The Met Presents “P.S. Art 2012”, the 10th annual display of selected art by local children.
This is a “juried exhibition of talented young artists from New York City’s public schools. This selection showcases the creativity of seventy-six K through 12 students from all five boroughs and includes paintings, prints, sculptures, mixed-media works, collages, and drawings. Each piece represents a unique expression of imagination and ability.”
The Newark Museum celebrates Bearden’s 100th birthday with an exhibit of his collages and paintings. Featured are “approximately 80 works of art that span the career of this internationally renowned artist. The exhibition underscores not only Bearden’s artistic mastery, particularly in the technique of collage, but also his development of narrative and thematic explorations of his native South. “
Just about every 15 years, old questions about a legendary artist and his or her work are regurgitated in an effort to surface new answers, with the expectation of affirming our initial thoughts or disavowing them completely. Paintings and music in particular are trapped in the time of their creation and reflection of a life and time that is impossible to replicate. You only go around once! The work is a representation of what is
known at the time and needs to be viewed (my opinion for certain) in this way. A perfect example is that the Modern Jazz of the 1940s and 50s does not sound modern or radical in 2012.
The label gets in the way of our appreciating artist like Roy Lichtenstein (Pop Art), Horace Silver (Modern Jazz) and even Bach (Classical Music) because we are asked to consider the label first and then the art outside of context in which it was created.
Roy Lichtenstein like Miles Davis and many others had a diverse contribution to the arts that far exceeded the label associated with them. Really, what is cool jazz?
The Roy Lichtenstein: A Retrospective at The Art Institute of Chicago (May 16–September 3, 2012) “Presenting over 130 paintings and sculptures, as well as over 30 little- or never-before-seen drawings and collages, this exhibition gives full consideration to all periods of Lichtenstein’s career, including but not limited to, pre-Pop expressionist work, classic Pop Romance and War cartoon paintings…” includes what we are familiar with and much more. I just wished that the curators would allow us make up our own personal, current day, interpretation of what we are about to see or hear. That’s where the magic is.
91 year old American artist Wayne Thiebaud has really glorified / delectafied sugary delights on both canvas and paper over his 7 decade plus career. Many of those sweet images are included in the retrospective at the John Berggruen Gallery in San Francisco, CA.
Van Aelst (1627–1683) “painted still lifes that are remarkable for their fine finish, carefully balanced composition, elegant subject matter, and rich, jewel-toned palette. Elegance and Refinement is an unprecedented exhibition of more than 25 paintings that celebrate the exquisite work of a neglected master who had a significant impact on late-17th-century still-life painting.”
Elegance and Refinement: The Still-Life Paintings of Willem van Aelst
Annie Lennox’s “Bitter” from her album “Bare” there is this great rift in the middle which recalls (for me) George Clinton and Funkadelic of the 1970.
This is one my favorite tracks, the lyrics seem personal, which is consistent with Ms. Lennox and the music’s energy seems to make it OK to eaves drop on something so private, it makes it easier to swallow.
” Bitter pill to swallow
Slidin’ down my throat
Bitter pill to swallow
How it makes me choke
How the hell am I gonna find
Happiness and peace of mind
When I’m losin’ all the time?
Yes… bitter”From Bare, by Annie Lennox
A popular traveling exhibit showcasing American art from an exciting period of the last Century can now be seen at the Dallas Museum of Art/ DMA. “The 1920s—“The Jazz Age,” “The Roaring Twenties”—was a decade marked by widespread urbanization, industrialization and mechanization, and social phenomena… American artists responded to this dizzying modern world with works that emphatically demonstrate a desire for clarity and wholeness and for the expression of stillness and order… Youth and Beauty: Art of the American Twenties is the first wide-ranging examination of American fine art from the end of World War I through the start of the Great Depression.”
Some of the artists represented are, Thomas Hart Benton, Imogen Cunningham, Charles Demuth, Aaron Douglas, Edward Hopper, Gaston Lachaise, Yasuo Kuniyoshi, Luigi Lucioni, Gerald Murphy, Georgia O’Keeffe, Alfred Stieglitz and Edward Weston.
Ms Primus, 1919 – 1994, often referred to as “the grandmother of African-American dance”, will have an evening devoted to her contributions on 5/24/12 at the Schomburg Center in New York City.
“Youth dancers from the Harlem School of the Arts will open the evening with a performance of Primus’s signature work, “Bushasche, War Dance, A Dance for Peace.” Afterwards, there will be a discussion conducted by Peggy and Murray Schwartz about their book, The Dance Claimed Me: A Biography of Pearl Primus.
I was reading a movie review and the writer described the film as “Felliniesque”. No reference to the director, for whom the term was coined, just – “Felliniesque”. I got it.
Federico Fellini (Dec. 1924 – Dec. 1976) was one of the most influential Italian writer/directors of his day.
His films were character driven, people and plots sometimes bizarre and outrageous, but the inhabitants of his pictures were closer to the reality of the everyday world than what was usually seen on screen during the 50s and 60s.
Four of his films won the Best Foreign Film Oscar: La strada (1954), with his wife Guilettea Masina and Anthony Quinn, Le Notti di Cabiria (1957) (Nights of Cabiria), 8½ (1963) and Amarcord (1973).
But, his film La Dolce Vita (1960) with Marcello Mastroiannibrought him worldwide fame. The famous/infamous frolick in the fountain scene with Marcello and Anita Ekberg seemed such wild decadence in the 60’s, but, pretty tame now.
BTW : “Felliniesque” is often used to describe films that put a character’s inner thoughts/memories into dreamlike sequences, and/or scenes that move backward/forward in time. (Ya gotta pay attention with his movies)
Gil Scott-Heron, an African-American truth troubadour passed away last year. It was all in the words. There were no gimmicks, no staging, nothing to take you away from the truth of his message. His poems and music are timeless. Revisit.
The Irony is that some of the insight contained within Scott-Heron poems did not spare him a difficult existence (my judgement, of course) and may have consumed him. Substitute the addiction and it is the same story.
“See that black boy over there, runnin’ scared his ol’ man’s in a bottle. He done quit his 9 to 5 to drink full time so now he’s livin’ in the bottle. See that Black boy over there, runnin’ scared his ol’ man got a problem Pawned off damn near everything, his ol’ woman’s weddin’ ring for a bottle. And don’t you think it’s a crime when time after time, people in the bottle.” Gil Scott-Heron, “The Bottle”
“Go away, I can’t stand to see your face Cuz you seen the weakest link And now you know I’m only human Instead of all the things I’d like to be” Gilbert Scott-Heron April 1, 1949 – May 27, 2011
It seems our hero’s always disappoint and our excuses for them just doesn’t cut it. Their suffering, family, race etc. are not necessarily the cause of their genius or their personal desperation. They are often unable to see themselves, the good and the bad that they produce in their lives. They see themselves as being exempt. Gil Scott-Heron was able to see himself and didn’t like what he saw, but he didn’t see enough to care to change his ways. He just could not inspire himself.
