secrets

Apparently the Mona Lisa has various letters (read: secret code) painted in her pupils. Alas, a rally to keep her relevant!

matt stuart

Matt Stuart is London-based a street photographer who goes through a couple of rolls of film at day. At that rate you're bound to come up with a couple of good photos, but never mind. He is quite good at capturing funny little moments and clever juxtapositions in ordinary situations. 

I enjoyed almost every single one of the photographs on his website. I highly recommend taking a look.

mark bradford

ICA Boston | 19 November, 2010 - 13 March, 2011

Scorched Earth 2006

Bradford is a prolific LA-based contemporary artist. His art is made from aged billboard peelings and is generally in the vein of abstract canvas works, although he also experiments with multimedia. Scorched Earth is one of his more figural works, representing the race riots in Tulsa in 1921.

The exhibition currently at the ICA is well worth a look. Bradford has created a unique body of work that is stunning and distinctly African-American. His work is dynamic, but highly-focused on the slow process of making.

true or false?

Michael Singer 1989-92 Untilted

One weakness of the present generation of curators is their subservience to artists. Because the artist made the work, he is not necessarily the sole judge of how it is best seen, or even what it means. Production and consumption (interpretation) are different acts.

Lawrence Alloway | "The Great Curatorial Dim-Out"

at least

...someone is taking the arts seriously in government. Obviously, its more complicated than that, but its disheartening that our official stance on art in the US is that we don't have a stance. So, I appreciate this investment in young, talented people all the more.

Complicated? you ask. Remember this?

quote of the day

Sandbeck c. 1990 Twelve Part Vertical Construction  | Hirshhorn

"One should look at works of art without any intention of deriving knowledge, and rejoice if sometimes, as of itself, a confirmation or enrichment of our knowledge comes in a flash; and one should not approach them with the determination to solve a problem. One must let them speak, one must converse with them, but one must not interrogate them. To an inquisitor they refuse any information."

On Art and Connoisseurship | Max Friedlander

a work in progress

When I Last Wrote to You About Africa | the Davis. | planned Spring 2011

For my museum issues class we will be helping with an exhibition planned for this spring by the African artist El Anatsui (b. 1944, Ghana). He employs found objects, often trash, and puts them together to create something far greater than the individual parts. He focuses on the things that connect us together as human beings, migration, communication, and consumption.

Right now, we are engaged in discussions about the role of the museum and how the definition of a temporary exhibition affects the execution of this particular show. We are very much in the information-gathering stage, just starting to choose groups. I am hoping to work on the installation design and budgets.

art education initiative

The website, OpenStudio is a resource for primary school educators looking to teach meaningful art lessons. Artists are invited to create lessons which are posted on the website along with a brief biography of the artist. Mark Bradford conceived the idea as a way to make contemporary art more available to young people, to help them engage with art in a way congruous to their everyday life.

My first favorite lesson was Color Walk by Amy Sillman, but the more I read the more I find that I really like. Each lesson encourages thoughtfulness and exploration without suggesting a linear path towards completion.

calculated risks

the Davis. | September 15 - December 12, 2010
A show of new art work from the studio faculty at Wellesley, curated by Elizabeth Wycoff. The design for the promotional material (pictured above) is about the hiding and displaying objects. There was no overarching theme for the show, mostly because it was all new work, but the title suggests the feeling of vulnerability that the faculty felt exposing their work to the community. I was especially excited to see my former photo professor Christine Rogers' work, especially because it was never something we talked about much in class. Her photos are accompanied by a video and the entire presentation is overwhelming, uneasy, comical, and critical. Before the show officially opened, my museum issues class had a tour and we were able to focus on things like the space that the artists used, the hanging of the objects, and the diplomacy required to fit 13 artists with differing goals into a shared space.

chuck close prints: process and collaboration

Corcoran Gallery of Art | July 3 - September 12, 2010
An exhibition curated by Terrie Sultan that I really enjoyed. First, because Close's processes are so intricate, and second because I felt that, with the exception of one wall, the entire display did an outstanding job of visually describing how the artist creates his work. Maybe a diy project with finger prints is in order? I know one KD who'd be in.

more pins

You are not supposed to take pictures (common policy for temporary exhibitions), but I nabbed this one of my favorite dandelion pins.

sew much fabric

Sewing lessons with a.scho + finding vintage fabric forgotten on a shelf = so much fun, and so many skirts. If you're interested in making one of these lovelies, let me know. Directions are a cinch.

cute

Babies are living, and this was inspired by Chagall's La promenade. Justified. This woman is a clever ad lady, and for the record this one is my favorite.

the bubble

Maybe you've heard of this ambitious proposed-project at the hmsg? It involves the installation of an enormous structure that will rest in the center of the donut-shaped Bundshaft building, bulging out at the top and bottom. The bubble is soft and presents a unique challenge to the project as both designers and curators look for an adequate material in which to execute a stable, tension-based structure for two months out of the year.

In May and October the large structure would be inflated in order to play host to community events, meetings, art installations, debates, films, and anything else that you can think of. Some critics are weary of 'another dome on the mall,' but the balloon shape at the top of the building is executed to mirror Brancusi's Sleeping Muse - one of the collection highlights at the hmsg.

The project is still very much in the planning stage, yet the Director of the hmsg is pretty determined to make this a reality and he seems to get things done. I can say that I hear about it in the office quite a bit - they have people working on raising the funds, marketing, research. Personally, I think that this would be an excellent opportunity for the hmsg to assert its presence on the Mall and that its sheer physical presence would attract some much-deserved attention to the museum.

The structure is designed by Diller Scofidio & Renfro from New York.

read my pins

Smithsonian Castle | June 18 to October 17, 2010
Exhibition of pins owned by former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and worn during her tenure, sometimes to convey political messages. Although the castle is stuffy, I enjoyed seeing all of the pins and then reading about the circumstances that make each one significant. Bottom right corner, above, was worn as retaliation for being called a 'serpent.'

This one represents the shattered glass ceiling as a result of her appointment.

rediscovered

Alma Thomas 1973 Red Rose Cantata

Thomas  was little-known until her work was suggested (by my boss!) to decorate the interior of the Obamas' living quarters in the White House. Now she's all the rage. This painting hangs in the NGA and another is situated prominently in the Philips. Oh, art market, how fickle you are.

Her work reminds me of Yayoi Kusama, of repetition, of a scarf that K owns... Her rectangles look like torn, delicate fragments, and I love how things begin to come apart when they are repeated over and over.

digesting the art

Tony Cragg 1991 Subcommittee

Subcommittee is a large outdoor sculpture in the area immediately surrounding the HMSG. When I first approached it I was reminded of wooden doll heads, but actually it is an enlarged rubber stamp set. The title conjures ideas of bureaucracy, hierarchy, and slow moving mechanisms: appropriate for the National Mall? It also reminds me of gossiping heads, huddled in a mass. I feel like the stamps have been forgotten in the bustle, as if to comment on the irrelevance of old systems, or the inevitability of younger generations replacing older ones.

Also, I eat my lunch here. 

I like to watch people interact with the sculpture, especially because this one in particular is not so abstract and people generally relate to it or at least finding it aesthetically pleasing. Today a precocious preteen approached me in the middle of my potato salad and asked me to take a picture of her and her friends as they 'like, just did some crazy pose or something.'

I am for an art...

I am for an art that is political-erotical-mystical, that does something other than sit on its ass in a museum.
I am for an art that grows up not knowing it is art at all, an art given the chance of having a staring point of zero.

Claes Oldenburg, 1961

look

Every single time we have looked at images together, my boss (senior curator at the hmsg) firmly reminds me to look at the art. Look for patterns. Look for visual comparisons. Make connections that cannot necessarily be made with words. One of my favorite things about the study of art is the ability to understand expression without language.

 

Shkolnik 1910s The Provinces

These images come from an exhibition of modern Russian art - they are images that were not available internationally under Stalin because they were considered too radical and they are often still mysterious and difficult to obtain. The catalog is organized so that viewers may visually understand the origins of Russian modernism and the connections between Russian folklife and Russia art.

hint: if you don't see it, look at the hats.

quote of the day

When one ceases to feel, I am of the opinion that one should keep quiet. And I would like it understood that I am not accusing or condemning lack of originality as such. I am only saying that I do not take particular note of the empty moments of my life, that it may be unworthy for any man to crystallize those which seem to him to be so. I shall, with your permission, ignore the description of that room, and many more like it.

André Breton, on Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment

quote of the day

On Helter Skelter: LA art in the 90s:

It was worth it. It was one hell of a night. We had some very interesting people show up. We had some weird people show up. We even had a woman jumping out of a trash can every so often completely naked.

                    Richard Koshalek, HMSG Director

ahh

There is free art being handed out in London? Please someone get me one of these.

taco wednesday

weekend no. 1

Hello, 602.

It was 97 and sunny, but we were there for the goal.

AJ is a stud, which almost made up for not seeing Colbert.

Hello, delicious.

Letters to People Who Hate Me

A project by Catherine Soto, 2009.

I have known these people but I no longer speak to most of them. I wrote these letters to seek resolve for myself and to unburden emotions I cannot share with these people. 

quote of the day

Foggy Bottom... I always felt like it sounded like a gay man's disease. 'Oh, yeah that guy. He's got Foggy Bottom.'

home for a minute

The last picture that I took in London, of my favorite tea spot. I ended up ordering a tea pot that they carry for myself by the British designer Nick Munro.

Upon arrival back at home I quickly realized that my strawberries were in need of picking. My neighbor warned me that it would be a fruitful year and she was absolutely right. The day before I left yielded an entire pot of delicious red berries, warm from the sun and ripe to eat.

I also made a dress. It was supposed to be easy. This part was not. It went something like this: insert pins in fabric and elastic, match pins, stretch elastic band to fit to fabric, attempt to use hands - a foot apart - to navigate in a straight line, repeat, repeat, repeat. It felt like trying to hold magnets apart.

blazing

This is what I am going to look like as I go in to my final two exams. Fierce.

speaking of elephants

British Graffiti artist Banksy just opened his show 'Barely Legal' at the beginning of this week with a live elephant painted to look like wallpaper.

Here are pictures from my second trip to Paris.

And here is another London elephant. This one is behind Parliament.

reading tea leaves...

...at Bea's yesterday revealed a distinctive U.S. map, complete with Florida, Maine, and Hawaii conspicuously present. One week left in London!

Volcano: 2, Melissa: 0

There was no Dublin for us, but I really can't complain. The Eurostar got us home from Paris for a price just above normal and since it was an extra train under the circumstances and they were using all cars available we ended up in first class. We had several hours to kill in the rain and are now intimately acquainted with the Gare du Nord, but we made it home in time for dinner.

We came in to St. Pancras where this dandelion elephant is currently making its home. This one is dedicated to M.E.M.



I will post some pictures from Paris soon.

pow!

This is another one from Trafalgar Square. He is both happy and fierce - just think of the message you could send with this guy by your front door.

Today we're headed to Paris!

snazzy elephant

These guys are hanging out in a group of three right by Trafalgar Square. Ryan took the picture while he was wandering around waiting for me to finish my first final exam. They are definitely growing on me - I knew I would like them as public art, but I'm warming to the idea of them as auctioned art. They are scattered in small, colorful groups and it's like an Easter egg hunt any time I walk around the city.

elephants

From 3 May to 4 July two-hundred painted elephants, roughly 140 pounds each, will storm the city. Eventually they will be corralled into Sotheby's for an auction to raise money for an endangered species of Asian elephant. Most sources are claiming that this will be London's biggest public art event on record. I love public art, but when the end of the line is an auction I have a hard time accepting it as art for art's sake. I do expect that these guys are going to brighten up the city, and of course they are a whimsical installation - but that doesn't change the fact that their priority, besides raising awareness, is making money. I like to at least believe that artists create objects for reasons other than economics...

lose yourself

3295 miles
1311 pictures
986 pages of leisure reading
34 scoops of gelato
19 train rides
12 cities
7 wellesley women
and 1 volcanic explosion...

I am back in London, safe and sound. Excepting Eyjafjallajökul, the entire trip went off without any complications and I had a wonderful time.

I am still in the process of processing, but here are some of my favorite pictures.

ha.

I'm stranded in Italy. Isn't my life so hard? 

Our trip to Budapest lasted about 3 hours without ever leaving the ground, and due to the black cloud of death wreaking havoc across all of Europe I have had a slight change of plans. Italy for three more days. Think of all the food. We are retreating to Perugia for some more of the region's best pizza and chocolate. Then, I will be taking an overnight train from Bologna to Vienna to meet up with a Wellesley friend and attempt to salvage the last part of my trip. Hopefully I will be able to fly out from there in a week as planned. We'll see. 

Things to do with my extra time here:

1. gelato, lots more of it

2. art, a fair share more

3. relax after almost three straight weeks of travel

hirshhorn

Today was my last day in Italy and, provided that the wind patterns cooperate, I will be in Budapest by tomorrow evening. 

I just found out today that I have been officially accepted at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden as a summer intern, and I wanted to share with everyone equally since I don't have regular access to a phone or internet. This was my first choice for museums in DC so I am really looking forward to working there. 

One week left!

from base camp bologna

A view of Zurich, home of Europe's largest clock face.

Melissa tea, Ali insisted.

The best pizza in Rome! But, really.

The market today in Bologna.

Six hundred and sixty six perilous steps to San Luca.

I am celebrating a birthday in Bologna, and then leaving for a romantic rendezvous at the Trevi Fountain tomorrow. There has been a slight change in the itinerary - after three nights in Rome we will be going to Perugia for some Baci. We realized that Naples in just a little too far south for a one day trip, and that skipping it gives us a legitimate reason to come back soon. I will be back in Bologna on the 10th. Ciao!

its warm in italy!

Katie and I made our way over the alps this afternoon from Zurich to Milan. I've already enjoyed some gelato Katie had a whole pizza. Of course I came to Italy for the art...

Basel is beautiful

I am safely landed in Switzerland and after a long day traveling and one very good pretzl Dara and I called it a night. After just a few hours here I feel like the Swiss mean business. I wouldn't mess with them. On to Zurich tomorrow!

if its tuesday, this must be naples

One of my grandmothers just left and I've got about 12 hours before I head out to go on an extensive trip with various wellesley friends. After having been asked for my itinerary for the 10th time I decided it would be easier if I just posted it. I've indicated when I am changing countries for those of you who need a geography refresher. I will have very limited access to the internet for the trip, so don't take it personally if I don't email you back right away. I will try to post updates when I get a chance.

mar 30 - london to basel (switzerland)
mar 31 - basel to zurich
apr 2 - zurich to milan (italy)
apr 3 - milan to bologna
apr 6 - bologna to rome
apr 9 - rome to naples
apr 10 - naples to bologna
apr 11 - bologna to venice
apr 13 - venice to florence
apr 14 - florence to bologna
apr 17 - bologna to bratislava (solvakia)
apr 18 - bratislava to budpest (hungary)
apr 19 - budpest to vienna (austria)
apr 24 - vienna to london

undue credit

For the past two weeks I have been silently commending the British for abstaining from that silly little thing called daylight saving. All I have to say is curse you, William Willett.

natural curiosities

Black swans fishing in Regent's Park

Some very interesting pruning methods here - which make all the trees look like weeping willows.

A tree at Hampton Court

good cause

ryan's visit

For his spring break, Ryan came to visit me in London. I can't even explain how wonderful it is to have someone to go to Sainsbury's with at 23:56. It took a couple of days for the jet lag to wear off but one taste of clotted cream and we were back in business. Fish and chips for £3 didn't hurt either.

We spent maybe an hour walking to Abbey Road, and then another fifteen minutes debating whether or not we were at the right end of the street. We started out to the other end of the road just to be sure but after several blocks the weather won - we decided to trust the small group of tourists blocking traffic at the closer end and call it a day. Later we discovered that we were at the correct place and that we don't know as much about our Beatles covers as we should.

We were out walking in the typical afternoon drizzle and all of the sudden the clouds cleared a bit and the sun shone through. We had been waiting for the perfect weather all week to go on the London Eye, not the best strategy in this city, so we dashed over and got in line. It was a bit long, but when we got through the sun was still there - and then they ushered us into the 4D experience (in case you have 3D glasses on hand) very much against my will. Apparently its not a free bonus, its a crowd diffuser.

It was partly cloudy the whole way up and then mostly cloudy and drizzling on the way down, but I am so glad we ended up going. The view was pretty clear, even with the sub-par whether, and it was nice to share something new to both of us.

Neither of us is very photogenic, Ryan doesn't ask strangers for photos and I don't like to, and I never got very into myspace - in other words, this is the money shot for the week.

Notice my scarf? Apparently, he's not just a good driver. He spotted it in a vintage shop buried under other not-so-pretty ones at the Camden Markets for a very good price, and you all know how I am about scarves.

We finished up the week with Avenue Q, a muppet musical. Which sounds so absolutely terrible, but I thought it was funny and Ryan actually didn't mind it. Win.

Link to all of our pictures.