Jaume Plensa

Jaume Plensa
Spanish, 1955-
Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Sculpture Garden
Images courtesy of my honeymoon

So, I greatly apologize, as I do not know the title of this piece (I did some work trying to figure it out but am not up for pulling out all the librarian stops right now). There are many other wonderful works by Jaume Plensa that you can peruse and do to some similarity among works, other titles could give you an idea of what this one could be.

This sculpture is part of a sculpture garden along side one of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts new buildings. I'm always excited to catch site of a Plensa. Even though this one is quite small compared to some of the artist's work on a grander scale, you can give it different kind of personal attention than his larger than life works. I saw my first (knowingly) on a trip to the Frederik Meijer Gardens of Grand Rapids. Check theirs out here. I say knowingly because I had already seen the fountain in Chicago's Millennium Park more than once but never took the time to check out who the artist was. See Crown Fountain. I apologize for that sentence being in italics, blogger won't let me fix it.

I have not given Plensa the time and care he deserves, so please do check out his website, hit Google images and find a Plensa to experience in person!

Two Seated Figures

Lynn Chadwick (British, 1914-2003)
Two Seated Figures on a Blue Wave, 1971
Lithograph
30 x 22 ins
image: SW1 Gallery

From the exhibition: Edition - A Century of British Prints 1906-2006, May 12-June 3, 2006. Check out the additional prints in the show.

Lynn Chadwick was a sculptor, but I simply adore this simple print. Similar to the imagery you'll find in his sculptures, I prefer the softness of the print. Granted, the comparison is a bit weak but I've always found it fascinating how sculptures are translated (or originate in drawings), drawings so interesting they are turned into prints. Check out Henry Moore.


Sitting Couple, 1990
artnet.com

Modern Painters

Modern Painters (from 1873), 2008
Brian Dettmer
Altered Book
9 1/8 x 7 x 6 3/4 inches
image: Kinz + Tillou Fine Art

I am not sure if I've shared one of Dettmer's altered books yet. I was reading an article about writing and manuscripts in Timbuktu and quickly thought of finding an altered book for today's art.

I, like many, used to have a particular reaction to works such as this. As a librarian, reader and book lover I found it difficult to see what many would call the destruction of a book. Over the years I've become not only okay with it but find the resulting works of art fascinating. This is all that Brian Dettmer does, he is a sculptor but his material is not just paper but existing books. Most of the books he uses are old editions of encyclopedias and atlases. Mass produced volumes that over time just get pushed away. Why not create a new and much less static life for this object?

This particular work is not one of the most amazing in aesthetic but I chose it because of the book itself, Modern Painters by John Ruskin. An interesting play between text, art, the old and the new. I have a lot of more trouble with the use of this 19th c. volume, a classic in the history of art (it appears that the 1873 should be 5 volumes and is currently selling for between $200 and $500 depending on condition). I am unsure as to why he only used 3 volumes (earlier editions had less volumes) unless there was an 1873 3 volume set published. Anyway, the set wouldn't be considered rare and once you spend some time looking at Dettmer's work you stop seeing any form of destruction. The term, "altered book" is fitting, especially when the artist retains the semblence of a book. When you still know it's a book, the object retains a variety of lives and meanings.

Enchanting tendrils

Roxy Paine (b.1966)
Maelstrom
stainless steel
weighing over seven tons and measuring 130 feet long by 45 feet wide.
Roxy Paine on the Roof: Maelstrom
The Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Roof Garden
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
April 28 - October 25, 2009
Image: http://www.jamescohan.com/artists/roxy-paine/ Photo: Sheila Griffin


These are the types of things that make me miss NYC with a passion. Heading up to to the Met's roof for art. This looks to be one of the best they've had. If you can get to nyc by November 29 do it and go see it and tell me all about it! Please check out more of Paine's work here:
http://www.jamescohan.com/artists/roxy-paine/#

Paine's tree sculptures are incredible. Maelstrom brings more into the tree. It is one of Paine's "Dendroids based on systems such as vascular networks, tree roots, industrial piping, and fungal mycelia" (http://www.metmuseum.org/special/se_event.asp?OccurrenceId={6267CA47-491B-4776-A468-0673F8362B0F}) It takes hardens the natural tendril quality of the tree in steel with the backdrop of Central Park. Digital images surely don't do it any kind of remote justice, as I imagine the experience of wandering through the tendrils and hollows of the negative space which the branches create. I'm not sure how Paine's work has escaped my knowledge for this long.

For a great short article about this work, I recommend checking out Roxy on the Roof by Max Weintraub via the art:20 blog.

Green tinted spectacles

Nathaniel Olds, 1837
Jeptha Homer Wade (American, 1811-1890)
oil on canvas
Cleveland Museum of Art 1991.134.2
image: http://www.clemusart.com/explore/work.asp?cid=243518&msgActCnt=1&mode=&tab=2&display=&addrmvmsg=true&msgColCnt=2&recNo=0

Look at those glasses! We walked into the American art gallery at the Cleveland Museum of Art this weekend and were simply delighted by this awesome portrait of a man in futuristic looking glasses!

We almost didn't read the caption because we were enjoying making up all kinds of wonderful stories about the glasses but alas we gave in. Who would have guessed it had to do with whale oil and Western Union?! The caption says it all (and it's interesting to boot) so here it is (links added by me):

"The green-tinted spectacles worn by Olds were designed to protect the eyes from the intensity of Argand lamps, a type of indoor light used during the early 1800s. These lamps burned whale oil, and many people worried that its bright flames might damage eyesight.The painter of this portrait founded the Western Union Telegraph Company in 1854 and soon became one of Cleveland’s wealthiest industrialists. His grandson, Jeptha Wade II, was a founder of the Cleveland Museum of Art and donated the land upon which it stands as a Christmas gift to the city in 1892." (Cleveland Museum of Art website: http://www.clemusart.com/explore/artistwork.asp?artistLetter=W&recNo=1&woRecNo=1)

I discovered a neat feature in the online collections of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Museums are always looking for ways to make their collections online as relateable to seeing the real thing as they can. From zooming capabilities to dimensions. If you click on "how big is it" you see the art work next to the silhouette of an average height man. It gives you a better perspective of the scale of the piece than just reading the dimensions. Unfortunately you don't really know how tall the "man" is, but I think its a great idea nonetheless. See it here:
http://www.clemusart.com/explore/scale.asp?woID=3550

Bronze McDonald's

Zhang Hongtu
Mai Dong Lao, 2002
cast bronze
same size as actual McDonald containers
edition of 10
image: http://www.plumblossoms.com/jidachun/maodanglao.htm

Mai Dong Lao is the Chinese pronunciation of McDonald's.

麦 (mai) is wheat or a general term for wheat, barley, oats, rye, etc.
当 (dang) means appropriate, to serve as, or to be used as.
劳 (lao) means to work or to labor. (http://goodcharacters.com/blog/2007/04/05/mcdonalds-mai-dang-lao/)

A humorous use of the traditional Chinese medium bronze to create an object of American pop culture.

Chinese Artists: Reinventing Tradition
Reading Zhang Hongtu

sun-sneezers

Sun-sneezers blow light bubbles, 2007-08
Ranjani Shettar (Indian, 1977-)
Installation
Stainless steel, muslin cloth, tamaraind kernel powder paste and lacquer
Images: artnet.com

I recently saw an exhibition of Ranjani Shettar's work at SFMoMA. Installations are a hard thing to share via the web but the pamphlet from the exhibition is sitting here next to me with this wonderful work on the cover, I wanted to share it.

"Shettar's sinous, organic structures suggest natural elements while utilizing both man-made and natural materials, as well as incorporating pre-industrial workmanship with contemporary technique. Though her sculptures initially appear delicate and fragile, upon closer examination, one realizes that each petal or wing like appendage is made of wrought iron or solidly cast in some kind of resin. In this way, Shettar's works testify to ideas of history, process, time, and evolution." (Marisa Naksone. http://www.examiner.com/x-533-SF-Art-Examiner~y2009m3d23-New-Work-Ranjani-Shettar-at-SFMOMA)

Watts Towers

Simon Rodia (1879-1965)
Watts Towers (1921-1954)
image by Gerald Thurman at roadtripamerica.com
http://www.wattstowers.us/index.html

Located in the Watts section of Los Angeles, Simon Rodia's Watts Towers are a brilliant wonder of one man's artistic mind, determination and hard working hand. Rodia spent 30 years on this artistic and physical feat.

The towers consist of 9 major sculptures and 2 of the highest towers are nearly 100 feet tall. Each sculpture is made out of steel pipes wrapped with mesh and coated with mortar. Rodia embedded all kinds of objects in the mortar, from shells, glass and tiles to teapots.

Having almost been torn down in the '60s concerned community members worked to save the towers and now the Watts Towers are one of only nine works of folk art listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Rodia's work reminds many of the work of Antoni Gaudi, his Sagrada Familia and Park Guell.

Geometric pair

Pair of figures, probably Zeus and Hera
Greek, Geometric Period, about 750–700 B.C.
Height: 8 cm (3 1/8 in.)
Bronze

Image: mfaboston.org

Browsing through works at the MFA Boston, which I hope to visit this weekend while I am in Beantown, I came across the interesting little piece. I love the geometric aesthetic of the sculpture, so simple yet still distinctive as a man and a woman.

"The male figure wears a heavy belt and long, pointed cap, and the female sports a domed, brimmed hat. Dark green patina.The costumes and the "amusing stop-sign hand" are characteristics of early bronze figurines from the sanctuary at Olympia." (caption: mfaboston.org)

Dogwood Basin

Dogwood Basin, 2008
Nancy Blum
30 basins cast out of bronze mounted on platforms.
Charlotte Area Transit System Rail Line, Charlotte, NC

The inspiration for all of Nancy Blum's work is flowers and botanicals, from large scale drawings to public works, she reinvents the beauty of the flower in myriad ways. I think these water fountains are just wonderful. She transforms the delicate nature of, well nature, into a variety of materials, from ink to porcelain to bronze. Blum was commissioned to do this work, the state flower of NC is the dogwood. Public transit is a popular arena for art commissioning. Many transit systems have a programs dedicated to commissioning art for their stations, vehicles etc. Nancy Blum - public art See earlier blog post on another public transit art work.

I've tried to share a variety of types of art that have nature at their base. From painting and photography to ephemeral earth art and sturdy, utilitarian public art. In all these works, the artists are reconstituting what they see in nature, immortalizing it in a photograph, abstracting and infusing it in paint, rearranging its aesthetic in nature and casting its likeness in a bronze waterfountain. We are reintroduced to nature through the artist's eyes, hand and material.

Emphemeral Dandelion

Dandelion Hole (199?)
Andy Goldsworthy (1056-)
Image: travelinglight.vox.com

I unfortunately have not been able to find out the date of this particular work as no one who has posted it gives a source for the image, If I do find it I will update.

Artist, naturalist, environmentalist, Andy Goldsworthy takes natural elements and painstakingly recreates their physical and aesthetic presence. A sculptor, earth and landscape artist, Goldsworthy's aesthetic vision stems from the natural environment. His works are collaborations with nature, nature providing the inherent individual beauty and serving as found object, Goldsworthy impressing upon the natural state a unique and beautiful new vision.


While we can continue to see these works through their documentation (photograph) their existence remains ephemeral. Goldsworthy's use of the natural environment in medium and usually location (some of his works are created in indoors) is inherently fleeting, these flowers may remain like this for only hours but possibly days, or even months. Sometimes the material is hardier and sturdier like wood and stones, others as susceptible to its environment as a leaf that may soon blow away. A clip from the documentary, Rivers and Tides (which I have to admit to never having seen and will remedy this as soon as possible) shows the very essence of this ephemerality. If you are interested, you may very well be able to find it in your local library.

Loader

Loader, 2008
Brian McCutcheon
Steel, fiberglass, resin, urethane plastic, auto paint, enamel paint, tinted lexan
Current location: White River State Park, Indianapolis

Brian McCutcheon is interested in the male image in art and culture. We can easily see the masculine aspects as a result of McCutcheon's choice of object. The sculpture is based on a "boy's toy" as McCutcheon states, his commentary on this particular sculpture focusing on male imagery. One could see an interplay between the choice of modeling after a toy in a monumental sculpture as questioning the interchange between boy man.

Despite these possible overtones, I find the sculpture particularly whimsical (the bright yellow aids that). I was struck by the physical and aesthetic elements of Loader, the strikingly different views I got by changing my position around the sculpture. It was very well located along a bridge path along with other large scale sculptures. in White River State Park.

Indianapolis is wonderfully dedicated to public art. Be sure to wander the city next time you might be going through. They have art location pamphlets to take you along as well.
Public Art Indianapolis


Images: A.L.H.

Dada marionette

Freud Analytikus (Freudian Analyst), 1918
Sophie Taeuber (Swiss, 1889–1943)
turned, painted wood, brass ornament, and metal joints


A work from the Dada exhibition at the National Gallery of Art (Washington D.C.) in 2006, the search for this artist sparked by a new book, Dada's Women by Ruth Hemus.

"In 1918 Taeuber received a commission to design the stage sets and marionettes for a production of Carlo Gozzi's play Il re cervo (König Hirsch/King Stag), adapted by Werner Wolff and René Morax. It was the first performance of its kind to integrate Dada and psychoanalysis. The animating conflict of the play was the 1913 controversy between Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung over the character of the libido. Taeuber commented ironically on this antagonism by creating marionettes whose inherent freedom from the constraints of human anatomy and motion allowed them to manifest interior, or psychic, states in their physical forms." (Taeuber bio, nga.gov)

This is not a work that I should be neglecting due to my interests in art and psychoanalysis, but alas, I admit to severe laziness the last few days. I hope to return to it. Hope you enjoy the marionette! Follow the link in the work title and you can zoom in on the object as well as spend some time with the world of Dada.

Resin Library

Church Library II, c. 2000
Stella Waitzkin
resin and mixed media

A very exciting artist discovery for me. This particular piece is one of her library installations. Each book on the shelf is an individually cast polyester resin sculpture. Alison Weld refers to each book as a "beautifully realized and complete painting" (see other library installations). Each of Waitzkin's books/paintings when brought together create an mulitfaceted yet uniquely complete work of art. The individual books are gorgeous, rich in texture and color and with a raw, tortured quality, some with a wonderful battered appearance (like a book that has been read, torn pages, mottled covers...). Some of the books have molded faces into them, adding to their sculptural quality and giving them an added life.

The idea of creating sculptural books and installing libraries may initially seem whimsical but Waitzkin's work is far from it. The damaged, raw quality and the sculpture figures emerging into and out of the pages and covers can be haunting. Her one bedroom apartment in New York was filled with books, her resin sculptures. The image of such a room is fascinating to me, books created to provide a different form of enlightenment and edification.

Waitzkin's work is part of the Artist-Environment Builders Collection at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center. "Artist-environment builders transform their homes, yards, or other aspects of their personal surroundings into multifaceted works of art that, in vernacular ways, embody and express the locale—time, era, place—in which each of them lived and worked." Stella Waitzkin.

Golden Chariot

Gold Model Chariot from the Oxus Treasure
Achaemenid Persian, 5th-4th century BC
From the region of Takht-i Kuwad, Tadjikistan
British Museum

In keeping with my commitment to a more well-rounded blog, I picked up The Atlas of the Ancient World, which was conveniently on one of our bookshelves (isn't it great living with someone who has a whole world of books you don't?). It is a great introduction to the history, culture and people of the ancient world (with great illustrations too!). So I just started to flip through it and got pulled in by this glorious gold chariot.

"The model chariot is pulled by four horses or ponies. In it are two figures wearing Median dress. The Medes were from Iran, the centre of the Achaemenid empire. The front of the chariot is decorated with the Egyptian dwarf-god Bes, a popular protective deity. The chariot can be compared with that shown being ridden by the Persian king Darius on a cylinder seal also in the British Museum." (British Museum description)

The Oxus Treasure is the most important surviving collection of Achaemenid Persian metalwork.

So there is a lot of information in this description that I know nothing about. A little research goes a long way though and I was curious about "Median dress". "Although slight variations exist, most images of Medes and descriptions of the standard Median costume consists of trousers, a fitted, sleeved top, and a tiara or cap, often with a peaked extension."(Phoenix Ancient Art S.A.)

If you click on the title, it will take you to the British Museum page with the object, where you can check out related objects of the period, as the British Museum has much of the Oxus Treasure.

(Image: britishmuseum.org)

Camille Claudel

Camille Claudel (1864-1943)
The Waltz, 1892-1905
Neue Pinakothek, Munich

Unfortunately, Claudel's life story often overshadows her accomplishments as a sculptor. Both a student of Rodin and his lover until she was 30 years, their tumultuous relationship and her later incarceration in a mental asylum for the last 30 years of her life seep into the details of her work. While I am never one to think that biography is separate from creativity, talent and genius, it is important to look and see how an artist's work stands on its own.

Due to Claudel's connection with such a revered and well-known artist, it was difficult for her to shine on her own as a sculptor once their relationship ended. Some believe that her work is derivative of Rodin's others see its special beauty and her unique talent. Claudel's sculptures are intimate and flowing as you can see in The Waltz. At the same time it is fascinating to see read about discussions of the affect of Claudel on Rodin's work (she remains a source of inspiration for his work)

The original version of this sculpture was criticized for its too blatant nudity and it was strongly suggested to Claudel to add the drapery which she did. While the drapery may detract from Claudel's original intentions it showcases her sculptural talent.

An exhibition at the Detroit Institute of Art focused on the relationship and work of the two, both influencing the other in their work. Camille Claudel & Rodin: Fateful Encounter

The sculptured pot

Cortez, 1995
Peter Voulkos (1924-2002)
Image: http://www.voulkos.com/frameportfolio.html

Peter Voulkos' work came into my head the other day, one of his plates is a part of the new exhibition at the TMA. It is a gorgeous plate and if I could have found an image of it, you would probably be looking at it right now. In my search of another work to share, one of Voulkos' stacks caught my eye instead.

My first encounter with a Voulkos work was at Alfred when I was lucky enough to see Voulkos spontaneously make a stack from the ground up. He was visiting Alfred (no surprise, due to its prominence in the education of ceramics) and was doing a workshop demonstration (which he did all over the country). Watching Peter Voulkos work was incredible (note, he was in his mid 70s when I saw him) His works are improvisations, done in front of an audience. The rough hewn nature of the finished work doesn't exactly imply a gracefulness to its creation but for one privileged to see a work come together the strength, detail, attention and grace that Voulkos put forth was an experience.

I know that a sculpture like this is not amenable to all aesthetic tastes but I do think that with just a little care one can begin to see the beauty, craft and artistry in Cortez and Voulkos' extensive other work. His works are not only sculptural but painterly, their abstraction blurring boundaries between mediums. Watching Voulkos work is similar to seeing video of the action/gestural painters of the 1950s. Voulkos started out as a traditional potter and was soon influenced by the painters he met in New York. He eventually dropped any semblance to a traditional pot form, using both wheel thrown and slab elements to create spontaneous works. He ultimately returned to traditional forms but never to functional forms. While using familiar forms such as vases and plates Voulkos renders them nonfunctional through rough gesture.

Ancestor Poles

Ancestor Poles (Bis)
Asmat people, Omadesep village, Faretsj River, southwest New Guinea, Papua (Irian Jaya) province, Indonesia, mid-20th c Metropolitan Museum of Art
1979.206.1611
Images: ALH

While attempting to find the Alexander Calder Jewelry show at the Met last weekend, I wandered into the new galleries for Oceanic Art and what a great surprise.
These memorial poles (mbis) are erected to honor the dead and the Asmat believe they house the recent dead's souls and display them in front of the men's house.

They used to go headhunting for an enemy head to place in the lower cavity, hence the bent pose of the figures being associated with the praying mantis (symbol of headhunting - ah, as the ladies love to bite the heads off of their mates!). (Stokstad - Art History 904). The figures are beautiful and fascinating. When I first became interested in art in highschool I randomly decided I was going to study Oceanic art (for no reason other than I liked the term Oceanic I think :) I definitely shifted gears into Modern and Contemporary didn't I?

If you are at the Met in the future I highly recommend checking out the new galleries, the space and art blend beautifully.

Happy 200th Birthday Lincoln!

Abraham Lincoln
Statue in Lincoln Memorial (dedicated 1922)
Daniel Chester French (1850-1931)
white Georgia marble
19 feet 9 inches (6 m) tall and 19 feet (6 m) wide (not including the pedestal)
Washington D.C.


I haven't found an official title for the sculpture but I assume it is just Abraham Lincoln, self-explanatory isn't it?

In honor of Lincoln's birthday, take another look (or a first look) at this monumental, imposing classical sculpture. Daniel Chester French was a significant sculptor of the 19th century with the Lincoln Memorial sculpture his greatest accomplishment.

Photo by Douglas Yeo

IN THIS TEMPLE

AS IN THE HEARTS OF THE PEOPLE

FOR WHOM HE SAVED THE UNION

THE MEMORY OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN

IS ENSHRINED FOREVER

Trevi Fountain

Trevi Fountain, 1732-1762
Nicola Salvi, completed by Guiseppe Panini and artists from the Bernini School.
marble
Rome, Italy
Public Art Around the World


I've focused on contemporary, public art this week and left out an entire world and history of public art. Much public art often passes us by, that statue in front of a state house, in a park, commemorations, another guy on a horse. I admit to breezing by much of this kind of public sculpture unless I am particularly interested in the subject. Public art has of course been a strong leader in the world of art for thousands of years.

Today, the Trevi Fountain. Rome, and much of Italy is oozing with public art. I should have my own photos of it but I cannot seem to find my photo album from my whirlwind Europe trip in college. I
Image: Travel plan idea blog
haven't gotten too much into the logistics of the process of getting art out there, but most work you will find like the Trevi Fountain was commissioned by a governmental body (very unlike the lengthy difficult time Christo and Jeanne-Claude had getting permission for their own project. This is also an excellent example of the iconic status a work of public art can attain.

An interesting incident involving the fountain in 2007 Turning the Trevi Fountain Red
Image: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Trevi_Fountain_wide.jpg