a dark satire of the art world and comments on the desperateness some have to become part of the art world. At points I felt sorry for the busboy because all he wanted was to be accepted. Also, I wonder slightly if he was mentally handicapped. I found the portrayal of the artistic characters in the film were relevant to the era and universally accurate to some of the personalities encountered when traveling through the art world.

alex bagg

The video was humorous. I think everyone at some point has felt the same way that "alex bagg" did. Its the progression from clueless freshmen to educated senior. The clips in between the documentation of the semesters were hard to understand and I didn't see the relation. However, the bunnies were excellent. I think it was creative, insightful, witty. It is also a good representation of the journey made by young artists to receive that piece of paper that tells them that they are now aloud to do what they want to do as artists. CALL ME! Ha ha!

The New Museum

1st Floor-
Dorthy Iannone :Lioness
Iannone's exhibit is held in one room with paintings on the wall, cardboard figures in two display cases and forty-eight drawings with narratives displayed behind a glass panel on the left wall. The work has stylized influences from Egyptian hieroglyphics and mosaics that depict moments of intimacy and sexuality. Iannone removes the uncomfortableness and breaks through the social norms, regarding sex, in the video of her having an orgasm. The exhibit was hard to navigate through because I didn't exactly know where to begin and end.

2nd Floor-
Intersections Intersected : Photographs of David Goblatt
Goblatt's exhibition is held on two floors. This aspect alone made it hard to get through the exhibition because by the time you made it up to the other floor, more than likely, you were exhausted from the stairs. Nonetheless, the exhibit was set up the same way on both floors. The photographs were mounted on the wall about eye level, but the vast rooms the exhibit was held in made in slightly difficult to take it all in without feeling overwhelmed. The first floor was set up in sets of three color photographs, that provided a multiple perspective of a specific location in South Africa. On the second floor, the photographs were set up in pairs, color photographs were framed and black and white photographs were just matted, to show a comparison and progression in South Africa. The black and white photographs were of South Africa a few decades ago and the color photographs are of more recent times. These pairings show the development of some areas and the destruction of other areas throughout Golblatt's career documenting South Africa. Overall, the exhibit was an easy to view setup, excluding the exhausting stairs and overwhelming exhibition space.

Rigo 23-
I had no idea that the jail cells in the stairwell was even an installation. I thought they were some kind of an architectural aspect of the museum. So now knowing it was an installation, let me comment on it.....
There were jail cells installed on the stair case in the museum. They had years painted inside them. The years, I am assuming, were years that great political figures were imprisoned. I would have to wonder why it was installed on the stair case for two reasons. One, obviously, people will not easily notice it, like me. Second, how safe is it really putting an exhibit on a tight, narrow staircase? There is really no room to pass someone who would be observing the exhibit and could potentially send someone tumbling down the stair case. However, maybe this was the exact point of installing Rigo 23 on the staircase. Not the falling down the staircase part, maybe it was put there to show how many people did not notice or did not pay attention to it. The lack of attention to the exhibit perhaps commented on the lack of attention that some gave to great political figures being imprison. That is the most I can say about this exhibit. If I go back to the New Museum before it is taken down I will have another look at and hopefully derive a more solid opinion of the installation.