Artist Deborah Remington* 1935 – 2010

Artist Deborah Remington* 1935 – 2010

American, Abstract Expressionist painter Deborah Remington worked in both New York City and San Francisco.

“My work concerns the paradoxes of visual perception, the enigmas and quirks, and how it all forms the basis for our realities. The impact, excitement, and energies created by incongruity, juxtaposition and opposites all interest me.”

http://www.deborahremington.com/
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A Revisit!  Starry, Starry Van Gogh

A Revisit! Starry, Starry Van Gogh

I was recently able to get to the Museum of Modern Art, NYC and visit one of my favorite paintings again.

“Starry Night”, makes me smile, makes me want to get up close. I swear that the swirling stars are infused with some sort of electrical current to make them look like they are about to fling themselves off the canvas. I expect to hear a sizzle when I lean in.

I think Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890) was able to recreate “night” brilliantly – no pun intended. Fortunately for us, he did a lot of paintings and so many of his landscapes show his treatment of evening light.

According to a museum catalog, he “attempted the paradoxical task of representing night by light. His procedure followed the trend set by the Impressionists of “translating” visual light effects with various color combinations. At the same time, this concern was grafted onto Van Gogh’s desire to interweave the visual and the metaphorical in order to produce fresh and deeply original works of art”.

(Just an aside – Had a conversation with someone speculating what would have been the outcome if Van Gogh had taken his medication consistently, would he have “seen” things the way he did? I assume that he painted what he “saw” – exploding stars, riotous color and all. If he were sedated, would his visions have been different? I don’t know.)


The Anti Block Buster

The Anti Block Buster

A result of the economy being on the downside, some museums are not pushing the big, get on line, block busters shows
What is great about this is we get to see great work by lesser known artist more often. Everybody wins. I would think that the curators of these “smaller” shows would have a blast, getting to present works that are not part of the yearly diet. I love Picasso and someone else must have been creating some art.

Ruth Bowman by Will Barnet

Places to Visit

  • Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University presents “Mami Wata: Arts for Water Spirits in Africa and Its Diasporas,” August 4, 2010 through January 2, 2011. This exhibition explores 500 years of visual cultures and histories of the water deity widely known as Mami Wata (“Mother Water”) through the diverse array of traditional and contemporary arts surrounding her — sculpture, paintings, masks, altars, and more from west and central Africa, the Caribbean, Brazil, and the United States. Admission is free.
  • Facing the Figure: Selected Works from the Collection, 1962–2007 The New York Metropolitan Museum of Art
    The Gioconda and Joseph King Gallery, Lila Acheson Wallace Wing, Modern Art, Modern Art
    May 28, 2010–September 6, 2010
  • The Prismatic Eye: Collages by Anne Ryan, 1948–54 The New York Metropolitan Museum of Art North mezzanine gallery, Lila Acheson Wallace Wing, Modern Art
    June 4, 2010–September 6, 2010

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Mystical Impressionism

Mystical Impressionism

“Mystical Impressionism” is the name of the presentation at the Paul Mahder Gallery in San Francisco, CA. The work of 2 Nicaraguan artists, Otto Aguilar and Omar d’Leon, are on view until January. Their paintings are steeped in color, myth and beauty.

ottoaguilarmahdergallery

“Otto Aguilar is an expert using pastels and acrylics. His subtle layering creates a lush depth that is both intense and inviting…Omar d’Leon is one of the most renowned painters and poets to come from Nicaragua in the last 50 years. In 1982, one of his paintings was reproduced in the form of a UNICEF Stamp.”

Mystical Impressionism” – New paintings by Omar d’Leon & Otto Aguilar

Paul Mahder Gallery

3378 Sacramento Street

San Francisco, CA

(Images: Omar d’Leon, “3 Red Mameyes” and Omar Aguilar, “Nostalgia”)


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DOTS!

DOTS!

Georges-Pierre Seurat, 1859-1891, is considered the first “Neo-Impressionist” and an innovator of 19th century art using the “Pointillist” style of painting.

“Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte”, (1884-1886) – this 10 foot wide painting is perhaps Suerat’s most famous work. (Stephen Sondheim’s Tony Award winning Broadway musical, “Sunday in the Park with George” is based upon it. The finale with a choral piece called “Sunday” is beautiful!)

From Wikipedia:

The painting “shows members of each of the social classes participating in various park activities. The tiny juxtaposed dots of multi-colored paint allow the viewer’s eye to blend colors optically, rather than having the colors blended on the canvas or pre-blended as a material pigment.”

“Michael Eugene Chevreul, a French chemist, discovered that two colors juxtaposed, slightly overlapping or very close together, would have the effect of another color when seen from a distance. The discovery of this phenomenon became the basis for the Pointillist technique of the Neo impressionist painters.

george suerat

BTW: I saw some of Seurat’s other work at MOMA and was impressed. They are lovely, and I can only imagine the patience it took to create them. Close up, you can see the dots of paint so precisely arranged in order to get the desired color. Amazing.

The Museum of Modern Art

(212) 708-9400, 11 West 53 Street, NYC

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