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.

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.'

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

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

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.

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.'